Right so my look at the Bond films will continue in this post as I will look at Pierce Brosnan's debut in the role, Goldeneye. So how does it fair??? Well let's take a look....
And yep the usual warning is coming up:
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
STORY
So the film begins with James Bond (Brosnan) on a mission with fellow MI6 agent, Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean) aka 006 as they infiltrate a chemical weapons facility in Russia to blow it up using timed explosives. During their mission however, Trevelyan is captured by Colonel Ourumov (Gottfried John) who shoots Trevelyan but Bond manages to escape the facility just before it explodes.
The story then moves forward nine years where Bond follows, Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen) a member of the Janus crime syndicate who has formed a relationship with a Royal Navy Canadian admiral. Onatopp however kills the admiral during sex as she crushes him to death with her thighs to allow Ourumov, who is now a general, to steal the admiral's identity and with it a Eurocopter Tiger helicopter. Bond also investigates the scene of the murder and finds the dead admiral and sees Onatopp fly off the helicopter but he is too late to stop her.
Ourumov and Onatopp then fly the helicopter to a bunker in Severnya, Serbia where they steal the control disk for Goldeneye, which is an electromagnetic Soviet weapon from the Cold War. Onatopp then shoots all the workers at the bunker (which gives her a bizzare erotic thrill!) except a programmer, Natalya Simonova (Izabella Scorupco) and Boris Grishenko (Alan Cumming). Ourumov then programs the Goldeneye satelitte to destroy the bunker but Natalya somehow manages to survive and she escapes. Natalya then arranges to meet up with Boris, however at the meeting Boris betrays her to Ourumov and Onatopp.
Meanwhile in London, Bond is assigned by M (Judi Dench) to investigate the attack and he travels to St. Petersburg where he meets with CIA officer, Jack Wade (Joe Don Baker). Wade suggests to Bond that he meet with Valentin Zukovsky (Robbie Coltrane) who is a former KGB agent whom Bond had previously contact with and Zukovsky is a rival with Janus and at the meeting, Zukovsky sets up a meeting for Bond with Janus. Onatopp soon after meets with Bond at the hotel where he stays but she attempts to kill him but Bond manages to overpower her and demands that she take him to meet Janus.
Bond at the meeting then much to his surprise discovers that Janus is in fact Trevelyan, who faked his own death but was left badly scarred on the left side of his face from the explosion during their mission at the start of the film. Trevelyan reveals himself to be a descendant of the Cossack clans who worked with the Nazis during the Second World War and Trevelyan has vowed to take revenge over Great Britain as they betrayed the Cossacks, which drove his father to shoot his mother and himself. Bond is then shot with a tranqualiser dart just as he prepares to shoot Trevelyan.
Bond then soon wakes up to find himself strapped into a helicopter which has been activated for self destruct and Natalya is also trapped inside with him but Bond manages to activate the ejector for their seats and they escape only to be then captured and taken to the Russian military archives. While there they are interrogated by the Russian minister of defence, Dimitri Mishkin (Tcheky Kayro) and Natalya tells Mishkin there is another satelitte and that Ourumov was involved in the massacre at Severnya. Ourumov at this point walks in and protests but then shoots Mishkin and intends to frame Bond and calls for his guards but Bond manages to escape with Natalya but she is soon captured by Ourumov and his men.
As Ourumov makes his depature with Natalya, Bond steals a tank and follows them through St. Petersburg to an armoured train belonging to Trevelyan. Bond boards the train and holds Trevelyan at gunpoint but Ourumov comes in with Natalya held at gunpoint but manages to distract and kill Ourumov. Trevelyan escapes the train having set it to self destruct but Bond uses a laser built into his watch to cut through the floor and he escapes with Natalya just before it explodes and afterwards Bond and Natalya begin a romance.
Bond and Natalya then travel to Cuba where they meet up with Wade and borrow his aeroplane to locate the satelitte, however the plane is shot down and crashes into the jungle where Bond is soon attacked by Onatopp who repels down from a helicopter. Natalya however distracts Onatopp long enough for Bond to grab Onatopp's machine gun to shoot down the helicopter which sends her flying back against a tree and she is crushed to death as a result.
