31 Years Ago Today, the James Bond Franchise Got the Update It Desperately Needed (And Started a New Era)

James Bond, as a character, quickly became an icon, with new novels published nearly every year by Ian Fleming beginning in the 1950s, and his success promptly rocketed him to the big screen. Sean Connery’s first appearance as the character came in 1962’s Dr. No, and would become so successful that he would reprise the role five more times over the next ten years (and that doesn’t include the one film where he was replaced by George Lazenby). The series and character gained new life in the 1970s after Roger Moore took on the role, but the cracks in the foundation began to form as well.

Though Moore’s tenure is filled with a few noteworthy movies, it also includes times where the James Bond franchise was too busy chasing something else rather than sticking to itself. Live and Let Die was trying to release a Bond movie that harkened to the blaxploitation genre, while Moonraker would do its best to satisfy the Star Wars craze (as much as was possible for an Earth-bound spy series). Needless to say, by the time Timothy Dalton’s films in the 80s were released, the tank seemed empty for Bond. Luckily for the character and the audience, a reinvention would arrive in the form of Pierce Brosnan and his first movie as Bond, GoldenEye.

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31 Years Ago, Filming Began on GoldenEye

After the release of Licence to Kill, the second and final Bond movie with Timothy Dalton in the role, the series seemed doomed. The box office returns for the films were steadily going down, meaning the series needed to adjust course if it was going to not only remain relevant but also find a new path forward. Enter, none other than Pierce Brosnan, who had been offered the role of Bond nine years earlier, but was forced to not participate due to his work on Remington Steele. Sporting a tux, a Walther PPK, and the keys to a BMW, the world gots its first new Bond in years with his arrival, and on January 16, 1995, 31 years ago today, cameras started rolling on GoldenEye, his first film.

There were two other major changes that made GoldenEye the start of a new era for Bond, both of which happened behind the scenes. The first is that the longtime franchise producer, Albert “Cubby” Broccolli was having health issues and as a result had to take a “back seat” on the film, in his stead, his daughter Barbara Broccoli and step-son Michael G. Wilson stepped up and became the producers for the film, roles they would hold all the way through No Time to Die (having now sold the franchise to MGM entirely). As a result, the creative eyes that controlled the series were moving it into a more modern era, and away from the Cold War aesthetic that had long defined the character.

The second big change was that director John Glen, having helmed the previous five James Bond films, was not brought back for GoldenEye. Instead, they hired Martin Campbell to direct the film, who immediately brought a flair to the action sequences and a passion for doing something new with the material. It’s worth noting as well that production on GoldenEye began today, 31 years ago, and that the film was released in theaters just ten months later, premiering on November 13, 1995. Production carried on from January until June, with filming taking place in the UK, Switzerland, St. Petersburg, Monte Carlo, and Puerto Rico. It’s an impressive timeline for any film, but especially one as seismic as this. Upon its release, GoldenEye became the highest-grossing Bond film of all time (unadjusted for inflation).

GoldenEye Made Bond Relevant Again By Making Him Modern

Brosnan provided not only a new face for the series but a new identity for the character of James Bond with GoldenEye. Gone were the tongue-in-cheek gags from Moore’s years or the stoic ’80s attitude of Dalton; Brosnan channeled not only the playful energy that was always present in Bond but also made sure to strip him of a truly hardened edge, making him a spy that was not only good at his job but was still very much human. This would not only pave the way for Brosnan’s continued performances as Bond, but eventually the arrival of Daniel Craig in the role, who arguably took that shade of the character to an even deeper chasm, which proved to be the best thing to happen to Bond both critically and commercially.

Upon arrival, GoldenEye also made sure to clearly delineate that this wasn’t “your dad’s James Bond,” as it not only immediately grapples with a post-Soviet Union storyline, but makes sure to poke fun at Bond’s entire history. Another major casting choice made for the movie was the character of M, though traditionally played by an older man, Dame Judy Dench stepped into the part, a role she would reprise all the way through Skyfall in 2012. M being a woman wasn’t enough to show how distinct the entire franchise was now going to treat Bond and his past, as she makes sure in her first sequence to call out Bond’s entire history of womanizing, even going so far as to label him “a sexist, misogynist dinosaur.” Naturally, the comment doesn’t stop Bond from carrying out the kind of extracurricular activities fans came to expect, but it showed the series was willing to be self-referential and exist in the modern space by doing so; again, traits that would continue to define Bond films all the way through Craig’s final appearance.

The James Bond franchise finds itself now in a similar state of rebirth, with Denis Villeneuve set to direct the film and a new actor primed to take over the character. There’s a lot that the filmmaker and star, and even new producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman, could learn from GoldenEye. Most importantly, it’s being willing to try new things, to push the character into a different era and time, but to never lose sight of what he was beforehand. Bond has proven he can continue to thrive no matter what decade he lives in, as long as the chief characteristics of his ethos are present. It’s unclear what the future holds for him, but it’s worth looking back now at a time when uncertainty shadowed the series, and that helped propel it to new heights.