REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDENEYE

GOLDENEYE is not only a high sounding word in the James Bond universe, but also in popular culture. There was once a book by Carson McCullers titled REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN EYE, whose title was "borrowed" by 007's creator Ian Fleming for his Jamaican estate. Nearly fifty years later, screenwriter Michael France wrote the first draft of a James Bond film adventure that, with the colaboration of writers Jeffrey Caine and Bruce Feirstein, would became Pierce Brosnan's long time delayed debut as the British secret agent. That film, of course, was not only novelized by renowed thriller writer John Gardner, but it was also made into a legendary videogame for the Nintendo 64 console system, which took the GOLDENEYE title to another dimension besides the name James Bond. The game revolutioned the first person shooting games in such a way that thirteen years after its original release, Activision remade the game for the Nintendo wii and DS console systems, updating the original story to fit Daniel Craig's performance as James Bond.

Even when people call films like GOLDFINGER, ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE or CASINO ROYALE as the best James Bond films, I have the fondest memories of GOLDENEYE: It's the 007 film of my childhood, the film that brought me to the world of James Bond. Yes, I call it the best film of the series. It has one of the best pre-credits secuence, breathtaking action scenes, the sharp photography of Phil Meheux and, of course, Martin Campbell proved with this film that he was born to helm a Bond film. We can't forget Pierce Brosnan's first portrayal of James Bond, who mixes all the best qualities of the previous four Bonds. Sean Bean makes a memorable and charismatic Alec Trevelyan, maybe one of the latests villains who had a strong personality. Famke Janssen as Xenia Onatopp - beautiful, deadly, sadistic. A really unforgettable character for any, I mean any, person (man, woman, young, old) who watches this film. And even some important flaws, as Eric Serra's music, went unnoticed to me.

I first heard of GOLDENEYE in January 1998, when the film was premiered on TV. Actually, I've heard about the film when I had the chance to play the Nintendo 64 game in a toy store inside a shopping mall in Buenos Aires. Soon, Bond became part of my life - and he came to stay! Renting the N64 console with the game became a habit and one of the most enjoyable moments of my entire childhood, challenging my dad to a deathmatch on the multiplayer mode, or trying to beat the Facility mission.

The years passed on. I became older, I've read many Bond novels and watched all the following films from GOLDENEYE on, and the previous adventures thanks to the VHS and DVD. But I have a more than special kindness towards the 1995 film, even when I hadn't had the luck to watch it on cinema. And, incredible enough, I've managed to get a Nintendo 64 and the original game twelve years after I've played it for the first time - it is one of my most valuable things of my collection, because that game is not just a collectable for me, but a dream!

Well, not that much to write so far. Just some personal memories spread in this virtual corner. All I can say now is that I hope Bond fans from around the world would enjoy this simple blog. English is not my mother tongue, but I'll be able to write some reviews (or memories) of the film and the games, and any enthusiastic writer is more than welcome to add his toughts and experiences to this site.

Nicolas Suszczyk,
Editor, THE GOLDENEYE DOSSIER