The film that marked the successful rebirth of the 007 franchise, which had laid dormant for over half a decade, GoldenEye remains Pierce Brosnan’s finest moment as Britain’s most famous secret agent.
The plot? This one involves the Russian mafia, a rogue agent and a powerful satellite, although realistically it’s the standard 007 formula at work. Thus, there’s gadgets, girls and plenty of action, with the plot trying to squeeze in where there’s room.
There are several reasons though why GoldenEye works so well. Firstly, it successfully ushered in a new cast, with Judi Dench’s M, Samantha Bond’s Moneypenny and Robbie Coltrane’s Valentin Zukovsky all marking their 007 movie debut. Then, the baddies are strong, although Sean Bean’s ruthless 006 is overshadowed by Famke Janssen’s career-making performance as Xenia Onatopp. And then there’s that vital 007 ingredient--the action. From a stunning pre-credits sequence, which is arguably the film’s highlight, through to several high-tempo action moments throughout the rest of the film, it’s highly enjoyable stuff, and impossible to resist.
Finally, there’s Brosnan. Arguably the most successful Bond since Sean Connery defined the role, his laid back, hard-edged charm serves him well, and he never looked more comfortable as 007 as he does in his maiden outing.
In short, GoldenEye is not only a terrific Bond movie, it’s a strong action movie full stop. --Jon Foster
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Better Bond with Brilliant Bean and Brosnan James Bond (Brosnan) investigates the mysterious dealings of Goldeneye, a satellite which was kidnapped by a group of Russians. Pierce Brosnan's (Mamma Mia!) first role as the famous British spy is probably his finest to date with specific and exciting acting, not to mention he is the cheekiest and smartest Bond since Connery. Six years Bond fanatics had to wait after `Licence to Kill' was released in 1989 and weren't we treated? Goldeneye has everything a Bond fan could ever wish for, high... more info
Remastered??? A great film spoiled. Picture quality in some scenes from the first half of the movie appear very grainy. It's saying something when the Goldfinger print is better than a more recent Bond. Do they bother checking their products before they release them? Also, the film has been cropped at the sides, so that the computer screen readouts of the Goldeneye tracking system don't fit on the screen. The previous edition had none of these problems, so what went wrong?
Interesting, in that the villain is ex-MI6 Goldeneye introduced us to Pierce Brosnan as James Bond. After a 6 year hiatus it was good to see 007 back in action. Brosnan is okay, but some would maybe argue that he's a bit too smooth (a la Remington Steele) and lacks the hard edge of Connery or even Daniel Craig. Goldeneye (named after Ian Fleming's house in Jamaica where he wrote the 14 original Bond books) has its moments, such as: the dam jump in the pre-credit sequence, the tank chase through St. Petersburg, Onatopp (a celebrated baddie in... more info
"I think you're a sexist, misogynist dinosaur - a relic of the Cold War." Goldeneye is the seventeenth Bond movie in the series, and the first of four with Pierce Brosnan in the lead role. Indeed, it is the best of his four. Following a Scot, an Australian, an Englishman and a Welshman, Bond was now played by an Irishman. In my view, Brosnan was a good Bond, but the lack of control over his part that Dalton insisted upon meant that this and the other three of his movies led to Bond becoming a parody of his true self. Like the final movies of Roger Moore in the role, Brosnan's... more info
![James Bond - Goldeneye (Ultimate Edition 2 Disc Set) [1995]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51dHeD3YZGL._SL160_.jpg)
