Good evening Mr. Bond fans. Have a look at my thoughts on GoldenEye. I look forward to discussing with you.
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A great review, but itās Janssen, not Jenssen.
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Great review! And heās going to derail us is an epic line
Iām of the view GE and TND are the best two Brosnan era films, and Iām confident the great majority would feel the same way. I went for a walk and started thinking of the similarities between them, and gave it some more thought upon sitting down.
This is what I came up with:
Both pre-titles sequences feature snow based locations, a delayed reveal of Bond, an escape via plane and the destruction of the main location via explosion.
Also:
A focus on satellites.
The strategic use of ejector seats.
An Aston Martin DB5.
Jack Wade.
Airport arrival sequences.
Running escapes from shooting enemies along raised platforms.
Villains who were thought to be respectable.
Hench-people with pain gimmicks.
Daredevil jumps (dam and HALO).
Bond borrowing a motorbike for escape purposes.
Infiltrating hidden lairs and planting explosives.
Battling against a countdown clock in the finale.
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I agree sharpshooter, although I didnāt realize there was that many similarities between the two.
Ironically, both also feature my favorite pre-title sequences, but thatās a subjective similarity.
And by the way, I think Tomorrow Never Dies, along with Octopussy and Licence To Kill, are the three most underrated Bond films.
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Fully agreed on OP and TND being the two most underrated. Both are fantastic, with OP being in my top four.
As for LTK, Iād be hard pressed to call it underrated, as so many Bond fans (myself included) adore it. Swap LTK for YOLT and weād have the same list of most underrated entries.
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All good movies. I would add TMWTGG to that list.
Regarding Goldeneye, Iāve always thought it had a strong set of characters. Alec, Ouromov, Xenia, Natalya, Boris, Valentin and even Wade are all memorable.
What would be your favourite moment from the film? Thereās plenty of options, but watching it on TV last night Iād probably choose the final confrontation with Alec. Their fight, the scene on the ladder and jumping onto the helicopter as the antenna goes up in flames. Pure cinema.
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The final fight is superb for sure, but I would have to go with Xenia and Bond in the steam room: one of the most James Bond moments of any film because it is so outrageous!
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Youāre right regarding the characters. You arguably have best ally (Jack Wade), girl (Natalya Simonova), henchman (Xenia Onatopp), and villain (Alec Trevelyan) in all the Pierce Brosnan films. And as you pointed out, Arkady Ouromov and Boris Grishenko are solid supporting characters as wellāalthough, alas Boris, not invincible.
As for my favorite moments, man thereās so many: the bungee jump off the dam, using the bioweapons containers complete with squeaky wheel to get to the loading ramp and then shooting some free as a diversion to make his escape up said ramp, the encounter with Xenia in the steam room, using the piton belt to swing to safety in the St. Petersburg military library, the tank chase, and the fight with Trevelyan. All are great, but if I have to choose one, Iāll go with the bungee jump. Iām a stunt guy and it just screams Bond.
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I donāt know if anyone else is watching Pierce do a live commentary on YouTube but heās reading questions and just read one submitted by Marketto! Very cool!
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Great event. Very sentimental. I like how Pierce is still humbled for being part of the franchise. Some great comments about Daniel Craigās run. Also I was surprised to hear that he hadnāt seen GoldenEye since its release. Must be fun to watch a film you starred in after 25 years.
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It was lovely to watch that along with him. Some great anecdotes, though the most amusing bit for sure was him voicing his dislike for the BMW. The man wanted an Aston from day one. Amazing it took until DAD for that to finally come to fruition. Itās a wonderful watch though, and what a cool place to broadcast from!
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Wow. Watching the film must have really been a time capsule blast from the past for him, then.
Iāll watch the commentary later this afternoon/tonight.
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He is definitely much more appreciative than ever. Which might come with age or perspective. As with every star now working from home without makeup or hairdresser, I find it refreshing to see him look so normal.
Iām a big Pierce fan, but I always found his disappointment with Bond to be curious. If someone had told him, in 1986, when he lost the role, that he would one day get in and star in four films, heād be overjoyed.
He called Goldeneye a classic, said the PTS was one of the best ever, and when asked if he would change anything about his portrayal, (paraphrasing here) ānot really, I did what I did when I did it.ā Which is a healthy perspective to have now. Pierce is at peace.
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Just got done watching Pierceās commentary on the film. Very entertaining. Doesnāt sound like heād be amenable to it, but I would nonetheless love to see him do one for the other three films he starred in.
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Must admit, it all felt a little bit flat.
There must have been any number of stories to tell, especially things that hadnāt been told before, but nope. All felt a bit quiet. A paraphrasing of many things said, many times before. Oh well, he said he didnāt like doing these things.
The best option would be showing a sequence and then hitting pause, allowing a story to be told in full before moving on, so other scenes and stories arenāt skipped over.
I admit I wouldāve like more detail, but what we got from Pierce was pretty good, and I was mostly struck by how much I like the guy. I think his commentary reminded me how much value we put on the movies. They really were made a long time ago and now have a life of their own.
For example, Iām sure Iāve read Jason Alexander say how the fans know much more about Seinfeld than him, and his memory isnāt always the best. Enough time passes and actually starring in something becomes less relevant. Itās like a dream, or another life.
Back to the movie itself, I do prefer TND these days, though still appreciate GE. It has aged, which is to be expected, but does hold up very well as entertainment. In terms of a pure Bond movie they nailed it with memorable sequence after another - from my nostalgic point of view anyway.
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The thing I take away from it is that he didnāt have to do this, so itās really just a bonus kind of thing thatās out there. With the current situation, it was a nice couple of hours to spend on something else. And Pierce, even telling stories that a lot of us have heard before, can still command a screen, all by himself, for a couple of hours.
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