In Memoriam of GoldenEye editor Terry Rawlings (1933-2019)

By: Nicolas Suszczyk

Published:
2019-04-23

This week, the world has lost a man of action. Or, at the very least, a man who made action feel like action. Terry Rawlings was known for the James Bond fans as the editor of GoldenEye (1995), the first James Bond film starring Pierce Brosnan, but his career was much more extensive and he was often regarded as one of the best movie editors of all time.

FSWL supporter and Dubbing editor Norman Wanstall remember Terry Rawlings

“There’s no doubt at all that all Terry’s former colleagues will be totally shocked at the news of his passing. He was a very respected technician, friend and colleague and he and I enjoyed meeting for a chat at our annual Editors Christmas lunch to which he always brought his charming wife. At such a sad time one has to feel for his very close family.”

About British editor Terry Rawlings

Terry Rawlings was born in London 1933 and his first credits on the big screen go as back as the early 1960s with films were he was employed as a sound editor, like The L Shaped Room (1962), Moll Flanders (1963, directed by Terence Young) and the original version of Bedazzled (1967). In the 1970s he worked as dubbing editor in films like Lawman (1971) and Scorpio (1973). By the end of that decade, Rawlings was already a film editor starting with movies like The Sentinel (1977) and Alien (1979).

He gained an Oscar nomination for his editing on the highly acclaimed 1982 film Chariots of Fire, and even when John Bloom got the award for his job in Gandhi, Rawlings continued to work in very popular films like the futuristic classic Blade Runner (1982), Yentl (1983) and Bullseye! (1990), starring Roger Moore and Michael Caine.

Terry Rawlings’ prolific career went on with Alien 3 (1992) and Martin Campbell’s dystopic action film No Escape (1994), which led him to his involvement in GoldenEye, becoming the first James Bond editor to be credited on the poster of the film, something he asked for to associate producer Tom Pevsner.

The editing of GoldenEye speaks for itself. After a somewhat repetitive approach for the Bond films in the late 1980s, Rawlings brought 007 back to its glory with an imaginative, clever, gritty and breathtaking editing that was crucial to make people realize that James Bond was –literally– back in action. The most notorious examples of his brilliant job are the shootout held between a runaway James Bond and hundreds of Russian soldiers going after him as he escapes captivity from the Military Archives, or the fast cuts made to enhance people’s reactions like that moment when Natalya sees with shock and concern the countdown to the destruction of the Severnaya Installation where she is in. A special mention goes for the kiss between the leading couple, Pierce Brosnan and Izabella Scorupco, that fades on the fire of a hearth in a cabin where they both are sharing a romantic moment, a beautifully aesthetic way to symbolize true love and candent passion that turned a James Bond film into a piece of art.

Pierce Brosnan and Izabella Scorupco in GoldenEye. Copyright © 1995 Danjaq LLC. & United Artists Pictures. All rights reserved.

GoldenEye was, sadly, the only Bond film which Rawlings worked on. However, many other movies were also blessed with his talent, notably Phillip Noyce’s adaptation of The Saint (1997) and the caper thriller Entrapment (1999, starring Sean Connery). In these two films, he reteamed with No Escape and GoldenEye director of photography Phil Méheux, who enhanced his natural talent.

Rawling’s last credit was 2004’s The Phantom of The Opera, with Gerard Butler and Minnie Driver. He was also a founding member of the Guild of British Film and Television Editors and a member of the American Cinema Editors, which gave them the 2006 Career Achievement Award.

He died on April 23, 2019, at the age of 86 at his home in Hertfordshire, London. But his talent will live forever every time GoldenEye is shown on any TV in the world.

Friend and Academy Award winner Barbara Streisand remember Terry Rawlings

“Sad to hear that my editor on Yentl, the gifted Terry Rawlings, has passed. He always made me laugh... and I adored his delicious personality. He made the whole experience of editing Yentl, such a joy.”

Obituaries in the press about Terry Rawling's passing

>Deadline
>Hollywood Reporter
>The Wrap

Photo on top
Terry Rawlings visiting Prague in 2014. Copyright Dagmar Krejčí‎. All rights reserved.

For more information about Terry Rawlings and his amazing career, check out his IMDB profile.

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