We break into November and the last week of our 30 Days of Bond with Goldeneye. And because this movie was just that good, we also reviewed the classic video game tie-in for the N64. You can read that here.
For many of us robots, Goldeneye was our gateway drug into the world of Bond. It had been six years since License to Kill, the difference for most of us between childhood and adolescence. And in many ways the Brosnan reboot became a synthesis of all of the Bonds before it. While definitely serious, it was able to have fun with its camp without going overboard. It rebooted Bond in its first post-Cold War era– finding a place for an icon of said Cold War in a world without it. And finally, it helped turn so many of the tropes and sexism of Bond on its head.
The film opens with Bond and Agent 006 Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean) infiltrating a Soviet chemical weapons facility. When 006 is captured and killed by Soviet General Ourumov (Sean Bean dies in a movie? Never!), Bond barely escapes. Cut to present day when Bond is driving his iconic Aston Martin on a mountain road and a gorgeous Russian (Famke Janssen) in a red sports car wants to race. Bond ends up tailing her and tying her to the Janus crime syndicate. When Janus and Ourumov steal a Soviet-era satellite weapon capable of destroying all electronics within a 30 mile radius, code-named Goldeneye, Bond is dispatched on the case. In the process he’ll lead a chase through the streets of St. Petersburg driving a tank, and there’ll be a faceoff high above a huge satellite dish in Cuba.
“>httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUNP9xrOBd4
Citizen-Bot: Goldeneye is one of my favorites. The first one is always the sweetest. By this time I was pretty obsessed with post-Soviet Russia, was in my fourth year of Russian in high school, so this just hit me exactly where I was. This movie gets everything right. And it’s a tragedy Brosnan’s other Bond movies quickly became an exercise in diminishing returns after this one, or else he might be my favorite Bond ever.
Arse-bot: This was the first Bond film I ever saw end to end. I recently read an article in a magazine on the Bond franchise in which a producer of some of the films noted that whoever was James Bond in the first Bond film you saw sort of became “Your Bond”. That’s how Brosnan was for me. He was MY Bond. And while Craig is a kick-ass new Bond, and Connery and company helped define the role prior, Brosnan was the actor who introduced me to the character who preferred his martinis shaken and not stirred (even though I was a kid and had no idea of the difference).
Having now seen other Bond films, both old and new, I always come back to Goldeneye as my reference point. I really think all things said this is easily one of the top 5 Bond films and sort of brought Bond into a new era – even though this “new era” turned out to be a little rocky for 007. The film was exciting and suave, Brosnan was debonair as hell as Bond, and Famke Janssen was a sexy henchwoman who turned the tables on our hero’s womanizing.
I am by no means the biggest Bond fan here, but I am definitely a pretty devoted one. What say the rest of you more seasoned Bond vets? How does this film stack up to the past adventures of 007?
Swank-Mo-Tron: While the Dalton Bond’s are the ones I saw first, this was the first one I saw ad nauseum. As a brand new teenager when it came out, I had vivid daydreams about Natalya Simonova and Xenia Onnatopp. And the pre-credits sequence was so elegant and typified everything I secretly wanted to be if I could be a secret agent. I loved the interplay between he and 006 in the beginning and watching his friend die actually hurt. It gives his recklessness in the immediate post-credits sequence an explanation.
Citizen-Bot: Vivid daydreams. Yes. That’s the polite way to put it. Ahhem. . .
Shaz-Bot: I blame Xenia Onatopp for my attraction to bad girls. I mean, sure she’ll crush you to death, but at least you’d go with a smile on your face. Um, anyway the movie itself was my first, and still one of my favorites. It had everything! Cool new Bond, lots of neat gadgets, action out the wazoo, a compelling story tempered with appropriate humor. The scene at Q branch alone makes me laugh out loud every time I see it.
Swank-Mo-Tron: As much as I thought Joe Don Baker worked as a villain in The Living Daylights, I think he works better as Jack Wade, CIA. “Show me the rose…” “Oh, please no.” But even better than Joe Don Baker is Valentin, played perfectly by Hagrid himself, Robbie Coltrane. And did anyone else notice Minnie Driver’s hilarious cameo?
