Goldeneye was released in late 1995 after a hiatus of 6 years during which time various legal wranglings and confusion over who would take over the production of the Bond franchise stalled any filming. Bond was successful then as it remains now, and after the quick-fire production of the Bond movies during the Moore / Dalton era it was considered quite a set back that it took so long to transition to the next actor to play the iconic role.
However from my point of view at the time this wasn't the case. License to Kill was released in 1989, when I was 10 and before I was really aware of grown up films. By the time I was aware that James Bond existed, the films that were already out seemed like an ever-present canon. Time stretches forever when one is in one's teenage years, and since no Bond film was released for my entire secondary school education (Goldeneye was released just after I started my A Levels) it felt like something otherworldly. A new Bond film? But Bond films are a thing that were made in the past, not now! Weird how a teenage mind world isn't it?
Of course it wasn't just this. There are other reasons Goldeneye felt so different. Looking back and re-watching the series it is even more clear. This was the first Bond film to be made in the post-Soviet era, the first film with Judi Dench as 'M', the first in which someone uses the internet. It really feels like Bond films were entering a new era.
The other thing I noticed when watching Goldeneye for the first time in probably 15 years last week, is just how much the plot doesn't really make any sense. We open in Monaco with Bond being tested by an MI6 stooge, he races a mysterious woman in a Ferrari who he then flirts with in classic Bond trope stylee. Bond then follows this woman for no reason other than that he's a bit of a stalker, and then she's involved in the theft of a helicopter, which is then used in the theft of the 'Goldeneye' device. There's no real reason for Bond to be involved in any of this at all. It then comes to pass that the ultimate point of having this device is to steal money, which is sort of a bit small fry really.
Notwithstanding this though, Goldeneye is a well-made film. We have memorable characters, well-directed action sequences and exactly the right balance between danger and tongue-in-cheek. The product placement is there, but not out of control. It checks off the Bond tropes nicely and does very well to handle the transition into the post-soviet era. Making 'M' a woman is a nice way to encapsulate Bond's dissonance from a world now not sure what to do with its Cold War era spies. Where does Bond fit in now the Russians are on side and casual sexism isn't considered acceptable any more?
Plus on top of all this, Goldeneye was one of the first films to ever involve a video game tie-in. Talk about making a giant leap into a new world. Goldeneye definitely isn't the best Bond film, but it is none-the-less a classic.
