It’s not really a contest, is it?

Pierce Brosnan wasn’t given the best material to work with during his James Bond reign, but he did at least get his 007 career off to an incredible start.

GoldenEye marked Brosnan’s debut as James Bond, Judi Dench’s debut as M and also the first 007 movie in six years after a legal battle threatened the franchise’s future.

It proved an excellent comeback for the suave spy and a high point of Brosnan’s 007 run.

If you want to remind yourself of just how good it is, GoldenEye is now available to watch for free on ITVX for the next 30 days, following its airing on ITV4 last night (March 8).

It will receive another airing on ITV4 on Thursday, March 14, at 8pm if you don’t want to watch on the streaming service.

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GoldenEye sees Bond face off against former MI6 agent Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean), who has gained control of a powerful satellite system, which he intends to use to destroy London.

Back in 2020, Pierce Brosnan revealed that he made a major error when filming a driving scene for GoldenEye.

“I get out, do my little Bond quip, get back, reverse the car, go back to [my] starting position. We did this about five, six times, and on the sixth go round I could smell burning,” he recalled.

“[Everybody was watching this] beautiful vehicle being driven by yours truly, and I’d left the handbrake on.”

GoldenEye is airing as part of ITV’s month-long James Bond season, which will see 25 Bond movies made available to watch on their streaming service for the first time ever.

The season has already included Goldfinger, The Spy Who Loved Me and Licence to Kill, which are all available to watch right now on ITVX.