NO TIME TO DIE Countdown: GOLDENEYE Revisited

In the No Time To Die Countdown, Jake Tropila takes a look back at every Bond film – official and unofficial – in anticipation of the release of the latest entry.

Up to this point in the series, the longest gap between Bond films had been three years, from 1974’s The Man with the Golden Gun to 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me. To launch a successful comeback, Bond’s next outing needed to make a formidable impression. By the time Roger Moore ski jumped off that cliff and deployed the Union Jack parachute, Bond affirmed he was back and better than ever. Everything about it felt fresh, exciting, and eager to please – it was great to believe in something once again.

Timothy Dalton’s films marked a radical departure for the franchise. Elements of the established formula lingered, but the films themselves swung so brutally into dark Fleming territory that audiences were simply incapable of engaging with it. Artistically robust if not quite commercially viable, Bond was forced into hiding once again, this time for a period of six years, while some rights issues with his parent company were sorted out and the creative juices of the development team were given time to recharge. 

With a new creative head in the form of Barbara Broccoli, and a new James Bond in the form of Irishman Pierce Brosnan, the seventeenth film of the series was well underway. GoldenEye needed to do two things: 1. Modernize the franchise, and 2. Reestablish the character of 007. Was it a success? You better believe it. GoldenEye is a high watermark and notable return to form for the long-running series.

At the risk of betraying my age and straining my credibility as a writer, I’ll openly admit that GoldenEye was the first Bond film I ever saw, and for a while, Brosnan was my Bond. Naturally, some bias and nostalgia color every revisit (a lot of which might have to do with the Nintendo 64 game), but I feel confident enough in saying that the film is an absolute smash, getting a lot more incredibly right than it does wrong. Let’s find out why. Welcome to the 90s — 1995, to be exact. Hop in my standard-issue tank, readers. Time to meet the new boss.

Enter Pierce Brosnan

Goldeneye hits the ground running, literally, as Bond sprints along the crest of a dam in the USSR. In a breathtaking shot, he makes a leap of faith towards the surface below, tethered only by a bungee cable. Nothing to fault here; the stunt is as big as they come, boldly declaring the return of everyone’s favorite superspy, rising like a metaphorical phoenix from the proverbial ashes.

The rest of the pre-title sequence is just as thrilling. Since previous 00 agents had seldom been seen or heard, the extended participation of Alec “006” Trevelyan is all the more welcome. As loyal ally turned nefarious villain, Sean Bean is superbly cast, bringing his customary menace and gravitas to really make the role work (the character’s backstory is a bit odd, but more on that later). Look at him at any given moment he’s standing next to Brosnan: everything about the guy just screams “Evil James Bond,” and for that, he is perfect. What more, we finally get a Bond Villain that makes a suitable physical opponent for Bond. How often does that happen? (Jaws doesn’t count).

I’ve already let the cat out of the bag, but the “death” of Alec in this opening sequence has always seemed a tad suspect, at least in my eyes. First-time viewers might suspect something’s up when they see Bean second-billed in the credits but are we to believe that General Ourumov loaded a single blank into his service pistol on top of a magazine full of real bullets? For those who don’t recall: he “shoots” Alec, who in turn plays dead, and then actually shoots another soldier who had fired upon Bond while Bond hid behind a cart of explosives. I don’t get it, but as always, it’s best not to think too much about it. You’ll have more fun this way.

Bond’s escape from the facility adds further excitement to a nigh-impeccably crafted sequence. A chase down a runaway, a flurry of bullets (this now being the era of PG-13, Bond’s kill counts increase tremendously, as hordes of nameless henchmen have a proclivity for getting bloodlessly mowed down) and a second leap of faith, this time using a motorcycle to catch up to a free-falling airplane. Bond prevails, of course, and flies to safety as the facility explodes behind him (three minutes ahead of schedule, I might add – this is important). Cue Tina Turner.

More than any other film in the series, GoldenEye’s music receives the most derision. A lot of this is justified; let’s start with the theme song. Written by Bono and The Edge, Tina Turner goes full Bassey to deliver what I think is a serviceable Bond song. Not a favorite, not a least favorite, just…fine, though it’s one I don’t find myself listening to that often (I do like it more than “Licence to Kill,” for what it’s worth). Better is the imagery that accompanies the track during the credits: women literally tear down the remnants of the Soviet Union with hammers and sickles. Bond has officially entered the new era.

