My first Bond as well. Really cemented a period in time: who doesn't remember the Nintendo 64 classic game? Brosnan is smooth and deadly here, and this is his best work as Bond: a great villain, scary femme fatale (Famke Jannsen is gorgeous) and action scenes that are surprisingly seared into the collective consciousness: Bond and a tank, for example. Even the henchmen are memorable. Modern classic in the franchise.
Pierce Brosnan isn't my favorite Bond (his era so quickly devolved into shenanigans, I've actually only seen the first two), but GoldenEye remains the best introduction for a Bond, at least, until Casino Royale (not coincidentally, I think, both films had Martin Campbell directing). It isn't just great for Brosnan who really gets the right balance of thrills and humor, but for Sean Bean who gets to die twice (pushing his death rate in stuff past the 100% mark), and Famke Jensen for whom this was a star-making role. Judi Dench as the new M is an immediate sensation and within seconds of showing up proves a more interesting M than we've ever seen. Samantha Bond has lots of potential as the new Moneypenny (and the perfect name to star in one of these), but I can't help thinking she's selling Bubbleshock soda on the side, sorry. Also look for Minnie Driver and Alan Cumming in "before they were stars" moments. The story is one that could and probably should have come a few years earlier; in 1995, it seems a bit late to transition out of the Cold War of the earlier movies. Still a good idea though, and showcasing another "00" in the story, an even better one. Watching these last two films back to back, the refreshed look is almost shocking. The hiatus really was necessary, I think, to break from what had become an outmoded way of doing things. (I think the same thing happened with television's Trek franchise in the 90s, where the house look just wasn't current anymore after so many years of doing it just like TNG.) Most importantly, the script is good. If only they'd kept that up over Bronson's time in the part.
James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) is investigating a crime syndicate called Janus. He arrives in Monte Carlo on the trail of Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen) who is a suspected member. Continuing to trail Xenia after she leaves with a Canadian Navy Admiral (Billy J. Mitchell), Bond finds the Admiral murdered the following morning. The Admiral was meant to be at a demonstration for a new high tech helicopter and it becomes clear that Xenia intends to steal it with the Admiral's identity in hand.
Review
Talking about Pierce Brosnan first is probably the most important thing to do here. I mean you don't just replace the main actor of a huge series just like that. It's pretty clear that a lot of thought went into the selection of Pierce Brosnan and the right decision was made. Some critics seems to believe that he's an improvement over Timothy Dalton but I disagree. That's just my personal preference though, because I like all the Bonds. Each one has their own unique qualities and each one brings something new to the role. Pierce Brosnan can probably be best described as a combination of Timothy Dalton and Sean Connery.
Talking about the action, there is lots to love. The trademark opening sequence involves lots of skydiving stunts that are just plain spectacular. There's lots of gunplay throughout the movie of course but there's actually a surprising amount of kills. James Bond himself kills 47 people which is his highest body count of the series. That doesn't include the numerous kills by the villains which brings back some memories of Christopher Walken gunning down his own men in A View to a Kill.
The gunplay if you ask me is kind of weak overall though. I'm not sure if it's just age that's at play here but the shooting sequences seem too choppy and missed bullets simply look like fireworks going off. That's not to say it's terrible or anything, it's just that guns aren't GoldenEye's strong point. In terms of car chases, one involves James Bond in a tank! It gets a bit too much on the silly side with that one though.
Now in terms of the other actors in GoldenEye, you got to give major credit to whoever got Judi Dench working as M, replacing Robert Brown who in turn had succeeded Bernard Lee. She's a great tool in trying to bring James Bond back to its more original, less dark roots with Dalton but while also trying to inject some credibility. Politics had changed a lot in a pretty short while after the fall of the USSR and the casual sexism that is par for the course with James Bond isn't going to fly anymore. At least it won't fly so easily anymore.
Anyhow, the scenes with Judi Dench are just awesome to watch. Lois Maxwell who had played Moneypenny for such a long time was totally right when she suggested that there should be a female M. It was originally refused because no one thought James Bond could take orders from a woman. Boy were they wrong. I'm not sure that Lois Maxwell could've filled the role she had in mind but Dench certainly can and proves it without a doubt.
Famke Janssen as Bond girl Xenia Onatopp is pretty much as ridiculous as her name. She's definitely...er...memorable so if that was the intention, mission accomplished. Izabella Scorupco gets to be Natalya Simonova and is definitely adequate. She's convincing, she's intelligent and self-sufficient with her computer abilities but she does have a habit of maybe screaming a smidge too much.
Sean Bean as the main villain is pretty fun though. It's maybe not that big of a surprise that he turns out to be the main bad guy since he has top billing and somehow finds a way to get killed within the first 10 minutes of the movie, but still. He has some pretty good presence and his background and motivation is pretty cool. Disappointingly though, his final fight with James seems a bit too obviously choreographed. I do like Gottfried John as his lackey General Ourumov though.
