I am a huge Brosnan fan and I have always had the opinion that a Brosnan led CR would have done great. Obviously the script would needed to have change slightly, but not as much as many would think. I really wish Brosnan would have had a more serious outing like DC. I think CR could have been a great way to end Brosnan's tenure, just as good as it was a starting point for DC.
As far as box office and longevity goes, I think the soft reboot for DC was the way to go. It brought the audience back in a huge way, just as Brosnan's GE did.
I loved Brosnan during the first three films. However, he wasn't exactly the greatest actor in the World and it starts to grate on repeated viewings, his over emphasised and self imposed 'mid Atlantic' drawl and certain visual acting cues he repeats over and over are like OCD ticks. It was time for him to go if Bond was to compete with the much better and far more sophisticated action movies that had better actors in the lead. Kudos to Brozza for bridging the Connery/Moore eras, he did it and brought new audiences in. Bond would died a death though, if he did just one more. There would not have been a major audience appetite, such as it was, for any future Bond films, had he done a fifth. EON timed it perfectly, and gave us a Bond many had been craving that appealed to audience desire at the time and for a few years since.
I think too many people feel the Bond franchise has been one more bad movie away from disappearing off the map. Some say if GE was not the success it was the Bond Franchise would be dead. Some say if CR wasn't a huge hit the Bond franchise would be dead. I disagree. I am not saying it wouldn't have had to fight an uphill battle at times, but I also dont think a 5th Brosnan film would have killed the franchise at all. DAD still almost tripled its budget. Bond has always fared well at the box office despite reviews, and does amazing at the box office with great reviews.
Let's face it, we are all in agreement that it wasn't really Pierce's fault that his last few scripts went completely off the rails
What?!?! Since when did we all agree that the Brosnan era scripts were completely off the rails? If they are so bad, how come they keep being recycled into the Craig era?
GE, TND, and TWINE are rock solid Bond films. DAD is mixed bag, but heck yes he should have done a 5th!
My current 10 favorite:
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
Let's face it, we are all in agreement that it wasn't really Pierce's fault that his last few scripts went completely off the rails
What?!?! Since when did we all agree that the Brosnan era scripts were completely off the rails? If they are so bad, how come they keep being recycled into the Craig era?
GE, TND, and TWINE are rock solid Bond films. DAD is mixed bag, but heck yes he should have done a 5th!
Basically, yes. While I liked DAD, he certainly deserved better than the OTT adventure that that was. It'd be like Connery really exiting after YOLT, it wouldn't be fitting at all.
I wish he had a far more grounded story than he ever got to have. No Bond film since LTK was allowed to be that personal, and even CR was beefed up tremendously, making the small story Fleming was going for almost a side-plot. He was a great actor for the part, but he was almost always saddled with action sequences.
Would've loved to see Brozza do a fifth. I imagine it would've been a more down-to-earth affair - a natural response - as FYEO was after MR. Some consider the excellent EON to be his fifth entry.
Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
More seriously, P&W worked on scripts for CR while Brosnan was still officially Bond. These weren't abandoned, though naturally not all the elements of those scripts made it to the finished film.
Comments
As far as box office and longevity goes, I think the soft reboot for DC was the way to go. It brought the audience back in a huge way, just as Brosnan's GE did.
I think too many people feel the Bond franchise has been one more bad movie away from disappearing off the map. Some say if GE was not the success it was the Bond Franchise would be dead. Some say if CR wasn't a huge hit the Bond franchise would be dead. I disagree. I am not saying it wouldn't have had to fight an uphill battle at times, but I also dont think a 5th Brosnan film would have killed the franchise at all. DAD still almost tripled its budget. Bond has always fared well at the box office despite reviews, and does amazing at the box office with great reviews.
What?!?! Since when did we all agree that the Brosnan era scripts were completely off the rails? If they are so bad, how come they keep being recycled into the Craig era?
GE, TND, and TWINE are rock solid Bond films. DAD is mixed bag, but heck yes he should have done a 5th!
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
Thank you. Here's come the Brosnan Bashing...
"Better make that two."
Well, I just don't like to see a fair question, such as doing a 5th film, based on such a flawed premise.
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
I wish he had a far more grounded story than he ever got to have. No Bond film since LTK was allowed to be that personal, and even CR was beefed up tremendously, making the small story Fleming was going for almost a side-plot. He was a great actor for the part, but he was almost always saddled with action sequences.
More seriously, P&W worked on scripts for CR while Brosnan was still officially Bond. These weren't abandoned, though naturally not all the elements of those scripts made it to the finished film.