Eric Serra’s score is even more of a mixed bag. While undeniably unique, Serra (who previously did the music for films like La Femme Nikita and Leon: The Professional) lends a heavily electronic style to the proceedings that doesn’t always jibe well with Bond. Sometimes it lands—the “Goldeneye Overture” played throughout the prologue is great. But then there’s the music that plays over Bond’s playful race against Xenia Onatopp in the countryside, and it sounds like the worst thing ever made. More often than not Serra’s contributions dampen a fine film (do not get me started on “The Experience of Love, the track that plays over the end credits).

Speaking of Xenia: Bond runs into her at a casino, and we’re treated to what’s essentially a modernized take of Bond’s card game against Sylvia Trench waaaaay back in Dr. No. The game goes as one might expect—Bond wins, the opponent loses—and we’re treated to Brosnan’s requisite “Bond, James Bond” line-reading (it’s good). Classy stuff, but it hardly covers new ground; this is a solid foundation to build a new Bond on, after all. Luckily for Bond, he does not go home with Xenia: the vampiric henchwoman has a knack for squeezing the life out of men with her thighs of steel. Ouch.

I’ve held off long enough: let’s talk Brosnan. Handsome, suave, charmingly roguish – more than any other Bond, Brosnan is perhaps the most well-rounded. He handles the comedy well, but does not dip too far into the silliness of Moore. Pulls off action quite capably, but lacks the brute force of Craig. Certainly not afraid to get his hands dirty, but wouldn’t dare cross the line into Dalton territory. I tend to think of him as a prettier Sean Connery – widely recognizable, but with a softer edge. The films themselves vacillate wildly in quality (pound for pound, he might have the worst tenure overall), but Brosnan always offers a nice balance. Rest assured, you’re in good hands.

Well, hello, Judi Dench. The changing of the guard at MI6 has positioned The Fierce Dame as Bond’s commander. No-nonsense, intelligent, and not afraid to get brassy, Dench is the only M to rival the immortal Bernard Lee, both in irascibility and longevity (eight films across twenty years – not too shabby). Like the film itself, Dench’s M marks a new transition into a modern era of Bond. When she has her first one-on-one with 007, she completely eviscerates him with the following:

“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…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.”

Brutal. It’ll take more than a vodka martini and a weekend at Shrublands to recover from that, lemme tell ya.

With our new Bond, we also get a new Moneypenny (played by Samantha Bond). While not above flirting with the agent, she also does not have a problem calling him out for his blatant sexual harassment (!) going so far as to rebuff his advances. And thanks heavens Desmond Llewelyn stuck around as Q. He gets one scene here, in a surprisingly busy Q-Lab, but it doesn’t fail to delight.

Half of Everything is Luck

At this point, I’ve touched on all key players in GoldenEye, save for one glaring exception: Natalya Simonova. In the pantheon of Bond greats, I cannot fathom why she is as overlooked as she is. Natalya is smart, beautiful, and a survivor—qualities that would make anyone admirable—but more importantly, she feels like a genuine person. She doesn’t have a ridiculous name, nor does she save the day because of some bizarre attribute; she’s just a person who’s good at her job. Mary Goodnight, eat your heart out.

The raid on the Severnaya lab to steal the GoldenEye device drags on a bit too long. Pre-attack, we have to endure the walking irritant that is Boris Grishenko (Alan Cumming unwisely overacts in the role). Post-attack, after dozens of Natalya’s innocent co-workers have been gunned down by Xenia, we have to sit through Natalya dodging exploding computer monitor after monitor, as the entire site is blown to kingdom come. If ever I find any lulls in a rewatch of GoldenEye, they usually add up here.

