Goldeneye

Neatly coinciding with its 30th anniversary, the next James Bond film would be Goldeneye from 1995, which reintroduced the franchise after a six year break. Gone was the Soviet Union and that left many wondering if the secret agent had run his course as the world had moved on. Not only this but there was a new leading man as 007, none other than Pierce Brosnan, who had been floating around the role since before Timothy Dalton took over from Roger Moore, and now he had to bring the character back in keeping with everything that had come before.

Taking the name of Ian Fleming's Jamaican home, Goldeneye is an entirely new and original story which sees Bond assigned to locating a stolen secret defence weapon in another globetrotting adventure. The director in charge was a newcomer to the franchise, Martin Campbell, who would go on to direct Casino Royale, and he delivers an absolutely thrilling action film from start to finish while capturing much of the magic that has kept this franchise running for so long.

From the opening sequence with its fantastic score, a timeless title sequence song from Tina Turner, a great use of gadgets and a terrific cast, Goldeneye easily ranks among the best of the films. Brosnan takes the best from the Bonds who came before and oozes charm and charisma, balancing the humour with the drama and is frankly just perfect the role. And a lot of credit goes to the screenplay that provides the supporting cast with many great scenes to sink their teeth into, particularly Bond's briefing with M as we see Dame Judi Dench make an equally strong first impression here. 

It had been too long since I last saw Goldeneye and I will be sure to revisit this again soon. Campbell and Brosnan perfectly reignite the franchise, which could have faded away had this failed, and deliver the kind of Bond film I think fans want to see more of; this is fun, sexy and action packed. Like Top Gun: Maverick, you leave this with a smile on your face having had a great time and that really is something I'd like to see from the franchise going forward.

So in short; Goldeneye is a fantastic film that is incredibly easy to recommend and will surely appeal to newcomers as well, serving a great introduction to the world of 007. This would be the last film producer Cubby Broccoli would see and I'm glad he got to see the franchise return on a high.