The wall was down, the war was over, the need for spies? They were still there.

It wasn't just James that had changed of course, the western world no longer had the threat of the USSR bearing over it (the USSR disbanded effectively broke in 1991 for those unaware) and the dividing wall had come down, just like the curtain. Germany was made a single unified country in late 1990 so no longer was their suspicion there either. Bond had lost his most fierce enemy, imagine Dr Who without the Daleks, this was sadly the situation for the Bond franchise due to the real world situation. So before anything else there had to be a new enemy, no serious Bond fan would be taken to him play a role that had no relevance to the real world situation(oddly the franchise did try a totally unrealistic approach in Die Another Day a movie that fans have despised).
So when it came to 1995 Bond's reinvention had to be big enough to distance it's self from the Soviet inspired movies such as “The Living Daylights”, “For Your Eyes Only” and “The Spy Who Loved Me”. However the decline of the Union did obviously lead to some new avenues, former Soviet followers, the remnants of the communist Army, the confusion through out much of Eastern Europe and the the distrust of those from the former Union. This backdrop was effectively the source of the Goldeneye story.

Fast forward 9 years to 1995 and a mysterious crime syndicate going by the name of Janus had started to commit crimes in Russia, then spreading to Europe. They had been a well disguised unit that had been all but hidden in identity, Ourumov was thought to be the leader with Xenia Onatopp (played by the gorgeous Famke Janssen-The Faculty, X Men) a former fighter pilot as his right hand man (or should that be woman?). The first major crime we are privy to is the stealing of the Tiger helicopter, a chopper that isn't damaged in any way by electronic weapons, making it an ideal weapon to work in cahoots with Janus' secret weapon, the GoldenEye.

The final acting talent of note plays Bond's boss, “M” in one the hugest changes in the franchise we were introduced to a female “M” to oppose the chauvinistic Bond. Played by the timelessly talented Dame Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love, 84 Charing Cross Road, A Handful of Dust), who plays a strong feminist leader of MI6 as only she possibly could.

The story is excellent and the way it turns in the middle is a brilliant twist that I personally never saw coming (though when I first saw the movie I was about 11 and adult movies were quite new to me). The pace throughout starts slowly and picks up wonderfully, with a mix of action (a tank chase through the streets of Moscow is a huge highlight as Bond chases Ourumov with slight comic relief), tension (a scene on a Russian arms train provides heart racing tension and gets the blood flowing like any Bond movie should). The flat out sexiness of the stunning Famke Janssen is doubled by her erotic femme fatale lust for blood and killing, the murder or a Canadian Captain between her thighs is one of the raunchiest things in any Bond movie.

One thing to note was after this movie, it would be 11 years to the next good Bond movie, as the remaining movies of Brosnan's seemed to take the series backwards culminating in the dreadful Die Another Day which tried hard to be an American action movie as opposed to James Bond movie. CGI became the word of the day and movie completely bombed with fans of the series, thankfully however in recent movies (Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace) they seem to have gotten back to the standard of Goldeneye. A dark Bond with a good storyline, a good twist, and a Bond baddie that every fan will be fantasising about for a while, sadly perhaps the gadgets were almost given a back seat to Brosnan, Bean and Janssen, though they may have stolen the show anyway.