Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent production, very atmospheric
Comment: I really enjoyed this film and thought Dance managed to capture what I undertand was Fleming's character via the biographies I have read (John Pearson, Andrew Lycett). I suspect that in real life Fleming was probably a bit more humorous. But still: most of the elements are there: the cold lover, the chainsmoker, the sharp observer of the world (Fleming was a good journalist), snappy dresser, and rather admirably patriotic character who did actually make an important contribution to the war effort at some personal risk. He was certainly no mere waster, as recent writer on James Bond and British history, Simon Winder, has argued in a rather intemperate book.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Dance Rules
Comment: Charles Dance makes a very good Ian Fleming. This movie is quite good. Is it fiction or fact? Knowing MI5 (or is it MI6?) we will never know the truth. Great movie just the same.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Charming but not real at all
Comment: Charles Dance is fantastic in this role. The movie is charming and I was quite satisfied at the end but it's also fake as all get out. Ian Flemming actually spent most of the war riding a desk and there is no shame in that. It was probably a thin guy with dandruff and bad taste in shirts who cracked the German spy codes. Desk jockeys helped win WWII and trying to turn Ian Flemming into his James Bond character was a bit much.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Best of Ian Fleming Movies - Charles Dance "EXCELLENT"
Comment: This is the best of the two Life of Ian Fleming movies made about 10 years ago. This is also the closest to his actual life. The other movie took many liberties and fictionalized many aspects of his life, mostly during the war. Excellent job by Charles Dance as Ian Fleming. Dance actually played a villain in, 'For Your Eyes Only' in 1981. Well worth getting a copy for your collection. Sadly it is not yet available in DVD.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Faithful portrayal of Fleming's life
Comment: Another reviewer here says that SPYMAKER, the TV movie starring Jason Connery (Sean's son) is better. That's really a matter of personal opinion. But as a long-time James Bond fan and collector, not only of the films but of the original Ian Fleming books, I can tell you unequivocally that GOLDENE EYE is a much more accurate portrayal of the life of Ian Fleming.

Another major plus is that Charles Dance actually looks like Fleming, and manages to mimic his voice and mannerisms quite well, based on the archival footage I've seen of Fleming. Jason Connery doesn't even come close -- he was obviously cast because of his father's reputation.

If you're looking for a purely fictionalized fantasy, only loosely suggested by Fleming's wartime career, then you might enjoy SPYMAKER. But if you want the true story, I highly reccommend GOLDEN EYE. I also strongly reccommend the Ian Fleming documentary which is included on the special edition DVD of THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS.

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