- "Good morning, Mr. Bond. Sit. I'm Defense Minister Dimitri Mishkin. So, by what means shall we execute you, Commander Bond?"
"What, no small-talk? No chit-chat? That's the trouble with the world these days, no one takes the time to do a really sinister interrogation anymore. It's a lost art." - ― Dimitri Mishkin and James Bond
GoldenEye is the seventeenth James Bond film and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as Ian Fleming's British secret service agent, James Bond. Made by Albert R. Broccoli's EON Productions (though listed as "Albert R. Broccoli presents") it was the second official James Bond film not produced by Broccoli (although oversaw the film as Consulting Producer) himself. While undergoing heart surgery, Broccoli entrusted the making of the film and the forthcoming generation of James Bond films to his daughter Barbara Broccoli and stepson Michael G. Wilson, both of whom had been executive producers of previous James Bond films. GoldenEye was released in 1995 and was directed by Martin Campbell. Campbell also directed 2006's Bond reboot film Casino Royale.
GoldenEye is considered an important film in the Bond series in that it was successful in reviving interest in a character that many critics had suggested had become an anachronism in the post-Cold War world, as well as modernizing the franchise. It is also known for having an unusual Bond Villain that rivals James Bond in every way.
The previous film, Licence to Kill, had been released in June 1989, before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Although GoldenEye was financially successful and critically acclaimed, it was not as popular as previous Bond films, suggesting interest in the series was waning at that point. In spite of this, it remains a fan-favorite, partially due to its critically acclaimed Nintendo 64 video game adaptation. It was followed by Tomorrow Never Dies in 1997.
Judi Dench, the newly cast M, describes Bond as a "sexist, misogynist dinosaur. A relic of the Cold War." This unusual candour, combined with a generally well-received performance by Brosnan as the then-new James Bond, helped to revitalize the franchise replacing Robert Brown. The role of Miss Moneypenny was also recast with Samantha Bond replacing Caroline Bliss and Desmond Llewelyn, returning as Q.
Plot summary[]
Arkhangelsk[]
The story starts in 1986, in the Soviet Union. British secret agent James Bond, known as 007, and his fellow 00 Agent and friend, Alec Trevelyan (006), have infiltrated a secret Soviet chemical weapons production plant with the intention of blowing it up via bombs.
After finding their target, a large room filled with chemical canisters, James begins to plant the charges while Alec holds off the facility's guards. 006 is then suddenly captured by a ruthless Soviet colonel, Arkady Ourumov, who then orders 007 to surrender by pointing a gun to Alec's head. Alec tells Bond to "finish the job", and in response Bond resets the charge timers from six minutes to three and walks out to surrender. Ourumov counts ten seconds for Bond to comply, and Bond does so, only then Ourumov executes Alec with a shot to the head when he defiantly shouts "FOR ENGLAND, JAMES!!".
With his fellow 00 Agent down, Bond retreats to his hiding spot just as Ourumov's men fire. Ourumov stops and warns them that any further gunfire will kill them all since the place is filled with large gas tanks. Thinking fast, Bond quickly takes cover behind a cart of chemical canisters and moves it toward a cargo conveyor belt that leads outside. In the tense moment, a nervous guard shoot at Bond and is immediately executed by Ourumov.
Activating the conveyor belt, Bond is able to escape on it and shoots open the dispensers holding hundreds of other canisters which fall on Ourumov's men. Outside the facility, a plane is taking off and Bond attempts to hitch a ride to safety. Ourumov sends troops out, together with motorcycling scouts. Bond manages to chase after the plane, but in a wrestle for control of the plane pulls himself and the pilot out. Knocking the pilot into the path of a motorcycle scout resulting them both killed in the collision, Bond uses the motorcycle to chase after the pilotless plane, heading to the cliff edge.
Ourumov halts his men realizing Bond seems to be after an apparent suicide. With the plane and him falling off the edge, Bond dives for the cockpit. He successfully regains control of the plane and flies off as the chemical facility explodes.
