By Jesse Schedeen With the release of The November Man this week, Pierce Brosnan returns to a genre he does particularly well - espionage. Between the James Bond franchise and films like The Tailor of Panama, Brosnan has a knack for playing suave men of action caught up in games of intrigue and murder.

To celebrate Brosnan's return, we're taking a look at his best espionage movies. To be clear, this isn't a list of Brosnan's best action movies in general. We left off films like Matador (where he played a hit man), Live Wire (where he played an FBI agent), and Remington Steele (which isn't a film at all). This list is dedicated solely to those films where espionage is the name of the game.

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7. Die Another Day

 

Die Another Day is the 20th entry in the James Bond franchise. It was also Brosnan's last go at playing Agent 007. By this point, Bond mania was waning again as newer, flashier spy movies like xXx were hitting the scene. MGM faced an uphill battle in trying to revamp Bond again and allow a 40-year-old franchise to keep pace with the new kids on the block.

To an extent, they were successful. Die Another Day injected an extra dose of darkness into Bond's world, with the opening scenes finding Bond betrayed, framed, and subjected to brutal torture in a North Korean prison. Bond's quest became as much about redemption and revenge as it did saving the world. But Die Another day suffered from an over-reliance on gadgets and flashy CGI effects, most of which weren't terribly convincing even in 2002, much less by today's standards.

Audiences responded well enough to the new approach, as Die Another Day became the highest-grossing entry in the series at the time. The movie offered a rough outline of how to modernize Bond for the 21st Century, but it would take a reboot and a new star before the process really worked.

6. Tomorrow Never Dies

 

After making a flashy debut as James Bond in GoldenEye, Brosnan's sophomore outing wasn't quite as memorable. Brosnan's usual charm and humanity were still evident, but Tomorrow Never Dies lacked the personal conflict and sense of excitement of its predecessor. In many ways, it was a paint-by-numbers Bond film (which isn't the worst thing in the world, mind you).

Tomorrow Never Dies had its fair share of exciting action sequences and globe-trotting adventure. It also had a great Bond girl in Michelle Yeoh's Wai Lin, one who could hold her own on a physical and intellectual level.

Passenger Disembarking

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5. The World is Not Enough

When Bond fans think of The World is Not Enough, they tend to gravitate towards Denise Richards' character, a nuclear physicist named Dr. Christmas Jones. And while Dr. Jones ranks among the worst Bond Girls in the series, there's plenty else to like about Brosnan's third appearance as Agent 007.

Echoing the more recent Skyfall, The World Is Not Enough offered a meatier role for Judi Dench's M, as she became the target of heiress Elektra King (Sophie Marceau) and the assassin Renard (Robert Carlyle). Renard's gimmick came from the fact that a bullet wound made him impervious to pain and fatigue. That made him a great foil to Brosnan's Bond, who was starting to show his age by this point.

The World is Not Enough was unusually plot-driven as far as Bond films go. That was a source of disappointment for some, but it did make the big action sequences stand out all the more when they did occur.
 

4. The Fourth Protocol

 

A decade before Brosnan finally got his chance to play James Bond, he appeared on the opposite end of the espionage spectrum as the villain in The Fourth Protocol. And if this film proved anything, it's that Brosnan could have been a great Bond villain as well as a great Bond.

Based on the Frederick Forsyth novel, The Fourth Protocol involves a Soviet spy named Valeri

Petrofsky (Brosnan) being sent to England with the goal of detonating a makeshift nuclear weapon at an American military base. This violation of the international "Fourth Protocol" would cause new tensions between Britain and America and reignite the Cold War. Standing in Petrofsky's way is MI5 agent John Preston (Michael Caine). Stuck in the tail end of a waning career, Preston lacks the resources and credibility to respond to Petrofsky's plan, but he perseveres anyway.