Meanwhile Trevelyan is at a control station with Boris, who operates the satelitte and Bond and Natalya outside watch the satelitte dish rise up from a lake. Bond and Natalya infiltrate the control station but he is captured and taken to Trevelyan where he must try and find a way to stop him from carrying out his plan to steal from the Bank of England and then erase all its financial records to destroy Great Britain's economy.....
THOUGHTS
Goldeneye is a very sold Bond film, which saw Pierce Brosnan's era get off a good start and it sees Bond get back to basics after the edgy seriousness of Timothy Dalton's depiction of Bond, we now get the Bond of old with his sly charm and sense of humour. But the film also retreads familiar ground as it deals with the Cold War themes again even though the Cold War had by this time finally come to an end (in 1991).
However it does have some good colourful characters in it too such as Zukovsky and Wade, Bond's allies as well as a feisty Bond girl in Natalya and a rather perverse sadistic villain in Onatopp that also helps make Goldeneye character wise a more interesting Bond film.
PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: This section will contain spoilers!)
As for the performances, they are all pretty good here and it features a strong cast who give a good account of themselves.
Starting with Pierce Brosnan who is excellent as the Bond and he plays him as a rather smooth, suave character with a sense of humour yet also he shows Bond's cold blooded side too.
Brosnan was actually going to be cast in the role prior to The Living Daylights however he was still contracted to work on the TV show Remington Steele and Timothy Dalton was cast instead. However after Licence to Kill was released, a series of legal disputes put what would be Dalton's third film on hold and by the time the disputes were resolved, Dalton had decided not to return although his contract was due to expire in 1990. So Brosnan was cast after the part was offered to Liam Neeson and Mel Gibson who both turned it down.
And Brosnan has plenty of highlights that include his opening scene where infiltrates the Russian chemical facility and he sneaks his way through the airshafts into a men's toilet cubicle where a Russian solder is sitting on the pan reading a newspaper. And the soldier suddenly puts down his paper and sees Bond upside down smiling at him and he says "Beg your pardon, I forgot to knock!" and he knocks the soldier out.
Then there is the scene where Bond first meets the CIA agent, Jack Wade in St. Petersburg and he gives him a code to identify himself to Wade but Wade is wary of him and calls him a "stiff-assed Brit!". And as Wade says "One of these days, why don't you just drop it!" and as Bond opens Wade's car door for him, Bond jams Wade into the door and pulls his gun on him and says "Like you said, "drop it" and he forces Wade to show a tattoo on his ass that says "Muffy" who was Wade's "third wife!". And afteward Wade smiles and shakes Bond's jade and says "Jack Wade, CIA" and Bond says "Bond, stiff-ass Brit!".
Another good scene is when Bond meets Onatopp for the second time at the hotel after his swim and he pulls a gun on her as she sneaks up on him. And Onatopp smiles saying "You don't need the gun, commander" and Bond says "That depends on your defintion of safe sex!" and then goes up to him and roughly puts her around him and he says "That's close enough!". And after a brief passionate clinch, Onatopp tries to kill Bond but he manages to subdue her and points his gun at her again and says "No, no, no. No more foreplay! Take me to Janus!".
Then there is the moment where Bond and Natalya manage to escape Trevelyan's train just before it blows up and after Natalya says to Bond "Do you destroy every vehicle you get into?" and Bond says "Standard operating procedure. Boys with toys!". And all of a sudden Natalya is turned on by Bond and she sexily to him " So, tell me. Are there any other standard operating procedures I should be aware of?" and they move in to kiss each other and Bond says "Thousands....but I only pay them lip service".
And then we have the scene where Bond and Natalya lie in the jungle unconscious in the jungle after their plane is shot down only for Bond to slowly come around and see the visage of Onatopp rapelling down toward him and she kicks him and then grabs him and says "This time, Mr Bond, the pleasure will be all mine!". And Onatopp proceeds to try and crush him with her legs but Bond manages to grab her machine gun and shoot the helicopter she rapelled from which sends her flying back against a tree which crushes her to death. And after Bond looks up and says to Natalya "She always did enjoy a good squeeze!".