Monaco[]
The story continues in 1995, nine years after the Arkangel incident. Bond is driving in the mountains near Monaco with a female psychiatrist from MI6 in his signature Aston Martin DB5 (the car making a long-awaited return since Thunderball). She is assigned to evaluate his mental state, but nervously notices he is driving very fast. Bond drives down a mountain road and becomes involved in a dangerous race with a beautiful woman in a Ferrari F355 GTS. The two drivers silently agree to a race, resulting in a near collision with an oncoming tractor and a bike entourage all falling down. After a while, the psychiatrist, citing Bond's reckless nature, demands that he halt the 'game'. Bond does so by pulling the handbrake, then comforts her. He reveals there is some expensive wine in the car's storage, then kisses the psychiatrist, seducing her.
Bond heads over to a casino, where he notices the woman in the Ferrari is there as well from the presence of her parked car. He notes it is a stolen model then heads over to where she is, playing and winning a game of Chemin de Fer against the woman. Finally losing after a winning streak, she gets enraged and storms off. Bond follows her and introduces himself, she likewise does the same revealing herself as Xenia Onatopp. Bond identifies her accent as Georgian then tries to warn her of driving a stolen car, but she tells him she knows a man in motoring business. She then proceeds to retire for the night with a Canadian Naval Admiral.
After she leaves, Bond remotely observes her from afar, noting she and the admiral are staying at a yacht where he photographs her and the yacht's launch-boat model. Bond learns, with the help of Miss Moneypenny on his car's radio transmitter that she belongs to crime syndicate "Janus" which operates out of St. Petersburg and M authorises him to follow her without any physical contact. That night, Onatopp murders the admiral during sex via suffocating him by crushing his chest between her thighs. Just as she does so, a mysterious hand steals the admiral's identity card.
The next morning, Bond proceeds to investigate the admiral's yacht, finding him dead in the closet. He then rushes to a frigate which is holding a military demonstration of the Eurocopter, a helicopter capable of withstanding electromagnetic shocks. It is being taken by Onatopp and a mysterious figure, who, moments before, killed both pilots and assumed their identities. Arriving too late, Bond is restrained when he tries to stop the theft and watches helplessly as Xenia and her accomplice fly away.
Severnaya[]
In Siberia, at Severnaya, at a Russian satellite control center, Natalya Simonova does her usual rounds of programming just as her co-worker, Boris Grishenko reveals his hacking plans and succeeds in hacking the FBI, proclaiming he is a genius. Natalya heads for some coffee as Boris heads outside for a cigarette.
However, his smoking break is disrupted by the landing of the Eurocopter, housing Ourumov - now a General, and Onatopp. Walking into the facility for a surprise inspection, the facility houses the new and powerful satellite weapons system called GoldenEye. General Ourumov tells the facility commander he wants an unscheduled test of the weapon, ordering rapid retrieval of the activation disk and keys. After acquiring them however, Onatopp opens fire on all personnel at the facility and as she kills, she shows signs of an arousal, to the slight bewilderment of her boss.
Onatopp and Ourumov then activate the GoldenEye satellite, which contains a nuclear warhead capable of delivering an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) in Earth's upper atmosphere. They test the weapon, targeting Severnaya. Unknown however to Onatopp and Ourumov, Natalya wasn't in the room when the others were murdered. Natalya inadvertently blows her cover, signalling Onatopp to check. Just then, a barely alive technician activates an SOS alarm which Onatopp shoots in response. Calculating that the military will be too late to respond, Ourumov still suggests they leave at once. Onatopp heads for the pantry where Natalya was then finds a broken coffee cup and spots the air vent loose. She fires at it thinking she likely killed the person hiding there.
Ourumov and Onatopp escape in the Eurocopter, just as Natalya crawls out of the cupboard under the counter where she hid from Onatopp in the pantry. Three Russian fighters are dispatched to the scene, called by the SOS.
Natalya surveys the dead, before realizing the GoldenEye sets off its EMP blast (noting the main screen's countdown). The facility has all its electronics exploding just as Natalya daftly runs for cover. The fighters are also affected by the blast, two self-detruct as their electronics fail. The last one crashes directly into the facility's foundations, causing the radar dish above to collapse. Natalya is nearly killed from all the explosions but survives.
