Here in the United States, film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert enjoyed a long run on television reviewing movies. Both have long since passed, but for many their various shows remain memorable.
Thanks to THIS TWEET, the blog discovered a YouTube video of their 1995 review of GoldenEye, Pierce Brosnan’s debut as James Bond.
Ebert, then the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times, gave it a passing grade. But Siskel, the then film critic of the Chicago Tribune, had nothing good to say about the movie.
EBERT: I enjoy GoldenEye for what it was, though, and I give it thumbs up.
SISKEL: That thumbs-up comes as a surprise because I didn’t get a sense at all you enjoyed the picture. I certainly didn’t.
EBERT: I’m sorry. (NOTE: He sounded a little sarcastic there.)
(snip)
SISKEL: I think he (Pierce Bronsan) isn’t an interesting Bond. I like (Sean) Connery and everybody else has been nothing compared to Connery. Frankly, Roger Moore has a more commanding physical performance than this guy. I thought this was an average picture….I can’t recommend this picture at all.
A bit of perspective: Siskel panned every James Bond film between Thunderball (1965) and For You Eyes Only (1981).
Anyway, if you’d like to take a look at the review, here it is:
UPDATE (2:15 p.m. New York time): In 1983, Siskel and Ebert took a look back at the first 21 years of James Bond films. CLICK HERE to view the episode. You see some promos at the start before the episode proper begins.
Filed under: James Bond Films | Tagged: Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune, Gene Siskel, Goldeneye, Pierce Brosnan, Roger Ebert, Roger Moore, Sean Connery | 1 Comment »