The Foreigner (2017) – Martin Campbell

Martin Campbell seems to be a hit or miss director, and you have to wonder if it’s his choice of projects. I love his work with the Bond franchise, and I quite enjoyed his take on Zorro. But I also remember how much I hated Vertical Limit and (of course) Green Lantern. Pairing him up…

The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) – John McTiernan

At the height of his James Bond run, Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo teamed up with director John McTiernan to deliver a vastly entertaining remake of the Steve McQueen classic, The Thomas Crown Affair. What the film delivers is a bold, sexy tale. I hadn’t watched this one in years, and I forgot how solid,…

The Lawnmower Man – Director’s Cut (1992) – Brett Leonard

I remember when The Lawnmower Man came out. Me and some pals from school went to take it in, and we all came out disappointed. There was some potential there, but it didn’t seem to work, and didn’t really entertain. The big draw for me and the guys was the fact that it was based…

The World is Not Enough (1999) Raymond Benson

Raymond Benson’s next Bond story was the adaptation of the Pierce Brosnan film, The World is Not Enough. It doesn’t differ too much from what ended up onscreen, but because it’s the written word, it allows one to recast the film, and I happily eject Denise Richards as Christmas Jones from the movie in my…

Live at Five (1999) – Raymond Benson

007 is back. Raymond Benson wrote a short story, just in time for the premiere of The World is Not Enough. It was published in TV Guide and gives a brief glimpse of a Cold War defection that James Bond was involved in. Set in the United States following a botched attempt in London, Bond…

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) – Raymond Benson

Raymond Benson’s second 007 novel was an adaptation of the second Pierce Brosnan film, Tomorrow Never Dies. And while he seems to have some trouble adapting some of the more over the top action beats of the film, his take on the story actually works really well, and is one of the strongest film adaptations…

GoldenEye (1995) – John Gardner

John Gardner’s penultimate 007 novel is a short, uninspired adaptation of the 1995 film, GoldenEye which saw Pierce Brosnan finally step into the shoes of James Bond. I’m not sure if Gardner was simply tired of writing Bond books at this point, or if he was less than impressed with the film’s script and was…

Die Another Day (2002) – Lee Tamahori

Pierce Brosnan returns for his fourth and final outing in Die Another Day, the 20th canon James Bond film. Directed by Lee Tamahori, the milestone film is a bit of a fumble on the part of the writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade as they throw in tons of visual nods and references to previous…

The World is Not Enough (1999) – Michael Apted

Pierce Brosnan’s third outing as Ian Fleming’s James Bond is the next 007 film for me to view following my reading of For Your Eyes Only, having previously reviewed all the preceding 007 films to that point. This one is a mixed bag as it has perhaps the worst female lead casting for a Bond…