Bond is like your mom's meatloaf. You know exactly what you're going to get and you come back for more. Plus the self contained story. You don't have to remember anything about the others to enjoy it.

For me Bond will always be Pierce Brosnan. Looks that part. Sounds the part. He is Bond.

Agreed, I still don't like Craig as Bond.

The character is someone that every man want to imagine himself as (attractive, cocksure, resourceful, witty, unflappable) and every woman would like to be with. Kids dig the gadgets and action.
It's the definition of a four quadrant property.

And the comfort food analogy is apt too.

This makes it sound like "Bond...James Bond. And this is my second cousin, Craig Bond. He works at MI6 in the mailroom."

I like that essay.

I like how you're essentially bragging about being able to see the formulaic, mechanical nature of the movies yet you also reveal that it took you 14 movies to figure it out.

Bravo.

ha.

No, it took me about 6 of them in my early teens when I still did not have the greatest taste in films to figure it out. I have not seen all of the first 14 Bond film.
I had seen some of the Connery films and some of the Moore films in the 70's & 80's. I have not seen a Bond film in almost 30 years. But thanks for assuming.

'Taste in films' is such a joke. Watch what gives you pleasure. Bond films, Criterions, Rugrats movies, it's all 99% crap, or the opposite.

I think a good part of the reason for the longevity of the series is the quality control they maintained over the years. The title sequences, music, stunts, cinematography, exotic locales--not too many areas where a Bond film was really sub-par in relation to the then-current state of filmmaking.

I don't agree with this at all. Of all of the Bond actors he's probably the furthest (except maybe Moore) from the character's literary origins. He certainly looks the least like the character as described by Fleming. He also doesn't do a great job of hiding his Irish accent at times, so he defintiely doesn't sound like Bond should sound either. I'll add that I'm saying this as someone who was 15 when Goldeneye came out. Brosnan was "my" Bond. However as the years go by, he falls further and further down my list. Catch me on the right day and I might even argue that he was the worst Bond.

Out of curiosity, is there anyone not between the ages of, say, 25 and 35 who thinks Brosnan is the best?

I'm 28 and don't really care much for Brosnan as Bond. I like him in general as an actor but find that most of his Bond films haven't really held up. Honestly my personal favorite Bond has always been Timothy Dalton. I think he's extremely underrated in the role and wish he would have gotten to play the part more than twice. I like Craig a lot too and Connery is obviously classic.

As somebody who has been a fan of Bond films for years, I don't give a shit how faithful they are to the books.

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I don't really care about that either. I was just commenting on Jack Straw's post that Brosnan looked and sounded like "Bond." For something to look and sound like something there has to be some sort of baseline. All I'm saying is Brosnan's Bond really only looks and sounds like Brosnan's Bond. There isn't much there to tie him to the original literary (or cinematic for that matter) conception of the character. Now if we're talking subjective ideas of what the character is or isn't, then that's another story. From my experience, the Bond era in which one grows up is most common factor in how one perceives the character. That's why I asked if anyone who grew up outside the Brosnan era actually considers him to be the best.

Point taken.

Gotcha, well I don't disagree. I'm 29, Goldeneye was the first Bond movie I saw in the theaters. I feel like Brosnan has the best balance of charm and badassery. Craig is just so miserable, I like my Bond to be able to have a bit of fun.

Maybe not best, but a lot of older people see him as the second coming of Sean Connery. I remember my parents being so hyped about Remington Steele playing Bond -- in fact, I think that's one of the main reasons so many people at the time hated Dalton, because he took the role from Brosnan.

Brosnan is not my favorite Bond but he is a great Bond. He is the perfect combination of the two best Bonds. The tough, brutish sexiness of Connery and the super handsome looks of Moore.

Problem is (with the exception of Goldeneye) they didn't give him any good movies to be in.

I agree. They know and respect their brand. Plus, each movie is it's own story. Sure, there are fragments that float from film to film but you never feel like you've been robbed of part of the story. They're not planning a trilogy and that's key. I'm personally tired of having to wait a year or two to see how things wrap up. I just want to go to the movies and have a good time and Bond delivers that.

Yep. Brosnan had all the qualities to be the best Bond, and outside of Goldeneye he had terrible scripts with forgettable villains/henchmen. He also fell into the time period in which CGI was taking over, but was still not that great.

Thanks, added on Netflix and will check out.

I guess I just don't see the tough, brutish side of Brosnan. It shows up a handful of times over his four films (I'd say The World is Not Enough is his best performance), but never with any sort of regularity. The same could be said about Moore, but his Bond pretty much existed in his own silly little world that worked great for his personality. I'd agree that had his movies been better, my overall opinion of Brosnan might be higher.

No matter what one's opinion is though, this conversation does sort of drive home the point of Abob Teff's earlier comment. The fascination with who's going to be the next Bond and how he compares with the others is absolutely part of why the series has had such a long life.

Sadly, his movies come off as cheesy as Moore's stint as Bond these days. Have you watched GoldenEye recently? It comes close to being camp. I'll take Dalton and Craig any day over Brosnan and Moore.