She tries to escape from the facility but all the electronics are dead, trapping her. The weight of the radar dish, however, plunges it down from above, giving Natalya a way out of the facility. She climbs out of the underground facility with the help of the girders and finds huskies, relieved.
At MI6 headquarters, in an observation room, Bond talks with Bill Tanner, SIS CHIEF of Staff, who tells him they found the missing Eurocopter at Severnaya by satellite imagery. M enters, just as Tanner finishes briefing Bond. All three witness the total disruption of images and electronics in the region resulting from the GoldenEye EMP blast, but are shocked by the sudden blackout of imagery. As their systems are rebooted and Bill informing them it indeed was an EMP blast. On a screen, 007 spots a survivor crawling away. Bond tells M that the survivor could know more, revealed to be Natalya.
In M's office, Bond is further briefed about the GoldenEye, which leads to data on Ourumov who has been promoted to General and views himself as the next Iron Man of Russia. Following a brief and tense conversation where M senses Bond doesn't trust her judgement, she tells him he is a "sexist, misogynist dinosaur" and a "relic of the Cold War". She however orders him to go St. Petersburg to investigate the connections between the GoldenEye weapons system (possibly finding Natalya), Ourumov and the mysterious Russian crime syndicate Janus. She also warns him to complete his mission and not to focus on revenge on Ourumov for 006's murder.
Bond drops by Q's lab and is given a Laser Wristwatch, a belt loaded with a cable that can support his weight and a ballpoint pen which doubles as a grenade when clicked three times. Bond is also shown his new car, a BMW Z3 which Q reminds Bond he is "not to break the traffic laws" with it despite it being fully loaded with the essentials.
St. Petersburg[]
Ourumov meets with Russia's defence council, headed by Defense Minister Mishkin, in a hearing about Severnaya's destruction. Ourumov reports that he investigated the matter and deduces the attack was committed by Siberian separatists and he then gives his resignation. Mishkin however, tells him of his findings of two survivors from the attack at Severnaya. Ourumov states he knows about only one survivor, Boris. However, Ourumov didn't realize that Natalya had survived the blast and Mishkin updates him on it. Ourumov states he will look into the matter himself.
Natalya manages to make it to St. Petersburg, knowing she is being wanted by the authorities. She makes her way to a computer seller, borrowing one computer to contact Boris online. Boris tells her she's not safe and informs her to meet him at a chapel. There, she is instead promptly captured by Boris and Onatopp.
Bond arrives at St. Petersburg airport and proceeds to meet his CIA contact, Jack Wade. Wade tells him that nobody knows about Janus except a former KGB agent Zukovsky who is one of Janus' business rivals. Wade agrees to take Bond to the hideout of Zukovsky, whom Bond previously wounded and stole his girlfriend.
After a tense introduction, Bond is taken by Zukovsky's men where Zukovsky forces an interrogation. He is still quite bitter about his wounded leg though and shots the sofa Bond is sitting on, almost hitting the 00 Agent. He nearly ends Bond but ultimately agrees to give aid when offered a bribe and explosives. Sharing a drink in his office, Zukovsky also informs Bond some history about Janus' leader; a child of Lienz Cossack parents whose tribe had worked with the Nazis during The Second World War and were given refuge by the British government. However, they were betrayed by the British and remanded back to USSR where they were all executed under orders from Stalin. Bond wants Zukovsky to set him up with a meeting of Janus, to which Zukovsky agrees, now satisfied him and Bond are even.
At his hotel's pool and steam room, Bond meets Xenia again, who tries to kill Bond with her legs. Bond refuses to be seduced or injured and after a struggle, points his handgun on her and orders her to take him to Janus. Onatopp drives Bond to a graveyard of old Russian political figures, telling he will find Janus there. Bond knocks Xenia unconscious and walks out to find Janus.
