23 replies to this topic

[Donovan]

It was pretty exciting to finally have a Bond film after an ungodly six year hiatus. Although I made the trip to the premiere (and corresponding convention, which was so-so), I cheated and seized the opportunities to see the film twice already (local film critics screening and a special BMW event). Upon meeting Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson I confidently predicted this would gross over a hundred million in the U.S. (a far cry from the paltry $32 domestic gross of its predecessor; and believe me, at the time, no one was really sure exactly how the film would do).

Radio City Music Hall was a fun venue to see the film. Desmond Llewellyn got on stage and said, "Now pay attention...we've had a Scottish Bond, an Australian Bond, an English Bond, a Welsh Bond...and now we have an Irish Bond...."

The main stars got on stage as well, as did Martin Campbell (whom Brosnan called the loudest director he'd ever worked with). Anyway, sixteen years and five Bond films later, with another being turned as we speak, went by pretty fast.

But that six year wait was hell.

[MajorB]

[Pussfeller]

I wish I knew a local critic.

[doublenoughtspy]

My report of the premiere: http://commanderbond...d-premiere.html

And Donovan, as I point out in the article (and other CBn members confirm here: http://debrief.comma...n-and-premiere/ ) - Desmond did not say Australian Bond. I was hoping he would but he did not.

But anyway, a wonderful evening! Bond was back in a big way!

[DaveBond21]

1995 was one of the best years. I was a 20-year old English lad living in Germany enjoying the sunshine and ladies of a wonderful European summer, and then in the autumn there was a new James Bond movie after a 6-year wait!

It was a very good year!!

[x007AceOfSpades]

A bit off topic - Five years ago, EON gave us Casino Royale. (11/17/06) I didn't realize the date til just a few minutes ago.

[Donovan]

You know, I'm wondering now if I don't have the premiere date wrong. I believe the 17th was the general release, so the premiere would've been a week or so earlier. But you get the general idea.

And are you sure about Des not saying Australian? Did he (they) neglect Lazenby?

[blueman]

Just finished reading Michael France's early script for "Goldeneye": sure hope he got lots of royalty checks from EON, so much of that unfilmed work has shown up in later Bonds, pretty amazing.

[Cody]

I clearly remember the evening of November 17, 1995. I was 11 and had just become a Bond fan earlier that year, so I was excited that my mother was able take me to GoldenEye on opening day. A blizzard blew in during the 30 minute drive to the theatre and was so bad that we had to pull over to the side of the road a couple times to wait through moments of whiteout. We arrived a bit late and took our almost front row seats in the packed theatre as Bond was hiding behind the squeaky cart. I loved the movie, so I thought the treacherous ride to and fro was totally worth it.

[AMC Hornet]

I thought the 2 1/2 years between TMWTGG and TSWLM was bad enough - the gap between LTK and GE was so excruciating I actually began to appreciate parts of CR '67! During that time I also managed to collect CR '54, Spymaker (meh) and Goldeneye: the Secret Life of Ian Fleming. That helped make the interminable wait a little easier to bare.

I had no complaints about GoldenEye, apart from Eric Serra's end song (I had Mediaplayer set on shuffle earlier today, and when that song came up I just hit 'skip' - that and 'Another way to Die' are the only two songs in the canon that I can't be bothered to memorize).

I too saw GoldenEye twice on opening night, and would have seen it a third time if I'd known that a friend was waiting to meet me as I came out of the theatre - only the departing audience was shepherded out the back exits.

I remember feeling the same way that Cubby Broccoli must have felt at the time - that should I die now, I'll go out knowing that 007 is in capable hands.

I still feel that way.

Edited by AMC Hornet, 18 November 2011 - 05:49 AM.

[jaguar007]

You know, I'm wondering now if I don't have the premiere date wrong. I believe the 17th was the general release, so the premiere would've been a week or so earlier. But you get the general idea.

And are you sure about Des not saying Australian? Did he (they) neglect Lazenby?

