Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond 007 Is Back!
The 19th film in the official series of 007 films had me thinking a lot differently about Bond…you see, I have been re-watching and reviewing each film in order, and all of those reviews live here on my website.
As I re-watch these Brosnan efforts in the role, I am presently surprised how much I enjoy them and how well they have aged!
“The World Is Not Enough” – But It Is!
Brosnan’s third time in the tuxedo was released in 1999, and before watching it I was worried that I didn’t remember much about it…so was it a disposable, forgettable Bond?
Spoiler alert: I am really loving Brosnan’s 007 – and this one has aged well!
“The World Is Not Enough” was Brosnan’s third effort as James Bond 007…and I’ve given very positive reviews to the first two – so let’s have some fun with the third!
Here’s the trailer:
The terrific film website IMDB.com has a perfect, succinct plot summary:
“James Bond uncovers a nuclear plot while protecting an oil heiress from her former kidnapper, an international terrorist who can’t feel pain.”
The film opens with Bond arguing with a Swiss Banker in his office, surrounded by the Banker’s two beefy “colleagues”…the Banker, threatening 007 says “I’m giving you a chance to walk out with your money.”
Bond cooly replies, “And I’m giving you a chance to walk out with your life.” Brosnan is perfect once again in the role: a steely demeanor but a sarcastic edge as well!
This leads to a short fight scene before a sniper shoots the Banker dead – it turns out to be a double cross because when Bond returns to headquarters, he discovers the money he retrieved belonged to M’s friend – who then leaves the briefcase and disappears right before it blows up – and the big opening chase scene is on!
Bond races out to sniper fire, and that leads to a terrific boat chase on the river Thames as Bond chases the female sniper – with clear shots of Brosnan behind the wheel…terrific stuff!
We get boats flying through the air, exploding sailboats, boats flying through barges and crashing into restaurants – a truly spectacular opening sequence by Director Michael Apted!
It ends as the Sniper commander’s a hot air balloon, and Bond goes after her, dangling from the rope below it, high above London…and then, as he tries to convince her to give up, she blows herself and the hot air balloon up! Bond crashes into the London Dome below…wow, this is one of the best opening sequences ever!
The Bond theme is performed by the band Garbage, and it’s just fine: nothing too memorable, but it sounds exactly like a Bond theme to be sure…
Sophie Marceau And Denise Richards Are The “Bond Girls”!
Two interesting choices which I’ll go into, but Sophie Marceau is terrific as the daughter of M’s friend…Bond finds out much about her and her Dad’s relationship with M – and again, it is a joy to see Judy Dench get to play M with so much gravitas…
Farewell to Desmond Llewelyn as “Q”!
After being in the series since the beginning, Llewelyn announced his retirement from the series, and so the scenes between him and 007 have a special poignancy.
Q tells Bond he is retiring, and former Monty Python member John Cleese is introduced as the new “gadget guy”…or as Bond quips:
“If you’re Q does that make him ‘R’?”
Cleese gets to do some physical comedy and the scene ends with a very nice farewell between Bond and Q…a very classy sendoff to be sure.
We find out that Sophie had been kidnapped when she was younger – and it caused a rift with her and her Father – and M!
Bond smells a rat and confronts M on her friendship with Sophie’s father…some real acting here as they go at each other!
We then meet Robert Carlyle, who is the film’s nemesis – known as Renard the Anarchist…he has a rare disease that causes him to feel no pain whatsoever.
Carlyle conveys a believable evilness – you see, he has a bullet lodged in his brain that will eventually kill him but until then just makes him stronger and stronger!
As Bond tails Sophie, he realizes that her relationship with Renard is key to whatever plan he has, which leads to a terrific ski chase sequence…we see a lot of those in Bond films don’t we?
In this one, a bad guy ends up skiing off the cliff and Bond quips: “see you back at the lodge!”
The shady character Valentin returns again – played with the perfect touch of deceit and innocence by Robbie Coltrane, who is terrific – and this time his henchman is the singer Goldie! As you can see, they all had a blast on the set.
“I’ll see you later Mr. Bond” Goldie sneers at one point through his gold teeth.
“I see you put your money where your mouth is” Bond replies!
