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This is the archive version of The GoldenEye Dossier featuring news and articles between 2011 and 2018. Please head to goldeneyedossier.blogspot.com to experience the new site, inaugurated on January 1, 2020.

The Mask of... GoldenEye: much more in common than just one director

After the success of GOLDENEYE in 1995, director Martin Campbell was hired to helm THE MASK OF ZORRO, a sort of cinematic reboot of Johnston McCulley's masked adventurer, in 1998. While James Bond and Zorro lived in a different historical period, had different values and came from different backgrounds, both films bear a few interesting similarities...

HEAVY SPOILERS FOR BOTH FILMS!

Zorro's gunbarrel

We all know James Bond's opening iris logo were he is seen -trough the barrel of a gun- walking and then surprisingly shooting his attacker as blood fills the screen. For an interesting and clever reason, Campbell (or someone in his team) decided to have Zorro doing basically the same as 007: walking against a blue background and carving his trademark 'Z' into the screen, which leads us to the title card.

Shadowy figure

In GOLDENEYE, Bond breaks into a chemical warfare facility in the USSR around 1986. We only see his face shadowed and his figure running across a platform, jumping off a dam and sneaking into the facility's bathroom. Only then, his face is revealed seconds before he punches a Russian Captain upside down in the face, while he was in the bathroom (Zorro would use a similar move later in the film).

A similar resort is used in THE MASK OF ZORRO. We are in a California square in 1821, where Governor Rafael Montero is threatened by a crowd of peasants who want to finish with Spain's ruling of their region and the tyranny of the governor. A cold-livered Montero refuses to leave, captures three innocent peasants and puts them against a firing squad. At the same time, everyone is wondering were Zorro is. We get the first glimpse of his face as one of the kids in the crowd, Joaquín, recognizes him trough a monk's outfit.

Backfiring the enemy

Bond and his friend Alec Trevelyan (006) infiltrate the facility's bottling room and set up explosive charges. An alarm goes off. Trevelyan is captured and shot by General Ourumov, whose troops have surrounded the place and command Bond to surrender. In order to escape, Bond shoots a container holding gas canisters in the superior part of the room. The canisters start falling one after another, severely wounding the surprised Soviet troops.

Zorro does pretty much the same: as he observes the firing squad is about to shoot the peasants, he catches the soldiers' weapons with his whip, redirectioning them to the corporal giving the execution orders. Later, as a group of snipers are about to shoot him, Joaquín and Alejandro (the kids in the crowd) throw a statue from a superior platform over the snipers, allowing Zorro to escape. Then, the masked hero confronts Montero, warns him to leave California, and marks a zed below his chin with his sword.

Killing the inept soldier

Before Bond escapes the plant, he takes cover in a small container filled with gas tanks. Despite Ourumov's orders not to fire to avioid blowing up the tanks, a desperate soldier shoots and misses Bond, almost hitting one of the tanks. A furious Ourumov shoots the soldier at point blank.

Don Diego De La Vega -aka Zorro- returns to his home with his wife Esperanza and his baby daughter Elena, only to find Montero and his troops threatening him. As they are about to arrest him, Esperanza intervenes in the fight to protect Diego and is mistakenly shot by one of Montero's soldier, killing her instantly. Montero, who has secretly desired Esperanza for years, stabs the soldier with his sword. Later, Diego is finally  captured and Elena stolen by Montero.

Years later

Both GOLDENEYE and THE MASK OF ZORRO follow on the story decades later, nine and twenty years, respectively. In GOLDENEYE, Bond is driving his Aston Martin DB5 trough Monaco. In THE MASK OF ZORRO, we are introduced to the second story of the film: the Murrieta brothers (Joaquín and Alejandro, the kids from the square crowd) being captured and surrendered by a bounty hunter known as Three-fingered Jack.


