This day marks twenty years since the US premier of GoldenEye, the first relaunch of the James Bond franchise. After growing up on the James Bond Jr cartoons and seeing the last act of From Russia with Love, watching GoldenEye on video in 1996 was the first time I saw a Bond movie all the way through. Since then I have seen better Bond films and worse Bond films, but this one has always remained a personal favourite. The fact that it spawned one of the best first person shooters ever, 007: GoldenEye for the N64, proves it has a legacy.
GoldenEye accomplishes the tough task of bringing back Bond for the 90s. On the one hand the film needed to appeal to the old fans but you also want to make seem modern for the younger viewers. GoldenEye manages this with throwbacks to the classic series such as the Aston martin DB5, a Casino Setting, and gorgeous femme fatales. On the other hand, certain elements are brand new, such as the fall of the Soviet Union and the idea of an old friend turning traitor.
The film reflects the changing political climate in its narrative. Bond and Agent 006, Alec Trevelyan, have been sent to Soviet Russia to destroy a Chemical Weapon facility. The mission goes awry and 006 is shot by Colonel Ourumov. After the nifty pre credits sequence, the film shifts to the modern day. Xenia Onatopp and Ourumov steal the GoldenEye satellite for the organisation, Janus. This is a new world and Bond’s sexism is called out by his superiors. Ourumov is now a General, but seems out of place in with the other politicians. The world of espionage has been replaced by the world of computers. What’s more Alec Trevelyan, the dead agent, is alive and behind the while scheme. The black and white world of the Cold War is brought into account.
Pierce Brosnan was, and still is, perfect casting for James Bond. A lot of people see him as a tame choice now when compared to Craig but he is pretty good here. He manages to be callous when facing Trevelyan down on the Ferrier. GoldenEye was originally a Dalton film, but Pierce makes it his own. He is very much the Connery/Moore model of Bonds, an old fashioned man trapped in a world that has changed.
The Bond girl, Russian computer programmed named Natalya Simonova, is well played by Isabella Scorupco. This attractive computer programmer is perhaps less flashy than Wai Lin or Eve Moneypenny, but she still holds her own. She is the one who disarms the GoldenEye weapon and also rescues Bond at the end when she forces Trevelyan’s helicopter to go to Bond’s aid.
The new MI6 team are pretty impressive. Judi Dench was a piece of brilliant casting as M. There were doubts at the time that a woman could play M but they are instantly dispelled by this performance. Samantha Bond is a good choice for a 90s Moneypenny and she stands out more Caroline Bliss managed in the Dalton films. Michael Kitchen is acceptable as Tanner though the character doesn’t really do very much.
Good villains can bring up even the weaker Bond films and fortunately, GoldenEye has four strong villains. The main villain, Alec Trevelyan, is well played by Sean Bean and it’s nice to see Bond facing someone hwo knows him personally. The only fault is that the reference to the Lienz Cossacks makes it feels the character is supposed to have been older. Perhaps a mentor to Bond would have been better than an equal, but you do not care.
The henchmen are a pretty interesting bunch as well. Xenia Onatopp is a memorable, atrractive villain, played well by Famke Janssen . Her ability to kill people by crushing them with their thighs is ridiculous but memorable. Ourumov is understated and well played by Gottfried John. Alan Cumming is good as computer geek Boris Grischenko. He captures the irritating geekiness and certainly stands out more than the bland Henry Gupta from the next film, Tomorrow Never Dies.
With Martin Campbell as director we have Joe Don Baker here and he is much better suited to the role of Jack Wade than the role of Brad Whittaker he played in The Living Daylights. Robbie Coltrane, fresh from Cracker, plays the mob boss Zukovsky pretty well. Overall, the casting is such that I can pretty much remember all of the characters in this film. No-one here is forgettable, unlike some of the bland ciphers that featured in Quantum of Solace.
Martin Campbell does a good job directing this film. This tale is not as gritty as his work on Edge of Darkness, but the photography of this film makes it feels glamorous and distinct. The action sequences are decent, even managing to make a slow moving tank look exciting in a chase.
Eric Serra’s music has been a source of consternation for Bond fans. It feels as though the producers wanted music to appeal to viewers of more contemporary action films. Some fans find that his music is not entirely suitable for Bond, but to be fair, the producers did hire him for his music on Leon. The soundtrack is a mixed bag. The ‘GoldenEye overture piece’ is a good blood pumping action track but ‘Experience of Love’ is terrible. It started out as an unused track from Leon and the lyrics fit that film much better. GoldenEye ends in triumph with Bond settling the score with his old friend turned enemy and putting the past behind him, literally, as he goes off to enjoy some time with Natalya but the ‘Experience of Love’ fails to reflect that. It’s a piece that suits a more downbeat ending. I enjoy Eric Serra’s score for the most part but can see why some people don’t. I only wish that the Bond theme used in the film’s trailer could have been used in the film itself.
Tina Turner’s song is not one of the best Bond themes, but Daniel Kleinman does a great job with the pre-titles. The sequence of naked women smashing Soviet statues reflects the theme of the film perfectly.
Minor niggles include the pointless inclusion of the BMW car and the use of back projection in the plane diving sequence, but these are minor complaints. GoldenEye is definitely one of the better Brosnan films, if not the best. Ironically, the theme of Russia’s weakened political influence is the aspect that has dated most when Vladimir Putin is determined to change things. While later Brosnan films were gifted with the more polished David Arnold music, this film gets the better director.
9/10
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