And last of all is the scene where Bond fights with Trevelyan on top of the satelitte dish but their fight soon finds them at the bottom ladder rungs of the dish and Bond punches Trevelyan off the ledge and grabs his boot as Trevelyan dangles hundreds of feet from his death. And Trevelyan says to Bond "For England, James?" and Bond says coldly to him "No, for me!" and drops Trevelyan.
Sean Benn next up is pretty good as the main villain, Alec Trevelayn, formerly a MI6 agent but then went on to form the Janus crime syndicate and was the descendant of a Cossack family who worked with the Nazis during WWII.
And Bean has his share of good moments in the film that include his first one where Trevelyan meets up with Bond as they carry out their mission to take out the Russian chemical weapons facility. And in the scene Trevelyan, hidden the shadow points his gun at Bond and speaks in Russian and Bond replies "I'm alone" and Trevelyan emerges out the shadows and says "Aren't we all. Ready to save the world again?" and as they prepare to enter the main part of the facility Trevelyan asks Bond "For England, James?" and Bond says "For England, Alec".
Then there is the scene later on when Trevelyan reveals himself to be Janus and he tells him of his Cossack background and Bond says to him "Hence Janus. The two-faced Roman god come to life" and Trevelyan angrily says "It wasn't God who gave me this face! It was you, setting the timers for three minutes instead of six". And Bond says "Am I suppose to feel sorry for you?" and Trevelyan says " No. You were supposed to die for me! And, by the way, I did think about asking you to join my little scheme but somehow I knew, 007's loyalty was always to the mission, never to his friend" and then Trevelyan calls out "Closing time, James! Last call!" and Bond is shot by a tranqualiser dart.
Another good scene is when Bond boards Trevelyan's train after Trevelyan's train has rammed the tank that Bond had stolen. And after the crash, Trevelyan tries to get up and reach for a gun but Bond stops him by putting his foot on it and Trevelyan sighs and says "Why don't you just be a good boy and die?!" and Bond says "You first!".
And as Trevelyan lays his cards on the table for Bond to either kill him or let Natalya die, Bond tries to convince Ourumov that Trevelyan will betray him as he is a Cossack. And Ourumov anxiously asks Trevelyan "Is that true?" and Trevelyan smugly says "What's true is that in 48 hours you and I will have more money than God. And Mr. Bond here will have a small memorial service with only Moneypenny and a few tearful restaurateurs in attendance!".
And lastly there is the scene when Bond and Natalya have infilrated Trevelyan's control station for the second satelitte and they are captured and brought to him. And Trevelyan says to Bond "James, what an unpleasant surprise!" and Bond says "We aim to please". And Trevelyan starts to goad Bond by saying to him "I might as well ask you if all those vodka martinis ever silence the screams of all the men you've killed... or if you find forgiveness in the arms of all those willing women for all the dead ones you failed to protect!".
Isabella Scorupco is excellent as Natalya, Bond's love interest who is a Russian programmer who helps out Bond in defeating Trevelyan and she plays Natalya as a feisty, strong woman.
Isabella also has her moments in the film that include the scene where Natalya and Bond are interrogated by the Russian minister of defence, Mishkin. And as Bond and Mishkin get heated with one naother, Natalya interrupts them and shouts "Oh, stop it, both of you! Stop it! You're like boys with toys!".
Then there is the scene onboard Trevelyan's armoured train where Ouromov holds Natalya at gunpoint and Bond calls Trevelyan's bluff and says "Kill her, she means nothing to me" but he then manages to kill Ourumov and Trevelyan and Onatopp escape and seal off the train. And Bond runs around checking the windows that have been sealed off and he says "One inch armour plating!" and Natalya, cross with Bond's lack of concern says "I'm fine, thank you very much!".
Then comes the moment where Natalya tries to hack Boris's connection and find out the location of the second satelitte. And Natalya asks Bond regarding Boris's password "What else do you call your bottom?" and Bond asks "What?" and Natalya says "It's Boris' password, he plays word games. It's what I sit on but I don't take it with me" and Bond instantly replies "Chair" and Natalya says "Like I said".
