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| No Limits. No Fears. No Substitutes. (1995) |
| Bond returns after a torturous six-year absence. This was mainly due to a lengthy court battle between Bond-Producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli, and MGM and Pathe; but also Licence To Kill had been one of the least successful Bond movies of all time, so a re-think was needed. Clearly 007 needed to return with a bang, and this film delivers on almost every level. There's a great pre-title sequence. 006 and 007 team-up to destroy a Soviet weapons facility. One last pop at the Russians before we flash to the present post-Cold War present. It ends with Bond doing an amazing dive off a cliff after a falling plane and maneouvring himself into the cockpit. This is the sort of traditional stupendous opening stunt that the subesquent Brosnan movies have turned their back on. The new James Bond, Pierce Brosnan, almost got the part earlier, instead of Timothy Dalton, but the TV show Remington Steele, in which he played the title role, was renewed in order to cash in on the publicity of his Bond-nomination. Like Connery, Brosnan has the winning mix of cool and suave with hardness. MI6 has a new M, in the form of Dame Judi Dench. The Bond/M relationship is much more akin too the Connery/Lee one from the Sixties, although she does thaw towards her best agent somewhat over the next movies. Samantha Bond as the new Miss Moneypenny develops a a sense of humour which becomes ever more filthy in each new Brosnan picture. The good old Aston Martin DB5 makes a welcome return, as does Desmond Llewlyn's Q. He issues Bond with a nice little BMW Z3 Roadster, with all the usual refinements, but unfortunately it doesn't see any action. The plot is similar to the Novel Thunderball. Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean) plans to use the Soviet GoldenEye satellite to detonate an electro-magnetic pulse over London, moments after he has electronically transferred millions of pounds. This is revenge for Britain's betrayal of his parents, Lienz Cossacks. Bean is great as a villain, with all the training that Bond has, plus the trappings of a villain: evil base hidden under a lake and a private army. Bond teams up with Natalya Simonova (Izabella Scorupco), a Russian computer programmer. Trevelyan has the sexy and masochistic Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen) as chief henchperson, although unfortunately tradition is snubbed by her Bond-girl status remaining unconsummated. Unfortunately the other break with tradition is the woeful under-use of the theme tune, used only once during the great tank chase through the streets of St Petersburg. It's the best theme tune ever composed, so why not use it more? Possibly as a result of the producers wanting to recapture the essence of the great Bond movies of yore, and make a 'by-the-numbers' Bond flick in some ways. the character of 007 is himself analysed quite extensively throughout the film. M sends an analyst to Monte Carlo to evaluate him, so of course he reveals his character in true form by seducing her. M herself calls him "a sexist, mysogynist dinosaur. A relic of the Cold War." Natalya tells him that he is alone because he kills everyone, and even Trevelyan asks him about his lifestyle. A definite return to form for the Bond movie, easily the best since You Only Live Twice. A more serious style combines with Brosnan's natural affinity for the lead role. |
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| Director: Martin Campbell Producers: Michael G. Wilson & Barbara Brocolli Screenplay: Jeffrey Caine & Bruce Feirstein |