Citizen-Bot: I did a double take when I just rewatched it. Gave me another reason to want to smack Minnie Driver. . . I’m glad we get more of Valentin in later movies. I wish he would’ve stuck around for more. But Joe Don Baker also worked on so many levels– especially the not-so-subtle ripping on the Americans that takes place through this entire movie. I like that they gave him a new character, Jack Wade, rather than sully the name of Felix Leiter. Jack Wade doesn’t seem to care about the minutiae of the spy game, because he doesn’t have to as “the last remaining superpower.”
Shaz-Bot: I said in our roundtable of The Living Daylights that I’d watch anything Joe Don Baker is in. While this love of JDB stems from the MST3K version of “Mitchell”, going back and watching GoldenEye and Jack Wade just cements my admiration for the guy. Aside from the bits already mentioned, I love how he shows up at the end, where Bond does all the heavy lifting, but here’s Jack and his platoon anyway, just in case.
Swank-Mo-Tron: Did anyone else find the music choices in this film (save the opening title) a bit… silly?
Citizen-Bot: If there’s a misstep in this film, it’s in the score. Granted, they never started playing The Beach Boys during a chase scene like in View to a Kill, but it’s not quite up to most of the other films.
Swank-Mo-Tron: This is also the second recasting of Ms. Moneypenny. Lois Maxwell was… well… Lois Maxwell, and the girl in the Dalton films was very… 80s. Samantha Bond was attractive and, for the first time ever, called Bond out on his blatant sexual harassment. It just adds one more layer to what James might perceive as his irrelevance that he struggles with in a Post-Soviet era.
Citizen-Bot: I love the sexual harassment bit. I love that both Moneypenny and M have Bond’s number in this, and tell him exactly what the score is.
M: 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.
Bond: The thought had occurred to me.
M: 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.
Bond: Point taken.
That. . . .that is golden.
Swank-Mo-Tron: And did anyone else see a startling similarity between Alec Trevelyan’s plan with Tyler Durden’s? Basically he’s stealing all the money out of the British Banks and then hitting them with the EMP to wipe any trace of it and every other financial record in the country. It’s ingenious and original, which means that Chuck Palahniuk is an even bigger hack than I thought.
Citizen-Bot: You are going to engender a lot of nerd rage with that allegation. But. . . yes? I can see a similarity. You know, of all of the good Bond movies, this was the one I had to think about exactly what the endgame of the villain was. It’s not that it doesn’t make sense, it’s just a bit more of a bank-shot. But I like how Bond tries to goad Trevelyan with calling him nothing more than a petty thief. And so I don’t know if that elevates Tyler Durden or lowers 006 more?
Shaz-Bot: This will hurt my nerd cred for whatever that’s worth, but I’ve never actually seen Fight Club, so this is news to me. Trevelyan’s plan is pretty genius though, especially since this was before EMPs became a severely overused plot point. It actually harkens back to Goldfinger if you think about it, the plans are very similar, aside from the fact that 006 is obtaining money by destruction, and Goldfinger is increasing the value of what he already has.
Citizen-Bot: All in all, this is one of my most favorite Bond movies. It may not be the best, technically, but man I love it like few others. For a great villain, great side characters, and awesome Bond girls, I give this 3.5 martinis.
Swank-Mo-Tron: This is one of my favorites as well. It rates in my top five for sentimental reasons as much as being a quality film. The opening alone elevates it to greatness, let alone the girls, the villain, and everything else. I’m going to say 3.75 Martinis. It only loses marks for the music.
Shaz-Bot: I’m not saying this film is perfect, far from it, but it’s succeeds on almost every level to reinvigorate the franchise. Not only that, but it appeases long time fans as well, with a bunch of nods to previous films, like the aforementioned Goldfinger similarites, and stuff like Bond hanging from a cargo net in an airplane. In fact, the biggest issue I have with this film is that Q gives Bond a freaking BMW rather than an upgraded Aston Martin. I’ll agree with Swank and give this film 3.75 martinis.