Another good scene is when Bond and Natalya are in Cuba and have started their romance with one another and she asks him if he will go after and kill Trevelyan and Bond says yes. And Natalya angrily says "You think I'm impressed? All of you with your guns, your killing, your death. For what? So you can be a hero? All the heroes I know are dead. How can you act like this? How can you be so cold?!". And Bond says to her "Its what keeps me alive" and Natalya says "No. Its what keeps you alone!" and Bond roughly kisses her and Natalya gives into his boner(!) and they make out again.
And lastly there is the scene where Natalya is captured at the control station and brought to Trevelyan and Boris, who is there is suddenly pleased to see Natalya who punches him in the face and pounces on him but she is restrained by Trevelyan's soldiers. And Boris angrily get's up and says to her "Don't EVER hit me again!" and Natalya angrily shouts "This is not one of your games, Boris. Real people will DIE, you pathetic little worm!". And this is followed by the moment where Trevelyan holds Bond at gunpoint to force Natalya to give Boris the codes she changed for the satelitte and Natalya get's her own back on Bond earlier and says "Go ahead, shoot him, he means nothing to me!".
Famke Janssen next is also very good as the sexy and lethal, Xenia Onatopp, who get's perverted, sadistic thrills from killing men by crushing them with her thighs.
Janssen also has some good scenes that include the one where Onatopp get's an orgasmic thrill from shooting the workers at the Russian satelitte bunker in Severnya. And in the scene she hears a noise in the kitchen and looks up at a ventilation shaft which is slightly ajar and she shoots at it and groans with pleasure and she later says to Ourumov "Its clean, I had to ventilate someone!".
Then there is the scene whereafter she has killed the admiral in the throes of passion with her thighs, she steals his ID card and goes up to two pilots where the helicopter is. And she says to the men "Shh. I have a small surprise from your friends back at the barracks" and one pilot says to the other "I think I've gone to heaven" and Onatopp says "Not yet!" and shoots them both dead.
Then of course there is the scene where Onatopp meets with Bond at the hotel after he has had his wim and he catches and holds a gun at her. And Onatopp grins and says "You don't need the gun" and Bond says "That depends on your definition of safe sex" and Onatopp approaches him and passionately grabs him and Bond says "That's close enough" and Onatopp says "Not for what I had in mind!". And after Bond manages to subdue Onatopp's attempt to kill him with her thighs, he points a gun at her again and says "No more foreplay, take me to Janus!" and she yells in Russian "BULIATCH!!!" which I think is Russian for "shit".
And last of all there is the scene when Onatopp has her last confrontation with Bond as she rapels down from a helicopter and kicks him and she grabs him and says "This time, Mr Bond the pleasure will be ALL mine!". And Onatopp tries to crush Bond to death with her thighs but he manages to overcome her and kill her off once and for all.
Judi Dench who makes her debut in the role as M, also does an excellent job as she shows her character as a tough woman who does her job by crunching data and numbers much to the displeasure of Bond's pragmatic methods.
And Dench's best scene is where M meets with Bond and confronts him over his dislike for her as she says to him " You don't like me, Bond. You don't like my methods. You think I'm an accountant, a bean counter more interested in my numbers than your instincts" and Bond replies "The thought had occurred to me". And M says " Good, because I think you're a sexist, misogynist dinosaur. A relic of the Cold War, whose boyish charms, though wasted on me, obviously appealed to that young woman I sent out to evaluate you". And Bond says "Point taken" and M continues "Not quite, 007! If you think I don't have the balls to send out a man to die, your instincts are dead wrong! I have no compunction about sending you to your death, but I won't do it on a whim".
And after M gives Bond his orders to try and track down the Goldeneye satelitte she says to him "Bond. Come back alive" and Bond smiles slightly and walks out.
Joe Don Baker next is great in his role as Jack Wade, the colourful CIA agent who has some fun moments in the film.