Death of a loved one

Jack and the Murrieta brothers are surprised by Captain Harrison Love, a California Ranger in league with Rafael Montero. Jack is shot, but survives as the brothers try to escape. As they were running, Joaquín is shot in the back. Alejandro wants to save him, but he pushes him back as Love and his men behind surrounding him. Before being captured, Joaquín shoots himself.
Alejandro later escapes and reencounters Diego De La Vega, who has managed to escape prison and is planning the return of Zorro.

The death of Joaquín and Alejandro's inability to save him or avenge him would be a recurring subject haunting the hero as in GOLDENEYE with Bond and Trevelyan (albeit in a much subtle way, as we can see during the M's briefing scene). Moreover, the death of Joaquín is a bit similar to the death of 006: surrounded by guards and a high ranking officer threatening him.


Foreplay

Later in GOLDENEYE, Bond is resting on the Grand Europe Hotel and is attacked by Janus operative Xenia Onatopp . They end up having a fight in the sauna room of the hotel with a very horny -almost sexual- content. Finally dominated by Bond, she reveals the whereabouts of Janus, the mysterious man 007 has been sent to investigate.

In a much lower-key moment in THE MASK OF ZORRO, Alejandro Murrieta (who has been now trained by Diego to succeed him) infiltrates Montero's residence. After making an incredible escape that includes all kind of stunts and sword manouvers, Alejandro is intercepted by Elena, who has been raised as Montero's daughter. They fight with swords, but the showdown ends up being a seductive game where Alejandro carves Elena's dress to the point of leaving her naked.

Back from the dead

Led by Xenia, 007 agrees for a blind date with Janus in an isolated statue park in St Petersburg, Russia. "Hello, James", a voice calls from among the shadows and a shine of light illuminates his face: it's Alec Trevelyan, the former 006. He wasn't dead and everything was a ruse planned from the beginning to betray the British and the fact that Bond left him to die.

Much like in GOLDENEYE, in THE MASK OF ZORRO we have Diego surprising Montero twenty years after their last encounter. The chiaroscuro cinematography, in both cases by Phil Méheux, is very similar. Just like Trevelyan -but in the side of good- De La Vega seeks revenge for the damage Montero caused in the past, mainly the death of Esperanza and the kidnap of Elena. He is later captured by Rafael's troops, but manages to tell his daughter the truth.

Mark of the past

When we see Alec Trevelyan in GOLDENEYE, nine years later, half of his face has been burned for the explosives set up by Bond in the nerve gas plant. In THE MASK OF ZORRO, Montero, twenty years later, he bears the 'Z' carved by De La Vega below his chin.

Jamming the system

Bond and Trevelyan have their final showdown on a giant telescopic antenna in the middle of the Cuban jungle. To prevent Trevelyan's plan from succeeding, Bond uses the piece of a scaffolding to jam the antenna's rotating system. Zorro does something similar using a ladder to prevent a lift transporting gold bars in a mine Montero and Love are planning to blow up.

Beg you pardon, forgot to knock!

As we were saying before: Bond's first appaerance in GOLDENEYE has him sneaking into the vents of a bathroom, surprising a Russian captain and (upside down) punching him in the face. During the mine showdown, Zorro/Alejandro does the same move with two guards, punching him upside down from a platform.

You only die twice

Capitain Love meets a similar demise than Alec Trevelyan, both are "killed twice" by their enemies. In GOLDENEYE, Bond is fighting Alec on a small platform belonging from the antenna, in the same way Alejandro and Love fight each other on a platform belonging to the mine in the climax of THE MASK OF ZORRO. 

Alejandro fatally wounds Love with his sword, grapples to safety with his whip and leaves the captain to die. The ranger is finally killed when a carriage with gold bars falls over him. In the case of Trevelyan, Bond lets him fall off the platform after a fist fight. The former 006 is still alive, until the antena explodes and the full structure falls over him.

GoldenEye: From the Big Screen to the Small Screen

Six months after the original theatrical release, on May 21st, 1996, GOLDENEYE first reached two home video formats, VHS and LaserDisc, troughout the world. We have made a home video special reviewing most of the home releases of the first film of the Pierce Brosnan era.

