It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
^ Back to Top
The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.
James Bond News • James Bond Articles • James Bond Magazine
Comments
I love your description of all great things about GE. It really is, as you say, a film that blew us away in every regard. I too have fond memories of seeing GE the first time. What an achievement!
It didn't disappoint. Like others have stated, this was one of the best cinema experiences of my life. It had everything I wanted from a Bond film (as a 17 year old) and more. I thought Brosnan did a great job. I loved the whole cast, especially the women! It was strange to have a female M but I was impressed by Dench. With the theme of change being so prominent, it was comforting to have our Q back again. I loved the new glossy look compared to the Glen films. It truly felt like we had just begun a new Golden Age of Bond. My only complaint was the fall release date. No more summer Bond films?
Fast forward twenty years (has it really been that long?!?) and I still like GE a lot but I do recognize it's flaws. It's still fun but sometimes gets too silly for it's own good. However, it gets the balance right far better than the other Brosnan films. It's always sad to watch this and realize that it all goes downhill from here. I don't want to get ahead of myself but it's frustrating that so much potential was wasted after such a promising start to this era. Anyway, GE still rocks even if it's not quite as funny or slick as I once thought it was. I'm still infatuated with Natalya and I still miss Bond films being released in the summer.
This is a THEN but only slightly.
Then - 5
Now - 1
Tie - 4
Didn t get to see it at the cinema though, but rented it on VHS when it came out.
I was a bit torn. There were definitely some things to enjoy-great opening shot at the dam, Desmond was still around, Gottfried John and Tcheky Kario were good in their roles. Daniel Kleinman was a true find.
It was however clear that this was the least entertaining Bond film so far, everything seemed so forced and unnatural. It was great that Bond returned after all, but by the look of it there was a huge degeneration in terms of quality. Brosnan in the lead role was a huge part of it, but far from the only disappointment.
These days I enjoy it even less. I see it as the beginning of a potential end to my interest for Bond. Luckily that changed a decade later.
Then-6
Now-1
Tie-4
And so, it wasfinally there, A new Bond-film out in the cinema. I went with my dad at a night-viewing in the Amsterdam Tuchinski theatre, a cramped but beautiful and moreover famous theatre, where they had failed to clean up after the last viewing. Sitting amongst empty beer bottles and a floor covered with popcorn, Bond was Back! And how! The whole discussion that had gone on and on in the papers was taken into the screen, as the new M adressed Bond about beeing a relic of the Cold War. And just after I forgot to breathe when some dark figure fell off a dam. Was that really done? Could it be? A trick Campbell did even better when he introdused the current Bond, but we'll get there later. Anyway, Bond was back, and yes, he did matter. Eric Serra's music jarred me a bit, but that was easily forgotten when two plastic models of migs crashed into a satellite dish and Bond was on his mission. He met Robbie Coltrane's Zukovski, and the increadable beautiful Natalya. Isabella showing Tanya that screaming is allowed in a film, if the situation asks for it and it isn't all you do.
Not that my reflections then were as well founded. They were more on the line of 'oh wow, look at that, he's cool, Bond is back! I love that Aston, Natalya, will you merry me?, look at all those statues, now that's a haunted place''etc.
All in all, rather stocked.
I thouroghly enjoyed the film.
Now.
Now I see there's a lot wrong with the film. The PC police wouldn't have any blood in it, so those Russian soldiers just tumbled over. Their 'fall-over-bullits' didn't work on Bond, or he had a non-fall-over shield or something, but even though more then 20 of them fired their kalashinkovs at him, he wasn't affected. Couldn't the Russians have made sure those ISIS blokes got the same type of Kalashinkovs? That would save a lot of lives. Same goes for the invulerability of every police-car driver who was run over by Bond's tank. I don't know how but they still got out of those flattened Lada's. Some stunts (diving into the plane) look rediculous, and why Bond feels the need to shake the helll out of that steering column I'll never understand. Still, Isabella is as gorgeaus and sexy as ever, and quite believable as well. I like the Russian settings and the visit to cuba (allthough I doubt there'd be anything left of a cessna plane after it was hit by a ground-to-air missile). The story is faily good, the supporting actors are good up to very good, but the music is appaling, the effects are bad and the main lead? Well, what can I say? I was happy he was there at that time (allthough Sean Bean would've been better).