The premise behind The Fourth Protocol was admittedly pretty far-fetched. But the movie is anchored by great performances from both Brosnan and Caine. And this film may be the closest we'll ever get to a crossover between the James Bond and Harry Palmer franchises.

3. The Tailor of Panama

 

The Tailor of Panama could be viewed as a satire of the spy movie genre and the intelligence community in general. It's as much a black comedy as it is a grim tale of espionage and politics. And if anyone is going to poke fun at spycraft, it's John le Carre (who both wrote the original novel and the screenplay for this film).

Brosnan plays MI6 agent Andrew Osnard, stuck in a dead-end field position in a post-Noriega Panama after sleeping with a foreign minister's wife. In other words, the inevitable future version of James Bond himself. When Osnard meets a well-connected tailor named Harold Pendel (Geoffrey Rush), he finds an opportunity to get back in the game by using Pendel to spy on various government agents. Pendel's wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) finds herself caught in the middle of their increasingly disastrous relationship.

In addition to being smartly written and suspenseful, The Tailor of Panama features a great dynamic between Brosnan's suave, scheming spy and Rush's bumbling, overly ambitious tailor.

2. The Ghost Writer

 

The Ghost Writer may not seem like an espionage film at first glance. Here, Brosnan plays a former British Prime Minister rather than a spy. But with a plot involving secret CIA operations, kidnapping, and murder, it has all the qualifications it needs.

The Ghost Writer is based on Robert Harris' novel The Ghost and stars Ewan McGregor as a nameless writer hired to help finish the memoirs of former Prime Minister Adam Lang (heavily inspired by Tony Blair). Almost immediately, Lang becomes the subject of international controversy when he's accused of illegally arresting terrorism suspects and turning them over to be tortured by the CIA during his tenure. As McGregor's writer digs into his troubling assignment, he learns that his predecessor may have been murdered for getting too close to the truth.

The Ghost Writer greatly benefits from both Roman Polanski's smart direction and the haunting score from Alexandre Desplat. Polanski weaves the story into an engrossing, suspenseful thriller. And Brosnan proves once again that his true calling in the espionage genre may be as the villain rather than the hero.

1. GoldenEye

 

By the mid-'90s, the James Bond franchise had definitely seen better days. GoldenEye ended a six-year drought of Bond movies, introducing a new Bond (Brosnan), a new M (Judi Dench), and forcing the suave secret agent to find his place in a post-Cold War political landscape.

Brosnan's Bond always worked because he was able to blend the best elements of previous performances. He had the charm and aura of danger of Sean Connery's Bond, as well as the lighthearted air and self-awareness of Roger Moore's Bond. Brosnan's Bond had vulnerability, a quality that was never put to better use than in GoldenEye. The film's villain (played by Sean Bean) is a former 00 agent gone rogue, giving Bond a more personal conflict to contend with.
Between Brosnan's effective performance and the engaging direction of Martin Campbell (who would go on to reinvigorate the franchise a second time with Casino Royale), GoldenEye was just the shot in the arm Bond needed.

Honorable Mention - Detonator I & II

 

In between the period when Brosnan lost the James Bond role to Timothy Dalton due to his Remington Steele commitments and when he finally played Bond in GoldenEye, Brosnan played the lead role in these two films based on Alistair MacLean's novels. Detonator involves a dissident Russian general (Christopher Lee) trying to re-start the Cold War by placing a nuclear warhead on a train in Iraq and forcing the Russian army to invade and recover it. Only UNACO field agents Mike Graham (Brosnan) and Sabrina Carver (Alexandra Paul) stand a chance of halting the general's plot. The sequel began with a simple art theft that eventually escalated into an international conflict involving North Korea.

She can't tell if that's Pierce Brosnan or Tom Selleck.

Both Detonator I and II appeared as direct-to-TV films, so they don't really have the production values or tightly-woven plots to compete with the rest of the films on this list. But they do offer an interesting glimpse at a pre-Bond Brosnan playing the spy hero. The dynamic between Brosnan and Paul also elevates both films. And if nothing else, Brosnan's facial hair in Detonator II has to be seen to be believed.

