Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: GoldenEye (1995) - Brosnan arrives in Campbell's dumb Bond mess

12/15/2020

GoldenEye (1995) - Brosnan arrives in Campbell's dumb Bond mess

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Flanked by two sensual women and his steadfast Walter PPK gun, Pierce Brosnan's Bond hovers over a menagerie of action-promising elements on this fiery poster for Martin Campbell's GoldenEye

A space-based weapons system gets stolen by a Russian crime syndicate headed by a former colleague of MI6 agent 007, James Bond.

GoldenEye is written by Michael France (Hulk (2003)), Jeffrey Caine (Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)) and Bruce Feirstein (The Best Legs in Eight Grade, TV movie (1984)) and directed by Martin Campbell (The Sex Thief (1973)). It is the 17th film in the Bond franchise and probably the stupidest of the lot.

There is no visible chemistry between Pierce Brosnan (Robinson Crusoe (1997)) as the new, 5th actor to play Bond, and Sean Bean (Sharpe (1993-08)) as villain, agent 006, Alec Trevelyan. Both Famke Janssen (Hide and Seek (2005)) and Minnie Driver (Big Night (1996)) impress me as unsexy Bond 'babes.' Alan Cumming (Nicholas Nickleby (2002)) appears as a bizarre hacker, who freezes to death.

The dialog seems to be wholly missing in long stretches of this debacle, and the plot is without mitigating qualities; among other things Bond trashes through an Eastern-European major city in a tank. Elegance is dead in this charmless stinker. Desmond Llewelyn (Thunderball (1965)) is one of few elements from previous Bond movies to reappear, and his scenes are among the film's few light moments.

Top 10: Best car chases in movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Diamonds Are Forever (1971) - Connery's last Bond adventure is a colorful romp

Goldfinger (1964) - The 007 template gets perfected in fabulously entertaining third spectacle
From Russia with Love (1963) - Several remarkable elements make Young's 2nd Bond an enduring classic
Dr. No (1962) - Bond # 1 is one attractive package

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 60 mil. $

Box office: 352.1 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 5.86 times its cost)

[GoldenEye premiered 13 November (New York) and runs 130 minutes. 6 years passed since the release of License to Kill (1989), before the 17th Bond film was released, primarily due to legal battles following the sale of MGM/UA to Pathé Entertainment in 1990. Prior Bond actor Timothy Dalton's 3-movie contract elapsed due to the long unproductive period, and though he was invited back to the role, he passed, as producer Albert R. Broccoli wanted him to only return for several more films and not just one last. Pierce Brosnan was cast over Paul McGann, after Mel Gibson, Hugh Grant and Liam Neeson had passed on the role. Brosnan was paid 1.2 mil. $ for his performance. The script was the first not directly linked to an Ian Fleming novel. Shooting took place in Skt. Petersburg, Russia, Monaco, Switzerland, Puerto Rico, France, England, including London, from January - June 1995. The film opened #1 to a 26.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 3 weeks in the top 5 (#2-#2-#3) and grossed 106.4 mil. $ (30.2 % of the total gross). The film was the 4th highest-grossing in the market over-all of the year and the most successful Bond movie since Moonraker (1979). It was nominated for 2 BAFTAs. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to 2 notches higher than this one. Brosnan returned as Bond in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997). Campbell returned with The Mask of Zorro (1998). Brosnan returned first in The Disappearance of Kevin Johnson (1996). GoldenEye is certified fresh at 79 % with a 7.10/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of GoldenEye?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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12/15/2020

GoldenEye (1995) - Brosnan arrives in Campbell's dumb Bond mess

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