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I’ve reached a good place in my Bond fandom. I’ve dispassionately dissected and brutally analysed the Bond films. But now I find an immense enjoyment when watching them. I’ve scoured them intellectually, yet I find peace out of savouring them purely as a filmic experience.
GoldenEye is 25! Which means it has passed from a modern film into classic film. Take the model shots of the Severnaya satellite or the MIG’s – gloriously retro!
The whole of GoldenEye is seeped with this classic Bond spy caper. Not quite modern, yet not quite classic old school Bond. Going through the crew list, one can see plenty of returning names. Spiritually, this has the classic Bond team blood running through its veins.
After the six years hiatus, however, John Glen has been retired as director, and in comes Martin Campbell. It’s his vim and vigour, in part, that revitalizes this venerable franchise. While Glen was content with having a rather static shot selection, Campbell has this dynamic energy to the whole proceedings. He imbues GoldenEye with a great sense of pace, balancing out the dialogue heavy portions of the film succinctly with some cracking set pieces.
It is these wonderful dialogue scenes that make GoldenEye such a treat to behold. One wouldn’t have time to do this in a modern film. The script asks Bond to validate himself in the post Cold War era, which he does so with aplomb. This introspection goes some way to readdress the fantastical elements of the plot. The way in which Campbell allows the scenes too breathe, focusing on Ourumov’s consternation on the reveal that Boris was not the only survivor to make it out from Severnaya; Mishkin’s surprise when Natalya discloses that there is not one, but two GoldenEye weapons out there, contradicting Ourumov’s assurances or the genuine humour that Bond and Q enjoy with the “Writing’s on the Wall” gag. Truly wonderful stuff.
Unfortunately, this would be the best script that Brosnan ever had. This is an adult Bond film that youngsters could appreciate. With the rest of his tenure, Brosnan was forced to oversee the increasing teenageization of the series. Such a pity.
Despite his nerves, Brosnan came up with the ideal blend of humour and steel, with a little bit of dramatic stuff to keep things interesting. Again I was impressed with Brosnan's performance, being more composed and unassuming, than his later ones, full of the self confidence, the sense of purpose, that defined Fleming's Bond. I think it has something to do with Brosnan's nerves; it gave his performance a kind of "flinty" quality, which is somewhat lost, as Brosnan got more comfortable in the role. Think of the scene where Mishkin interrogates Bond and Natalya, where Bond is quiet and subtly menacing, as opposed to the scene in The World Is Not Enough, where Bond confronts Elektra, where he is too animated, for example.
There are a few quibbles, however; the music is distracting for a large part of the film; Boris gets far too much screentime, especially for such an annoying and superfluous character, and the film could do with a bit of slight editing – too much time is dedicated to the Severnya gang, for example, and the tank chase itself – a truly great moment to be sure – could do with some trimming.
Flitting between Bond watching the events in London and Natalya experiencing the destruction of Severnya first-hand, is quite novel, and dare I say it, daring. One has two competing journeys – Bond with his mission and Natalya trying to survive, only to meet up in the graveyard helicopter scene. It could have backfired, depriving a Bond movie without its star, but thanks to Izabella Scorupco’s empathic and charming performance it turned a potentially tricky situation into a great strength of the movie.
Sure, this feels like a greatest hits Bond picture, but after six years, the producers had no choice but to remind the public what they missed in not having Bond in their life. This is a greatest hit film, but with plenty of subversion, surprises and innovation, along with a sheen of 90’s sophistication.
When I was growing up, I was in the GoldenEye generation after all, everyone of my chums chose GoldenEye as their favourite Bond flick. Perhaps, that is why I decided to choose The World Is Not Enough as my own personal fav – to be contrary. But now….
After 25 years I suddenly get GoldenEye.
Having watched GoldenEye last weekend, why not go for a mini Bronsan-Bondathon?
TND is… generic. It doesn’t do anything particularly bad, yet it’s high points are often done with more panache by better films. That isn’t too say that I didn’t enjoy TND, on the contrary, but it left me feeling… hollow. I’m going to borrow @DarthDimi’s favourite metaphor. TND is like a good fast food meal. Satisfying when eating it, but ultimately leaves you feeling empty. Unlike a steak meal, which in this case, a film such as TB or Spy, for example.
If GE was an homage to the classic Bond films, TND and TWINE feels like a pastiche, worse still reaching parody levels with DAD.
But I digress. TND is a fun way to spend a couple of hours. It’s sleek and professional and hi tech. Looking through the crew list, one spots a fair few new names, Spottiswoode and Allan Cameron probably instead on bringing their chosen crew, as is their prerogative. Yet, one can still find veterans, such as Tim Wooster, son of Arthur Wooster, John Glen’s 2nd Unit Director, and Ron Quelch.
And of course Pierce looks cool and spiffy and Wai Lin is the best of Bond’s comrades in arms. Though Teri Hatcher is more comfortable being on TV, less so the silver screen. “Did I get too close for comfort?”. Soap acting 101 there. This is the woman that Bond loved? Swap Hatcher for Monica Bellucci, then sure.
