I don't know if there's a poll concerning the most insane stunts that ever appeared in a Bond film, but the one that opens this picture has to rank right up there. Who in their right mind would ever think it's a good idea to plunge off a cliff in an arcing free fall to catch up to a pilot-less airplane, in order to escape the bad guys? No trepidation at all, Pierce Brosnan makes an impressive debut as James Bond and that opening sequence is one that's hard to forget.
I have to say, actor Sean Bean in the role of Alec Trevelyan/Agent 006 had me contemplating whether he might have made a good Bond actor as well. He looked the part and matched Brosnan pretty well in appearance and stature. Of course he went to the other sider in this story, so that greatly reduced his chances. I got a kick out of Famke Janssen's character, Xenia Zaragevna Onatopp. (How is it all these Russian characters have three names?) It would be another five years before she would appear in a super-hero flick, but it looked like she might have been auditioning for a role in the "X-Men" here. It was a very physical performance, even if her method of dealing death was somewhat exaggerated.
The GoldenEye of the title turns out to be the name of a Russian space based weapons program, which eventually leads Bond to the Soviet city of St. Petersburg, where he manages to commandeer a Russian tank and run rough shod through the city. You have to wonder why Western/Soviet relations aren't left worse off after one of these excursions, but it's all in the name of stopping the bad guys before taking the world hostage.
With this viewing, I've now completed watching all the James Bond films. I tried to see them in order of release but sometimes availability worked against me. If you take a look at their favorability ranking here on IMDb, the top two in order are "Casino Royale" and "Skyfall", with "GoldenEye coming in a respectable sixth place as I write this. So it was an auspicious debut for Pierce Brosnan, who's remining Bond appearances didn't fare as well, with all three of his remaining pictures showing up at the bottom of the list. (#20 "Tomorrow Never Dies"; #21 "The World Is Not Enough", #25 "Die Another Day"). But on the flip side, and I know it's a matter of personal preference, I think Brosnan made for the most appealing Bond overall.
I have to say, actor Sean Bean in the role of Alec Trevelyan/Agent 006 had me contemplating whether he might have made a good Bond actor as well. He looked the part and matched Brosnan pretty well in appearance and stature. Of course he went to the other sider in this story, so that greatly reduced his chances. I got a kick out of Famke Janssen's character, Xenia Zaragevna Onatopp. (How is it all these Russian characters have three names?) It would be another five years before she would appear in a super-hero flick, but it looked like she might have been auditioning for a role in the "X-Men" here. It was a very physical performance, even if her method of dealing death was somewhat exaggerated.
The GoldenEye of the title turns out to be the name of a Russian space based weapons program, which eventually leads Bond to the Soviet city of St. Petersburg, where he manages to commandeer a Russian tank and run rough shod through the city. You have to wonder why Western/Soviet relations aren't left worse off after one of these excursions, but it's all in the name of stopping the bad guys before taking the world hostage.
With this viewing, I've now completed watching all the James Bond films. I tried to see them in order of release but sometimes availability worked against me. If you take a look at their favorability ranking here on IMDb, the top two in order are "Casino Royale" and "Skyfall", with "GoldenEye coming in a respectable sixth place as I write this. So it was an auspicious debut for Pierce Brosnan, who's remining Bond appearances didn't fare as well, with all three of his remaining pictures showing up at the bottom of the list. (#20 "Tomorrow Never Dies"; #21 "The World Is Not Enough", #25 "Die Another Day"). But on the flip side, and I know it's a matter of personal preference, I think Brosnan made for the most appealing Bond overall.