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Comments
And not disregard other's positive opinion about GE...
1. Probably the worst soundtrack of any Bond.
2. Brossa's first appearance on screen is in a bog.
3. Appalling lack of realism in the pts. The flying Bond scene and catching up with an unmanned plane probably defies physics and rivals the DUD parasurfing CGI for awfulness.
4. The tie straightening 'trademark' makes Bond look like a dodgy door to door salesman.
5. The script is awful - 'mysoginist dynosaur' anyone?
6. Poor continuity - compare the dam scene opening shot with the snowbound Soviet base at the end of the pts - it looks like a different location entirely.
7. The car. Bond would never, ever drive a hairdresser's car like a z3.
8. Brosnan - he groans, grimaces and grunts his way through the movie. Why does he always sound like he's constipated?
9. Machineguns - this movie introduces Bond's depenence upon automatic weapons. Witness the scene in the Russian archive/office.
10. Alan Cummings - should have been strangled at birth.
I can go on for a lot longer if required.
1. I like the soundtrack - gives the film character and suits the soviet backdrop.
2. I like the opening.
3. Who the hell cares. It's cheesey but its no where near the awful windsurfing scene in DAD.
4. I find that a funny touch a la Roger's raised eyebrow
5. That's a good scene, Bond IS a dinosaur. Many people thought that at the time.
6. True but again who cares. Continuety hasn't been a strong factor in the Bond universe. (DAF??)
7. It's a cool car - similar to Daniel Craig's Ford in CR.
8. It's not that bad. He has to sell the scene doesn't he?
9. Machine guns were all the craze at the time (True Lies?). The archive scene is an exciting, well directed sequence.
10. It's Alan CumminG and that just sounds homophobic.
Please don't go on for longer. We get your point.
U like the soundtrack? Now I've heard it all.
If that's your attitude then don't let the door hit you on the way out. Am I not allowed to like the Bond I grew up with at least a bit?
Also you'll actually find there are lots of people who don't like Brozza here.
I know and I appreciate its hard to take criticism of your first Bond. For many years I felt like a lunatic for daring to defend Dalton. I will try and lay off him for a bit.
I am pretty much in your camp. Brozzer is bottom of the list because I was weaned on Sean, Rog and Tim. But sometimes you have to respect that he has got his fans,
Try to think of good stuff about the Brosnan era. Thats what I try to do...
they killed teri hatcher off in the first act of tnd?
and to think eon wanted monica bellucci... i guess u could say brossa was a bit unlucky.
Maybe that's what you should have said.
I'm not gonna try and defend Brosnan. Well, except:
1. I didn't care too much for the soundtrack, but I do admit that it fit the style and tone of the movie. GoldenEye established Brosnan as the Dalton-Moore: His movies attempt to keep the tone of Dalton's films while adding some of the style of Moore's.
2. Oh, for God's sake, the man was Remington Steele for years before playing Bond, cut him a little slack.
3. As was said before, if you want absolute realism, don't watch Bond movies. Even Craig, who's attempting to be the most realistic Bond in the franchise, admits and accepts the uber-reality.
4. Hey, that adds a moment of humor to an otherwise droll scene (as fun as the tank chase is the first time, every time after that, it loses its charm, aside from the tie).
5. Right, because the man's been trading STDs with billions of women for the past 30 years (at the time), clearly that line didn't make sense, right?
7. I'll follow the 2010 Wii game: the dam and the airfield are a few miles apart, connected by the facility. And name a movie with no continuity errors.
8. Oh, yep... no man grunts and groans as he physically exerts himself.
9. Hmmm... my choices of taking on 200 heavily armed troops are a machine gun and a toothpick... TOOTHPICK, YEAH!
10. To quote the man himself: I AM INVINCIBLE! and so was his screen presence in not only GoldenEye, but also X2: X-Men United.
2. what so he's a TV actor so cut him some slack? same goes for Rog but at least he had class.
3. I dont seek realism in Bond. Quite the opposite. But it is a long and proud tradition of the series that stunts are real and not Harry Potter nonsense.
4. no it doesnt
5. of course he's a dinosaur. thats why we love him. dont need M to S.P.E.L.L. it out for us.
7. reference to computer games disqualifies u from the next level.
8. definitely not Bond. that is the whole point. he makes things look effortless and kills with panache.
9. And if previous Bonds had been as eager to reach for the machineguns as Brossa we'd have had some very boring movies. Watch the rooftop chase in Yokohama harbour in YOLT to see how a real man takes on a gang of goons.
10. Cummings was an embarassment in GE. Smug and utterly cringeworthy performance. And no its not because hes gay. its because he is awful.
1. You've got me on the car chase. I hated that music.
2. What I meant by that was: He's used to playing a certain kind of character.
3. Yes, but CGI is cheaper than real stunts, and real people don't have any chance of dying in a CG stunt.
4. Y'know, I can barely watch that tank chase anymore, especially after having seen the movie a half a billion times. That tie is most welcome.
5. Actually, if you're a new fan to the series, yes, that scene is helpful.
7. It's all we've got for now, unless somebody on these boards flies out to Arkangelesk and checks to see if any of it really exists.
8. Clearly the toothpick was your choice. I hope you find yourself outnumbered and outgunned one of these days, then you'll be wishing you picked the machine gun.