It turns out this entire plot involves blowing up Eastern European oil pipelines – and the creation of a renegade nuclear weapon!
How do I know? Well, because Dr. Christmas Jones tells us this:
“I pulled the plutonium out of the ones inside, you can detonate the triggers now” – and that’s how we meet “Nuclear Scientist” Denise Richards!
Look, she’s not given great lines to deliver and that is how she delivers them, but she exudes a lot of energy and is easy to watch – you see, it’s very hot in the desert so she MUST wear a skin tight tank top at all times!
From this point on we get underground explosions, and terrific battles and chases…the action keeps moving and Brosnan as Bond is as confident as ever…he is clearly one of the great 007’s, right up thee with Sean Connery!
M becomes a major part of the story as revenge and double crosses galore take place. It leads to a terrific scene between her and Sophie. You have to see the film to find out which one of them is “behind bars”!
The film culminates with chainsawed helicopters, explosions and more explosions and in a nod to the future, a self-driving car!
This is a terrific entry in the series, extremely well made, and again, Brosnan is perfect in the role. Sophie Marceau and Robert Carlyle are both terrific, and the very big role for Judi Dench as M is so great, I don’t want to give away her plot line if you haven’t seen the film but it’s really good.
Finally, the ending: As I told you, Denise Richards plays Christmas Jones, the Nuclear Scientist. Of course she and Bond survive and end up in bed, where Bond says – yes he does:
“I thought Christmas only came once a year!“
Oh my…but it’s the confidence and swagger that Brosnan has as Bond that makes it work!
“The World Is Not Enough” was a massive hit – its final worldwide gross was $361.8 million worldwide, with $126 million in the United States alone. It became the highest grossing James Bond film of all time until the release of “Die Another Day” – which will be reviewed next!
As I said, this was Pierce Brosnan’s third outing as 007 – how did it compare to previous Bonds?
Well, Sean Connery delivered a record-breaking third effort as well….”Goldfinger” is high on all lists of “best ever Bonds” – click on my review to see why!
Of course, George Lazenby only had one outing as 007, but Roger Moore followed with a lengthy run…here is his third effort – one of the greatest Bond films of all time as well – and this has a Director Stanley Kubrick twist!
Timothy Dalton only stayed for two Bonds, so no third effort of his to review…and as for Brosnan, this followed a very satisfying sophomore outing:
Click here to see my review – and see just why Michelle Yeoh was a kick ass “Bond Girl!”
You can see all of the reviews for every Bond film by going to my front page and searching “Bond” or “007!”.
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Categories: Action Films, British Cinema, Cult Movies, Film Fight Club, Great Films, Movies, Pop Culture, Revenge Movies, Talent/Celebrities
johnrieber 
A genuinely good Bond movie. Like you, I was surprised how much I enjoyed it the second time around. Despite my disdain for Denise Richards’s acting abilities, I liked it a lot. I particularly like Sophie Marceau’s performance as the troubled heiress — she has charisma in spades!
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I agree!
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How did I (James Bond movie lover) miss this great movie? Thank you, John. I was glued to your post.
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Thanks Jennie! I went into the Brosnan years a bit worn out from Bond – the Dalton films were dreary, unpleasant affairs…so having Pierce exude the same mix of danger and humor like Connery was a very happy surprise to me!
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You summed it up perfectly!
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Loved Brosnan. He was born to play Bond.
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just watched ohms, loved it. Not a huge George fan but loved the action scenes and story and rigg.
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Yes he was a very stiff Actor – his first ever role – but the story is terrific and Diana Rigg was incredible…and the ending! Thanks for the comment!
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HI John, this movie sounds good. Now I regret that I would never watch Pierce Bosman as Bond. My heart was lost to Roger Moore.
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Well Moore’s films were also hugely successful, but Brosnan is a natural and the plots more intense and serious that Moore’s films…which captured the breed sense of escape f the 80’s…
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I know you are right, I just wouldn’t watch any after Roger Moore finished. Maybe I’ll watch this one now.
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I was tempted by Robbie Coltrane being in the cast, but I didn’t bother to watch this one. Shared on Twitter for you, John.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Coltrane does a great job …small part but he delivers as always!
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