GoldenEye | |
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"No limits. No fears. No substitutes." | |
Directed By | Martin Campbell |
Written By | Michael France |
Screenplay By | Michael France, Jeffrey Caine, Kevin Wade, Bruce Feirstein |
Cast | Pierce Brosnan, Famke Janssen, Sean Bean, Izabella Scorupco, Alan Cumming |
Produced By | Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli |
Cinematography By | Phil Meheux |
Film Editing By | Terry Rawlings, |
Music By | Eric Serra, Bono, The Edge |
Studio | Eon Productions |
Distributed By | MGM, United International Pictures |
Franchise | 007: James Bond Franchise |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Release Date | November 24, 1995 |
Runtime | 130 Minutes |
Rating | PG-13 |
Budget | $58,000,000 |
Gross | $352,194,034 |
Based on | James Bond by Ian Fleming |
Overview[]
GoldenEye is a 1995 British produced action-thriller espionage film starring Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean, and Izabella Scorupco. It was directed by Martin Campbell and is the seventeenth film in the James Bond Franchise Series. The film marks the debut of Pierce Bosnan in the titular role of James Bond. It also featured a major casting change with Judi Dench becoming the first female M.
A mysterious crime lord known as Janus has masterminded the hijacking of the "GoldenEye", a powerful Russian satellite weapon with devastating and crippling powers over all electronics! With Janus holding civilization itself as hostage; only James Bond can stop him!
But Janus is one cunning foe who truly knows Bond inside and out. Once a former 00 agent known as Alec Trevelyan, Janus is a former ally and friend turned bitter enemy. James Bond may have finally have met his match against a man who is just as cunning, just as skilled, and even more ruthless than he. But if Bond fails, who is left to save the world?
Plot[]
In 1986, during the midst of the Cold War; British MI-6 Agents 006 Alec Trevelyan and 007 James Bond infiltrate a secret chemical weapons factory in the Soviet Union. The intention is to sabotage the facility only the pair are discovered. Even as Bond begins setting the timer on the explosives, he is horrified to discover that his friend and fellow agent Trevelyan has been captured by Soviet General Arkady Ourumov. Ourumov demands that Bond surrender after shooting Trevelyan. Outraged, Bond resets the timers and makes a spectacular death-defying escape even as the plan explodes. Unfortunately, Ourumov survives.
Nine years pass. It is 1995 and the once seemingly invincible and implacable Soviet Union has destabilized with the breakdown of communism. A new and dangerous organization, the Janus Syndicate has arisen combining the worst of Russia's criminals and their most skilled intelligence officers who have been downsized in the aftermath of the Soviet Union's collapse.
Cast[]
- Pierce Brosnan as James Bond
- Sean Bean as Alec Trevelyan
- Izabella Scorupco as Natalya Simonova
- Famke Janssen as Xenia Onatopp
- Joe Don Baker as Jack Wade
- Judi Dench as M
- Gottfried John as Arkady Grigorovich Ourumov
- Robbie Coltrane as Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky
- Alan Cumming as Boris Grishenko
- Tcheky Karyo as Dmitri Mishkin
- Desmond Llewelyn as Q
- Samantha Bond as Miss Moneypenny
- Minnie Driver as Irina
- Serena Gordon as Caroline
Production[]
Following the completion of Licence to Kill in 1989, preliminary work began on the next James Bond film with final script rewrites already finalized and preliminary scouting work already begun in Hong Kong in May of 1990 when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer which was the primary distributor of the James Bond Franchise was to be bought out by another company, Qintex Ltd. The deal however fell through at the last minute due to the financial problems of Qintex and Italian financier Giancarlo Parretti stepped in. Parretti chose to sell off the broadcasting distribution rights of MGM's film library including the former 007 films which resulted in Eon Productions suing them, proclaiming that this violated their contract. Parretti himself would ultimately find himself facing fraud charges a year later and MGM suffered several legal challenges and financial problems resulting for James Bond 17 to be placed in development limbo until 1993.
At this time however, Timothy Dalton's contract with Eon Productions had expired and long-time producer Albert Broccoli was suffering was ill health causing him to take only a limited role in the production. His daughter, Barbara Broccoli would assume his responsibilities and a new script was written due to the fact that world politics had radically changed in the interim with the Fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the end of the Cold War. Many argued that Bond was a "icon of the old days" and it was futile for the character to be relevant in this modern era.
Barbara Broccoli was of the opinion that due to such a long hiatus between the films that it was vital for whoever portrayed Bond would need to perform at least four films to reestablish the franchise's continuity. Dalton was agreeable to reappearing as Bond once more but admitted that he did not want to recommit to five more 007 films and it was mutually agreed that he would bow out.
Hugh Grant, Mel Gibson, and Liam Neeson were all offered and passed on the starring role of James Bond before Pierce Brosnan was proffered the role which he accepted. He was announced as the newest Bond in June of 1994.
Additional/Alternate Movie Taglines[]
- Nobody Does It Like Bond
- You know the name. You know the number.
- No limits. No fears. No substitutes.
- When the world is the target and the threat is real, you can still depend on one man.
- There is no substitute.
Reception[]
Trivia[]
- Although this is the first original James Bond film with no story elements from Ian Fleming's novels, the name of GoldenEye is from the nickname of his beachfront house in Jamaica where he wrote the vast number of his novels. Fleming named the estate after the code name of a contingency plan created by the SIS in the event of a Nazi invasion of Spain during World War II; a plan which he helped devise.
- Although this was Pierce Brosnan's first appearance in the role of James Bond, it was not the first time he was offered the part of the British secret agent. In actuality, he had accepted the role nearly ten years earlier only for his contractual obligations with NBC resulted in Timothy Dalton being chosen instead. Ironically, Dalton had been Eon Productions' first choice for the role but had been unavailable due to filming commitments when Brosnan suddenly became available due to NBC cancelling his television series, Remington Steele following the fourth season and with it, with his contract to exclusively star in the show for additional three seasons would be negated. However, when NBC learned that Brosnan was being offered the role of James Bond; they reversed their decision and offered to extend the Remington Steele series as well as completely rearranging their shooting schedule to allow Brosnan to star in both. Producer Albert R. Broccoli flatly refused believing that "James Bond will not be Remington Steele and Remington Steele will not be James Bond," and that Brosnan would only be accepted if Remington Steele remained cancelled as he did not want Bond to be linked to an actor in a currently active TV series. NBC famously decided to renew Remington Steele for a fifth season (only to cancel it after a mere six episodes) and the legal wrangling and delays allowed Timothy Dalton to complete his project and was thus available to serve as the new James Bond for the next set of movies.