Goldeneye represents a new era in Bond movies. The departure of Albert R. "Cubby" Brocolli from producer and the maiden voyage of his children's careers as Bond producers, is marked by this 17th film in the series. Remarkable for a transitional movie, but falls short of being one of the great Bond movies. Goldeneye will unfortunately be the last film to display the late Cubby Brocolli's name during the credits. Martin Campbell directs his first and last James Bond movie very well. One of the only returning crew members is Peter Lamont, the Academy Award nominated production designer who has worked on nearly every Bond film, unfortunately Goldeneye was also Lamont's last Bond film.

Like everything else, James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) has had to change for the nineties. The venerable 007, coming off a long hiatus, has taken on his fifth face, changed his mode of transport from the British Aston Martin to the German BMW, and now answers to a female "M" (portrayed by Academy award winning actress Judi Dench). There's more action in Goldeneye than in previous 007 entries -- enough to keep a ninety-minute film moving at a frantic pace. Unfortunately, this movie isn't ninety-minutes long -- it's one-hundred thirty, which means that fully one-quarter of Goldeneye is momentum-killing padding.

Pierce Brosnan finally gets a chance to play 007, and seems to resemble the Remington Steele character more than he should. What Brosnan should've dome before filming, is visit a barber and take a few feet off, because his hair is too damn long to be taken seriously. The gambling scene between Bond and Xenia was poorly shot, and the whole mood of the casino seems downtrodden. Something that never plagued the earlier Bonds. When Bond walks into the casino, the camera shoots from a low position making Bond look as tall as everyone else in the casino. The proper way is too film from a far-away position while keeping the camera as high as Bond's chin. Watch Thunderball, for a perfect example of that. The reason for that, is this; Bond is the main character, so why film him looking like every other person in the room. Bond is supposed to stand out from amongst the crowd. Making him seem like the same height as everyone else doesn't accommplish that.

The James Bond presented in Goldeneye is a cross between Timothy Dalton and Roger Moore's performances. Timothy Dalton's serious and determined attitude seem to have carried over to Pierce Brosnan's Bond. The wit and facial expressions that seemed to be Moore's trademark are used by Brosnan, though to a lesser extent.

Sean Bean gives a memorable performance as Alec Trevelyan agent 006. Trevelyan is the first of Bond's double 0 colleagues to be portrayed on screen, and appears to share many of the same personality traits as Bond, though a vindictive and jealous streak leads to his fall from grace, it is understandable why Bond would have befriended Travelyan. It's refreshing to see a villain, matching whits and muscle with our hero. The Cradle fight, is a perfect example of that.

Natalya Simonova on the other hand, is too irratating for me to truly enjoy this movie. Her idiotic lines such as, "I'm fine, thank you very much", and "Don't just stand there! Get us out of here!! Place her at the bottom of the barrel. When she's not saying idiotic lines, she's screaming pointless ones. After watching Goldeneye four times, I am now tired of her fake little accent as well.

A true psychotic, Xenia Onatopp, is nothing short of fantastic! Aside from the scene where she kills the Admiral, every scene she's in is memorable.

Bond at MI6, which usually provides memorable exchanges, now just gives me a reason to grab the remote and hit fast forward. Moneypenny is a bore, and her lines, though meant to fit the 90s, are dumb, and idiotic, just like her I guess. Judi Dench's M, is not even worth commenting on.

Eric Serra's score, and I'm sure everyone else will agree, is the worst of the series. The chase between Bond and Xenia, could've been great, but was marred by Serra's tacky, `70s, track. Serra felt that the Bond theme had run its course, and was outdated, so he never included it in the movie whatsoever. The only pieces that are worth mentioning is the Statue music, which gives it a suspenseful feel, and the romantic melody; Heard when Natalya escapes the Severnaya facility, and towards the end. Did I mention that Eric Serra, not only wrote the end title song, "Experience of Love", but also sang it? Wow! Good move. "Not only am I going to torture you with my score, but I'm also going to destroy your eardrums with my voice." My hearing has never been the same since.

Even though, the BMW Z3 was sorely underused, and Natalya is one of the worst Bond girls, that almost ruins my movie going experiece, Goldeneye still manages to thrill me with its spectacular sets, chase scenes, gadgets, and a wide range of memorable chracters. A bit overrated, but it's a solid entry in the Bond franchise.