The Pierce Brosnan era of James Bond movies is a delightfully celebrated era of the franchise. From the dark and realistic (as well as beloved) GoldenEye to the spectacle that is Die Another Day. The four Pierce Brosnan films all left an impact on fans both old and new.
As is the case with most Bond films, each movie of the Brosnan era provides different tones, styles, and directions. This in return creates many fun facts that appear both behind the camera and in front.
Brosnan Was Always The First Choice
GoldenEye may have been where Pierce Brosnan debuted as James Bond but he was eyed for the role way before. Originally, Pierce Brosnan was approached for the role in The Living Daylights. However, since Brosnan was too busy with Remington Steele, he was forced to decline the role.
This led to Timothy Dalton's darker, more serious, and underrated James Bond films. In an ironic twist, GoldenEye was originally written for Dalton's Bond; but the studio wanted Pierce Brosnan so badly that they replaced Dalton for GoldenEye.
Famke Janssen Was Injured
In GoldenEye, Famke Janssen played the femme fatale henchwoman Xenia Onatopp. While everyone snickers at her name, some might be surprised to know that Famke was wounded during a stunt.
During the fight in the spa, Famke insisted that the stunts be as realistic as possible. So that was actually her being slammed from wall to wall. As a result, Brosnan accidentally broke one of her ribs despite the padded walls. At least the scene came out looking great.
The Longest Pre-Title Sequence
It's a long-running tradition to have quite the adrenaline pumping opening before the credits begin. The third Pierce Brosnan film, The World Is Not Enough, took this tradition to the highest of levels. A big escape to MI6 was already quite the start but that is only the beginning.
Just when it begins to calm down, it starts a new chase with Bond riding a high-tech across the Thames. Finally, after wounding his shoulder and the culprit escapes, it transitions into the title sequence. Over fourteen minutes long, making it the longest pre-title sequence to this day.
Blink And Miss Gerard Butler
Before he was famous for films like The Phantom Of The Opera and 300, Gerard Butler's second-ever acting role was in Tomorrow Never Dies. It's very easy to miss him but in a split second role: Gerard Butler plays a naval officer on a ship that gets destroyed by Elliot Carver.
It's difficult to even tell that it is him since his character is in the shadows. However, it's impossible to miss that Scottish voice of his.
A Spinoff Almost Happened
By all accounts, Die Another Day was a disaster. However, it does have a stand-out Bond girl in the form of Jinx played by Halle Berry. There's a good reason why she was a stand-out: because she was going to be the first Bond girl to get her own spinoff film.
Due to budgetary reasons and the critical responses to Die Another Day, Halle Berry's film was canceled. It's okay, she would later star in a different spinoff movie known as Catwoman.
Not Ian Fleming's Story
Up until that point, every James Bond film had been based on a story by Ian Fleming in some way. Even if they took liberties, they were still based on the creator of Bond's work.
That changed with GoldenEye: it was the first to be a completely original Bond story. This would be the beginning as more original James Bond movies and games would be made in the future. Even Daniel Craig's Bond movies stop following the books after Casino Royale.
Tomorrow Never Dies Production Hell
Most film productions run into a speed bump here and there, nothing manageable. Then there are films like Tomorrow Never Dies which ninety-degree drops off the road in terms of production. From the scripts being written and rewritten on the fly; even down to the script not being finished when filming began.
Jonathan Pryce and Teri Hatcher were upset with their roles due to accepting when it was a very different script. This is why the director Roger Spottiswoode declined to return to direct the third film.
Repurposed GoldenEye Scenes
With big franchises, it's not uncommon to see scrapped scene ideas from previous movies return in future movies. The Jurassic Park/World series practically thrives using scrapped script ideas.
With Robbie Coltrane's Zukovsky, some dialogue in The World Is Not Enough was from lost scenes for GoldenEye. The giant fight against the helicopter with a buzzsaw was another lost scene from GoldenEye.
The First Bond Villainess
There had been plenty of henchwomen working for the main villain in the past. However, The World Is Not Enough was the first Bond film to introduce a main female antagonist. Providing a more personal battle for James Bond, Elektra King is one of the most underrated Bond villains.
There's a tragedy to the villain as Bond really loves her. Unfortunately, King is psychotic and commits horrible atrocities. It leads to a great story arc for James Bond. Unfortunately, Elektra King remains the only female villain in the series.
Botched First Scene
To celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of GoldenEye, fans could experience a watch party with Pierce Brosnan himself. He did it for Esquire and provides several great stories and anecdotes. In one, he reveals that the very first scene filmed was screwed up on the first take.
Due to a still-healing injury at the time, Pierce Brosnan was unable to hold his prop gun properly. His pinky finger kept extending so he had his finger taped down with a Band-Aid to get the scene right.