THE REWATCHABLES · February 16, 2026
A 1995 action / spy movie directed by Martin Campbell—and decision no. 95 in the Hanks–Cruise tape.
ON THIS EPISODE
FROM THE CONVERSATION
WHY IT WORKS
WHAT DID NOT WORK
SCENES THEY KEPT COMING BACK TO
Bond jumps off the dam, fights through the facility, and escapes in a sequence the hosts call elite.
Opening minutesThe car chase is praised, though the soundtrack underneath is mocked as weak.
About 32 minBond's classic card-table swagger and catchphrase routine are treated as pleasingly on-brand.
About 32 minThe flirtation is praised as a funny, time-capsule example of 1995 workplace seduction.
About 40 minThe steam room sex-fight is remembered as a bizarre, very 90s Bond scene.
About 40 minThe tank chase and its collateral destruction are treated as the movie's peak spectacle.
About 48 minXenia's death is highlighted as a grotesquely funny payoff to the character's sexualized violence.
About 48 minThe pen trick and final confrontation are fun but also part of the movie's sillier gadget-driven logic.
About 48 min · medium confidenceWHERE THEY DISAGREED
Bill SimmonsThe tank chase is the movie's most rewatchable scene.
Chris RyanThe opening bungee jump and first 12 minutes are elite and could contend.
Bill SimmonsGoldenEye is one of the worst theme songs.
Chris RyanHe agrees it is a miss, especially compared with other Bond themes.
Bill SimmonsBond plots are often silly, but the style and set pieces make them work.
Chris RyanThe franchise is best when you don't overthink the plot and just enjoy the surface pleasures.
Bill SimmonsColin Farrell might have been the best post-Connery Bond.
Chris RyanLiam Neeson or Ralph Fiennes could have worked differently, but the role usually needs an English fit.
Bill argues the movie lands in the ideal Bond zone: not too goofy, not too trauma-heavy, and highly rewatchable.
Opening minutesHe treats the opening action sequence as elite Bond cinema.
Opening minutesHe identifies the tank chase as the movie's most rewatchable scene.
About 48 minHe loves Xenia as one of the greatest Bond villains/Bond-girl hybrids ever.
About 16 minHe likes the villain's revenge motive because it gives the character more dimension than a simple world-domination plot.
About 16 minHe thinks the movie's checklist of Bond elements is part of what makes it feel definitively Bond-y.
About 16 minHe thinks the GoldenEye theme is badly mismatched and one of the franchise's weakest songs.
About 48 minHe says the score during the car chase is especially bad and undermines the coolness of the scene.
About 1:04He sees Brosnan as a near-perfect Bond who would rank even higher with better movies around him.
About 1:12Chris emphasizes that the film sits between silly camp and heavy Craig-style trauma, which makes it especially rewatchable.
Opening minutesHe is extremely high on Xenia Onatopp as a special, unforgettable villain performance.
About 16 minHe concedes Bond plots are often dumb or overly complex, but says that is part of the fun and style-first appeal.
About 1:04He credits Campbell as a key architect of the Brosnan era and a strong Bond director.
About 1:12He reads Dench's M as a more modern, analytic decision-maker than earlier versions of the character.
About 1:12 · medium confidenceThey frame the movie as the post-Cold War Bond reboot that modernized the series without abandoning its core ingredients.
About 8 minThey repeatedly say the Bond films work because of style, gadgets, set pieces, and attitude more than narrative coherence.
About 1:04The episode dwells on workplace flirting, Bond's harassment, and the era's mix of awareness and permissiveness.
About 40 minThey argue GoldenEye helped shape or foreshadow later stunt-heavy franchises and tech-thriller aesthetics.
About 8 min · medium confidenceThis is the first Bond film after the Berlin Wall collapse and the first to use CGI.
About 8 minThe film was the first Bond movie not based on an Ian Fleming story element.
About 8 minAlbert R. Broccoli died seven months after the film.
About 8 minThe bungee jump was 722 feet and was filmed at the Contra Dam in Switzerland.
Opening minutesThe movie made about $356.4 million on a $60 million budget.
About 24 minThey say the movie has 1700 writers and rewrites in its development history.
About 8 min · medium confidenceThe opening villain-seduction scene had to be changed from the U.S. military to Canada.
About 1:2090,000 cans of Perrier water were used for the tank-versus-truck crash.
About 1:20 · medium confidenceGoldenEye was the nickname of Ian Fleming's Jamaican house.
About 1:20The movie's action count is said to be Pierce Brosnan's apex for on-screen kills.
About 1:20 · medium confidenceUsed as a comparison for the stunt escalation and tech-thriller style that later overtook Bond.
About 8 minCited as part of the tech-surveillance thriller wave that Bond did not fully mimic.
About 8 minDiscussed as heavily borrowing from GoldenEye's sexual jokes, villain style, and car imagery.
About 24 minUsed in the discussion of 1990s action-script cross-pollination and rewrite culture.
About 8 min · medium confidenceReferenced as a favorite Craig-era Bond film and as a darker contrast to GoldenEye.
Opening minutesReferenced as the point where Bond went so far into silliness it seemed absurd to continue.
Opening minutesMentioned as another sleek 1990s spy movie with especially strong music and atmosphere.
About 1:04 · medium confidenceUsed to contextualize Famke Janssen's career and pop-culture presence.
About 16 min · medium confidenceDiscussed as a major part of the movie's legacy, especially the Nintendo 64 game.
About 24 minMentioned as a product-integrated sponsor in the tank sequence.
About 48 minDiscussed as a conspicuous product placement and one of the movie's 1995 markers.
About 48 minCited as another organic product integration tied to the movie's tech era.
About 48 min · medium confidenceUsed to illustrate the era's mix of workplace sexual politics and awareness of harassment.
About 40 min · medium confidenceReferenced as the source of a specific opening-attack shot or beat.
About 1:12 · medium confidenceUsed jokingly to describe the movie's secretive, game-like traversal of space and traps.
About 40 min · low confidenceThe hosts keep ranking Bond eras and comparing them to NBA all-time debates and generational superstars.
Opening minutesThey joke about terrible accents, especially Famke Jansen, Alan Cumming, and Minnie Driver.
About 40 minThey use recurring 'apex' language for Bond girls, cars, and the movie's 1995 markers.
About 48 minThey repeatedly mock the impracticality of Bond gadgets and secret-agent tech solutions.
About 8 minThe conversation briefly detours into who should appear on Traitors and how the hosts would play it.
About 48 min · medium confidence“I was shaken, but not stirred.”About 32 min
“This time, Mr. Bond, the pleasure”About 48 min
“the things we do for frequent flyer mileage”About 1:36
“James, you're incorrigible”About 32 min
“It's a golden eye!”About 48 min
MAKE IT A MOVIE NIGHT
WHAT TO WATCH NEXT
Three movies to watch before GoldenEye, and three to watch next.
ON THE MIC
Bill Simmons125 tracked appearances · 56 H / 64 C / 5 ties
Chris Ryan77 tracked appearances · 36 H / 38 C / 3 ties
Sean Fennessey35 tracked appearances · 15 H / 17 C / 3 tiesCATEGORY CONTEXT
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