Entertainment
Netflix Has The Sexy ‘90s Masterpiece That Revived The Greatest Action Franchise Ever Made
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
In 1989, something stunning happened: License to Kill earned the lowest box office of any James Bond film ever made. While the movie had some very stiff competition (including Tim Burton’s Batman, Ghostbusters II, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade), this failure gave the creative team behind 007 pause. They decided to shelve this iconic spy series until they knew how to remake Bond for a modern audience.
That remake came in 1995 in the form of GoldenEye, a movie which featured Pierce Brosnan as the most famous spy in Hollywood history. The film was a critical and commercial smash, ensuring that we got additional decades of world-spanning action and adventure from the man who prefers his martinis shaken, not stirred. If you’re ready to dive into a genuine ‘90s masterpiece and experience one of the best Bond films ever made, you don’t have to contact Q Branch: all you have to do is grab your remote and stream this film for free on Tubi!
The Ties That Bond
The premise of GoldenEye is that nine years after his partner apparently died on a mission gone wrong, James Bond must investigate the criminal mastermind wielding a satellite-powered weapon that can cripple the world with its electromagnetic pulses. The mastermind ends up being his former partner, someone who is now hellbent on rewriting the world in his own twisted image. Now, Bond must team up with a buxom hacker and race against time before he reverts the United Kingdom and other targets back to the technological Stone Age.
The cast of GoldenEye has some of the most beloved actors in Hollywood, including Sean Bean (best known for The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring) as 007’s former partner turned supervillain. Speaking of villains, Famke Janssen (best known for X-Men) is campy perfection as an assassin with killer thighs (literally), and her fellow X-Man Alan Cumming (best known to Marvel fans for X2: X-Men United) is hilarious as a hacker with delusions of grandeur. As for Dame Judi Dench, this is the film she is best known for, and she’s so good in the role of Bond’s boss that she continued to play the part into the Daniel Craig era of Bond films.
Needless to say, the best performance in GoldenEye comes from Pierce Brosnan, whose James Bond is the perfect mixture of previous performers. He has the suave swagger of Sean Connery, the smoldering intensity of Timothy Dalton, and a couple of healthy pinches of Roger Moore’s humor. His 007 captivated the public, and Brosnan helped transform this flailing franchise into an unstoppable box office juggernaut.
A Revival That Impressed Fans and Critics Alike
GoldenEye brought James Bond back in a big way, earning $356.4 million against a budget of only $60 million. This successfully revived 007 after the disappointing box office of 1989’s Licence to Kill, and Brosnan went on to star in three more Bond movies. Afterward, the franchise was reenvisioned into something much more serious, and Daniel Craig played a Bond who was notably cooler and crueler than his martini-swilling predecessors.
When GoldenEye hit theaters, it left professional reviewers both shaken and stirred with its effortlessly cool revival of this ‘60s spy franchise. On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie has an 80 percent, with critics praising the movie for modernizing the 007 formula without sacrificing any of the sexy violence and stylish action these movies are known for. They singled out Pierce Brosnan for his singularly impressive performance as James Bond, one that would come to define ‘90s action cinema and, in many ways, the actor’s career.
Falling In Love With The World’s Sexiest Franchise
As an ‘80s kid who was more into sci-fi than spycraft, I didn’t watch much James Bond growing up. Seeing GoldenEye in the local theater was my first exposure to the world of 007, and I was instantly hooked. I began renting every Bond movie I could find at the local video stores, and the iconic Nintendo 64 adaptation of the film quickly became my new favorite game.
Speaking for myself, GoldenEye was the perfect entry point for the franchise: it offers all the action and set pieces you’d expect from the best spy films, and the characters (from Sean Bean’s 006 to Izabella Scorupco Natalya) are fully formed and immediately relatable. As for Brosnan, his character is the opposite of relatable as aspirational perfection. He’s the man every man wants to be, and Brosnan’s secret agent is the archetypal embodiment of unrestrained masculinity.
You May Need A Cigarette After Watching
You can enjoy GoldenEye as a joyous love letter to the James Bond franchise, and the passion the filmmakers had for 007 is evident in every frame. Notably, though, the film stands on its own as a breakout ‘90s action blockbuster that has easily withstood the test of time. It remains one of the sleekest and sexiest action masterpieces of the last few decades, and it’s one you’ll want to revisit whenever you need the adrenaline rush that only Brosnan can provide.
You don’t have to break a sweat to obtain that rush, though; all you have to do is stream GoldenEye on Netflix. More than a nostalgic thrill, this movie is perfect for those who appreciate other ‘90s action masterpieces like The Rock and Face/Off. Whether you’re looking for vintage thrills, unforgettable characters, or a bit of both, this is one sexy celluloid adventure you’ll never forget!