I need to talk about the soundtrack though which was composed by Éric Serra. I love John Barry and his Bond scores like mad so finding a replacement wasn't going to be easy. At certain times, Serra's score sound modern and actually pretty cool, but are those times ever rare. Even back in '95, Serra's work on GoldenEye was criticized and it's pretty easy to see why. It doesn't sound like it should be the score for a Bond movie and age has just made it even worse. The best moments for Serra's score is when James is sneaking around doing spy stuff. The music sounds cold, spy-y and pretty cool. Everywhere else it comes close to ruining the scenes that it's trying to enhance.
The title song which was written by Bono, The Edge and sung by Tina Turner is just OK to me. I can't really give it more than that. Ranked among all the other title songs it would definitely be on the lower end. The opening titles which were designed by newcomer Daniel Kleinman are really awesome though. Like extremely. The design oozes cool, it goes with the music perfectly and it's what elevates the song to being OK. Without those titles, the song is totally forgettable.
So does GoldenEye successfully bring Bond into the modern world? I think it does while also retaining its classic Bond heritage. Pierce Brosnan is charming, can deliver a pretty mean one-liner but he also has a bit of a dark streak that runs inside of him. He's got a good Bond girl on his side and he's matched up against a good villain. Although the action disappoints on a couple of occasions and the soundtrack is atrocious, it's still lots of fun which is what it's meant to be in the end.
I like it... one of the first Bond movies I saw. One of the best parts of it is Sean Bean... I guess they had to scar him so Bond would look better than him :)
Not really a Bond movie nor a spy movie....more of a summer action movie. Still, it takes the (now formulaic) approach to Bond movies and turn it on its head. Lots of memorable scenes and a decent story as well. Onatopp is up there with Oddjob and Jaws as a great henchperson AND a Bond girl too.
It was rather unfortunate that Brosnan's first outing as Bond was pretty much his best. His tenure more or less went downhill fairly quickly from here. Sean Bean brings a lot to the role as the main villain and great performances by Judi Dench and Famke Janssen add to the film. Throw in a ridiculously destructive tank chase and it's pretty downright entertaining.
Add your comment
Comments 1 - 13 of 13
Scratch47
My first Bond as well. Really cemented a period in time: who doesn't remember the Nintendo 64 classic game? Brosnan is smooth and deadly here, and this is his best work as Bond: a great villain, scary femme fatale (Famke Jannsen is gorgeous) and action scenes that are surprisingly seared into the collective consciousness: Bond and a tank, for example. Even the henchmen are memorable. Modern classic in the franchise.cave
the game is better than the movie...RoastMutton10
"For England, James""No....for me!"
Siskoid
Pierce Brosnan isn't my favorite Bond (his era so quickly devolved into shenanigans, I've actually only seen the first two), but GoldenEye remains the best introduction for a Bond, at least, until Casino Royale (not coincidentally, I think, both films had Martin Campbell directing). It isn't just great for Brosnan who really gets the right balance of thrills and humor, but for Sean Bean who gets to die twice (pushing his death rate in stuff past the 100% mark), and Famke Jensen for whom this was a star-making role. Judi Dench as the new M is an immediate sensation and within seconds of showing up proves a more interesting M than we've ever seen. Samantha Bond has lots of potential as the new Moneypenny (and the perfect name to star in one of these), but I can't help thinking she's selling Bubbleshock soda on the side, sorry. Also look for Minnie Driver and Alan Cumming in "before they were stars" moments. The story is one that could and probably should have come a few years earlier; in 1995, it seems a bit late to transition out of the Cold War of the earlier movies. Still a good idea though, and showcasing another "00" in the story, an even better one. Watching these last two films back to back, the refreshed look is almost shocking. The hiatus really was necessary, I think, to break from what had become an outmoded way of doing things. (I think the same thing happened with television's Trek franchise in the 90s, where the house look just wasn't current anymore after so many years of doing it just like TNG.) Most importantly, the script is good. If only they'd kept that up over Bronson's time in the part.Earring72
First Brosnan outing is a great Bond movie with good action, story and fun but also more up to date for the 90ies.CinemaDump
SynopsisJames Bond (Pierce Brosnan) is investigating a crime syndicate called Janus. He arrives in Monte Carlo on the trail of Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen) who is a suspected member. Continuing to trail Xenia after she leaves with a Canadian Navy Admiral (Billy J. Mitchell), Bond finds the Admiral murdered the following morning. The Admiral was meant to be at a demonstration for a new high tech helicopter and it becomes clear that Xenia intends to steal it with the Admiral's identity in hand.
