GoldenEye

James McMahon -- REBIRTH (after a six year hiatus), and done well. Though it s a bit by-the-numbers and Brosnan's still a bit too lightweight and pretty. Judy Dench as the new M makes me an instant believer. The concept of a former partner as the villain has a nice, harder edged, LeCarre feel. Onatopp's joie de mort is a treat to watch. Daniel Kleinman inherits Maurice Binder's mantle and produces the best opening title graphics of the entire 007 series. Robert Cotton -- How do you save a series that's been out of the public eye for a number of years? A "Best of Bond" film made up of pieces of the rest of the series. Michael Reed -- A movie that rises above some questionable plot holes marks a solid start for Pierce Brosnan. The dreadful score by Eric Serra actually brings down the film's emotional content in spots but the good cast delivers. Sean Bean is a bit bland but equals Brosnan's intensity playing Bond's evil equal. Over the top scenes are played with a straight face, and it's for the better. Paul Baack -- To those who were wondering if the James Bond films were still a viable franchise, this film was the resounding "YES!" Pierce Brosnan, a Bond-in-waiting since the mid-1980s, steps into the role with confidence and charisma, much to the cinema-going audience's delight. Brosnan and Bond was a mix everyone was immediately comfortable with, and GoldenEye nicely played to his strengths as an actor. The film itself is a fairly routine affair, but carried out with a high level of competence -- there are a number of very good scenes, and no real bad scenes, which was Howard Hawks' recipe for a good movie, and is good enough for me. Casting Judi Dench as M was a genius bit of work, and her briefing scene with Bond remains one of the best "M scenes" in the entire series. Speaking of best in the entire series, newcomer Daniel Kleinman's title sequence is completely fabulous, especially coupled with Tina Turner's raspy rendition of the Bono/Edge title song. Welcome back, Mr. Bond!

Bill Koenig -- Excellent debut for Pierce Brosnan. While originally cast for TLD (but unable to do the film after NBC revived Remington Steele after canceling it only because of Brosnan's casting). The first post-Maibaum film (the veteran screenwriter passed away in 1991, during the six-year hiatus between films), it features a script that is very good at times while you get the sense it was written by committee; three screenwriters get some sort of credit (Jeffrey Caine, Bruce Feirstein and Michael France) while a fourth made major contributions (Kevin Wade, uncredited). Eric Serra's score is OK but not spectacular. The tank chase is good, though goes over the top at times. Judi Dench, as the new M, makes a great debut. Ed Werner -- If the 60's Connery films are the genesis of the Bond series, then the four Brosnan films are the renaissance. Until 1995, I thought that nobody could touch Connery's performance as Bond in the first five installments. Brosnan hasn't gotten there, but he's come damned close. If he had been given scripts that were written just a little better, I think the Brosnan era would be remembered as on par with those of the benchmark 60's. Great plot, with a rogue 00 agent running amok. The fact that he was also a close friend of Bond's makes this movie even more interesting. Sean Bean as Alec Trevelyan does a wonderful job as the former member of MI6. Natalya Simonova played by Izabella Scorupco is one of the more believable Bond girls in the series and ain't half bad to look at either! Xenia Onatopp, played by Famke Janssen is the strongest Femme Fatale since Fiona in Thunderball. Joe Don Baker and Robbie Coltrane put in the first of their two performances as recurring characters in the Brosnan run and both do very credible jobs. Baker's is much better as Bond's CIA liason Jack Wade, than he was as Whitaker in The Living Daylights (what happened to good old Felix by the way?). Coltrane pulls off quite a feat in playing Valatine Zukovsky, for as far as I'm concerned, Zukovsky is one of the most beloved characters in the series, rivaled only by Armandárez in FRWL and good 'ole Desmond's "Q". I originally had a hard time accepting Gottfried John's portrayal of Gen. Ourumov, but upon subsequent viewings I think worked. A little comedy was also injected into the story by Alan Cumming's Boris as the bad guy's computer geek. Tom Zielinski -- Upon first viewing, I remember thinking that this film did not possess a James Bond feel. To its credit though, it has aged pretty well. Brosnan has yet to capture the approach that would later solidify him in the role, but he is still quite good. Judi Dench is a godsend, but Desmond Llewelyn, God love him, should have retired prior - the great Q has sadly become a distraction. Sean Bean is a worthwhile adversary, though was given some terrible dialogue. But high marks for featuring the most beautiful of Bond women, Famke Janssen. Eric Serra´s score is the easily the worst of the entire series, and several moments in the film were crippled by his electric beeps and blips. Overall, a good debut for Brosnan. Campbell was thought enough of to be brought back for Daniel Craig´s debut eleven years later.