9. He also happens to get caught right then and there. Maybe if he had a machine gun, he wouldn't have.
10. He's gay?! I had no idea.
11. I now realize I completely skipped the real number 7 of your original post and replaced it with number 6, so I was kind of one off. Here's my opinion about the car: The movie would have been no different without it. It appears for less than five minutes, and those five minutes could have been put to better use.
(1) Pierce Brosnan's debut as 007- from the hilarious bathroom scene at the beginning to the brutal duel with 006 at the end, Brosnan fired up the screen and showed us that Bond CAN and WILL go on, even after the 6 year gap where some thought it was all over. He shows Bond's emotional side at the "death" of his friend Alec, and then combats that with an agent's efficiency which says that you've got to move on and finish the mission. It's GE that shows us a little more about Bond the man, not the agent.
(2) Setting up backgrounds- something that GoldenEye does quite well. We learn of Bond and Trevelyan's past, how they were friends once, how Trevelyan became a 00 agent, why he hates England, and all of that which leads up to the movie's climax with 007 vs. 006 to the death. It's this build-up which gives the climax such a powerful force, similiar to the build-up right before Bond fights Red Grant in FRWL. Also, there are backgrounds behind how Bond knows Zukovsky and even ten to twenty minutes or so of the movie which shows us how Natalya is involved in the mission. With these background settings established, the characters appear like they have known one another for a while, not just in a fantasy setting.
(3) The Villains- every Bond movie has unique villains, and GoldenEye is no exception. You've got the former 00 agent who builds a criminal empire and is ready to have his revenge on his former government, Alec Trevelyan. You've got a former Soviet fighter pilot who has unusual habits of eliminating targets, Xenia Onatopp. Then there is the man on the inside, General Ourumov, who uses his position in the Russian military to assist Trevelyan in his plan, a man who has a dangerous past with 007. Finally, there is Boris Grishenko, a comical character, but nontheless a danger in a different way, programming the satellite which will carry out Trevelyan's master plan. There's only four of them, but they go together in such a way that they sort of run the movie!
(4) Action- Bond movies can't just stand alone on spying and conversation. They've got to have action, and action such that will keep us engaged the whole way through. The pre-title sequence is longer than most because it needs to combine both backstory and action, a blend which GE really does well with. There's an excellent shoot-out, a brief motorcycle chase, and a free-fall to catch a plane. Whether the last one is realistic or not is out of the question. It's Bond. It doesn't need to be! There's an energetic, thrill-charged gun fight in the Russian archives, one of my favorite scenes in all of Bond history. It's loud, exciting, dangerous, and very, very Bond-ish. As a follow-up, we've got a tank chase that is bigger and better than any vehicle sequence in any other Bond movie. Finally, there is a climax that screams BOND louder than any other. There are gun fights, fist fights, and plenty of explosions! Oh yes, that's what I call BOND!
(5) Music- The score really sets the tone for the rest of the movie. No scene is complete without the eerie background music which Serra sets up exceptionally well. My favorite music moments are the pre-title sequence, the tank chase, the escape from Trevlyan's train, and any little bit from the climax, especially 007 vs. 006 at the base of the satellite antenna.
(6) Dialogue- Any big GE fan out there can agree with me on this: you can quote GE's dialogue all day long! The meeting between Trevlyan and Bond in the Memorial, the confrontation on the train, M's breifing, Xenia and Bond at the casino, and the interrogation in the Archives are all memorable and quoteable. It carries the movie from start to finish, making GE addicting to watch.
Thanks Dimi! I was reading some of the other posts that were ripping GE, and I knew it had to stop!
Now... I'm a registered Jedi, and making a religion based on a movie is just... too far. ;)
Never underestimate the power of the golden eye! In fact... I find your lack of faith - disturbing.
Alright, time to run away!
Tomorrow Never Dies for me is the poorest of Brosnans four films, great PTS, fine Crow theme but that's about it, once Brosnan leaves Hamburg the film turns into a narcoleptic's dream and I have a hard time staying with it from there on, still wonder sometimes why The World Is Not Enough isn't higher on genuine fans lists each time, it's easily for me the best of Brosnans work
Tut. Tut. No film of the franchise should be above criticism. No film should be a sacred cow. Even the mighty Goldfnger, untouchable for so long, has its share of critics.
Which is the way it should be. If you love your film then you must recognise it has problems as well as strengths. Argue your case - but it is never immune,
I feel similar, albeit to a lesser extent with KD Lang's Surrender of the next release two years later although that was Arnold's work, I don't feel they should have different tunes for start and finish of Bond, this first came to the fore in The Living Daylights on a proper level, although I didn't mind too much either the A-HA or Pretenders efforts
Thank heavens for saved drafts :-L
For my birthday recently I got the GE soundtrack as a present and proudly listen to it in my car. There's a couple of tracks I'm not that keen on (namely "Run, Shoot and Jump and "The Experience of Love") but overall I truely think it suits the film. Most of all IT'S SOMETHING DIFFERENT. For example "whispering statues" fits the errie, dark, tragic tone of the scene its attached to perfectly:
True it's repetitive at times but its effective - at least to me.
...and I couldn't give a damn what Serra himself said ;)
Even the mighty Lord Vader could not do to me what several people believe should be done to me.
BTW: Is that from The Force Unleashed?