Fortunately, matters pick up tremendously. GoldenEye was directed by Martin Campbell, and while revisiting this I was taken aback by how stylish this was shot, particularly his staging of shots during the entire pre-title sequence (Bond and Alec staring down the open grate is a particularly memorable one). Campbell has the distinction of reviving Bond from the dead twice: here, and Casino Royale. Aside from these two Bonds, he seems to have enjoyed a career as a sturdy craftsman to thrillers like Edge of Darkness and The Foreigner (huge exception: The Green Lantern. Yuck.). Whatever his talents may be, they are at their peak in his work on Bond.

Bond heads to St. Petersburg, and acquires contacts in CIA Agent Jack Wade (Joe Don Baker plays a better ally here than a villain in The Living Daylights) and Valentin Zukovsky, an ex-KGB officer with a chip on his shoulder (and a bullet wound in his leg, courtesy of Bond). Zukovsky reveals that the man behind the theft of the GoldenEye is known as “Janus” and he arranges a meeting with him and Bond.

Surprise! Alec is Janus all along. More than any other, this scene is the undisputed highlight of GoldenEye for me. Two former friends, one an active duty agent, the other previously thought to be dead, meeting in the middle of a graveyard of Soviet memorabilia. Haunting and atmospheric, the Janus meeting is perfectly drenched in mood, something few Bond films have ever been able to attain. Alec, badly scarred from the pre-title sequence (Bond set the timers of their explosives to three minutes instead of six) bears another grudge against Her Majesty’s government, who betrayed his Lienz Cossack parents.

The details are a bit iffy, but who cares when there’s a tank chase to enjoy? From the Janus meeting, things move briskly from here. Bond and Natalya narrowly evade death by exploding helicopter, General Ourumov recaptures Natalya to deliver to Alec, and Bond gives pursuit in a giant tank. As far as set pieces go, the tank chase is a real winner. Buildings are crumbled, cars are crushed, and monuments are destroyed in the name of spectacle. The adjustment of the necktie mid-mayhem is icing on the cake.

The tank chase leads into the train showdown, where allegiances are solidified and suspense is ratcheted up to eleven. Ensnared in an impenetrable train compartment, Bond makes quick work of the floor with his watch laser while Natalya cracks Boris’ code to find their whereabouts on a computer. Two survivors, working together. You love to see it.

More than any other Bond, Brosnan’s greatest weakness is his character’s flippant attitude towards death. While post-death quips have been around since Dr. No (“I think they were on their way to a funeral”), they begin to get laid on rather thick here, so much so that they seem to punctuate every scene (“I gave him the limp”) as well as every death (after Xenia is crushed to death by a tree: “She always did enjoy a good squeeze”). This weakness sticks with Brosnan through the rest of his run

The grand finale on the satellite in Cuba is a stunner. After scanning a full list, I found that I can count the number of Bond Villains that can physically go toe-to-toe with Bond on one hand. Red Grant is still the gold standard, but the second place has to go to Alec, who not only turns in a credible slugfest against Bond but also offers us the rare glimpse of seeing two fully-trained MI6 agents set out to rip each other to pieces. Extra points to the added weight of this being a personal vendetta as well — the pain shared between men is palpable.

Like Die Hard, Alec’s ultimate motivation is monetary, as he plans to utilize the GoldenEye software to annihilate London after transferring millions of pounds to his personal bank account (thus eliminating any records of the transaction ever occurring). Thanks to Natalya’s hacking skills and Q’s exploding watch (count the clicks!), the crisis is averted. The best moment is saved for last, with Bond coldly dropping Alec to his death, only for him to survive and then have a giant burning satellite dropped onto his broken body. Sayonara, pal.

Conclusion: Goldeneye

Was James Bond back? You better believe it. GoldenEye was a massive return to form, modernizing Bond for a new era of filmgoers and introducing Pierce Brosnan to the role. The film rollicks around as a piece of pure entertainment, never stretching the formula too far to deliver something that’s wholly crowd-pleasing. While it mostly plays things safe, it does so with an enormous amount of confidence and fun. All these years later, I can’t help but smile as I watch it.

Coming up next: Alright Pierce, let’s see where your sophomore effort goes. Something about a newspaper? All will be revealed. The No Time To Die Countdown will return with Tomorrow Never Dies.

Is GoldenEye the best Pierce Brosnan Bond Film? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Watch Goldeneye