You know the name. You know the number. He’s Bond. James Bond. 007. And after a six-year hiatus, his big, splashy comeback 'GoldenEye' took the world by storm, quickly becoming the highest-grossing film in the James Bond series.
For a specific discourse of the film, please refer to my theatrical review. But just to recap, I enjoyed 'GoldenEye' immensely, with reservations only towards Eric Serra’s miscalculated musical score and a subliminal, constrictive sense that everyone involved was stressed-out by the feeling that they had to succeed or the series was dead for good. Other than that, 'GoldenEye' is a welcome return to the outlandish, free-for-all joyrides that were the high-water marks of the best Bond films. And Pierce Brosnan is a smashing success as the new James Bond.
MGM/UA has issued a fantastic, packed-with-extras, you-gotta-have-it laserdisc version of 'GoldenEye', and when I saw a menu of all the supplemental goodies listed in the liner notes, I did a double-take to make sure I’d read the price tag correctly. Indeed, I did. At a mere $45, MGM/UA has given us a special edition that rivals many $100 special edition discs. Combined with the flawless, THX-approved quality, 'GoldenEye' is instantly one of the best laserdiscs I have ever seen. You’ll be blown away.
The movie looks and sounds gorgeous, with a perfect image that does magnificent justice to the film’s lush palette and moody lighting (check out the opening credit sequence, with bright colors that dance right off the screen). The picture is crystal-clear and razor-sharp through and through. The Panavision ratio is preserved at its proper 2.35:1 aspect ratio and the Dolby Surround mix is one of the most aggressive I’ve ever encountered (hear the wind rush behind you as Bond performs a senses-shattering bungee dive off a dam and, later, as he free-falls in a death-defying race for an unmanned plane; or, for sheer boom-boom factor, skip to chapter 31 as Bond and Natalya are trapped in the Tiger helicopter, with its own rockets racing in towards them). The disc is also encoded for Dolby Digital AC-3.
The side breaks are a bit intrusive (especially the platter break, which occurs amid the final explosion/fight scene), but are necessary to accommodate the generous supplementary section. After the film, the 45-minute television special 'The World of 007' (hosted by Elizabeth Hurley) runs in its entirety. On side 4 (all-CAV), we get both theatrical trailers; a "Making Of" featurette; not one, not two, not three, but 13 television spots (each designed to capture different demographics; the best are the "New Year’s" spots that were obviously inspired by the quick-cut, scratchy images of the opening credits for the film 'Seven'); the Tina Turner music video; and a humorous bit at the end of the program that repeats a key scene, dubbed in French, Italian and German.
A terrific audio commentary track runs the duration of the film, narrated by producer Michael Wilson and director Martin Campbell. It’d have been nice if they’d been able to snag Brosnan as well, but Wilson and Campbell provide 130 minutes of humorous, insightful anecdotes about the history and making of 'GoldenEye'. It’s one of the most enjoyable audio commentary tracks recently produced for a laserdisc.
The disc is housed in a beautiful gatefold jacket, jammed with over 20 film and production photos. The artwork for the video release is essentially the same as the theatrical key art, with minor revisions in character poses and the color of the "007" logo. One thing missing that I would have loved to have seen: a chapter devoted to the various poster concepts from around the world (the redesigned video artwork is the fourth version I’ve seen in America; I imagine there were alternate posters for other countries, too).
Vital Statistics: MGM/UA Home Video; 4 sides; CLV/CAV; Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1); Dolby Surround; Dolby Digital AC-3; THX; Chapter stops; Close Captioned; $44.95.
S. Damien Segal.
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