Bond 17: GoldenEye (1995)

Director: Martin Campbell

Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean, Joe Don Baker, Judi Dench, Robbie Coltrane

More info: IMDB

Tagline: You know the name. You know the number.

Plot: James Bond teams up with the lone survivor of a destroyed Russian research center to stop the hijacking of a nuclear space weapon by a fellow agent believed to be dead.

My rating: 5/10  UPDATE 6/12/19: 6/10

Will I watch it again? No.  UPDATE 6/12/19: Probably.


This is it. The first of four bad Bond films. Eagerly anticipating the newest Bond picture AND the first with Brosnan, I caught it opening night and hated it. Years later I watched it on laser disc thinking maybe it was me. Nope. Hated it but just a little bit less than the first time. I watched it again when the DVDs came out. Same as before. I realized I had watched it for the last time. I've now re-visited the next two Brosnan pictures and I've come to peace with it. Brosnan's Bond is the worst yet.


It's sad because he could have been a great Bond (I've loved the other four chaps, after all, he could have been a part of that love) but he's too damn flippant. Add to that the producers have really fucked things up with a sub-par story, way too many jokes, gags and one liners and ridiculous and over the top action set pieces that defy reality and are flat out boring. I know, I know. This shit's been going on since the 60s but it's gotten to be just too damn much. It's got that kitchen sink mentality. And they get sillier as we move on from here.


In the Brosnan Bond films he behaves like an adolescent. His mind is far too much in the gutter. He's dangerously close to being the Beavis & Butthead of the spy world. But what the fuck do I know, he looks great in a tux. I did like some of the supporting cast. Dench was great as the new M, Sean Bean was fun, Joe Don Baker was a hoot and Robbie Coltrane is always a delight.


Oh, and the biggest offense in GOLDENEYE? The music. Eric Serra's synth score is horrible. John Barry is even more missed in this one. Where's the brass? Where's the music with some fucking balls? Ugh. I'm done with this one. I just don't want to talk about it anymore and I still have to write about TOMORROW NEVER DIES and THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH and I have to sit through DIE ANOTHER DAY. Sometimes I really hate my life.

Scorethefilm will return with his thoughts on...

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

UPDATE 6/12/19:  Some of the issues I had with this years ago still bug me but not as much.  The music is still the biggest offender and Pierce's take on Bond doesn't sit right with me on this one.  Too many times he's overly smug and too much of a horn dog.  I don't mind a little of either but this is more than I can handle.  It's easy to pick some of these pictures apart and I feel like I was a little harsh when I first wrote about it.  It's not as bad as all that but it's still got moments that I find a bit much.