This 'Christan' I take it, reviewed both films? 'Those that can - DO; those that can't DO - teach; and those that can't do either become critics'. I wonder if the lovely Christian had anything to do with there being nowhere to comment apart from here, on Goldeneye? His 'review' was not constructive the way one would expect, it was full of bias.

I do understand where you two are coming from and understand that my 'take' on this whole business is a minority view. It's just that the monotony of 20 films, will damage the series; in this case the same style of score over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

Serra, like all composers except Arnold, has a style that one can hear in most of their work; Barry is the same; Williams; Goldenthal; Yared etc all have a style of writing and recording and in Serra's case, the most amazingly clever and original choice of instruments. I have both Goldeneye and The Fifth Element scores and the only thing I can hear that is 'the same' is his 'style'.

You say the James Bond theme was only used once in Goldeneye; [Tank Chase] If you watch the film again and pay very close attention you will be amazed to find that Serra used the James Bond theme in a number of scenes throughout the piece but in a fresh and inspiring way. Incidently, when I heard that Raine version, the scene was undermined for me slightly - just thowing that James Bond theme at such a good action sequence smacked of laziness. Arnold also has this cock-eyed attitude that if he sees a very Bond moment on screen he brings out the James Bond theme. Now for me this, more often than not, is a mistake, as it only underlines the lack of originality in the scene itself. If you have a sequence that has been 'done before' not only in the Bond films but in other films, you have to do your damndest to help make it fresh for the audience - by laying the Bond theme over it, only does the opposite.

As a footnote; sincerely, Goldeneye is one of the most
evocative and masterful scores in the last 30 years.