The Bull of the Cash Cows
The James Bond series is the longest running movie franchise of all time. Since the debut of Dr. No in 1962, 007 has held the attention of the movie audience. The influence of Bond spread across the Pop culture landscape to include music, fashion, cocktails and cars. Over the past 50 years, the character has had his ups and downs.
The 1995 film “GoldenEye ” was the seventeenth official edition of the franchise, James Bond.
The series had been mired for years in legal disputes over the contract rights on television broadcasting of the earlier movies. The original books and short stories of spy novelist, Ian Fleming, had been exhausted. The Cold War had fizzled with the collapse of the Soviet Union. The previous Bond epic, “Licensed to Kill,” had been a relative box office disappointment.
Rebooting James Bond
The producer, “Cubby” Broccoli, finally cleared a path to continue the series and he was determined to be very careful. In poor health, Cubby turned many of the production duties over to his daughter, Barbara Broccoli. New writers crafted the modern era script, which was named after Fleming’s Jamaica estate. where he wrote the spy novels. That island hideaway was named for a real life OSS operation in Fascist Spain during World War Two.
Debonair and Dangerous
The new leading man, Pierce Brosnan, was now available to bring the hero up to date. He had been chosen to follow the Roger Moore interpretation, but contractual obligations to his “Remington Steele” television show had delayed his participation.The Bond series had carried on with two appearances by the handsome and gritty Timothy Dalton with moderate reception. Now, Brosnan was eager to make his mark as 007.
GoldenEye was the first Bond adventure to use computer generated images to enhance the jaw dropping physical stunts. A scene where Bond bungee jumps off of a dam in Switzerland won accolades among the stunt man community. Another cliffhanger has Bond leaping from a motorcycle to catch up with a runaway Piper Cub plane. The CGI and the physical stunts worked together to create a film that satisfied old fans and brought new interest to the franchise
Songbirds and Silencers
Through the years, the soundtrack themes of the Bond movies have been exceptional and the new effort recruited some undeniable talent. Bono and “The Edge” of U2 were signed up to write the theme for “GoldenEye” . The rest of the soundtrack was somewhat more sedate, but who would remember after the spectacular opening credits rolled?
Tina Turner, in her solo career, had shown that she could deliver the goods in cinematic efforts like “Tommy”, “What’s Love got to do with It?”, and ” Mad Max: Beyond Thunder Dome.” Her acting and singing career had found new legs with the huge success of her “Private Dancer ” album. She added her craft to the words and music of U2 and produced a masterpiece.
Boxcars of Box Office
Like the unstoppable Russian super train featured in the movie, “GoldenEye” put the Bond bandwagon back on the tracks. All of the visual and musical elements came together to make the movie a blockbuster. Pierce Brosnan had several more turns as the secret agent and then retired gracefully to pass the baton to Daniel Craig. The Craig version was initially met with doubt and he was mocked as “James Blonde.” After 3 well received movies and joining the Queen for a satirical sensation at the Olympic opening festivities, there can be no doubt that Daniel Craig has earned his place in the 007 myth.
Here are some links for articles that I wrote about Hollywood history :
Top 10 Best :Classic Movie Sex Goddesses
Elizabeth Taylor’s Story of Cleopatra with Richard Burton
The Rise and Fall of a Hollywood Empire
Deleted Scenes from Stanley Kubrick :Dr. Strangelove
Spring Break Explosion !
Thanks for reading.