For Bond fans who were monitoring the week by week rumours and drama that occupied the long gap between "Die Another Day" (2002) and its eventual successor "Casino Royale" (2006) four years later, a common thread that wove itself through the drawn out pre-production of Daniel Craig's debut was Quentin Tarantino and his quest to direct a Bond movie. It was easily written off as hot air and tabloid fodder by many at the time, but the film's director Martin Campbell has now confirmed that Tarantino was in play, and even bid on the film rights.

Campbell explained the backstory to the 21st Bond film to the Daily Express newspaper, “Casino Royale was not going to be the next film. They were developing another [original] script but then, after a long battle, the Broccoli's suddenly got the film rights to the first Bond novel Casino Royale, despite Quentin Tarantino bidding against them." Tarantino went public in 2004 stating a desire to make "Casino Royale" a period piece, set in the 1960's, with Pierce Brosnan in the lead role. After being shot down as a directorial prospect by EON Productions, it is now revealed that Tarantino tried to secure the rights to the book himself. Ian Fleming's first novel was not included in the original deal struck by EON Productions founders Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman. This omission lead to the 1967 spoof film starring David Niven. Campbell continued, “The script being developed was an original story in which James Bond isn’t the character we know today but someone younger and more screwed up. Pierce Brosnan was getting on for 49 or something, and clearly too old to play the younger Bond so they decided to go in a different direction.”

Above: Director Quentin Tarantino is now considering a rival spy franchise.

As for Tarantino, he is still upset at losing out on the chance to put his stamp on the Bond franchise, saying: “It would have been my James Bond film and not a Cubby Broccoli Bond film and I would have done it with Pierce Brosnan.” He continues to claim that, if it were not for him making the suggestion, "Casino Royale" would not have been filmed as the 21st adventure.

After introducing two new actors to the role of James Bond, Campbell says he is not considering a return for a third film as director, despite being offered the job. “It is always the same story about Bond stopping a nutcase taking over the world and you can only blow up a control room so many times," he said. But despite his simplified view of the repeated formula, he thinks there are many more years in the spy yet. “These movies are hugely entertaining, full of action, humour, international locations and beautiful people while the character of James Bond is so sexy and stylish that everyone wants to be him. That is why the Bond movies have lasted and it is why they will continue to thrive.”

Quentin Tarantino - 007 Timeline

April 2004 - Goes public with Casino Royale desires
"I don't see that they have anything to lose at all," Tarantino said in an interview. "They've got this gigantic franchise, they can't do anything wrong with it. Pierce Brosnan's only going to do one more movie for them, if that, so if he stayed on to do one more with me, let's just this one year go my way and do it a little differently. I won't do anything that will ruin the series." Tarantino felt there was only "a thin chance" that he would win the project, and said he would concede to update the 1952 novel for the present day. "If I owned the material, I would set it in the '60s, but I'm sure I'd have to do it now."

May 2004 - Offers the role to Pierce Brosnan
Quentin Tarantino continued to talk about Bond in Cannes where he is president of the film festival jury. "I've always wanted to do it. I bumped into Pierce Brosnan and we talked about it. He liked the idea," said Tarantino. With Brosnan giving Tarantino his support earlier this month for his idea of Bond on a smaller scale, Tarantino is left only to convince the producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. "I don't know if they're going to go for it or not, but I'm letting them know I'm interested. I would like to do the original book 'Casino Royale' and do it more or less the way the Ian Fleming book is". 

