Brosnan's Bond is good as gold

[Mazer Rackham]

Here is an authentic Brozza review circa 1995

Brosnan's Bond is good as gold
"GoldenEye' has flash and flair to spare

Edvins Beitiks, OF THE EXAMINER STAFF

Friday, November 17, 1995

THE CRAZED, omigawd opening of "GoldenEye" is the best ever in a James Bond film - better than the Union Jack bursting above an icy chasm, better than snowboarding to the stitch of an AK-47 and the music of the Beach Boys, better than baldy being dumped down the maw of a yawning smokestack in the middle of London.

And for audacity, imagination and crash choreography, nothing in the previous 16 Bond films approaches the race between a Russian tank, skidding full circle through the streets of St. Petersburg, and a black sedan carrying a demented general, whacked-out and cackling, gargling from a hip flask as he looks back over his shoulder.

There is a backlit scene in a chockablock junkyard of Lenin statues, spooky and awe-inspiring, that is as poetic as anything you'll see in Bond, and a howling crash between the St. Petersburg tank and an armored train, burning like an iron cigar, that will have people talking in the lobby. The stunt work in "Living Daylights" and

"Licence to Kill" may be just as good, but the special effects in "GoldenEye" make every other Bond film seem almost primitive.

It is both the best-looking James Bond film and the best-looking James Bond. Pierce Brosnan is every bit as good as Sean Connery (get over it). He is better than Roger Moore - who in his last few films looked like he was made of melting wax - better than that ludicrous piece of lacquered hair called George Lazenby, and better than Timothy Dalton, who had a villain's face, not the face of Bond.

The villain in "GoldenEye," Sean Bean, is the best, most believable villain since Gert Frobe in "Goldfinger," and the women - from Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen) to Natalya Simonova (Izabella Scorupco) to Bond's boss M (Judi Dench) - are a pleasure to listen to and watch.

This is no jiggling giggle like "Diamonds Are Forever," with Jill St. John running around in 40 wigs and a jester's bikini, no assembly line of women wearing Barbie outfits to take a dip in the pool. "GoldenEye" tries to give you people instead of pinups, real conversation instead of one-liners, a smattering of serious dialogue instead of the cartoon bubbles in other Bond movies.

The only thing that keeps "GoldenEye" from being four-star Bond is how badly the last third of the film falls off. Once it leaves Russia for the inevitable Caribbean romp, "GoldenEye" is like a car whose speedometer still reads 120 but whose drive train is skidding along the ground, showering sparks before things grind to a stop.

Sadly enough, the last part of "GoldenEye" falls apart because it follows the formula of so many other Bond endings - the mad scientist, buried below the earth, tries to destroy a city by calling wrath from the skies. All the special effects wizardry of the first half, all the honest attempts at intelligence, are flushed down the loo in a series of almost-cheesy explosions reminiscent of the color-by-numbers blow-ups in those spun-glass, cardboard-pillar bunkers that dominated early Bond films.

As with other Bond movies, the plot has almost no relevance - something about Britain's betrayal of Cossacks after World War II, the putrefaction of 006, the instability of mother Russia and the ultimate bomb hovering, hungry, in space. It's all resolved in the same old way, but before it's over, "GoldenEye" has some unforgettable moments, some unforgettable lines.

Desmond Llewelyn has a ball as Q, grumbling with Bond about inventions while workers behind him keep slipping on explosive bananas. Robbie Coltrane does a great bit as a Russian thug threatening Bond while a yawk-yawk version of "Stand by Your Man" plays in the background.

Dench gets fine dialogue as M, sitting Bond down and calling him "a sexist, misogynous dinosaur," telling her back-biting agents, "If I want sarcasm, I'll talk to my children," and "Unlike the American government, we prefer not to get our bad news from CNN." Janssen is a pure delight as the evil, sexually insatiable Onatopp (Xenia Onatopp, Famke Janssen, great names). Scorupco, weakest of the main characters, is still able to take care of herself, still the strongest love interest Bond has ever had.

Director Martin Campbell soars when he's on his own, comes rudely back to earth when he tries to follow ground already covered by Terence Young and Guy Hamilton and John Glen. First-time screenwriters Jeffrey Caine and Bruce Feirstein have produced a smart, fast-moving script and may return to spice up the three Bond films still left on Brosnan's contract.

Bond has had a great past. His future looks even better.

Movie Review
"GoldenEye' * CAST Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean, Izabella Scorupco, Famke Janssen * DIRECTOR Martin Campbell * WRITER Jeffrey Caine, Bruce Feirstein * RATED PG-13 * THEATERS Regency I, Empire and Metro Center (Colma). * EVALUATION ***<

url http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f ... D15724.dtl

[LilleOSC]

I really liked Goldeneye. I wish Brosnan's other Bond films were as good.

[Red Grant]

Goldeneye never ceases to amaze. The last great Bond.

[007]

You'd think he played Bond like Larry Grayson if you read any of the drivel on the other forums.

[carl stromberg]

You'd think he played Bond like Larry Grayson if you read any of the drivel on the other forums.

Larry should have appeared in a Bond film.

[Captain Nash]

You'd think he played Bond like Larry Grayson if you read any of the drivel on the other forums.

Larry should have appeared in a Bond film.

Maybe as M?
"Oh Bond, shut that door."