As Bond searches the graveyard, a figure appears and greets him. The figure reveals himself as Bond's old friend Alec Trevelyan - 006, alive and well, with the right side of his face scarred, because of Bond changing the detonation sequence on the charge timers. He took the name "Janus" as a reference to the two-faced Roman god. Trevelyan explains how his parents escaped Stalin's execution of their people and fled to England but later killed themselves because of the shame of surviving. Closing their conversation and Alec now utterly betraying Bond and MI6 altogether, Bond attempts to shoot Alec but gets suddenly shot in the neck with a tranquilizer dart.
Awakened by Natalya screaming in the backseat, Bond finds himself the pilot's seat of the Eurocopter which has been programmed to fire its rockets at itself. Unable to stop the firing sequence, Bond manages to strike the cockpit ejection button at the last second with his head and the two are ejected in a capsule. Although they survived the trap, they are however, immediately arrested by the Russian army and are taken to a holding center in St. Petersburg.
While in a cell, Bond tells Natalya that he is aware of her role in Severnaya, pointing out that her watch is stopped by the EMP blast. Initially denying, she proceeds to tell him she knows little else besides Ourumov's theft of the GoldenEye control disk and that Boris is working with the General. Minister Mishkin then enters and threatens Bond with execution for terrorism. Bond retorts him, saying it is an act of treason from within. Natalya quiets them both and tells Mishkin that Ourumov stole GoldenEye.
Ourumov suddenly bursts into the room and protests that Mishkin is interfering with Ourumov's investigation. Mishkin shuts down Ourumov but Ourumov seizes Bond's Walther PPK and kills both a guard and Mishkin, hoping to frame Bond for the murders while trying to escape. Bond is able to knock Ourumov unconscious, shoot down many enemy guards before he and Natalya escape into the archives. After she is captured by Ourumov, Bond manages to escape outside and spots many vintage tanks.
Seeing Ourumov escape with Natalya in a car, Bond steals a Russian tank and chases after them, destroying most of St. Petersburg. He finally tracks them to a train yard where Ourumov and Natalya board a large, black Russian missile train that serves as Alec's base of operations. Alec taunts and tries to seduce Natalya but she resists, before he is called away by an alert. It turns out that Bond drove the tank out of a tunnel in front of the train's path, hoping to derail it, with Alec ordering the train to continue at full speed. Just as it nears the T-55, Bond opens fire with the tank's turret but the train still rushes towards the tank despite the brakes being activated, crashing into it.
With the train crashing into a halt and knocking everyone down, Bond manages to hold Alec and Onatopp at gunpoint. Alec radios Ourumov to bring Natalya, knowing Bond cannot ignore the presence of a helpless lady. Bond tells Ourumov of Alec's Cossack heritage, warning of potential betrayal which Alec denies. Bond ultimately chose to save Natalya with an abandoned Ouromov shot as Alec escapes with Xenia. Alec locks the train, trapping Bond and Natalya inside and tells Bond that he has planted explosives on the train with timers set for the same six minutes Bond gave him years before before escaping in a helicopter, saying "Good luck with the floor, James".
Knowing they only have three minutes to survive, Bond quickly cuts through the floor with his watch's laser while Natalya finds Boris backing up his computer data. With aid from Bond on Boris' riddle password, Natalya manages to track Boris' location somewhere near Havana, Cuba. Realizing he has been hacked, Boris frantically removes the physical hard drives from the system, cutting off the transmission. Bond and Natalya manage to escape the train just before it explodes. After sitting on the tracks and planning their next move, Bond and Natalya kiss.
Cuba[]
Bond and Natalya travel to Cuba and meet Jack Wade who provides his SIS colleague with gadgets from Q. Wade also informs his friend the Americans could not find any satellite dish though Natalya is certain there is one. Bond exchanges his car for Wade's plane and later, Natalya is angered by the fact of Bond's cold nature. Bond informs her that he must kill his former 00 Agent friend in order to stop him. They reconcile and spend a romantic night together.
The next morning the pair fly over the island and find a lake. As they think it is nothing of interest, a surface-to-air missile is fired out of the lake damaging their plane. At the crash site, Bond is awakened to a helicopter flying overhead and Onatopp rappels down from and attacks Bond. She starts to squeeze Bond with her legs, intending to kill him for good but Bond is able to reconnect her harness cord, snatch her shouldered rifle and shoot the chopper down. That caused the chopper to lose control and violently yank Xenia against two tree branches, killing the evil Bond Girl as the chopper crashes and explodes.
