Goldeneye
"Bond is back!" So proclaimed headlines across the country when Goldeneye was released in 1995. It had been 6 years since the last film of the franchise, License to Kill, had flamed out at the box office. The following years were tortuous for Bond fans, as production on the next sequel was stalled because of legal woes with the studio, MGM. The franchise was hurt still more with the departures of Bond director John Glen and actor Timothy Dalton, and the deaths of Bond stalwarts, scriptwriter Richard Maibaum and title artist Maurice Binder. But the worst blow of all came with the illness of producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli, the patriarch of the franchise who had guided the films since the beginning. It was beginning to look like Bond, the father of the modern action hero, was going to be gone for good.
Eventually, MGM's legal woes were dealt with and Broccoli's Eon Productions was able to get back into the business of making movies. And it was time for a complete makeover. Cubby Broccoli was too sick to serve as anything other than a consulting producer, but he left the franchise in the capable hands of his daughter Barbara and stepson, Michael Wilson. There must have been a lot of doubt in the months leading up to production. Would Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson be able to recreate the magic? Did it even matter? Maybe nobody cared about Bond anymore. The character only really seemed relevant during the Cold War. He was now a man out of his time, a secret knight of a British Empire that no longer existed. As an action hero, he had been eclipsed by the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis. What there a point to resurrecting the franchise?
The answer is a resounding yes. With determination and perseverance, Broccoli and Wilson showed that Bond wasn't only still relevant, but still deserved to be in the upper echelon of badasses. Maybe Ian Fleming's Bond wasn't relevant in the new post-Glastnost world, but Eon Productions' Bond sure as hell would be. I think part of the reason Goldeneye is so successful is because it tackles this lack of relevance head-on. In the film, Bond is called a dinosaur - both because of his old school sexist attitudes and because he might not have a relevant place in the new world order. The former is a pretty brilliant move because it allows Bond to be Bond while having the rest of the world either look down on him (like the new M) or amusingly roll their eyes at his antics (like the new Moneypenny). And the latter - the idea of trying to find one's place in the post-Cold War world - becomes a major theme in the film for multiple characters.
There is a lot to admire about Goldeneye, but let's start with the crew. Director Martin Campbell was a solid director who had already proved he could handle both action (No Escape) and tense thrillers (the original Edge of Darkness). The script, by Jeffrey Caine (Oscar-nominated for The Constant Gardener) and Bruce Feirstein (Tomorrow Never Dies) was witty, exciting and genuinely original for a franchise that had been around for three decades by that point. And I have to give major credit to Broccoli and Wilson for one major crew change - a MAJOR upgrade in the overall casting.
Let's be honest, Bond films were not known for their acting. Of course, it was important to cast Bond and his main villain well, and occasionally, the Bond girl (though for every Diana Rigg, there is a Tanya Roberts). But generally, this was not a franchise for thespians. And then Goldeneye brings on Pierce Brosnan, Judi Dench, Sean Bean, Robbie Coltrane, Tchéky Karyo, Joe Don Baker, Famke Janssen, Izabella Scorupso and an amusing blink and you'll miss it cameo from Minnie Driver. That's a major cast upgrade and they all come to play. There is not a weak link in this group!
But I ramble. Let's move into story, shall we? There might be some spoilers here so be warned! After a top secret stealth helicopter goes missing and a Russian research center is inexplicably destroyed, Bond moves in to investigate, only to find himself facing one of his oldest friends, a long thought dead agent named Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean). Trevelyan has access to a nuclear satellite called Goldeneye and Bond has to stop him before he uses the satellite's power to destroy London. The story is entertaining throughout, and includes some great classic Bond moments, like a world record-breaking bungie jump, a thrilling tank chase through St. Petersburg, and a memorable romp in a sauna.
Let's focus on that sauna scene for a second, where Bond is seduced/attacked by the evil Bond girl, Xenia Onatopp, played with vibrant gusto by Famke Janssen. This scene shows the Bond character at his best - he is charming, sexy, funny, ruthless and probably a little too over confident. And what a great fight with Onatopp, a powerful woman who gets off on killing people (literally). Her preferred method of assassinating people is by straddling them with her thighs and squeezing them to death, a process she enjoys...er, maybe a little too much. She is hands down one of the best Bond girls of the entire series, and she is just as sexy and ruthless as Bond, and absolutely bat shit crazy (even to the other villains). She is matched with a great performance by her villainous boss, played by Sean Bean. For one of the few times in the series, we are blessed with a villain who is definitely Bond's equal.
Which leads me to some of my criticisms of the film, which also has to start with the villains. At this point, the franchise no longer had the rights to the Blofeld character (as detailed on in my For Your Eyes Only review). So Bond needed a new arch-nemesis to pester him film after film. And here, we have a golden opportunity to achieve that with an interesting character who can actually give Bond a run for his money, a former spy with a fascinating back story and a believable grudge against England, and played by an exciting actor, Sean Bean, who can hold his own on-screen against the charismatic Brosnan. And instead of using this character to fill the gap left by Blofeld's absence, they kill him off at the end of the film (and in an incredibly lame way, by the way). Maybe this isn't so much of a flaw as it is a missed opportunity, but it continues to frustrate me every time I see the film.