Then-7
Now-1
Tie-4
Then -7
now- 1
Tie - 5
Some of the effects are dated, yes, but some of the effects were also phenomenal. I'm talking primarily about the title sequence - with effects that virtually rival those of Skyfall, 17 years into the future. Apart from the stupid scene with the gun coming out of the woman's mouth, the title sequence of GoldenEye was impeccable, IMO. That's why I was left in so much awe when I saw it in 1995.
I would like to point that I was and still am a big fan of Eric Serra and I love his GE score too. Sure, it's not very traditional but with its industrial sounds for action and melancholic pieces for quieter moments (i.e. The Severyana Suite) it fits the post Soviet atmosphere perfectly.
Two things always bothered me about this film though, how Bond shoots about a hundred Russian soldiers just before the tank chase and the BMW Z3 which is introduced with "all the usual refinements" and never used.
Nevertheless, best Bond film since 1990 for me.
Then -7
now- 1
Tie - 6
Then -8
now- 1
Tie - 6
LOL!
=))
Oh no, I loved that part too. It's so wonderfully surreal. It's my favourite title sequence of the franchise.
Then -8
now- 1
Tie - 7
Nowadays, I still enjoy it but, only my latest Bondathon and as you'll have seen in my ranking, not quite as much as I used to, but I do feel it's a great Bond flick.
Gotta go Then.....
Then -9
now- 1
Tie - 7
Perhaps it's a mild case of familiarity breeding contempt but the flaws are starting to show now. Love Natalya, love Robbie Coltrane, love Judi Dench love the action, love the enthusiastic vibe. However, i am not sure about a few things, namely some of the cheesy dialogue, the underwritten character of Trevelyan and Brosnan's uneven performance on occasions.
Going through Brozza's performance, his stronger scenes are mainly in the second half of the film and the famous M scene (the look he gives Dench in her office is great). His weakest scenes are the Q scene (despite a few funny gags it feels so stilted between both Brosnan AND Desmond) and the first part of the meeting with Zukovsky in the bar where Coltrane wipes the floor. Still, Brosnan does show potential at times and when he's good, he really sells it (have always loved his "no...for me" line at the end).
Then - 10
Now - 1
Tie - 7
Apart from some of the Monaco & Puerto Rico shots (where the 'Cuba' exterior scenes were filmed) there is none of the 'grand locale' feel that the better films have. I know it was partly due to budgetary constraints, but neither DN nor FYEO were big dollar productions and they still feel suitably exotic & grand.
Tomorrow Never Dies
Then –
I am ashamed to say I watched Titanic instead of this. But I did manage to catch it on its première on ITV. A full on 90's film, with plenty of action, hi-tech thrills and spills. Even in my youth, I was disappointed to see the excellent script get shafted in the final third.
Now –
A refreshingly unpretentious film. Hovers around the top dozen-ish in my rankings.
Then -
Now - 1
Tie -
I so not loved this movie when it came out, mostly because I had expected a GE 2.0 and instead got YOLT 0.5 with one of the most disappointing climaxes in the series. Overtime, I have grown somewhat kinder to TND, so I guess it's a now.
Then -
Now - 2
Tie -
Then- 1
Now- 2
Tie-
Then- 1
Now- 2
Tie- 1
It still is,except for a handful of extra cringeworthy scenes, mostly featuring Brosnan.
Then-1
Now-2
Tie-2
Yes, you are kookoo. :))
However it hasn't held up all that well. The first half hour is good but after that it becomes cheesy and hit-and-miss.
Then - 3
THEN
I was so pumped for this one after the all round excellence of GE. It started so well and did not disappoint me. Brosnan was cool as can be and the money was all up on the screen. This was a 'big' Bond film and looked to be firing on all cylinders. Germany looked modern & impressive too. Annoying Terry Hatcher / Paris was tolerable because she was killed, miserably according to Kaufmann, and I appreciated that.
Then the film detours to Asia & Michelle Yeoh gets more screen time. That was when this one dipped precipitously for me. It never recovered, with a weak machine gun induced finale. The exact moment of the change was the halo jump.
NOW:
It's gone up in my estimation. I enjoyed it a lot in my recent Bondathon, and more so post-SP, because at least it does the trope laden action oriented formula Bond film rather well in comparison, and because the action is actually top notch unlike the recent effort - and I miss state of the art action in a Bond film these days.
So it's a NOW.
Then-1
Now-3
Tie-2
Then-1
Now-3
Tie-3