James Bond U.S. Poster Rankings: No. 16

Of the four promotional art pieces used to market his films while playing the role of 007, Pierce Brosnan saw the same formula three times in a row: Bond surrounded by a couple of beauties with explosions and action set pieces jumping off the page in some spot either below or above the stars of the film.  Only the domestic one-sheet poster from Brosnan's final outing as the superspy James Bond, Die Another Day, differed with a more minimalist approach to the design.  Among the posters from his first three adventures, this is the best.

 

 

16. Goldeneye

Considering the three films that used the same theme and art design for its posters were released between 1995-1999, I chalk up the repetitive motif to the time period they were created.  It is like today's posters that have its actors avoiding eye contact with the camera, staring off at some unknown and looming threat.

 

So to say that the U.S. one-sheet poster for Goldeneye is the best of the Brosnan era isn't the same thing as saying it is one of the best promotional pieces of the entire series.  I mean, it does barely slide into the middle tier of the 24 films Eon has made featuring James Bond.

 

Like Tomorrow Never Dies and The World is not Enough, Goldeneye has Bond flanked by the two actresses portraying the leading ladies of the picture and the remainder of the frame is filled with explosions and the movie's title/credits.  This one probably beat out the other two Brosnan posters simply because it is the better movie of the three.  There really isn't much to differentiate the three in originality though.

 

This is where I would normally show my favorite official artwork used from around the globe to promote Goldeneye and explain what it is that makes it better than the domestic one-sheet.  Unfortunately, the U.S. one-sheet is the best poster from everything I could find online.  So instead I am going to show off some fan-made artwork.  It should be noted, the below images contain spoiler-ish stuff.  If you haven't seen Goldeneye and plan to, don't scroll down.

 

 

This would never be used in today's era of pictorial marketing since it gives the viewer nearly nothing, but if you have seen the film then you are very aware of who that is supposed to be, and it looks quite great as a teaser poster.

 

 

The pencil drawing design is interesting and the title and film credits would need to be added somewhere, but overall this is a solid piece of work.  It also includes a pretty iconic, but often overlooked, image from the movie.