Other problems with the film could also be considered pet peeves. As a fan of the crazy stunts in the Bond films, I loathe the scene where Bond jumps off a cliff after a plunging airplane, somehow falling faster than the plane, catching up to it, climbing in, running to the cockpit and then taking control of the plan to fly away and escape. Hell no. That's just too much. Even if the Bond stunts were sometimes hard to believe, you still had stunt teams figuring this stuff out. It was real people doing real crazy stuff. We get a taste of the stunt team's expertise with the record-setting bungie jump in the movie's opening scene, but then we go off the rails into special effects land with the cliff dive. In this scene, the production team just went the easy route and used special effects to create an utterly unbelievable moment...something so ridiculous that it took me out of the movie...and these are the types of shenanigans that would only grow worse and worse throughout Brosnan's tenure, eventually leading to the invisible car and tsunami surfing in Die Another Day. That pain begins here, with the stupid cliff jump, folks!
So the film isn't perfect (I didn't even get into the atrocious score by Eric Serra!), but does it matter? Goldeneye overall is a really good film, and a terrific inaugural outing for Brosnan and Campbell. Bond was back, and he was better than ever. There was hope for the future!
RANKINGS:
This one is tough. I really admire Goldeneye, but I'm not sure I would put it in the upper echelon. I think it will fit nicely in with Dalton's debut, The Living Daylights. In some ways, The Living Daylights is better - it's plot is more intriguing and the fights are better. But I think I have to give the edge to Goldeneye. The big differences are the cast (especially Brosnan and Janssen) and because I admire how the film cleverly updates Bond and makes him relevant in the post-Cold War world. Most importantly, this is the film that saved the franchise. And it deserves some major points for that!
So here are the updated rankings:
1. Thunderball
2. From Russia with Love
3. Goldfinger
4. The Spy Who Loved Me
5. Goldeneye
6. The Living Daylights
7. Dr. No
8. Octopussy
9. For Your Eyes Only
10. Live and Let Die
11. License to Kill
12. Man with the Golden Gun
13. Diamonds are Forever
14. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
15. Moonraker
16. You Only Live Twice
17. A View to a Kill
MVP:
We really haven't talked about the biggest change in the franchise - that there was a new Bond in the lead here. So let's get into it, because Brosnan is the clear MVP, but had as much to do with revitalizing the franchise as anybody else. He was young, fresh faced, and energetic. And most importantly, he seemed to effectively embody all the different aspects of Bond's persona. For the first time since Connery, we had someone who was utterly believable flirting and fighting, someone who could be intense when the occasion called for it, and then flip on a dime and throw out a joke immediately after. He is definitely different from Sean Connery - I can imagine Brosnan as an upper class, prep school kid with oodles of charm and confidence who then joined the Secret Service and learned to fight. He started with the polish and then learned to be gritty from there as he needed to. I kind of have the opposite impression with Connery - who I imagine as rough and tumble neighborhood badass who learned how to be charming and elegant. But both of them are unique as Bonds in that they really have all the check boxes filled. Would Brosnan ever be as good as Connery? Doubtful - Connery was the first and will always be the best. But what Goldeneye showed us is that Brosnan had that potential. He is terrific in this movie, and gets the easy MVP.
BEST LINE:
Bond: No, no, no. No more foreplay.
TRIVIA:
Casting Bond has to be one of the most difficult jobs in Hollywood. With the world's most iconic action hero, the amount of scrutiny and publicity that you have to deal with is massive. Everyone has an opinion. And one of the miracles of the Bond series is that for the most part, they've done a great job of casting the part. As far as I am concerned, there has only been one misfire, George Lazenby, though a lot of people even disagree with me on that. Cubby Broccoli had his eye on Pierce Brosnan for a long time. In the 1980s, Brosnan was the star of a hit show called Remington Steele, in which he played a thief who was very Bond-like. It looked like the show was about to be canceled, and Brosnan would be available to play the role. He was thrilled. Bond was his dream role; it was the part he was hoping his career would lead to. Meetings with Broccoli went well, the media was buzzing, and it looked like he was about to get the part. And then the network, probably trying to cash in on all the media attention, renewed Remington Steele, forcing Brosnan to return to the show. Brosnan lost the part, and the mantle was taken up by Timothy Dalton (though the quest to hire Dalton is also an interesting story as I wrote here!). Brosnan was distraught, but fate (and Bond) were not done with him!
I also have an Honorable Mention bit of trivia. Remember that amazing sauna fight I mentioned? Well, the fighting/making out got so intense that Famke Janssen broke a rib! The moment is when Brosnan slams Xenia into the marble wall. Janssen told him to really go for it, especially since they thought the walls were padded. Despite the pain, she kept going with the scene like nothing had happened, and that is the shot we see in the film!
