GoldenEye (1995)

The Best Of The Brosnan Bonds

Goldeneye returned James Bond to film theaters after a six-year hiatus, and Pierce Brosnan takes over the role of the world's most famous secret agent. Brosnan successfully combines the suaveness of Sean Connery with the hard-nosed cynicism of Timothy Dalton. Officially this is the first post-Cold War Bond film (and the first to be shot in Russia itself), but in reality it is the second, with Dalton's License To Kill being the true first such. Though the Cold War is over, the risks from it are still in existence, as the Russian mafia jockeys for position to control as much as it can. Bond must tail an ex-Red Air Force jet jockey, Xenia Onatopp, who is having a torrid affair with the test pilot of a new high-technology gunship - an affair that proves deadly and which leads to an even bigger threat to the West. The new head of Her Majesty's Secret Service is an obtuse bean-counter, and neither she nor the ticked-off HMSS bureaucrats she commands get along well, but at least she is willing to send Bond to correct a mistake she has made, the mistake in underestimating the importance of the chopper theft. It leads to James' encounter with an old friend, and one of the few instances in the entire Bond series of a truly gripping encounter with what turns out to be an adversary. That it is so effective can be put to the strength of Sean Bean's performance as well as that of Brosnan. The inevitable fireworks erupt, beginning with the destruction of the gunship and a terrific firefight in a Red Army base, before James tracks down his power-mad adversary and learns the full extent of his plan for vengeance. August 30, 2008

Best of the Brosnans

Until Casino Royale came out, this is the best of the "modern" Bond films. Good chracters, good pace, just a fun and exciting movie to watch. And it has the best Bond fight scene... other than Casino Royale. Sean Bean is terrific as the bad guy, though Joe Don Baker is a waste of space here. May 6, 2008

DON'T TOUCH THAT!!!...

Golden Eye DVD



Pierce Brosman is introduced as James Bond in a movie that has 007 trying to stop Russian Rebels from destroying the economy of London.
Recommended for fans of James Bond and Pierce Brosman. Personally I don't think anyone has done better than Sean Connery.

Gunner April, 2008

April 30, 2008

Bond, Pierce Brosnan as Bond...

1995's "Goldeneye" was the first of four forays by Pierce Brosnan as James Bond; it can fairly be said to have revived the 007 franchise. From its heartstopping opening sequence in a Russian Weapons Lab to its thrilling action finale at a satellite groundstation complex in Cuba, the action never stops coming.

The movie opens with the standard pre-credits action sequence. Bond and fellow agent 006 (played with blunt style by Sean Bean) break into a secret Russian Bio-Lab in the Urals. Their mission is to destroy the plant. They are discovered and 006 is captured. Bond escapes, in an astonishing sequence featuring a motorcycle, a freefall from a cliff, and a small airplane, that would have been worth the movie all by itself.

Bond's mission is to find and stop a renegade Russian General from using the Goldeneye, a satellite-based laser. His search takes him from Monte Carlo to London to Russia and eventually to a satellite earth station in Cuba. Along the way, he will tangle repeatedly with Xenia Onatopp, a Russian hit-woman (played with sexy verve by Framke Janssen); race a tank through the streets of St. Petersburg; and rescue a former Russian satellite technician (played with a nice mixture of vulnerability and toughness by Izabella Scorupco). The final confrontation in Cuba brings him face-to-face with his long-missing fellow agent, 006.

"Goldeneye" reshuffles the deck on the franchise's main characters, to good effect. Pierce Brosnan is a highly effective Bond, believable as a steely-eyed assassin, but with that special panache so lacking since Sean Connery retired from the role. At the same time, he clearly carries a burden from so many deaths, friend and foe. Judi Dench takes up duties as the new "M", a tough-minded Secret Service bureaucrat who criticizes Bond as a social dinosaur but still wants him to make it home alive. Samantha Bond is a sexy but updated and confident Moneypenny. Joe Don Baker makes the first of several appearences as Bond's rather homespun CIA point of contact Felix Leiter. Robbie Coltrane cameos as a spot-on Russian Mafia hood who has an unusual reciprocal relationship with Bond.

"Goldeneye" is superb entertainment in the best tradition of the 007 franchise, a nice mixture of action, romance-on-the-run, and understated British humor. One wonders only why it took so long to get Pierce Brosnan into the tuxedo. This movie is very highly recommended to fans of the James Bond movies. April 2, 2008

Great 007 movie

Great movie with tones of the cold war. Pierce Brosnan is absolutely great as James Bond in one of his best Bond movies. There are several very funny slams at Americans if you pay attention. Very well done movie. March 9, 2008

More reviews at Amazon.com ...