GoldenEye movie review

After an extended period of absence, 007 returned to our screens with this offering, GoldenEye, and featuring a brand new Bond, none other than Pierce Brosnan.

Brosnan, was instantly likeable as Bond, and seemed to fit into the role effortlessly. He had the look, and reminded me alot of Sean Connery's Bond, it was clear where Brosnan took his inspiration from.

Before I go into any details about the movie, I will let you know that it had been six years since that last Bond movie and there had been alot of changes both in front of the camera, as well as behind it. The Cold War had been the inspiration for much of the Bond movies, but with the Berlin Wall coming down and the Cold War ending, plots revolving around this were no longer appropriate. Also, alot of improvements with regards to movie making had occured and the advancements were immediately noticable in this movie.

The film starts with an excellent pre-title sequence, giving us an excellent introduction to Brosnan. Bond runs across a huge dam and jumps off bungee-jumping down (It was a world record bungee jump). Bond and his colleague, 006, infiltrate a Soviet weapons facility, and are going to blow it up, but their plans go astray, and 006 is seemingly killed, and Bond makes a daring escape jumping off the side of a cliff and into a plane nose diving to its almost certain destruction, but Bond manages to recover the plane from the nose-dive and escape.

The rest of the movie is set nine years after the events of the pre-title sequence, and Bond is investigating Xenia Onatopp who steals a Eurocopter Tiger helicopter, and her partner in crime Russian General Ourumov, they steal the GoldenEye satellite weapons, which has the power to destroy satellites, down planes and confuse the enemies communications systems. Onatopp and Ourumov are working with computer hacker Boris, who is the brains behind the plot, and his former work colleague, Natalya has been helping Bond pick up their trail. Bond also gets a surprise from an unexpected face from his past.

Pierce Brosnan is great in the role of Bond, he definately reflects Connery in the role in many ways. He is natural in the role, and makes for an enjoyable Bond. He carries off the action sequences with ease, and can deliver the one-liners just as good as Roger Moore. I don't think this movie can fault Brosnan in any way as it was a solid outing, and seems to get better with age. Brosnan definately helped to develop the character and bring hom up to date.

There are some great supporting actors as well. We are introduced to a new 'M' played by Dame Judi Dench, who would continue the role up until Skyfall. She fits the role well, and carries the importance of the role on her shoulders with ease. I like the relationship she builds with Brosnan, and I thought they had a great chemistry together.

Sean Bean as 006 is another great choice. He looks like a typical hardman and action star, so works along with Brosnan well, and looks his equal in many ways. When we see him later in the film he shows us he is an even better bad guy, and turns into the type of character we love to hate.

We also get a small role from Robbie Coltrane, who is an excellent actor, and is typically good in this playnig a Russian mafia boss, he also turns up in a bigger role, playing the same character in a later Bond movie.

The gadgets in this movie are as good as they ever were, with technology advancing faster than ever before we get some great new gadgets from Q that are alot more believable than some previous efforts.

The action scenes and stunts are better than ever, with the improvements in technology the good budgets an some excellent special effects ensure the balance between action and plot develpment is correct. My favourite scene is when we get to see Bond driving a tank through St. Petersburg, it is an excellent scene.

Overall this puts Bond right where he belongs, at the top of the box office. Brosnan was a hit and rightly so, the movie hits all the right buttons and overall gave us an excellent show. After his extended absence Bond was back and better than ever.
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Comments

  • Mr_OsatoMr_Osato Posts: 398MI6 Agent
    Very nice review, I have not seen Goldeneye in a while to be honest. It is a solid Bond movie, almost a classic. Clearly, the producers played it safe after 6 years absence and the dissapointing results of LTK. They added all the Bond elements in there: gadgets, a casino, the Aston Martin, The Russians, a cool henchwoman and gave it a modern twist. Succesfully also.

    Brosnan was a great Bond. The material he had to work with was not always topnotch, with of course DAD as an al time low. But the movies are very entertaining and he possessed all the qualities of a perfect Bond.

    It will be nice to see this movie again. It is far from my favourite, despite the ingredients of a Bond movie. Nonetheless a good effort that brought Bond back to life.
    OHMSS, FRWL, DN, GF, CR, GE, SP, YOLT, TB, TSWLM, LALD, TLD, TND, FYEO, SF, MR, TMWTGG, TWINE, OP, AVTAK, DAF, LTK, QOS, DAD

    1. Connery 2. Craig 3. Brosnan 4. Dalton 5. Lazenby 6. Moore
  • jeffchjeffch Posts: 163MI6 Agent
    Solid Bond film, however the Brosnan era progressively got worse afterward
  • chrisisallchrisisall Western Mass, USAPosts: 9,062MI6 Agent
    edited June 2013
    Goldeneye was GREAT. Brosnan's next two, while not hitting that height, were still solid entries IMO. All three had input from Bruce Feirstein (he getting sole credit for TND). Purvis & Wade get credit for the next four... talk about a mixed bag. :s

    As I see it, GE was the end of the gritty yet still colourful Bond era begun in TLD.
    Dalton & Connery rule. Brozz was cool.
    #1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,868Chief of Staff
    Writing credits are always a thorny subject, of course. I'm not decrying Feirstein, whose talents are undisputed, but others such as Daniel Petrie contributed to TND and Purvis & Wade have yet to be appreciated for their input to the series; too often dismissed, I for one am genuinely saddened that they won't be on the next Bond film.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Western Mass, USAPosts: 9,062MI6 Agent
    Barbel wrote:
    others such as Daniel Petrie contributed to TND and Purvis & Wade have yet to be appreciated for their input to the series
    I appreciate their contributions... in the case of DAD I feel the director & producer took it to the OTT place, and the only severe writing criticism I have for P&W is Skyfall, but in fairness, they were probably told the kind of story they needed to write, so I can't totally blame them for the simplistic nature. In the end, DAD and SF were terrific box office hits.
    Dalton & Connery rule. Brozz was cool.
    #1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,868Chief of Staff
    GIVEN- All Bond films are financial successes. Some are bigger than others, of course.

    When things go right (critics rave, the box office chings) the star and director get credit (eg CR, GE).
    When things go wrong, the writers get blamed (eg, QoS (which I love bar the editing and THAT SONG), DAD).
  • chrisisallchrisisall Western Mass, USAPosts: 9,062MI6 Agent
    Barbel wrote:
    When things go wrong, the writers get blamed (eg, QoS (which I love bar the editing and THAT SONG)
    I love QOS as well... P&W wrote the basic story, Craig & Forster filled in the blanks. -{
    Dalton & Connery rule. Brozz was cool.
    #1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
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