The James Bond series is immensely popular, so popular, in fact, that it is loved by fans all over the world and is the fifth-highest-grossing film series of all time. The series is 25 entries strong (27 if you count the “unofficial” Casino Royale from 1967 and Never Say Never Again) and, with rumors regarding the next Bond actor constantly flying around, the franchise doesn’t appear to be running out of steam any time soon. Noting this, it’s hard to imagine a time when the multiple Academy Award-winning series was ever in dire straits, but it was in the early ‘90s. Enter GoldenEye to save the day.
One of the all-time best James Bond movies, GoldenEye pits Bond against a fellow agent who’s gone rogue and is in possession of a powerful satellite system that threatens the world. In his attempt to stop the villainous ex-spy, Bond also comes into conflict with the deadly assassin Xenia Onatopp, who crushes her enemies with her thighs. The film is notable for being the first Bond film after a 6-year hiatus that began in 1989. With poor reviews for the Timothy Dalton films prompting many to think that it may be time to retire the Bond character, the future of the franchise seemed uncertain until GoldenEye blew audiences away in 1995. Here’s how the film breathed new life into the dying franchise and changed it for the better.
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Saving the Series From the Brink of Extinction
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GoldenEye is now remembered as one of the greatest Bond films ever made, but it almost never came to fruition. 1989’s License to Kill was the series’ lowest-grossing entry in the United States, and received mixed reviews for its dark tone and dated themes, which romanticized Bond’s womanizing and partially to savage violence. It seemed to mark the end for the franchise’s long, successful run, and as a result, Dalton stepped down from the role of Bond and the series went on a hiatus. Fortunately for fans, it was announced in 1994 that Pierce Brosnan had signed on as the next Bond, and with him came new screenwriters capable of crafting a 21st century-ready Bond.
It was a bit of a gamble considering the failure of the last film and the long break in between that could have resulted in lost interest from the public, but it paid off. GoldenEye was released in 1995 to widespread acclaim, and became one of the most financially successful Bond films to date. The success of GoldenEye continued to pay off in dividends as, according to SYFY WIRE, “nearly every Bond film that followed, including Brosnan’s next three and the four so far starring his successor, Daniel Craig, has matched or outgrossed the one before it.”
Finding the Tonal Sweet Spot
One thing the producers of the Bond films knew they needed to address when following up License to Kill was the tone, which had become much darker and grittier in the Dalton era than ever before. Many reviewers at the time had complained about the lack of fun and lightheartedness that had characterized previous entries. The Roger Moore era films were particularly lighthearted – with some even verging on campy – which is likely the reason for the Dalton era dive into darkness. With GoldenEye, the filmmakers were able to strike the perfect balance between the zany action antics of the Moore films and the more serious Dalton films. The writers focused especially on fine-tuning Bond, making him more vulnerable and emotionally wounded than any previous iteration, resulting in an overall more interesting character that fits nicely into the new, post-Cold War world.
The Beginning of the Brosnan Era
Although Pierce Brosnan may not be everyone’s favorite Bond, there can be no doubt that his debonair, yet sensitive portrayal of the character saved the franchise. Brosnan brought the right amount of class and cool to the role, with just a touch of the ruggedness that would later define his successor, Daniel Craig. The actor had been eyed for the Bond role since the ‘80s, but couldn’t step up until 1995 due to contractual obligations. GoldenEye, now heralded as one of Brosnan’s finest films, was followed up by three more films starring the actor, which were all highly successful. Although the tone established by GoldenEye faltered a little with each subsequent installment – leading to a stripped-down series reboot starring Daniel Craig – GoldenEye was pivotal in laying the foundations for the modern day Bond.
Same Bond, New World
Right from the outset, GoldenEye makes it clear that the world around Bond has changed. The opening credits sequence depicts the falling of Cold War monuments, preparing the viewer for a new setting and new bad guys. One of the most interesting things about GoldenEye is the way that it reflects the criticism levied at Bond’s outdated views and instincts by directly addressing them as character flaws. In a bold move, the film deconstructs the mythological Bond character; rather than romanticizing his excessive drinking, womanizing, and cold-blooded killing, the story and the characters around him actually question and challenge these behaviors. At one point in the film, Bond is even directly called out by his boss M for being a “relic of the Cold War,” an eye-opening accusation for Bond that wouldn’t have flown in previous iterations. As Screen Rant points out, director “Martin Campbell was praised for his deconstruction of the Bond mythos in Casino Royale, but he’d already done it in GoldenEye.”