And these moments include the scene where Bond first meets Wade and Bond gives him a password "In London, April's a spring month" and Wade wearily says "Oh what are you? The weatherman?! For cryin out loud, another stiff-ass Brit with your secret codes and passwords! One of these days you guys are just gonna learn to drop it!". And after Bond holds a gun to Wade's chest and forces him to show the tattoo of a rose he has on his ass, Wade lightens up and says to him "Jack Wade, CIA" and Bond says "James Bond, stiff-ass Brit" and Wade asks him the daftest question ever "Hey, Bond. Do you do any gardening?".
And then there is the scene where Wade drops Bond off outside Zukovsky's club and he says to him "Are you sure you want to do this? The last guy who dropped in uninvited went home - airfreight - in very small boxes!". And Bond says "Well make sure they send me home first class!" and get's out the car to head in.
And lastly there is the scene where Bond meets up with Wade again, once he is with Natalya in Cuba and Wade takes Bond aside in the scene and says to him quietly "Did you check her out?" and Bond says "Head to toe" and Wade catches his drift and smiles and says "Right!". And Bond hands Wade the keys to his gadget laiden BMW in exchange for the plane and Bond warns Wade "Just one thing, don't push any buttons on the car" and Wade says "I'm just gonna go bombing around in it" and Bond says "Exactly!".
Alan Cumming does not too badly as the nerdy computer expert, Boris, who helps out Trevelyan in his scheme to use the Goldeneye satelitte to wipe out London's enconomy even if his performance is a bit grating at times.
And Cumming does have some fun moments in the film that include his first scene where Boris in the bunker, hacks into the US Department of Justice's databases and he manages to hack out of it before he is detected. And in the scene once he has done he types them a message saying "Better luck next time, slugheads! Bang! Gone!" and he stands up and announces with his hands in the air "I AM INVINCIBLE!!" and he turns to Natalya and says "Was it good for you, too?".
Then there is the scene where Boris frantically tries to undo the hacks that Natalya has done to the control station. And in the scene Boris frantically keeps clicking Bond's explosive pen (which he is unaware of) in a sequence of once or two times with Bond looking on nervously as he realises if Boris clicks it three times in a row it will detonate. And Boris frustrated at being unable to crack her codes get's up and yells at Natalya "GIVE ME THE CODES, NATALYA!! GIVE THEM TO ME!!" and in doing so he has clicked the pen three times, forcing Bond to grab it and throw it away just before it explodes.
And last of all there is that moment where (SPOILER!!) the satelitte is destroyed and Boris who is hiding, emerges from his hiding place and stands triumphantly as he has survived and shouts "YES! I AM INVINCIBLE!!!". And then containers of liquid nitrogen burst open behind him and showers him, leaving him a frozen statue.
John Gottfried also does well as the corrupt Russian General Ourumov who is involved in Trevelyan's schemes with the Goldeneye.
Gottfried has some good scenes also but I will only mention to, firstly the one where Ourumov captures Trevelyan at the start of the film. And as Ourumov's soldiers try and shoot Bond, Bond uses a trolley containing explosive canisters and hides behind them as he moves the trolley across the room. And one of Ourumov's men has a nervy trigger finger who fires at Bond but his shots hit against the trolley and Ourumov turns around and shoots the man. And Bond then stops the trolley at the far left side of the room and Ourumov smiles and says to Bond "You can't win!".
And lastly there is the scene where Ourumov storms into the interrogation room where the Russian minister of defence, Mishkin, interrogates Bond. And Orumov says to Mishkin "Defence minister, I must protest! This is my investigation! You're out of order!" and Mishkin shouts back " From what I'm hearing it is you who is out of order!". And Ourumov picks up Bond's gun and says "I've seen this gun before......in the hand of our enemy!" and Mishkin yells at him "PUT IT DOWN, GENERAL!". And Ourumov says "Do you know even who the enemy is, Dimitri? DO YOU?!" and Mishkin shouts for a guard but Oururmov shoots Mishkin and the guard dead. And Ourumov turns to Bond and says "Defence Minister Dimitri Mishkin murdered by British agent James Bond..." and he throws Bond back his empty gun and says to himself "...himself shot while he was trying to escape. GUARDS!" but then Bond kicks his ass and another firefight ensues.
