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The settings are certainly reflected in the firearms that Bond and the various villains used, which includes a large mix of international firearms.
And those looking for the Walther PPK in the hands of Irish-American actor Pierce Brosnan should know this is when he traded in his legendary sidearm in for a more modern weapon. Outside of Goldeneye, the movies themselves were, well, not great. But, we only care about the guns here. Be sure to check out the other three parts in our series:
- James Bond Guns, Part I: The Sean Connery, George Lazenby Era
- Part II: The Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton Era
- Part IV: The Present-Day Daniel Craig Era
Goldeneye (1995)
After legal issues delayed the production of a follow-up Dalton film, six years passed until Pierce Brosnan took over the role. Goldeneye film offered fresh blood — Judi Dench stepped into the role of M — and also addressed the post-Cold War era. The film borrowed some plot elements from the book version of Moonraker, and was a solid restart to the series.
Brosnan’s Bond was described a “relic of the Cold War” and aptly he still used the PPK. He later was armed with an AKS-74, a compact version of the AK-74. As for big guns, Bond didn’t fire the main weapon, but still managed to do some considerably damage around St. Petersburg, Russia, in a Soviet Era T-55 tank modeled to resemble the late-Cold War era T-80.
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
While the real-life William Randolph Hearst can be credited with saying to artist Federic Remington, “you furnish the pictures and I’ll furnish the war,” the plot of this one remains questionable. Media mogul Elliot Carver tried to start a war between Great Britain and China to promote his new global cable news network and along the way get exclusive broadcasting rights in China once the war is ended. There would probably be easier ways to get ratings, but it set up a good excuse to poke fun at the media.
This was the final Bond film to feature a PPK for a while, as Bond later opted to use a Walther P99. He also picked up an MP5K and a Calico MP50A — both taken from Carver’s henchmen. During the pre-credit sequence, he was also armed with a modified AR-18, which surprisingly he didn’t leave behind in the field.
The World Is Not Enough (1999)
A film featuring the world’s “most wanted” terrorist today would be very different. It probably wouldn’t have featured Dr. Christmas Jones (Denise Richards) either. The plot felt too much like a rehash of past Bond outings, but it did offer diverse locales and enough action to pass the time.
The guns were enough to make this one enjoyable. Bond carried the P99 throughout the film, but was also seen with a Colt 1911A1. In typical Hollywood fashion, the .45 fired 20-plus rounds at a time despite its 7-8 round capacity. Bond later took a Colt Mk IV Series 70 from the femme fatale, yet somehow it transformed into an Auto Ordnance 1911. He also found time to use a captured Steyr TMP and FN P90 submachine gun. Bond villains seem to like diversity in their guns.
Die Another Day (2002)
This was the first Bond film to be made in the post 9/11 era. It also marked the 40th anniversary for the series, as well as the final time Pierce Brosnan played the spy. It departed from the typical Bond film in that the spy was actually captured and held in North Korean prison for some 14 months before escaping. The film included references to each of the previous films, but relied too much on computer-generated imagery (CGI) and featured some silly gadgets like an invisible car.
In his final film as Bond, Brosnan still used the P99, but along the way used a Smith & Wesson Model 10 HB, which he took off a henchman. He also later used an Ingram Mac-10. At one point in Die Another Day, Bond was seen with a suppressed Accuracy International Arctic Warfare sniper rifle. However, while it was fitted with a normal scope, it was shown to utilize a hi-tech reticle.
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