Bond and Natalya soon discover that the lake actually hides the giant satellite dish. In an underground control center, Alec and Boris activate the second satellite, and the target assigned is London. Alec's plan is to destroy every computer system of the country causing nation-wide chaos. The blast will also erase all electronic records, but not before Alec has Boris break into the Bank of London and steal all of its cash reserves.
Bond and Natalya split up; Bond setting remote charges while Natalya goes to deal with the satellite remotely. Natalya finds a computer terminal, hoping to reprogram the GoldenEye satellite with new codes. Buying time for Natalya, Bond deliberately gets captured after causing a leak in a fuel tank which the charges are attached to and armed. Bond is brought to a taunting Alec who takes his watch and easily disarms the charges planted.
Natalya is soon also captured and brought to Alec, where she assaults a grateful Boris. He mistakenly picks up Bond's grenade pen in the scuffle, nervously clicking it as he shortly receives a signal that the satellite is changing course, now headed down to crash into earth. Discovering Natalya's doing, Boris attempts to break her codes while nervously clicking the grenade pen. Bond focuses on the number of times Boris clicks and just as Boris screams at Natalya in frustration, Bond knocks the activated pen to a pool of leaked fuel from before. Despite the charges being disarmed the pen's grenade triggers a combined explosion, disabling much of the facility. Using the moment of chaos, Bond and Natalya sneak away to a nearby lift.
Although Natalya has changed the codes, she determines Boris may still break them, so they have to destroy the antenna to be certain. Bond hands Natalya a gun from a guard then tells Natalya to remain covert as he heads for the satellite antenna. Alec orders Boris to continue working on the codes to the satellite, calling a guard to keep him in line at gunpoint. The former 006 chases after 007 and a furious fight occurs on the antenna's beam steering mechanism. During the shoot-out, Boris manages to crack Natalia's code and tries to realign the antenna. Bond notices the satellite's reactivation and physically jams the gears of the beam steering mechanism, rendering it disabled. This confuses Boris who cannot complete the antenna's reprogramming, setting it still on course to crash into the earth.
The showdown between James Bond and Alec Trevelyan eventually leads to the carriage house of the antenna's line feed. While the two 00 Agents seem evenly matched, taking blow for blow, Trevelyan temporarily gains the upper hand, holding Bond at gunpoint, gloating that he is the better fighter, saying "You know, James, I was always better", when Bond kicks open and slips down the maintenance hatch ladder. Trevelyan realizes he has gone too far to quit and calls in a helicopter to pick him up.
Trevelyan chases Bond down to the line feed, and has Bond in a stranglehold when the helicopter appears. However, as 006 could potentially kill 007 at this moment, Alec ends up distracted when Natalya who snuck aboard the helicopter, holds the pilot at gunpoint. Finding the chance he desperately needed, Bond headbutts Trevelyan and kick him off the platform to overpower him. Regardless, Bond catches his old partner's leg, telling him in a dark manner, that he is not killing Trevelyan "for England" but for himself.
Finally defeating his rival, Bond drops Trevelyan, and as the latter hits the bottom of the dish but somehow survives the fall, the second GoldenEye destructs in the atmosphere. Bond jumps and manages to hold onto the landing skid of the helicopter as it flies away. The disabled antenna's beam steering mechanism soon explodes, causing it to fall and collapse line feed first upon a screaming Trevelyan, ultimately crushing the corrupt 00 Agent to death. Then, the debris of the antenna perforates the base and decimates the main control center. Although it seems Boris survived the destruction and upon declaring himself invincible, the coolant tanks subsequently rupture. The liquid nitrogen within engulfs Boris, freezing him to death.
The helicopter pilot drops Bond and Natalya on a grassy field and leaves. The pair romantically make out for a moment before being rudely interrupted by Wade. He reveals a company of US Marines camouflaged in the vicinity has noticed them and offer to take them to safety. Here, Bond ultimately succeeds his mission.
