If you remove all the over the top stuff, would this be a good movie?

I think it is a pretty good movie, as is.

So what would be left? It still wouldn't be great, but those are definitely the worst parts.

the revenge plot that was shaping up the first half was great.
anything after the invisible car = bad.

if it was more of the Dalton "Licence to Kill" vibe this movie would've been one of the great Bonds.

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I always thought that the end-brawl on the cargo plane between Bond/Jinx and Graves/Miranda was very exciting and intense. You just wanted and hoped to see a smug asshole like Gustav Graves and treacherous bitch like Miranda Frost get what was coming to them.

The original post is over two years old but I wonder how the OP feels about "Moonraker"

I personally rank this second worst above "Moonraker," but I still like them both so it's hard to say why this was bad (I agree it's bad BTW ... I just like it)

One thing I cannot agree with is that the gadgets make this bad. The invisible car was over the top of course, but no more than any of the goofiest gadgets.

I do think Bond being able to stop his heart was out of character

And Jinx's ability to heal that stomach slash was just stupid

Just finished it again...I think it was way over-the-top at the end. The first half is great. It just changed scope and felt like an entirely separate movie in the second half.

The whole Iceland bit was atrocious, and it was like the director decided to throw everything against the wall and hoped it all stuck. Here's how they could have fixed it:

1. Tone down Jynx in the second half. She can still be an effective spy, but she was a little much at the end. Make her as cold and calculating as Bond. After the ice hotel when Madson says "Go with him" to Jynx I would have flipped out and said, "I've saved this woman's life three times in this movie already. Her incompetent butt can stay here." And heaven's sake, someone teach Berry how to handle a gun. She looked awkward as hell with it.
2. I didn't even care about the invisible car. It was a little much, but this series has a car that turns into a submarine. It was only really used in one scene. I actually enjoyed the chase in the snow.
3. The entire windsurfing scene should have been left on the cutting room floor. Even if the CGI would have looked good, it would have been too over the top.
4. That ending in the plane... now Gustav has an exoskeleton? That whole part should have been more grounded.
5. Way too much reliance on CGI, which was the opposite of effective. It looked terrible and took me out of the movie. It wasn't close to perfect at this point. It was like watching The Rock in The Mummy 2.

This movie is great! I think it reflects the time in which it was made. This movie came out the same year as Bourne Identity. Two very interesting and opposite takes on the action/spy genre. One over the top and filled with unnecessary effects, the other very grounded and gritty. Really comes down to personal tastes of what you think a Bond film should be. Movies were getting more and more nuts throughout the 90s and this is kind of where it went peak crazy. (Before the Fast Franchise came along and took cartoonery to a whole new level.) I love the Brosnan era more and more as time goes on. They're a lot of fun. Just watched the World is Not Enough last night and it's sooo much better than I remember. Things have gotten too moody and serious. They need to lighten up again.