Robbie Coltrane is great as the colourful Zukovsky, a former KGB agent who once knew Bond who had given him a "limp" in their previous meeting but he is opposed to the Janus crime syndicate.
And Coltrane's main scene is a good one where Zukovsky walks through his club and Bond suddenly appears behind him, cocking his gun and pointing at the back of Zukovsky's head. And Zukovsky says "Walther PPK, 7.65 millimeter. Only three men I know use such a gun. I believe I've killed two of them!" and Bond says "Lucky me" only for another gun to appear at the back of Bond's head and Zukovsky says "I think not!".
And as Bond has his meeting with Zukovsky he asks him for a favour and Zukovsky mockingly laughs at him and says "He wants ME to do him a favor! My knee aches every single day! Twice as bad when it is cold. Do you have any idea how long the winter lasts in this country? Tell him, Dmitri!". And Dimitri starts to say "Well, it depends....." and Zukovsky shouts at him "SILENCE!!!" in a distinctly Scottish sounding accent! And Zukovsky finishes the scene asking "So why did you not kill me?" and Bond says "Call it professional courtesy!" and Zukovsky takes out his gun and says "Then I should extend you the same courtesy!" and shoots either side of Bond's seat.
And the last two I will mention are firstly, Desmond Llewellyn who once again plays Q and he get's some fun lines in his only scene in the film where Bond pays Q a visit.
And in the scene it starts with Bond walking in to see Q in a wheelchair with a big cast on one leg and Bond says "Morning, Q. Sorry about the leg. Skiing?" and Q's leg cast suddenly fires across the room and explodes and Q grins and says "Hunting!". Q also shows Bond the exploding timer pen that he uses later in the film and Q demonstrates the pen on a mannequin, which blows up and Q says "Don't say!" and Bond quips "The writing is on the wall??" and Q laughs "Along with the rest of him!". And as Q finishes up his briefing with Bond, Bond notices a large baguette sitting on a desk and he picks up and Q snatches it from him saying "Don't touch that! That's my lunch!".
And last of all is Samantha Bond who makes her first appearance in the role of Moneypenny and even though she doesn't appear too long in the film she has some good lines. And a couple of examples are when Bond first sees Moneypenny and he says to her "What would I ever do without you?" and Moneypenny says "As far as I remember, James, you've never had me!" and Bond says quietly to her "Hope springs eternal".
And lastly there is the scene where Moneypenny sends Bond a recorded message saying "M authorizes you to observe Miss Onatopp but stipulates no... contact without prior approval. End transmission, Moneypenny. Good night, James. I trust you'll stay... Onatopp of things??".
DIRECTOR AND MUSIC
As for the film's director, Martin Campbell, well he does a pretty good job here in his directorial Bond debut and he handles the film's action scenes very well and paces the film out well too as it rarely ever lags. Campbell would also go on to direct Daniel Craig's first film, Casino Royale and he continued his ability to direct action films very well and its a pity that they haven't brought him back again since.
And regarding the music, the score was composed by the French composer, Eric Serra, who was known for working with French action director, Luc Besson. However unfortunately I don't think Serra's score here is right for the Bond series as it sounds just a bit too jazzy and electronic in places even though it still has some orchestral moments, which do work ok. But I personally think there has been better Bond scores in the past and Serra is no replacement for John Barry and it would be the only Bond film he worked on and it would be musician and producer, Dave Arnold that would take over for the rest of Brosnan's era.
As for the theme song it was written by half of U2, Bono and The Edge and it was sung by Tina Turner and frankly its nothing special either and its not that memorable so I wouldn't put it even in my top 15 Bond theme songs but its not as bad as "The writing is on the wall" that featured in SPECTRE! So its got that going for it at least!
FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)
So flaws.....yes Goldeneye isn't entirely perfect and my gripes with it are all basically to do with its plot.
And to start one of the problems I had with the film was, well not just in one scene but quite a few scenes, are the improbability of survival.
