History YMMV / GoldenEye

** Perhaps also HilariousInHindsight, but in this film, M criticizes Bond as "A relic of the Cold War." In ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'', [[HauledBeforeASenateSubcommittee an M played by the same actress is hauled before a government committee]] which criticizes her and [=MI6=] as a whole for the exact same thing.

* MemeticBadass: The "Canadian Admiral Impersonator", who viewers have noted in his very short amount of screentime was able to accomplish the Eurocopter hijacking scheme alongside Xenia without any difficulty before seemingly going his own way, never to be seen again. The fact that such a minor background character could technically be considered the most successful villain in the entire film series

** Boris is one of the film's most popular characters due to his famous hamtastic delivery of his pre-mortem quote: "I AM INVINCIBLE!"

** Perhaps also HilariousInHindsight, but in this film, M criticizes Bond as "A relic of the Cold War." In ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'', [[HauledBeforeASenateSubcommittee this same M is hauled before a government committee]] which criticizes her and [=MI6=] as a whole for the exact same thing.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Although it is still regarded as a phenomenal movie, modern viewers might raise an eyebrow at the emphasis of Bond being ''modern''. Even though the franchise has been wrangling with that issue, the fact is that it has been a cinematic mainstay for the past twenty years. However, in 1995, the issue was more valid, as Soviet collapse was more recent, and Bond had been on a six-year hiatus and changed actors.

** The entire premise that greedy and corrupt former Soviet officials could rise to such power becomes a lot less comfortable to watch knowing that Vladimir Putin and his Oligarchs now run the country with an iron fist and are using all the leftover weapons to invade Ukraine and attempt to assert their dominance over the region.

* EvilIsSexy: Onatopp is perhaps the most abhorrent Bond henchman in her behaviour and easily ranks alongside [[Film/LicenceToKill Dario]] of the prior film in her depravity; despite this, it ''is'' Creator/FamkeJanssen in her late twenties attempting to break James Bond in two during a tryst in a spa - and she looks and sounds utterly fantastic while doing it.

* CompleteMonster: [[DarkActionGirl Xenia Onatopp]], a [[PsychoForHire sadistic Russian assassin]] working for the Janus Syndicate, has the dubious honor of being the most depraved FemmeFatale that Bond has ever come across. Initially seen as a charming, elegant woman, Xenia reveals [[CombatSadomasochist her true nature]] when, in bed with her target, she kills him by crushing him between her thighs to suffocate him, getting clear sexual ecstasy from the murder; she later tries to kill Bond the same way. She steals his security clearance and murders several innocent sailors before eluding Bond. Later, when Xenia arrives in a Russian facility, she massacres all the techs with machine gun fire, getting very visibly aroused by the killings; even her partner for the mission looks a bit stunned at this. Xenia has one of the largest body counts for a [[TheDragon Dragon]] in the franchise, and unlike the majority of her male counterparts, Xenia is in it for money and thrills. She has no issue helping to use the [=GoldenEye=] satellite to plunge England into the dark ages as long as she gets rich from it. The fact that this gives her the ability to express her sexualized love for killing is just a bonus.

* BrokenBase: Eric Serra's score for the film. Some dislike it, with even some critics saying it was the most unlikely soundtrack for a Bond film up to that point (the retirement of the great Music/JohnBarry had left kind of a vacuum in their eyes, at least until Music/DavidArnold came along). Others however genuinely love it for the same reasons. See SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic above.

* FetishRetardant: Xenia Onatopp's sex scenes. The problem has nothing to do with her (she's drop dead gorgeous), it's just that the only "real" sex scene she has in the movie is with a balding, overweight guy. And it ends with [[OutWithABang him being forced to enjoy a good squeeze]]. Hell, the "sex" scene with the Admiral is nothing compared to how Bond reacts during his "sex scene" with Xenia in the sauna; check out his expression upon being trapped by Onatopp's MurderousThighs: he's ''seriously'' stressed at the possibility of being killed by her; there's also elements hinting at ''rape'' given how much she's enjoying the situation and he is not, which could be an intentional flip on Bond's occasionally coercive actions toward women in prior films. It should be noted that the latter scene is the only time "safe sex" is ever mentioned, in any context, in the series' entire history.
-->'''Xenia Onatopp:''' You don't need the gun... Commander.\\
'''James Bond:''' Well that depends on your definition of "safe sex."

* FetishRetardant: Xenia Onatopp's sex scenes. The problem has nothing to do with her (she's drop dead gorgeous), it's just that the only "real" sex scene she has in the movie is with a balding, overweight guy. And it ends with [[DeathBySex him being forced to enjoy a good squeeze]]. Hell, the "sex" scene with the Admiral is nothing compared to how Bond reacts during his "sex scene" with Xenia in the sauna; check out his expression upon being trapped by Onatopp's MurderousThighs: he's ''seriously'' stressed at the possibility of being killed by her; there's also elements hinting at ''rape'' given how much she's enjoying the situation and he is not, which could be an intentional flip on Bond's occasionally coercive actions toward women in prior films. It should be noted that the latter scene is the only time "safe sex" is ever mentioned, in any context, in the series' entire history.

** "Mission Failure: Unacceptable non-military casualties!". Alec killing a scientist in the beginning of the film, as killing non-military targets was strictly forbidden in the N64 game.

** Similarly, many viewers question the nature of Xenia's interactions with Bond, whether she's genuinely attracted to him just like any other Bond girl but cannot express it by any other means than trying to kill him, or if she views him as just another target to kill and use to gain pleasure; this is perhaps the most unclear thanks to the spa scene, with [[Creator/PierceBrosnan Brosnan]] himself remarking that it appears to be both a fight ''and'' the two 'making the beast with two backs'. There's also the added suggestion that Xenia's actions in the spa are fuelled by him besting her at cards and rattling her cover in the casino, and that her more vicious approach in the jungle is due to Bond escaping her in the spa - is Xenia a professional killer doing her job, or does she feel like a spurned lover at that point?