Showing posts with label Pierce Brosnan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pierce Brosnan. Show all posts

Thursday, December 4, 2025

James Bond Movie Review: **** Die Another Day (2002)

 James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) is really in for a ride, and it is not all good.  He starts by thwarting an arms deal, with diamonds for arms, but he blows up the diamonds into the face of Zao (Rick Yune) who works for Colonel Moon (Will Yun Lee) of North Korea, the son of General Moon (Kenneth Tsang).  He chases him on a boat and sees him go over a water fall.  He is presumed dead.  Bond was betrayed in this as the North Koreans were looking for him.


Bond comes upon the same diamonds in the Caribbean at a plastic surgery center where Zao is trying to have his face changed.  There Bond meets Jinx (Halle Berry) who is also after Zao.  Together they rouste him out but he gets away.  He is able to track the diamonds with their signature to Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens).  Graves is in Iceland where he runs an ice hotel.  

Bond pursues them to Iceland.  Miranda Frost  (Rosamund Pike) is ordered by M (Judi Dench) to go with him.  Q (John Cleese) arms him with a sonic watch and a really cool car that can be invisible.  Moneypenny (Samantha Bond) still is infatuated with Bond, who instead pursues other ladies.  

Graves in truth is Colonel Moon who has been altered via DNA change.  Frost is a double agent, resulting in Bond and Jinx being captured.  Graves has developed a satellite weapon using the sun.  It can cause great destruction.   Of course Bond gets away and with his special car comes back.  He is able to thwart Zao who drives his car into the ocean.  Graves has directed the weapon at the ice castle which is melting and causing flooding.  JInx is in the flood but Bond crashes the care into the castle to save her.  

As the weapon becomes known to the intelligence community the Americans try to blow it up with nuclear weapon.  However the weapon destroys the rocket.   It is left to Bond and Jinx to save the day.  There is a great scene where they fight on a plane, Jinx against Frost and Graves against Bond.  

Lots of action with chases and fights.  Very enjoyable.



Sunday, November 23, 2025

James Bond Movie: ****^ The World Is Not Enough (1999)

 James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) must save the world again.  This time from an oil heiress, Elektra King (Sophie Marceau); who has long schemed taking over her father's company.  And she manages this while making herself seem the victim.  She is helped in this by planning with Renard (Robert Carlisle) who is seen as the murderer of her father, and her enemy.  He kidnapped her when she was young, and M (Judi Dench) advised not to pay the ransom.  There is an addition to the Bond support staff.  In addition to Q (Desmond Llewelyn) there is R (John Cleese) his replacement in training.  Moneypenny (Samantha Bond) also provides support.  The men of Renard infiltrate a nuclear storage site and steal a bomb.  Here Bond meets nuclear scientist Dr. Christmas Jones (Denise Richards).  She becomes an ally and will play a key part in recovering nuclear material.  Bond is captured, and rescues by Valentin Zukovsky (Robbie Coltrane).  The goal of Renard and Elektra is to cause a nuclear submarine to have a melt down by using nuclear material they took from the bomb.  This will pollute Instanbul, and close the area to oil shipments; so they will all have to ship through Elektra's pipeline.  

I enjoyed this Bond episode more than most.  Lots of action.  It starts with a boat chase, but Bond is in a boat that also goes on land.  It also includes a balloon ride with Bond hanging off the bottom.  It includes gambling and torture


and lots of intrigue.


Saturday, November 15, 2025

James Bond Movie Review: ****^Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

 The Bond movies just keep getting bigger and. bigger.  James Bond is a tried and true formula.  Pierce Brosnan plays Bond in this movie.  The support cast are the same, M, Q, and Miss Moneypenny; as well as CIA agent Wade (Joe Don Baker).  

Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce) is working at being on top of the media world; even if he must create the story.  In this case the story is war between the Chinese and Britain, which he is manipulating into existence with a stealth boat in which he sinks a British frigate.  He also steals a cruise missile.  Stamper (Götz Otto) provides the muscle.  Helping Bond is Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh) of Chinese intelligence.  The make a very good team.  The key is making it so people can see the stealth boat.  Bond accomplishes this with a bomb on the ship, and Lin sabatoges the engines so the British can fire on the boat.

This movie is excellent.  I really like Yeoh as the Chinese spy.  The people fighting against Bond are very bad shots.  Great fun.




Tuesday, November 11, 2025

James Bond Movie: **** Goldeneye (1995)

 We have a new James Bond in Pierce Brosnan.  We also have the first woman M (Judi Dench), and a new actor play Miss Moneypenny (Samantha Bond).  Q is the same showing his gadgets.  Our villain turns out to be 006/ Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean), who appears to die at the beginning of the movie.  Trevelyan is helped by Xenia Onatopp (Famke Jansen) who has many methods of killing including a good squeeze.  She kills with sexualized passion.  For his part, Bond refuses to die.  He is helped by Natalya Simonova (Izabella Scorupco), who escaped alive from the first use of the Goldeneye satellite, which fries all electronics.  She worked at a satellite dish which was used to control the device, but then targeted.  This time financial markets will be the target allowing them to steal assets without being seen as the device will destroy all records.  Bond's job is to prevent this.  Jake Wade (Joe Don Baker) with th CIA helps.  Boris Grishenko (Alan Cumming) also helps Trevelyan as the inside computer geek who worked with Simonova.  

This movie has a chase scene, Bond in am army tank trying to rescue Simonova.  He runs over lots of car, and even puts the tank in front of a train for a spectacular collision.  

This movie continues the Bond fun and action.  There are plane crashes Bond walks away from, and lots of shooting.  And the effects of electrical pulses.  


Monday, September 15, 2025

James Bond Movies

Based on the novels by Ian Fleming.  Up to now there are 24 James Bond movies.  