Review
Talking about Pierce Brosnan first is probably the most important thing to do here. I mean you don't just replace the main actor of a huge series just like that. It's pretty clear that a lot of thought went into the selection of Pierce Brosnan and the right decision was made. Some critics seems to believe that he's an improvement over Timothy Dalton but I disagree. That's just my personal preference though, because I like all the Bonds. Each one has their own unique qualities and each one brings something new to the role. Pierce Brosnan can probably be best described as a combination of Timothy Dalton and Sean Connery.
Talking about the action, there is lots to love. The trademark opening sequence involves lots of skydiving stunts that are just plain spectacular. There's lots of gunplay throughout the movie of course but there's actually a surprising amount of kills. James Bond himself kills 47 people which is his highest body count of the series. That doesn't include the numerous kills by the villains which brings back some memories of Christopher Walken gunning down his own men in A View to a Kill.
The gunplay if you ask me is kind of weak overall though. I'm not sure if it's just age that's at play here but the shooting sequences seem too choppy and missed bullets simply look like fireworks going off. That's not to say it's terrible or anything, it's just that guns aren't GoldenEye's strong point. In terms of car chases, one involves James Bond in a tank! It gets a bit too much on the silly side with that one though.
Now in terms of the other actors in GoldenEye, you got to give major credit to whoever got Judi Dench working as M, replacing Robert Brown who in turn had succeeded Bernard Lee. She's a great tool in trying to bring James Bond back to its more original, less dark roots with Dalton but while also trying to inject some credibility. Politics had changed a lot in a pretty short while after the fall of the USSR and the casual sexism that is par for the course with James Bond isn't going to fly anymore. At least it won't fly so easily anymore.
Anyhow, the scenes with Judi Dench are just awesome to watch. Lois Maxwell who had played Moneypenny for such a long time was totally right when she suggested that there should be a female M. It was originally refused because no one thought James Bond could take orders from a woman. Boy were they wrong. I'm not sure that Lois Maxwell could've filled the role she had in mind but Dench certainly can and proves it without a doubt.
Famke Janssen as Bond girl Xenia Onatopp is pretty much as ridiculous as her name. She's definitely...er...memorable so if that was the intention, mission accomplished. Izabella Scorupco gets to be Natalya Simonova and is definitely adequate. She's convincing, she's intelligent and self-sufficient with her computer abilities but she does have a habit of maybe screaming a smidge too much.
I need to talk about the soundtrack though which was composed by Éric Serra. I love John Barry and his Bond scores like mad so finding a replacement wasn't going to be easy. At certain times, Serra's score sound modern and actually pretty cool, but are those times ever rare. Even back in '95, Serra's work on GoldenEye was criticized and it's pretty easy to see why. It doesn't sound like it should be the score for a Bond movie and age has just made it even worse. The best moments for Serra's score is when James is sneaking around doing spy stuff. The music sounds cold, spy-y and pretty cool. Everywhere else it comes close to ruining the scenes that it's trying to enhance.
The title song which was written by Bono, The Edge and sung by Tina Turner is just OK to me. I can't really give it more than that. Ranked among all the other title songs it would definitely be on the lower end. The opening titles which were designed by newcomer Daniel Kleinman are really awesome though. Like extremely. The design oozes cool, it goes with the music perfectly and it's what elevates the song to being OK. Without those titles, the song is totally forgettable.
So does GoldenEye successfully bring Bond into the modern world? I think it does while also retaining its classic Bond heritage. Pierce Brosnan is charming, can deliver a pretty mean one-liner but he also has a bit of a dark streak that runs inside of him. He's got a good Bond girl on his side and he's matched up against a good villain. Although the action disappoints on a couple of occasions and the soundtrack is atrocious, it's still lots of fun which is what it's meant to be in the end.
Rating
7/10
Kenneth McMahon
God, I really miss the days when stunts were filmed for real. The tank chase scene here is outstanding.IreneAdler
I like it... one of the first Bond movies I saw. One of the best parts of it is Sean Bean... I guess they had to scar him so Bond would look better than him :)Apdiddy
Not really a Bond movie nor a spy movie....more of a summer action movie. Still, it takes the (now formulaic) approach to Bond movies and turn it on its head. Lots of memorable scenes and a decent story as well. Onatopp is up there with Oddjob and Jaws as a great henchperson AND a Bond girl too.DisneyStitch
It was rather unfortunate that Brosnan's first outing as Bond was pretty much his best. His tenure more or less went downhill fairly quickly from here. Sean Bean brings a lot to the role as the main villain and great performances by Judi Dench and Famke Janssen add to the film. Throw in a ridiculously destructive tank chase and it's pretty downright entertaining.Dieguito
Regular James Bond, but the best in this categorybart
My first James Bond, love itdemagogo
Cool violence.