Plot
James Bond is called in to investigate the theft of a world class helicopter, that has advanced capabilities including being immune to EMP attacks.
This leads the MI6 to discover a rogue satellite known as ‘GoldenEye’, which has EMP abilities to knock out cities has been hijacked by a terrorist known as Janus.
Now Bond must find out who Janus is, and how to stop him.
Direction
Directed by Martin Campbell, who I’ve previously reviewed his Escape From Absolom (aka No Escape). I quite liked what he brought to the table, and it has a very “mid 90s” feel to it.
The opening sequence of Bond falling into a plane having jumped from a motorcycle is some pretty solid stunt work too.
There are ‘some’ questionable’ green screen moments later in the film, but I don’t think it was feasible to have the two leads on top of a satellite dish fighting for real.
Cast
Since this was a franchise ‘refresh’ in a way, having been off the screens for six years, there are new cast taking over former roles…
Pierce Brosnan of course starts his four film tenure as Bond. This iteration of Bond does feel closer to Connery’s territory, with Bond and the ladies (and the ease at seduction)…
Sean Bean plays Alec Trevelyan – a 00 agent who was killed by the Russians nine years prior to the events and now…. back from the dead to “take over the world”… or rob a few banks
Izabella Scorupco plays Natalya Simonova, the sole survivor of a horrific attack orchestrated by Trevelyan – and who assists Bond on his mission. (I don’t think I’ll complain about a bad day at the office again having watched what she went through!)
Famke Janssen plays Xenia Onatopp – one of Trevelyan’s right hand warriors, who gets… a little excited when she is murdering people…
Judi Dench plays M, who I thought should have had more to do considering her star power. She would still go on to continue the role into Daniel Craig’s tenure too.
Some other cast include Alan Cumming as Boris, one of Natalya’s allies, who turns rogue. Joe Don Baker as Wade, a CIA agent (even though he was in The Living Daylights only two movies previously), Robbie Coltrane as Valentin Zukovsky – a Russian mob boss (who’s girlfiend is Minnie Driver in a comical role), the late Tcheky Karyo as Mishkin the Russian Defense Minister, and Gottfried John as Col Ourumov one of the big bads working for Trevelyan.
Desmond Llewelyn returns as Q, and Samantha Bond makes her first appearance as Moneypenny.
Breakdown
Six years after the release of the last film, this is the 17th film overall in the franchise, and with a new Bond played by Pierce Brosnan, he is now the fifth person to take the role in four decades.
Now in the 1990s, the film attempted a more edgy and modern take – starting with an an epic pre credits stunt sequence when Bond chases a runaway pilotless plane on a motorcycle, jumps off a cliff, falls down into it and takes off – just to get away from the bad guys… and that’s all before Tina Turner’s Goldeneye theme song!!!
The opening mission, in which Bond’s good friend, and fellow 006 agent Alec is killed in action – he is seemingly forgotten for the next hour of proceedings when the film jumps ahead nine years.
In “now” time, a group of mercenaries steal a top secret fighter jet called the Tiger, as it is impervious to EMP (which M very matter of factly lets Bond know exactly what that is, and what it could do… almost like she knows there is an audience listening to her every word).
The bad guys Xenia Onatopp (and she likes to be) and 006’s killer Col Ourumov take the Tiger to a secret Russian military base where they hijack a satellite called Goldeneye that has the ability to use lasers to… you guessed it use EMP. Little do they know they left one survivor.
Bond’s investigations – which takes him from place to place – sees him partnered with a CIA operative called Jack Wade (and The Living Daylights bad guy Joe Don Baker), reconnect with an old enemy in Robbie Coltrane’s “Russian?” mob boss – before finally coming face to face with the long believed dead Alec! Who wants to take revenge on “Mother England” for what they did to his parents way back in the wartime.
Once it is revealed that Alec is the big bad, there are some solid action sequences, that are still a lot of fun to watch – such as Bond driving a tank through the streets – and then going up against a train.
Of course then there is Alec’s “big plan” in which he wants to rob London banks before hitting all of the city with Goldeneye.
The big fight sequence of Alec and Bond on the very top of the Satellite dish on the secret island location (because Bond villains gotta Bond villain) – is a little green screen heavy – but this is unavoidable. Alec’s surviving the fall of several hundred feet onto his back however, is probably the most unrealistic part of the whole film… and that’s saying something…
Overall
A solid start to Brosnan’s tenure as Bond, but I felt that the character regressed with his approach to the opposite gender which is slightly aged in a mid 2020s lens.
The film itself is solid, with great action sets – and the film is actually a better movie than what the character of Bond is himself.
Still very watchable, despite the flaws (seriously – there is no way he survived that fall!!
4/5
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