It was November 13th, 1995 ( I still have my ticket stubs and program) and the convention was on the 12th. Yes, I attended as well (we may have even met Donovan). I do remember meeting and spending a fair amount of time with Doublenoughtspy. I also attended a party at Sardi's after the premiere that Lee Pfifer set up.

It was one hell of a weekend.

[Peckinpah1976]

1995 was one of the best years. I was a 20-year old English lad living in Germany enjoying the sunshine and ladies of a wonderful European summer, and then in the autumn there was a new James Bond movie after a 6-year wait!

It was a very good year!!

Exactly my experience! Except I was in er, Nottingham, not Germany...

[Pussfeller]

I distinctly remember my father and brother going to see GoldenEye as soon as it opened. I don't remember if I was actually forbidden from seeing it, or if I just had no interest. In any case, it was years before I saw it. For a long time, I was more familiar with the video game than with the film, and was disappointed by the film's lack of faithfulness to the video game.

The first Bond film I actually saw was TND. Amazingly, I became a Bond fan.

[Nicolas Suszczyk]

I was 5 by then and I wasn't a Bond fan. Ironically, I've watched my favourite Bond film on TV in 1998 - two years after its release!

[jrcjohnny99]

All I can remember was being extremely dissapointed after such a long wait....

[bribond]

It was pretty exciting to finally have a Bond film after an ungodly six year hiatus. Although I made the trip to the premiere (and corresponding convention, which was so-so), I cheated and seized the opportunities to see the film twice already (local film critics screening and a special BMW event). Upon meeting Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson I confidently predicted this would gross over a hundred million in the U.S. (a far cry from the paltry $32 domestic gross of its predecessor; and believe me, at the time, no one was really sure exactly how the film would do).

Radio City Music Hall was a fun venue to see the film. Desmond Llewellyn got on stage and said, "Now pay attention...we've had a Scottish Bond, an Australian Bond, an English Bond, a Welsh Bond...and now we have an Irish Bond...."

The main stars got on stage as well, as did Martin Campbell (whom Brosnan called the loudest director he'd ever worked with). Anyway, sixteen years and five Bond films later, with another being turned as we speak, went by pretty fast.

But that six year wait was hell.

I was at the premiere too, only time I have ever been to a film premiere. When Desmond Llewellyn took the stage and said his "Now pay attention" line the place went nuts. I remember Brosnan saying something about he and Sean Bean, who was also there, beating the tar out of each other on the satellite dish. It was amazing to see a film on that big a screen.

I remember my initial impressions were that I liked Brosnan as Bond and all the performances and thought the film was extremely well edited but that much of the music (not all) was awful. The idea might have been that updating the film for the 90s meant using an electronic score but the last minute placement of the orchestral score for the tank chase is a sign the filmmakers recognized, perhaps too late and probably due to preview screenings, that it was the wrong approach.

[Chemateo]

That was a lot of fun reading about the New York premiere of GE and the Bond Con. Could you folks please share any details from the first Bond Con in L.A. I was too young to be aware of such an event back in 94 but I wish I could have gone. I am a bit surprised that there has not been Bond Con since 95. You would think another one would have been promoted considering the rise of all these Cons. Or at the very least we should get a Bond panel and section at the San Deigo Comic Con.

[jaguar007]

That was a lot of fun reading about the New York premiere of GE and the Bond Con. Could you folks please share any details from the first Bond Con in L.A. I was too young to be aware of such an event back in 94 but I wish I could have gone. I am a bit surprised that there has not been Bond Con since 95. You would think another one would have been promoted considering the rise of all these Cons. Or at the very least we should get a Bond panel and section at the San Deigo Comic Con.

I attended the Con in 94 in LA as well as the one in 95. Originally Roger Moore was scheduled to appear but had to bow out a couple of months before the convention happened. George Lazenby took center stage. Other guests included Richard Kiel, Martine Bestwick, Lynn Holly Johnson, Gloria Hendry, Peter Hunt and John Stears. It was held in connection with a 30th Anniversary screening of Goldfinger at Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. There was a video introduction from Cubby Broccoli and Pierce Brosnan. GE had not yet begun filming.

[Peckinpah1976]

All I can remember was being extremely dissapointed after such a long wait....

