Though, isn't it? It looks like if the plan of a Bond villain has succeeded. COVID-19 or coronavirus is out there. Everywhere, like Quantum of SPECTRE. And an important part of the cure or to prevent contagion is staying at home as much as you can. Well, just stay at home. Period. So here are a few things that will help you make it through these weeks...
The number one suggestion is, naturally... watch GOLDENEYE! It's 130 minutes of guaranteed fun, action and excitement. If you are a newcomer to the world of Bond, this is definitely a movie that should be among your first watches. The 17th James Bond adventure and debut of Pierce Brosnan as 007 is available on Amazon Prime Video to rent ($3.99) or buy ($14.99). If you prefer physical formats, you can get the film on BluRay or DVD and enjoy some of the special features like deleted scenes, audio commentary and featurettes on the movie and the 007 franchise, one of them hosted by Elizabeth Hurley. Oh, don't forget that GOLDENEYE in also on 4K on iTunes.
If you are among the ones who enjoyed Eric Serra's soundtrack for the film, you can also get it on streaming or audio CD on Amazon. The album includes Tina Turner's main title song and Serra's song for the end credits, "The Experience of Love", plus other 14 incidental tracks from the film. To complete the experience, remember the 2002 edition of THE BEST OF BOND features Parodi Fair's "James Bond Theme" and John Altman's version heard during the tank chase of the film can be found in BOND BACK IN ACTION 2, performed by The City of Prague Philliarmonic.
You want something to read? There's a lot on the subject. First of all, you can read John Gardner's novelization of GOLDENEYE. This book has some interesting twists from the film. There aren't big changes in the story, but it will help you to know more about each character and there's even a moment detailing how Bond and Natalya escape from St. Petersburg to Cuba. The novelization can be found on paperback and digital over here. If you are looking for a more exhaustive analysis of the movie, you can also order Nicolás Suszczyk's book THE WORLD OF GOLDENEYE, which has now dropped its price to 10 dollars until a major update is published next month. You can get it here, and if you want to explore more on Pierce Brosnan's Bond you can always consult THE BOND OF THE MILLENNIUM, written by the same author and also available on Amazon. If you prefer a less passionate look at the backstage of the movie, some sellers are also offering Garth Pearce's THE MAKING OF GOLDENEYE, published by Boxtree in 1995. This book features interesting interviews and images, and you can get it here.
Want something more different and exclusive? Something you won't find easily? Well, you can always check out our YouTube playlist, where we complied some rarely seen documentaries of GOLDENEYE, many of them found by The James Bond Visual Archive, a great source for this kind of material. If you want to mimick Bond's wardrobe in the movie, Matt Spaiser gives you the lowdown on his suits and outfits in The Suits of James Bond. Feeling nostalgic? Then head to the Web Archive and explore some of the first Bond sites on the web promoting the release of the movie and the game.
We have thought on the gamers as well, and the word GOLDENEYE will ring a bell to them because the 1997 adaptation for the Nintendo 64 console system was extremely popular. It may be very expensive to get an N64 and the cartidge nowadays, but you can always emulate it on your PC. There's a tutorial in YouTube offering you download options and instructions to play it with your mouse and keyboard as any modern first-person-shooter. And speaking of modern, there's a fantastic way to experience the good old days of GOLDENEYE 007's multiplayer mode in your PC with GOLDENEYE: SOURCE, a HALF-LIFE 2 mod where you can connect with other players from all over the world to exchange some virtual bullets. Download file and instructions are here along with the soundtrack.
If you prefer the single player campaign but you are bored to death of repeating the same levels all over again and time trials in every difficulty, in the N64 Vault page you can find some original campaigns and levels adaptable to the emulated version of GOLDENEYE N64. One of them even replicates the World War II Germany and there's even a GOLDFINGER adaptation here made by SubDrag.
Fans of the original should definitely get in touch with the GOLDENEYE 25 developers on Twitter and Facebook. Ben and Yannick are two devoted guys working on an unofficial and freeware project to adapt the N64 classic to the UNREAL 4 engine for PC. The game will be out in 2022, but you can always make suggestions and watch what they have done and what they plan to do with their project before it's out. They are always very open to suggestions from future players!
Well, that should keep you entertained. You can always contact us in our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram channels and join us to celebrate #GoldenEyeAt25 together thanks to the world wide web that brings us closer. To paraphrase a certain trailer: "When the world is the target and the threat is real, you can still depend on one... movie".