GoldenEye is a 1995 spy film, the seventeenth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, and the first to star Pierce Brosnan. M was also recast, actress Judi Dench becoming the first woman to portray the character, replacing Robert Brown. The role of Miss Moneypenny was also recast, Caroline Bliss being replaced by Samantha Bond. It was the first in the series not to use any story elements from the works of novelist Ian Fleming. The story was conceived and written by Michael France, with later collaboration by other writers. In the film, Bond fights to prevent rogue ex-MI6 agent Alex Trevelyan (Sean Bean), 006, from using a satellite weapon against London to cause a global financial meltdown. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Bond attempts to prevent Xenia Onatopp,( Famke Jansen) a member of the Janus crime syndicate, from stealing a Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopter during a military demonstration in Monte Carlo, but is unsuccessful. Returning to MI6 Headquarters in London, Bond oversees MI6 staff monitoring an incident in Severnaya, Siberia, after the stolen helicopter turns up at a radar facility there. An electromagnetic pulse blast suddenly hits the site, destroying it. It is determined that the blast came from a Soviet-era satellite armed with a nuclear electromagnetic pulse space-based weapon, codenamed “GoldenEye”. Bond meets a former KGB agent turned gangster, Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky, ( Robbie Coltrane) and has him arrange a meeting with Janus. Escorted to the meeting by Onatopp, Bond discovers that Janus is led by Trevelyan, who had faked his death. Bond is captured, sedated and trapped in the stolen Tiger alongside Natalya Simonova, a survivor of the Severnaya attack. They escape and Natalya confirms that fellow programmer Boris Grishenko ( Alan Cummings) survived along with her and is now working for Janus in operating a second GoldenEye satellite. Bond and Natalya travel to Cuba, after Boris is traced there, and uncover a hidden base beneath a large lake, concealing the 2nd Goldeneye satellite dish. The GoldenEye satellite is subsequently destroyed, and Trevelyan killed after a fight with Bond.
OK, now to the ratings;
Bond- 94 out of 100 Right out of the gate Brosnan nails the Bond persona and his action scenes are convincing. He has a fine array of actors to work off of, and takes advantage of it.
Villain- 91 out of 100. Sean Bean is a great actor and does good work with what I don’t think is the best Bond-villain script . And Sean has had a lot of experience dying onscreen, which counts in his favor.
Bond girls- 90 out of 100 Izabella Scorupco as Natalya is very attractive and brings good energy to the role, but there isn’t a lot of chemistry with Brosnan. Famke Jansen’s Xenia Onatopp is the total Bond girl package. She is the henchman of the piece, but is also hella sexy and dangerous.
Bond Theme- 59 out of 75 Even though the theme song, “GoldenEye”, was written by Bono and the Edge, and was performed by Tina Turner, it is neither iconic nor memorable.
Henchman- 48 out of 50. Famke Jansen’s Xenia Onatopp is a believable bad ass, sexy and a bit nuts. An excellent combination for henchman / person, whatevs…
M, Q, Moneypenny, etc. – 25 out of 25 You’ve got Judi Dench’s first time as “M”, Alan Cummings as the bratty Russian genius programmer, Robbie Coltrane in the first of several appearances as the Russian criminal Zukovsky and Minnie Driver in a quick cameo as Zhukovsky’s girlfriend doing bad karaoke. What else could you want?
Total; 407
Scoreboard;
- Goldfinger- 419
- Goldeneye- 407
- Spectre-397
- Live and Let Die- 396
- Skyfall- 383
- Casino Royale / Die Another Day / Skyfall- 382
- The World is not Enough- 367
- A View to a Kill- 359
- Dr. No- 346
- The Man with the Golden Gun. 331
- License to Kill- 321
- Octopussy- 255
- The Living Daylights- 228
practicallywell.net 