Cast and Characters[]
Crew[]
- Directed by: Martin Campbell
- Produced by: Albert R. Broccoli (Consulting Producer), Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli
- Written by: Jeffrey Caine, Bruce Feirstein
- Story: Michael France
- Cinematography by: Phil Meheux
- Composed by: Éric Serra
- Production design by Peter Lamont
Production[]
Before MGM/Pathe legal troubles[]
Timothy Dalton's second Bond outing, Licence to Kill (1989) is met poorly at the box office, especially in the USA due to a lackluster marketing campaign and having to face stiff competition from other, more greatly anticipated movies during the 1989 summer season.
Pre-production work for the third James Bond film starring Dalton, fulfilling his three-film contract, began in May 1990. A poster for the then-upcoming movie was even featured on the Carlton Hotel during the 1990 Cannes Film Festival. In August, The Sunday Times reported that producer Albert R. Broccoli had parted company with writer Richard Maibaum, who had worked on the scripts of all but three Bond films so far, and director John Glen, responsible for the previous five installments of the series. Broccoli listed among the possible directors John Landis, Ted Kotcheff, and John Byrum.
Several plot details on the original drafts have been revealed about Bond 17's plot before the subsequent re-writes that would culminate with GoldenEye. The first plotline was devised by Michael G. Wilson and Alfonse Ruggiero, which sees James Bond confronting a Hong Kong-based technology entrepreneur Sir Henry Lee Ching, who is using his micro-components to take control of vital mechanical devices around the world. The story's main Bond Girl was Connie Webb, thrill-seeking freelance industrial saboteur who was hired by Sir Henry to gain control of Chinese nuclear plant electronics. This first treatment was submitted in May 1990, followed by a revised script dated July 1990.[1][2]
Subsequently, screenwriters William Osborne and William Davies were hired to make a new script, based on the prior outline by Wilson and Ruggerio. They submitted a script dated January 1991 with a palpably self-parodying tone. The main villain was changed from mixed Chinese-Caucasian Lee Ching to fully Caucasian Sir Henry Ferguson, whose plan now was to aid a Chinese strongman to overthrow Chinese Government with a help of a stolen stealth fighter named "Scimitar".
Circa February 1991, the production was halted when Danjaq Holding Company sued MGM (then MGM-Pathé Communications) for violating Bond distribution agreements the company made with United Artists in 1962, while denying Danjaq a share of the profits.
After the MGM lawsuit/Giancarlo Paretti affair[]
The Bond rights lawsuits were settled in December 1992. With Giancarlo Paretti ousted, the MGM executives took a more "Bond-friendly" view. However, the delay caused by the lawsuits would lead to Dalton's contract with Danjaq to expire before Eon Productions able to begin production of the next Bond film proper.
In May 1993, Variety reports that Michael France has been hired to pen the new Bond adventure, Richard Smith is also brought on to plot "future" Bond stories (notably the unmade Reunion With Death).
Despite Dalton's contract having expired in 1993, the producers still wanted him to star in the next Bond and bring him aboard the film. However, in order to do so, the producers emphasized that Dalton would need to make a couple additional Bond films beyond just GoldenEye. Dalton ultimately declines and officially resigns from the role on April 12th, 1994.[3]
The first story draft by Michael France was completed circa January 1994, although there are sources that claim it was submitted in August 1993. In it, James Bond goes to post-Cold War Russia and confronts Augustus Trevelyan, his former MI6 superior who defected to Soviet Union while sacrificing the other 00 Agents' lives to do so. Augustus' villain scheme is roughly the same as in the completed story, except with different motives and other minute differences.[4] France further revised the story in a draft dated March 1994, where Augustus, now with codename 001, fakes his death at Kremlin wall to defect to Soviet Union, with unaware Bond still blaming himself for the death of his mentor at present. [5] The producers found Michael France's basic outline and ideas to be sound, but also deemed the completed screenplay to be too chaotic. There is also a claim that the script was too similar with then recently released Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle, "True Lies", necessitating rewrites. Subsequently, new screenwriters would be sourced to rework France's script.
After Dalton's resignation, producers chose Pierce Brosnan as the fifth official James Bond actor, with official announcement declared at a press conference at the Regent Palace Hotel on June 8, 1994.