May 2004 - Bond girl
Uma Thurman would play Vesper Lynd if Tarantino directs his vision for Casino Royale

May 2004 - Pierce Brosnan confirms Brosnan told reporters, "Quentin and I met and he is a huge Bond fan. He wants to remake Casino Royale. I don't know if it's ever going to happen. What Tarantino would bring to the film is life, and just a great sense of excitement and danger, and the perspective of a film-maker who has really made people sit up and watch his movies. He's got a cutting edge, which we got with the last Bond film, Die Another Day - with Lee Tamahori's sense of flair. Someone like Quentin would be magnificent." August 2004 - Takes his campaign to television Tarantino appeared on the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and talked extensively about his desire to direct a James Bond film. He appeared very excited about the idea of directing a film based on "Casino Royale". He was quick to mention that he was the one that fueled a lot of the "directing rumors", but he said it's really up to the fans, and they should voice that they want him.  October 2004 - Pierce Brosnan officially confirms he will not play James Bond for a fifth film.

November 2004 - Brosnan reveals Producers turned Tarantino idea down
Pierce Brosnan told the New York Times what happened to the Quentin Tarantino "Casino Royale" idea. "I went to them and asked about making "Casino Royale," which is the first Ian Fleming book. I had hooked up with Quentin Tarantino, who wanted to direct the movie. On the fifth apple martini one evening, he mentioned "Casino Royale," which is the blueprint for the psyche of Bond, and I took that idea to the Broccoli family, who produce the Bond movies. They have a way of doing the films, and they are not open to discussion -- they threw my idea out the window. They said they wanted to go in a new direction. But they've probably done me a great favor. I can now concentrate on other roles."

February 2005 - EON Production confirms the 21st James Bond film will be "Casino Royale".

March 2005 - Tarantino says idea is killed
Speaking at the Empire awards in London Tarantino said: "I would have liked to do Casino Royale with Pierce Brosnan. But once I heard Brosnan isn't going to be doing any more Bond films, that killed it as far as I was concerned. Over the course of time he's really proven himself to me as the James Bond for this generation." 

October 2005 - Brosnan confused about losing 007
Whilst promoting "The Matador", Brosnan told reporters that he was still clueless about why he lost the gig. "They said I wanted too much money, which is nonsense." A more likely explanation is his attempt to give the movies an edge. "I really wanted Quentin Tarantino to direct the next one, and Quentin wanted to do it. I think that scared the producers." 

October 2005 - Daniel Craig is confirmed as the sixth actor to play 007/

November 2006 - Casino Royale opens in theatres around the world to box-office records.

September 2007 - Tarantino criticizes Bond producers

Quentin Tarantino again criticized the makers of Casino Royale for going ahead with the movie without his input. In an interview with Total Film, Tarantino said he was so upset that he hasn't even watched the movie. "I never saw Casino Royale because I was so mad at those guys.They should have talked to me about it. They said publicly that Casino Royale was unfilmable, but the minute I said I would do Casino Royale, it's on all the websites and it is the film that people want to see. They should have said thank you."

“The reason they did Casino Royale all comes down to me,” Quentin told reporters again. :I made it a point, I said I wanted to do Casino Royale. They were already on record as saying the movie was unfilmable but then after I said it and talked about it for a little bit — then the big thing on all the internets was that that was what all the fans wanted to see and so that’s when they said, ‘Oh, maybe it’s not so un-filmable. Actually if I had done the film, I wouldn’t have done it with Daniel Craig, I would have done it with Pierce Brosnan.”

The American director is planning to adapt three spy thriller novels by British writer Len Deighton into a movie series which will attract fans of the British secret agent's on screen adventures. Tarantino explained: "One of the things I enjoy musing about doing is the trilogy of Len Deighton books, 'Berlin Game', 'Mexico Set', and 'London Match'. The story takes place in the Cold War and follows a spy named Bernard Sampson. What is attractive is the really great characters and the wonderful casting. I am a huge fan of Simon Pegg. I also think Kate Winslet is the best actresses that ever lived, so I would be honoured to work with her. I am also a huge admirer of Anthony Hopkins. I would also love to work with Michael Caine. I can see them appearing in my movies."