VITAL STATS
DOB: 16 May 1953
Height: 6ft 1”
Eyes: Blue
Age When Cleared For Duty: 42
CASES
GoldenEye (1995)
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
The World Is Not Enough (1999)
Die Another Day (2002)
DISTINGUISHING FEATURE
The first Bond since Connery to nail the right mix of witty charm and ruthless nastiness when needed.
FAVOURITE REQUISITIONS FROM Q
● Grenade disguised as a pen
● X-ray glasses
● Belt with built-in grappling hook and cable
VEHICLES
BMW Z3 Roadster equipped with ejector seat, missiles and radar system (GoldenEye). Q Boat equipped with rocket propulsion, missiles and machine guns (The World Is Not Enough). Aston Martin V12 Vanquish equipped with rockets, computer-targeted guns, spiked tires and the ability to become – a bit of a push, this – invisible (Die Another Day).
BOND GIRLS: 10
Favourites A two-way tie between fellow spies Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh, Tomorrow Never Dies) and Jinx (Halle Berry, Die Another Day).
CRIMINAL MASTERMINDS
Nothing lets Brosnan’s movies down as badly as the villains. When Sean Bean’s spy traitor Trevelyan from GoldenEye is the best of the lot, something’s wrong.
HENCHMEN
Xenia Onotopp (Famke Janssen, GoldenEye) heads a decent list also boasting diamond-acne-ed killer Zao (Rick Yune, Die Another Day) and urbane master of murder. Dr Kaufman (Vincent Schiavelli, Tomorrow Never Dies).
IN ACTION
A bungee jump from the world’s highest dam is the best, but Brosnan’s tux time also saw 007 diving into airplanes and ploughing a tank through the middle of a Russian city (all in GoldenEye).
00 ASSESSMENT: 74 CONFIRMED KILLS
Favourites Crushing Xenia Onotopp (“She always did enjoy a good squeeze” – GoldenEye); mangling a bad guy in a printing press (“They’ll print anything these days” – Tomorrow Never Dies); blowing away former lover Elektra King (“You wouldn’t kill me, you’d miss me.” “I never miss” – The World Is Not Enough).
BEFORE BOND
Was married to Cassandra Harris, from For Your Eyes Only.
AFTER BOND
Has a sequel to The Thomas Crown Affair in development.
SURVEILLANCE TRANSCRIPT
Bond “You were pretty good with that hook.”
Wai Lin “Thanks. It comes from growing up in a rough neighborhood. You were pretty good on the bike.”
Bond “Thank you. It comes from not growing up at all.” (Tomorrow Never Dies)
