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James Bond Ultimate Pierce Brosnan - Goldeneye/Tomorrow Never Dies/The World Is Not Enough/Die Another Day


RRP: £34.99
Our Price: £24.97 (subject to change)

Bond, only Bond
Review date: 2008-08-30 Rating: 6 out of 10

Collecting the four movies featuring `official' Bond number five, Pierce Brosnan:

Goldeneye: Pierce Brosnan and Martin Campbell (director of the BBC's classic eco-thriller Edge Of Darkness) brought the Bond series back from the brink with this formulaic but rewarding effort, both a homage to, and an updating of, the old formula. Brosnan, in his debut as Bond, tries his hardest to flesh out the character, whilst Sean Bean is good value as the villain. Famke Janssen gives what is still her most memorable movie performance as the sexually voracious Xenia Onnatopp, but on the downside Judi Dench's luvvie, career-woman M makes her unwanted debut, Alan Cumming ponces around in that way that only Alan Cumming can, and Robbie Coltrane struggles with a Russian accent. Still, with Brosnan not yet atrophied in the part, this qualifies as his best performance as Bond, though he later showed he could be a better actor in films like The Tailor Of Panama, The Thomas Crown Affair, and The Matador.

Tomorrow Never Dies: Pierce Brosnan's second effort in the Bond series was seen as a roaring success when it first appeared, but watched it the cold light of day it does not strike one as a particularly good film; in fact, in a lot of respects, it is an absolutely terrible one. Jonathan Pryce, one of the most languid actors in history, is possibly the weakest villain Bond has ever faced. Brosnan's scenes with Michelle Yeoh lack any chemistry at all, and Teri Hatcher (in the fallow period between her early success in Lois and Clark and her re-invention in Desperate Housewives) doesn't bring much of a spark to her scenes as Bond's `old flame'. Worst of all is the truly rancid performance of Gotz Otto as Pryce's henchman - the line `We die together, Mister Bwand' has never sounded stupider or cheesier. Overall, dire.

The World Is Not Enough: Though it's an undeniable improvement on Tomorrow Never Dies, Brosnan's third Bond film isn't that great either. Again, the movie is styled as a `gritty' thriller, with some distubingly sadistic scenes, dark plotline, and typical `hard nut' performance from Robert Carlyle as the main villain. Unfortunately, Brosnan was smirking for England by this point, Judi Dench's atrocious `headmistress' M is forefronted in the second half of the film, and Denise Richards is saddled with one of the most unbelivable characters in the entire Bond series, as scientist Dr Christmas Jones. For Brosnan's Bond, time was clearly running out.

Die Another Day: Brosnan's final effort in the Bond series, and the movie that caused the producers to slam on the brakes and take stock of the franchise. It was clear from this film that rather than continuing and developing the Bond series, Brosnan's time in the part had instead been geared towards simply keeping it afloat. Of all the actors to play James Bond, Brosnan's is the interpretation I warm to the least, and here is why; far from the `sexist, mysoginist dinosaur' described by M in Goldeneye, Brosnan's `Blair's Britain' Bond is very much a product of his time; he doesn't smoke, hardly drinks, and treats women with total respect (until it is time to dive bomb their knickers, that is). A hypocritical, Teflon slimeball of a character, Brosnan's Bond is at his absolute sleaziest here, and recieves the kiss-off he deserves, in one of the most poorly received Bond films of all time. The Bond producers again try to mix grit with fantasy and totally fail; the invisible car, the villain's `ice base', and Halle Berry's sub-Charlie's Angels turn as Jinx are just some of the foul ingredients in this very unappetising stew. It was clearly time for another re-think...

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Reviews


Some great bits, some bad bits
Review date: 2007-04-04 Rating: 6 out of 10

Hello

I'm a big Bond fan, but I only got into the films a few years ago.. "Die Another Day" was my first one I watched...

Goldeneye ~ I do like Goldeneye. It has a very unique, gritty and dangerous feel to it that other films in the series lacked. Brosnan is easily at his best here and offers with a very sleek and action-packed performance. Alec Travelyn is a pretty good villain aswell.

9/10

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Tomorrow Never Dies ~ Hmm... not as good as "Goldeneye" but still quite fun. The plot is very different here - a big change from Goldeneye, focusing on media corruption and the impact one man can have on the world. So its ok, not brilliant, Brosnan gives a fairly dry performance so the villains make it for me.

5/10

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The World is Not Enough ~ Like "Tomorrow Never Dies", I like the plot ideas in this film - Renard makes a fairly sinister if a little OTT villain with a vengeance, Elektra is a nice change of villain being female with different aims as far as her and Bond are concerned. Judi Dench gives her worst performace - just totally over the top, her sub-plot lines felt shoehorned in.

7/10

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Die Another Day ~ As my first Bond film, this is always going to hold a special place in my collection. Looking at the film in an unbiased fashion, it's terrible. The plot was RIDICULOUS. The producers attempts to lauch Bond into the 21st century really came back to bite them as the reviews came out. An invisible car? Icarus? Give me "Casino Royale" anyday.
Sorry - not gonna buy it.

2/10

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Hope I've helped!

JB
Review date: 2006-12-04 Rating: 10 out of 10

"The names James Bond... James, Bond." P Bro 4 tym. this dudes got nuf stuf goin down and this is propa boshty. Get it if uve got a brian cos itll b the besst JB things cos of Danny Creg. SO buy it if u wish to do so.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Rosamund Pike
Pierce Brosnan
John Cleese
Halle Berry
Michael Madsen

Creators:
Pierce Brosnan (Primary Contributor)
John Cleese (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: MGM Entertainment
Manufacturer: MGM Entertainment
EAN: 5039036029254
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 8
Format: Box set, PAL,
Release date: 2006-11-27
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 488 minutes
Language: Greek (Subtitled)
Language: Dutch (Subtitled)
Language: Hindi (Subtitled)
Language: Finnish (Subtitled)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: Danish (Subtitled)
Language: Swedish (Subtitled)
Language: English (Original Language)

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