**** Dr. No (1962) Sean Connery

**** From Russia with Love (1963) Sean Connery

**** Goldfinger (1964) Sean Connery

****^ Thunderfall (1965) Sean Connery

***^You Only Live Twice (1967) Sean Connery

***^On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)  George Lazenby

****Diamonds Are Forever (1971) Sean Connery

****Live and Let Die (1973) Roger Moore

****The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) Roger Moore

****^ The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) Roger Moore

****^ Moonraker (1979). Roger Moore in space

****^ For Your Eyes Only (1981) Roger Moore in Greece

****^Octopussy (1983) Roger Moore, Bond goes to the circus

***^ Never Say Never Again (1983). Sean Connery, recovery of two nuclear bombs

**** View to a Kill (1985) Roger Moore, dirigible chase over the Golden Gate Bridge

**** The Living Daylights (1987). Timothy Dalton as James Bond, 

**** License to Kill (1989). Timothy Dalton. Bond gets revenge for his friend

**** Goldeneye (1995) Pierce Brosnan  006 vs 007

****^ Tomorrow Never Dies (1997). Pierce Brosnan vs a media company

****^ The World Is Not Enough (1999). Pierce Brosnan vs a wealthy oil heiress who he thought was an ally

**** Die Another Day (2002). Pierce Brosnan as Bond against the North Koreans in Iceland.

**** Casino Royale (2006) Daniel Craig. First book, gambling and torture

**** Quantum of Solace (2008) Daniel Craig in Bolivia

****^ Skyfall  (2012) Daniel Craig. agains Silva who is gunning for M

****James Bond Spectre (2015) Daniel Craig. Bond unravels Sceptre and Blofeld is captured

***** No Time To Die (2021) Daniel Craig.  Bond and the new 007 attack an island


Not part of the franchise

*** Casino Royale (1954). Made for TV movie.  Barry Nelson as Jimmy Bond

^ Casino Royale David Niven. A poor attempt at comedy

Sunday, April 20, 2025

In Theaters: ****King of Kings (2025)

King of Kings: A Story Told by Charles Dickens.

This is an animated portrayal of the life of Jesus.   It is very appropriate for Easter season.  It is told through the eyes of Charles Dickens, who had written this story for his children.  In this telling it is used as a way for Charles and Walter to come together after Walter behaved poorly at a public telling by DIckens of The Christmas Carol.  Walter is obsessed with King Arthur, so Dickens tells him of the King of Kings.  And shows that Kings do not always need swords.  

This movie does a good job of portraying the life of Jesus.  However inserting Walter and Charles Dickens and the cat into the scenes is sometimes a little obnoxious.

Pierce Brosnan

Tuesday, February 8, 2022

The King's Daughter: Movie Review

 I haven't done many movie reviews as of lat; but this movie hit me in a special way.  The major theme of the movie is science vs the clergy.  Should we let science be the controlling factor in our decisions.  He have heard Anthony Fauci say he is the science.  Somehow this puts him above everyone else; and I think he is saying that his ideas should trump all.  However this movie points out that science without ethics is doomed.  In Mr. Fauci we see evidence of this.  He has funding for the torturing of animals.  He may have funded the Chinese to take a virus and upgrade that virus.  The emails are pointing more and more towards this.  he emails also point to his using his influence to naysay those who proposed the virus came from a Chinese lab.  This now looks the most plausible cause.  Fauci's claiming he is science really irked me and it seems like a very slippery slope.

This movie is good.  Should science be allowed to kill a mermaid so as to grant immortality to the king and guarantee there will always be a strong leader.  There are lots of problem on that slope, especially when the King's daughter befriends the mermaid.  

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Movie Review: ***Seraphim Falls (2006)

This movie stars Pierce Brosnan as Gideon and Liam Neeson as Carver.  Carver holds a grudge against Gideon as the result of a decision he made during the Civil War, in which he had the barn of Carver burned.  The fire got out of control, and jumped to the house, where the baby was sleeping.  Carver's baby perishes, as does his wife and another child as they try to rescue the baby.  Carvers determination to get even is what drives this movie.
The movie starts in the beautiful Ruby Mountains of Nevada.  The sneak attack Gideon, but although wounded he gets away.  He uses a water fall and heavy river to assist him in his get away.  (I don't know of so much water in the Ruby Mountains, except perhaps in the spring.  They eventually get to the Nevada deserts, as they travel towards Carson City.
Gideon is quite the warrior, and is known for killing people with his knife.  Carver is bent on gaining his revenge.  This movie heads to a show down--which does not end how you think it will end.

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Movie Review: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

I previously reviewed the movie, and it wasn't my favorite.  I was having difficulty seeing the monsters I guess.  I like the movie better than the book by Rick Riordan. 
http://mmboebillywardle.blogspot.com/2013/07/book-review-lightning-thief.html
The monsters are there in the open, and so much easier to see.  I also like the sparks between Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) and Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario).  Pierce Brosnan has a side roll as Chiron, teacher/ protector as is a centaur.  Turns out Jackson is the son of Poseidon.  He has been protected his entire life by a friend Grover (Brandon T. Jackson) who is actually a satyr, and disguises his features with crutches.  Jackson is accused of stealing Zeus lightning bolt, and must recover it somehow.  At the same time, Hades has taken his mother, who will be put to death if he doesn't deliver the bolt.  They are set on adventures to get the necessary bubbles that will help them leave the realm of the dead, so they can rescue Jackson's mother.  They face Medusa, and a resort where if you drink the free drinks, you lose track of time and reason for being.
This is a fun ride.  Lots of interesting special effects.  Although there are some intense situations, including the battle with Medusa, there is plenty to enjoy here.