GoldenEye (1995)

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Brosnan was the first Bond I saw, and this is my favorite movie with him as Bond and among the top 3 Bond movies ever. It has everything that makes Bond great: action, women, espionage, humor, gadgets and a great villain!

Sean Bean makes the perfect villain -- nemesis for 007 Pierce Brosnan... should have kept him for other films. 8.5/10

With each of the major changes in actors for the James Bond roll, the producers have made one or two other notable changes as well. One that seems to be consistent is a stepping up of action. That seems to keep pace with the shift in the industry overall. Fewer dramatic films are being made, and fewer real life stories are made into movies, in favor of fast-paced, action-packed films to entertain the senses of sight and sound. So it is with "GoldenEye," and the introduction of Pierce Brosnan as Double-0-Seven secret agent James Bond. But another change is here as well. It has a return to more subtle comedy, in the form of quips, witty metaphors, and clever innuendo. This had been lacking in some of the recent 007 movies. In Brosnan, we still have a Bond who is a ladies man, who can think and who is tough on his feet. And, "GoldenEye" has a most interesting plot. With the fall of the Soviet Union five years before, movies made about and after the Cold War have intrigue and more appeal as realistic, compared to the fictional comic book or fantasy stories. Thus, this film scores high for more realistic possibilities, however far out. Altogether, this makes for a very entertaining film. It's the best of the Bond films in a long time. One other significant change with this film is the introduction of Judi Dench as M. Dench is a superb actress, whom I enjoy in a number of films. But having a hard as nails tough woman as head of MI6 doesn't work well. The push for political correctness was peaking around 1995. Dench seems to make the woman in the traditional male role harder than any man, and that opens a door to viewing women as monsters. Instead of the overly dour Dench, Helen Mirren would have brought a sense of stern no-nonsense with great intelligence and insight. Or, Vanessa Redgrave would have given the role a sense of intelligence and ability.For action, this film has a long tank chase scene in which Bond wreaks havoc on the streets of St. Petersburg behind the wheel of a huge Russian tank. A big chunk of the budget for this film must have been for the large number of cars crunched and other vehicles and building walls destroyed. Brosnan held the role of James Bond for four films over seven years. The next three would be "Tomorrow Never Dies" in 1997, "The World is Not Enough" in 1999, and "Die Another Day" in 2002. Here are some favorite lines from this film. For more funny dialog, see the Quotes section under this IMDb Web page for the movie. Boris Grishenko (played by Alan Cumming), has locked a computer program with a code. He says to Natalya Simonova (Izabella Scorupco), "Even you should be able to break it, borscht for brains."Q says to Bond, "Need I remind you, Double-0-seven, that you have a license to kill, not break the traffic laws."Natalya Simonova, "But I don't know anything." James Bond, "Then let's start with what you do know."Natalya Simonova, "Do you destroy every vehicle you get into?" James Bond, "Standard operating procedure. Boys with toys."M (Judy Dench), "The prime minister talked to Moscow. They're saying it was an accident during a routine training exercise." James Bond, "Governments change. The lies stay the same." James Bond, "What are you doing here, Wade?" Wade (played by Joe Don Baker), "Uh, I am not here. The CIA has no knowledge, no involvement. Absolutely nothing to do with your insertion into Cuba. If you catch my drift?"Wade "Did you check her out?" James Bond, "Head to toe."

Though there was nothing wrong with them the Timothy Dalton Bond films never really set the world alight, and with other films raising the bar for the genre, there was perhaps a feeling in 1995 that the Bond franchise had run out of steam.Thankfully Pierce Brosnan came in to steady the ship with this solid Bond film that reminded everyone what was good about the series, whilst also being a sort of 'best of' Bond, in terms of having qualities of those who had worn the famous tuxedo previously.It's a good film, full of big set pieces, and some nice quips from 007, but it's not likely to win in any 'best of the series' polls.