Like I mentioned in the my last comment, GoldenEye was the reason I became a Bond fan. It was not because I saw the movie then got hooked, no it was all the hype leading up to it. Actually, I never got to see GE in theaters when it was released. I think I saw it much later on VHS. I remember the trailers, the interviews on ET and VH1, and the whole "New Bond for the New Age". I was really excited about it, I even bought the soundtrack and the adapted novel even before seeing the movie. With that said, I got to see it in theaters last night and it was great. Probably my favorite of the Brosnan films and for a while Brosnan was my Bond since he's the first one I "saw" (granted the first Bond film I saw was Octopussy, but probably was too young to form any attachment). What can I say, the action is awesome, probably my favorite group of villains - everyone is casted perfectly and sometimes they can be over the top, but they are good enough not to be cheesy. Brosnan does a good job in his first outing and new MI6 group is great as well. I did feel sentimental when I saw Judi Dench as M. I realized how much I miss her in this role. Samantha Bond is good and a nice change to Caroline Bliss's "puddle on the floor" Moneypenny. Samantha does, at least in this film, have some of those Lois Maxwell touches which I like. Izabella Scorupco is great and she's probably Bond girl so far. Whoever did the casting, did a wonderful job on this film. I feel like everyone was spot on. After seeing Jon Don Baker last week in TLD, the role of Wade suits him better. He's no Felix Leiter, but does enough to be likable. If I were to say anything negative about this film and everyone has said it, it's the score. Listening to it in the theater, it sounds like Eric Serra was trying to do a 90's version of 80s' music. Especially in the action sequences, it could have been so much better and made those scenes so much more awesome. And the closing credit song - 'ugh' - I feel like it should have been more livelier. It sound like a song you would hear during a Saturday afternoon movie that you would fall asleep to. The theme song and maybe the GoldenEye overture, were the only positives. I almost wish John Barry had stuck around longer or David Arnold come in sooner. Anyways, I really, really love GoldenEye, and I'm glad I was able to see it on the big screen.
As @royale65 mentioned, I had read about the Arecibo Observatory and being shut down. Seeing it in the film, made me feel sad, but I'm glad they were able to use it and it made a great villain lair.
The World Is Not Enough
Ah, TWINE. Lofty ambitions, but the execution was somewhat lacking. Still, I applauded it for giving it a go. Pierce delivers a slightly uneven performance. Great in parts, having a real intensity, first the unanswered question over the sniper in Bilbao and then as he falls for Elektra. Shame Brosnan's acting foibles are brought to the fore here, repeatedly touching his nose, his constant gurning and grunting. It's a shame, because on the whole it's a really worthwhile performance. And how good does Brosnan look in this?
Where the picture really shines, is when the delectable Sophie Marceau is on screen - the film goes into another gear. Wonderful portrayal. From bird with a wing down, to hammy monologuing, the graceful Sophie is just stunning.
Another thing I enjoyed was the editing style of Jim Clark. Gives the film a decidedly old school flow to it.
Yet, one gets the impression that Apted was forced to give the picture, temporarily, up to Vic Armstrong because there hadn't been an explosion for 15 minutes.
And Denise Richards is as cute as a button.
I always said that about Vic Armstrong. He was given far too much screentime. They had to fill in the huge gaps, so Armstrong put on these long tedious action set pieces!
No such thing as '' long tedious '' action set pieces when the amazing Vic Armstrong is involved.
I beg to differ! And "amazing" and Vic Armstrong do not go together!
Why not?
Just find his action scenes very dull and lifeless, and they go on and on and on...!!!!
He's done some fairly incredible stunt work and been a great second unit director outside of Bond, though. Most would look upon his resumé with envy.
Youre entitled to your opinion but the FACT is Vic Armstrong has performed and arranged some of the best action scenes in cinema history.Hes a legend in the film indusrty.
I watched “The Spy Who Loved Me” a few nights ago. Until this recent viewing I always felt FYEO was Roger’s best. But that changed after watching Spy. Roger Moore has never given a weak performance as Bond, but in Spy the man is truly at the top of his game. Barbara Bach is beautiful, even if some of the ADR causes her to sound a bit wooden. Richard Kiel as Jaws is simply terrifying, especially the scene where he kills Fekkesh. That scene outright gave me nightmares as a kid, as does the Club scene where he kills Kalba, and the train scene of course. Curt Jürgens is quite good as well. Love nearly everything about the film, even the score. “Spy” takes everything great about “From Russia With Love” and “Goldfinger” and rolls it up into a nice, perfectly made Bond experience. For the first time since 1967 the film series felt back at the top of the game. No longer on thin ice after some of the misfires that had come before (love OHMSS and LALD; but they were immediately undercut by each film that followed.) TSWLM was one of the films that cemented Bond’s run as the greatest film franchise of all time, and for good reason. A Top 5 Bond film for me!
