The U.S. never really embraced Dalton. Americans wanted Brosnan for the part ever since Remington Steele and from 1986 onward. Not sure the rest of the world was that opinionated about it.
As a youth, I loved it when Tanya Roberts was cast but wished she stayed a redhead for the part. Now I acknowledge her as possibly the worst actress as a leading Bond girl (how does one not hear a blimp sneaking up on you?!) Denise Richards generated buzz when she was cast. Alas, it did not go well. They’ve done much better casting women for the Craig movies, although Izabella Scorupco is one of my favorites.
One thing I thought was interesting is that Brosnan was saddled with an American actress as one of the Bond girls three out of four films. And three in a row at that.
Of the three I like Teri Hatcher best. I was a big fan of hers from “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.” At the time I was disappointed she had such a small role. I remember it being pretty hyped up when the film was coming out. Of course I speak from an American TV perspective. I’m sure Michelle Yeoh was hyped up for the Asian market.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Daniel makes it through five films without an American Bond girls. We’ll see.
Agreed, though there was at least one exception of the rule in Brosnan era. Make-up and dressing teams did a really good job with Izabella Scorupco who actually did look like Eastern block female computer scientist would look like in early 90s. In fact, Scorupco is (or was) more attractive in a real life than in GoldenEye.
She wasn’t particulary good actress either, but that’s a different issue.
She mostly does Scandinavian tv. The only other other major film I can think of that done she’s done was Martin Campbell’s Vertical Limit. She also did Reign of Fire apparently.
Of the recent Bond girls I think Rosamund Pike has had the most success. Die Another Day was her first film and she’s now an Oscar nominated actress who’s appeared opposite a number of big stars.
Michelle Yeoh has continued a strong career, and Hallie Berry did fine till Catwoman. THAT was a career killer. Fact she’s worked at all since is a miracle. I think the curse thing ignores that many of the actresses didn’t have strong careers before Bond. Those who did continued with them. Rosumand Pike and Jane Seymour are the only two I can think of where they got their career from Bond.
Gemma Arterton and Olga Kurylenko have been successful as a result of Quantum of Solace. Though, Berenice Marlohe only recently has seen more acting. It took 3 years after Skyfall for her to appear in anything.
They both had careers pre-Bond, and very much continued with them, much like most Bond leading ladies, they tend to go back to what they were doing once they’ve done Bond.
I rewatched this one yesterday and I feel like my opinion of it changed again. Honestly, its the one Bond film that my opinion seems to change about everytime I watch it. I still see rank it 3 out of 4 for Brosnan, but I didn’t scoff at it as before. I think the biggest criticism I would give it is that it doesn’t really feel like a Brosnan Bond film. It feels more like a 90s Dalton film. Bond is more serious, but it is undermined by Brosnan not being able to hold a British accent throughout. Christmas Jones isn’t really all that bad. I can live with Denise Richards. No she’s not a great actress, but Bond girls aren’t cast based on their acting prowess. She is certainly better than some characters: Holly Goodhead, Mary Goodnight, Stacey Sutton cringe, Jinx, Paris Carver, etc. Richards does actually bring emotion to the scenes, unlike say, Lois Chiles. She doesn’t say any groan-inducing lines like Halle Berry. She doesn’t constantly scream for Bond to save her like Tanya Roberts (okay, she does do it once, but not constantly). The locations of the film are different, but not the most exciting. I’m not sure many people are clamoring for films set in Azerbaijan or the desert in Kazakhstan. Overall, a solid middle of the road Bond film, not great, but not terrible.
I think the DAD hate is overblown. There’s so much to like about that first half. The second half gets smashed by people, but really it comes down to the invisible Vanquish, the Icarus beam and the ice wave.
If the second half is guilty of anything, it’s letting their imagination and creativity go wild. They were thinking big and extravagant, like the concept of the Ice Palace, which I do like.
The ice wave CGI is poor, but I think the concept is pure Bond. They created a Bondian situation that couldn’t be performed in real life, much like Indiana Jones getting into a fridge to survive a nuclear blast. Hokey? Sure. But it’s in the tradition of ‘how on Earth is he going to escape THIS?’. I can at least admire that.
My stance on DAD has softened somewhat in the 15+ years since it’s release. The second half of the film is certainly absurd, too much CGI, too much Jinx, not enough plot. But the villain is fairly decent and it is certainly exciting and fun, despite being way too ridiculous. I think it really just didn’t use its locations very well. There was nothing about the Iceland sequence that screamed Iceland. Having it set in the middle of the glacier does nothing for it as it could’ve really been set anywhere there is ice. I still think Jinx is just terrible. She is more than a little annoying and has terrible dialogue. Halle Berry is completely wasted in the role. As I said, I prefer Christmas Jones to Jinx. Lee Tamahori’s directing also really ruined a lot of it. Though, I don’t mind shutting my brain off to watch this.