VHS & LASERDISC

Two different covers accompained the premiere release of GOLDENEYE in VHS, both featuring Pierce Brosnan as James Bond with his two female counterparts Izabella Scorupco and Famke Janssen and evoking the US and International poster campaigns, with minimal retouches such as the 007 logo (in gold, instead of red) and the use of a different close up of Bond pointing his Walther PPK replacing the one John Stoddart took for the American campaign.

Some releases offered a different artwork, again with Pierce Brosnan, Famke Janssen and Izabella Scorupco. The black background was replaced by the Severnaya Control Center exploding and the 007 logo was removed. This artwork was mainly used in Europe.

In the United States, the GOLDENEYE VHS was sold with The Ultimate James Bond Dossier, a CD-Rom featuring clips, audio, images and a trivia game featuring the first 17 films.

The Laserdisc edition presented the film in widescreen format and featured a few bonus: TV spots, trailers, a five minute featurette and "The World of 007", a television special hosted by Elizabeth Hurley.

FIRST DVD EDITION (1997)

In 1997, GOLDENEYE was the first James Bond to be released on DVD format.

Scan by 007homevideo.com

These first editions (reprising the covers of their respective VHS releases) were mainly featured in the US and Europe. The American edition, presented in a clamshell plastic package, featured both screen versions of the film (Pan & Scan and Widescreen) and the trailers, with the European edition adding an audio commentary featuring director Martin Campbell and an 8-page booklet. The menu screens were static film captures.

The menus are presented in 16:9 version in the European release, while the American edition features them on Pan & Scan. An interesting curiosity between the US and the European version is that the European DVD replaced the original print location text for an electronic one in the respective language.

SPECIAL EDITION DVD (1999)

Shortly before the release of THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH, the James Bond films were released in the form of Special Edition DVDs, that were packed with many extra features such as documentaries and deleted scenes. GOLDENEYE was, of course, part of this collection.

Both the American and European edition featured the same special features and a making of booklet that came with these releases. The US edition used a modified artwork of the one that served for the VHS and Laserdisc editions, while the European market went for their own VHS variation.

This time, the DVDs contained animated menus. In the case of GOLDENEYE both designs were almost similar.

US DVD Menu Screenshots:

European/Australian DVD Menu Screenshots:

Just like all the Bond SE DVDs, the viewer is asked to "Activate" the navigation system. In the European version the user is first asked to select the menu language, while in the American version the interactive menu is only available in English and a female voice (omitted in the European DVD) introduces the animation by saying "Welcome to GOLDENEYE Special Edition DVD. Please activate the navegation system."

The American menu plays the 10th track of the film soundtrack ("A Pleasent Drive trough St Petersbourg", not heard in the film) adding some soundbites of the movie, while the European menu completely ommits any dialogue.

Watch a clip of the Special Edition DVD Menu animation (Australia, same as the European version):

The Special Features were very interesting by the time:

• Audio Commentary featuring Michael G Wilson and Martin Campbell
• "The World of 007" documentary, hosted by Elizabeth Hurley
• "Making Of" Featurette: The GoldenEye Video Journal
• Music video "GoldenEye" by Tina Turner
• Behind-the-scenes featurette
• Trailers (2) and TV Spots (12)
• Tomorrow Never Dies Playstation Game Trailer

Most of the featurettes were previously seen on TV or in the Laserdisc edition, yet in a time where YouTube didn't exist it came very handy to get these gems secured, particularly Liz Hurley's documentary.

The Region 2 edition from Europe had many cuts to reach the 12 rating (mainly during the fight of Bond and Trevelyan and the Xenia scenes), while the US Region 1 was uncut. 

Languages available for the featurette film were English and French for the US edition (subtitles in English and French for the movie only) and in the European editions it depended on the country (the UK had only English with multiple subtitles, while Spain featured English, French and German with menus and subtitles in these languages). In the Region 2 edition, the special features were also subtitled.

Another interesting thing to see is that the Region 2 edition also provides English subtitles for the dialogues in foreign language:

And the difference between the electronic and burnt subtitles remained from the 1997 edition:

Notice there's also a different color grading between the two, with the European transfer looking lighter.