This is a film I have always struggled to enjoy fully.
Even when I first saw it back in 1995 after a six year hiatus. It felt too different than what I was used too. Too much location work in the UK doubling for Russia or foreign locales. I could never put my finger on why I didn’t enjoy it.
It has grown on me over time. And now with my most recent viewing I’m happy to say.
GoldenEye is a Bond classic!
I loved it from start to finish. Well paced, wonderful direction from Martin Campbell. Pierce Brosnan is great casting as a 90’s Bond. Smooth, charming and confident. A great supporting cast. Plenty of action and a story of Bondian scope.
This is classic Bond at its best.
Happy to finally accept GE for the triumph that it is. B-)
I'm happy for you Benny, it really is a classic. The last few films have been lacking this level of 'fun', I hope we get back to it one day.
100% agree with everything you say here.TSWLM will always be a classic Bond adventure.
Funnily enough, it could also work the other way round!
That’s awesome. Thanks. :-bd
Thank you for the kind comments guys. Much appreciated.
NSNA
+ Largo (Really enjoyed Klaus Maria Brandauer, finally)
+ Connery (Connery stood out to me more this time around)
+ Algy (I really like this take on Q)
+ The bike chase
+ The sort of pre-title/title sequence (Connery looked more capable here than in DAF)
AVTAK
+ Golden Gate fight (If this were the Craig era it would have been overly choreographed but here it's just desperate and quite tense, love it)
+ Stacey Sutton (Found her kind of endearing this time around)
+ Tibbitt (His frustrations with Bond early in the film are perfection)
For some reason I found myself enjoying these elements more than I usually would. These two are still at the bottom of my ranking unfortunately, but they still deserve some love.
I have a soft spot for both films. Loved seeing these in the cinema when I was a kid.
I'm glad you're on board. I guess since it was my first Bond experience, I didn't have those expectation that others may have had. Either way, it's a really good Bond film.
I'm just going to come out and say it. I really enjoyed this viewing!
It's still not a great movie, but boy is it fun. It might have some shocking cgi, and corny lines. But it is entertaining. Pierce Brosnan gives his best performance outside of GE, Halle Berry is miscast and is the source of many of the corny lines. Of all the 'Bond equal' leading ladies, she's certainly the bottom of the barrel.
I do enjoy our villains. I really enjoy Toby Stephens pantomime villain. Over the top and wonderfully snarly. Rick Yune's Zao is also similarly bad. The lovely Rosamund Pike is fantastic as the MI6 agent turned bad. I was actually cheering for her, during the climatic fight between Jinx and Miranda. The DNA replacement therapy is absurd, but for a Bond movie with an invisible Aston and surfing, I'll go along for the ride.
I thought the sword fight at Blades was a novel set piece, that worked well and was a first for a Bond movie, and although it has an invisible car, the battle between Bond and Zao is well staged, beautifully shot and more dangerous than it looks.
The final battle aboard the Antonov plane is a let down. It lacks any real drama, flying through the Icarus beam is totally silly, and the entire scene lacks any tension and looks bad. Even worse is Bond and Jinx escape from said plane.
However, despite a weak leading lady, an unsatisfying climax, and some poor lines and storytelling. Die Another Day is an entertaining film. If you can take it for what it is. Pierce is fully on board, and helps sell the absurdities. Much like Sir Rog in MR.
It's far from perfect, but it has grown on my a lot since my first viewing in 2002, which i found very hard to enjoy. I've forgiven EON since then, and whilst it still languishes toward the lower end of my ranking, it's not down the bottom!
Pierce goes out with a film that fans don't rate highly, and it would've been nice if he could've done a fifth and hopefully better film to end his tenure. But it wasn't too be. But DAD isn't quite as bad as I thought.
I’ve always thought that the first 30-40 minutes of the film are quite good, it’s only when Berry arrives that the quality drops down tremendously. I do like the Ice Chase sequence however, as well as the Aston Martin Vanquish, one of the best Bond cars in my opinion. I think Brosnan has always been good in his Bond films; he’s the only actor (aside from maybe Dalton) who’s given solid, consistent performances throughout his tenure as Bond. Heck he’s the only one who’s mastered Bond on his first try, it took Connery, Moore, and Craig 3 films for them to really catch the groove of things, while Dalton and Lazenby didn’t stick around long enough. But Brosnan had it from the very start; that’s why he’s my 2nd Favorite Bond (after Connery of course)
Well, that is a matter of taste i reckon. I personally don't consider Brosnan's performance in Goldeneye as particularly masterfull at all. On the contrary I think it is probably the worst debut performance as Bond together with Lazenby.
I personally think he manages to capture all of the charm, wit, sophistication, assurance, and the physicality right from the very start of it. Like I mentioned, it took Connery, Moore, and Craig 3 tries for them to feel really comfortable in the role, whereas I think Brosnan settles in instantaneously. It was as if he was born to play the role.