Funnily enough, I was so pleased to have Bond back that I really enjoyed it at the cinema - it was only on a repeat viewing that it's failings became obvious. These days I find it pretty unwatchable, not to mention boring (making it unique among Bond films - even the bad ones).

[occhile007]

It will always be the first Bond movie I ever saw all the way through. When I was a kid, I always wondered why my dad would watch Bond movies all the time...now I know why...

[The ides of Mark]

I really loved LTK (the first I ever saw on the big screen). But as the franchise was put on hold, my interest in Bond slowly faded. I went to see GE for nostalgic reasons. If it was a good movie on(a)top of that it would make for a nice bonus! Luckily, for me, the movie turned out way better then expected. From that moment on I became more fanatic then ever!

[British Chap]

I distinctly remember my father and brother going to see GoldenEye as soon as it opened. I don't remember if I was actually forbidden from seeing it, or if I just had no interest. In any case, it was years before I saw it. For a long time, I was more familiar with the video game than with the film, and was disappointed by the film's lack of faithfulness to the video game.

The first Bond film I actually saw was TND. Amazingly, I became a Bond fan.

Tomorrow Never Dies was my first Bond film in theaters as well. I was seven. My good friend (to this day) told me his Dad was so cool because e took him to see the new Bond movie. I asked who Bond was. He explained. I was super excited. I begged my parents to let me see it. Instead, they rented Goldeneye, The Living Daylights, and Goldfinger first (those were the films the video store had). I loved them all to death, though Goldeneye was my initial favorite. Than I saw Tomorrow Never Dies and it blew me away. Ahhh....youth.

[larrythefatcat]

I was 11 when Goldeneye came out, but I didn't end up seeing it until it had been on VHS for a while. I believe my interest in the series had begun due to the Goldeneye video game, so you can work out the timeline from there.

I vaguely remember having seen Goldfinger and one or two of the other Connery films previous to my Goldeneye experience, but for all intents and purposes GE is my "first" Bond movie. It's true that it does have some rather glaring flaws (the Serra "score" being the most obvious and most mentioned) but there are so many elements that work to its favor so strongly they can't be denied. The casting was (imho) spot on and Campbell's direction added so much to the tone of the film... if this had been another "cookie-cutter" John Glen Bond film (The Living Daylights is probably my favorite of his Bond films) I don't know that I would continue to love it as much as I have throughout the years. (I can think of so many terrible places in which the movie could have had a "bird jump-scare"... but I can't bring myself to actually type them here)

I can say quite confidently that I don't like The World is Not Enough anywhere close to as much as I did when I first saw it in the theatre (my first theatrical Bond experience) and that I've never particularly cared for Tomorrow Never Dies (even though I watched it ad nauseum when the VHS became available I vaguely remember feeling "meh" throughout everything but the action scenes) but the GE love still stays strong... no matter (or, perhaps, in SPITE of) how many times it's adapted or repackaged as a video game for the newest console.

Although I've become much wiser in the ways of Bond I still hold this one quite dear and I feel a little sad when others say they were so disappointed by the film because it's like an old friend who never really did anything wrong save hum a few annoying electronic tunes.


In closing: at least we got Goldeneye instead of that terrible Timothy Dalton/robot assassin Bond film... the cheese-factor of that one would have blown all of the Moore films (combined) away!

Edited by larrythefatcat, 20 November 2011 - 12:53 AM.

[PrinceKamalKhan]

All I can remember was being extremely dissapointed after such a long wait....

I remember having a somewhat similar reaction. Glad to have Bond back and enjoyed a lot of individual aspects of the film but not entirely satisfied with the finished product as a whole. Probably because I read John Gardner's novelization of if prior to seeing it and the movie I made up in my mind while reading it was a lot more entertaining IMHO. Ever since GE, I generally wait until after I see the film prior to reading its novelization.

A bit off topic - Five years ago, EON gave us Casino Royale. (11/17/06) I didn't realize the date til just a few minutes ago.

Now that date I hold in higher regard. Then again, they a better story and script and better lead actor to work with.