And to kick off there is that ludicrous scene at the end of the pre-credits sequence where Bond escapes the chemical weapons facility and follows an unmanned plane that is taking off and Bond jumps off and dives after it and he somehow manages to sky dive right into the plane! Not only that Bond is then able to take control of the plane and prevent it from crashing into a mountain that is right ahead of him but realistically there is no way in hell he would have been able to stop the plane from crashing never mind him actually being able to get on it, so the scene is just unbelievable bullshit!
Then there is the scene where Natalya, who is the only survivor of the massacre at the bunker in Severnya, reacts in horror when she sees that the Goldeneye satelitte has been triggered and targetted to hit the bunker. And when the bunker is blown up all Natalya needs to do to survive is to dive out the way underneath a stairwell and she survives it no problem! Again she would have no realistic chance of survival in that instance but hey, its just a Bond film after all.
And further to this scene there is the prior scene when Onatopp hears a noise and goes into the kitchen where Natalya is hiding and she shoots the ventilation shaft, thinking that she has killed whoever might have been up there. Yet Natalya was hiding in the cupboards and Onatopp didn't even bother to think to look there so she just randomly assumes that she killed whoever it was, which is a bit daft in itself.
Another moment I thought was a bit stupid in the film was when Bond goes to meet Janus only to find Janus is Alec Trevelyan yet when they introduce him we see his shadow from behind and we hear his voice saying "Hello James". And this totally ruins the surprise of it being Trevelyan in the first place as surely it would be better for him to step out of the shadows THEN say "Hello James" as it gives away the surprise too soon.
And then there is the very silly tank chase where Bond pursues Ourumov in a tank and he keeps crashing through buildings and walkways and everything else in sight and the tank ends up covered in bricks and debris. However when Bond arrives just across from the train tracks where Trevelyan's train is, the tank is completely clear and has no bricks on it at all! Now that either means there is a bad bit of continuity going on here or Bond took the time to remove ALL the bricks off the outside of the tank, which I refused to believe for a minute, so to me that is bad continuity.
I also found it remarkable just how quickly the power of the Bond boner can attract women to him as literally about 30 seconds after they escape the train, Natalya is all over Bond like a bad rash! And only about five minutes before that Bond cooly told Trevelyan to kill her as she meant nothing to him so you would think that maybe she might have been a bit pissed off at him for a bit longer! But nah, it is again, a Bond film, so Bond will always get his end away (lucky git!).
And last of all there is the scene when Bond is captured by Trevelyan's soldiers at the control station and he comes out (having planted a timed explosive) with his hands up. Now given that Bond has already shot a few soldiers there, its a bit surprising that Trevelyan's men just didn't shoot him as it would have saved any further bother! Not only that, Trevelyan had already put Bond in several near death situations already and he's survived them all so its almost like Trevelyan wants Bond to live as long as he can until Trevelyan get's his perfect moment (which he never does!).
Anyway that is Goldeneye's flaws.
SUM UP
So in summing this one up, Goldeneye is a very entertaining and solid start to the Brosnan era and Brosnan himself does a fine job in the role and he shows that he is quite self assured at playing the part. The film also features good action, a very nice and feisty Bond girl in Natalya, and a fairly good villain in Trevelyan, aswell as a good supporting cast particularly Judi Dench who does a great job at being the first female M and Robbie Coltrane who provides a bit of extra fun as Zukovsky.
Unfortunately however the Brosnan era didn't get any better after this and it soon descended into bland mediocrity as Brosnan's films became more banal and boring. Although to be fair The World Is Not Enough is not a bad film at all and does feature a good twist with its main villain but the same can't be said for Tomorrow Never Dies or Die Another Day. But at least with Goldeneye it saw the Brosnan era get off to a promising start even if the era after this never fully delievered on its promise, but Goldeneye is still one that is well worth a look.
Right! So that's it for now and I might do one more Bond film before I'm done with my look at the Bond series so I might mull over which one to do and be back on here, if not it will be a review of something else, we shall see.
So until the next un its bye for now!
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