The Special Edition of GOLDENEYE was reedited in 2002 for the release of DIE ANOTHER DAY and James Bond's 40th anniversary.

ULTIMATE EDITION DVD (2006)

As CASINO ROYALE was about to hit theatres with Daniel Craig as James Bond, the films were given the two disc treatment, with new material added to the Special Editions content and digitally remastered image and sound.

GOLDENEYE was given a rather disappointing cover artwork, with a flipped shot of Pierce Brosnan holding a Kalashnikov rifle and a digitally edited still of the famous tank chase. In 2008, these editions were reissued with a different and even less exciting cover artwork.

The DVD Menus were also animated but this time generic, with the same "girls and guns" style animation for every movie (featuring different music and clips depending on the film).

The digital restoration made by Lowry was a great job in other Bond films, but it didn't favour GOLDENEYE. Even if the image looks sharper and some of the dust was removed, the frames look very unsaturated. Worse is the severe crop done to the frames of the movie for unknown reasons.

Nevertheless, one thing to be thankful for are the loads of added material: 

• Deleted Scenes With Introductions by Director Martin Campbell*
• Directing Bond: The Martin Chronicles*
• Building a Better Bond: Pre-Production Featurette*
• The Return of Bond - The Start of Production Press Event*
• Driven to Bond: Remy Julienne*
• Anatomy of a Stunt: Tank Versus Perrier*
• Making it in Small Pictures: Derek Meddings*
• On Location With Peter Lamont*
• GoldenEye: The Secret Files*
• Pre-Title Storyboard Sequence With Director Martin Campbell*
• 007 MISSION CONTROL (Interactive Guide Into the World of GoldenEye)*
• Audio Commentary Featuring Martin Campbell and Michael G. Wilson
• The World of 007 - Original 1995 Television Special Hosted by Elizabeth Hurley
• The GoldenEye Video Journal Promotional Featurette
• "GoldenEye" Music Video Performed by Tina Turner
• Original Trailers (2) TV Spots (13)
• Photo Gallery*

*New in the Ultimate Edition DVD

The deleted scenes are fascinating to see (from Bond avoiding guards in the dam to Boris and Ourumov sharing a scene or Valentin threatening a treacherous client). The other featurettes deal with Martin Campbell, Phil Meheux and Derek Meddings showing the incredible and loable effort done by the crew of this movie. The 007 Mission Control page provides clips of the movie, including a short featurette on the locations narrated by Samantha Bond and Daniel Kleinman's titles without the text.

BLU RAY EDITION (2012)

The first GOLDENEYE BluRay release came in 2012 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the cinematic James Bond series, tied to the Bond 50 collection. The minimaristic cover artwork featured a promoticonal still of the movie with Pierce Brosnan and Izabella Scorupco, retouched with shades of blue. The same year, a steelbook (metal case) edition was also released, featuring the US theatrical poster artwork.

Scan by 007homevideo.com
The contents are essentially the same as the Ultimate Edition DVD, including the animated menu. A much needed improvement was the picture - not only for the pristine 1080p resolution of the image but because this time the frames weren't cropped and they regained the colour grading of the original master.

For the theatrical release of SPECTRE in 2015, all the Bond BluRays recieved a new cover artwork: poorly designed, GOLDENEYE featured a still of Pierce Brosnan holding the Kalashnikov Rifle and a white band with the film's logo.

A DVD issue featuring both cover artworks was released, with the sole disc being the same as the Feature Film disc of the Ultimate Edition.

We have next to see in which format GOLDENEYE -as the whole James Bond franchise and any upcoming movies- will come next. In the meantime, we hope you have enjoyed this Home Video special for a film we all love too much.

GOLDENEYE belongs to MGM/UA, Danjaq and Fox Home Entertainment. The videos and images featrured on this article are merely educational and copyright infringment is not intended. Special thanks for Drummond for the menu screenshots, animations and cover scans. Visit his site at www.007homevideo.com