After Brosnan was announced as the new Bond, screenwriter Jeffrey Caine would submit his script adaptation on July 6th 1994 - based on the original Michael France screenplay. In it, the villain was reworked into Alexander Trevelyan, codename 004, who is described as MI6's top agent and "some years senior" to Bond. There would be additional script doctoring by Kevin Wade and Bruce Feirstein. Another script was submitted dated August 12/September 12 1994, without a credited writer, just being "based on screenplay by Michael France and Jeffrey Cane." It was further followed by scripts dated November 28th and December 9th - with Bruce Feirstein credited as the writer - which bear close similarity with the finished product. [6][7]
In the film, the writing credit was shared by Caine and Feirstein, while France was credited with only the story, an arrangement he felt was unfair, particularly as he believed the additions made were not an improvement on his original version. Wade did not receive an official credit, but was acknowledged in the naming of Jack Wade, the CIA character he created.
Film Title[]
While GoldenEye is technically the third original James Bond movie that doesn't contain any reference to an Ian Fleming novel or short story, the title comes from Fleming's Jamaican estate he dubbed "Goldeneye" where he wrote all of the twelve original Bond novels. The estate could have been named "Goldeneye" for a number of reasons. The first is that the estate is located in Oracabessa, which is Spanish for 'golden head'. Fleming is also reported to have read Carson McCullers' novel Reflections In A Golden Eye around the time he had his house built in Jamaica. More notably, Fleming was in charge of the defence of Gibraltar during the Second World War; the operation dubbed by Fleming, Operation Goldeneye. Despite persistent, but unfounded, rumours that the ill-fated Bond 17 would have been titled "Property of a Lady", writer Alfonse Ruggiero recounted that Michael G. Wilson first raised "GoldenEye" as a possibility for their 1990 outline.[8]
Gallery[]
Soundtrack[]
Weapons & Gadgets[]
Gadgets[]
- Main article: List of James Bond gadgets
Used by Bond[]
Piton Gun — hybrid grapple and laser gun used in the intro sequence when Bond bungee jumps off of a dam. To ensure he doesn't bounce back up he uses this gun to latch on to the complex below using its grapple function. Once down, Bond uses the laser built inside the gun to infiltrate the venting system that leads into the bathroom. | |
Door Decoder — appears in the pre-titles sequence, used by both Bond and Trevelyan to get into the Facility's bottling room. | |
Digital Binoculars - Auto focus/zoom, digital camera, satellite uplink to send visual data. | |
Rappelling Belt — Q gives Bond a size-34 belt containing a 75-foot rappelling cord and a piton-shooting buckle. When fired, it shoots a grapple attached to high-tensile-strength wire designed to support Bond's weight. | |
Omega Seamaster / Laser Wristwatch — This watch, standard issue of MI6, has a built-in laser that can cut through steel and iron, and can also remotely detonate mines. | |
Explosive Pen — Q-Branch gives Bond a pen that doubles as a "class four" (fictional designation) grenade. Three clicks arms the four-second fuse, another three disarms it. |
Q-Lab background[]
Wheelchair Missile Launcher - Tested by Q Branch, this gadget was made to look like someone had broken their leg, when in fact, the leg hid a missile, which could be fired from the seated position. | |
Phone Booth Trap - Q Branch is testing a BT telephone box with a large airbag inside which expands, crushing anyone inside against the wall of the box. | |
X-Ray Document Scanner - Q has a document scanner disguised as a tea-tray. |
Weapons[]
- Main article: List of Firearms
Used on-screen[]
Walther PPK - James Bond's standard-issue pistol. Shown in the poster below with suppressor. Chambered for the 7.65mm x 17 Browning (or .32 ACP) cartridge. | |
Makarov PM pistol — The pistol was prominently used by General Arkady Grigorovich Ourumov in a number of scenes in the movie. Natalya Simonova was seen using a Makarov PM when she commandeered one of the Janus helicopter gunships to rescue Bond from the satellite dish's antenna before it exploded. Chambered for the 9mm x 18 Makarov cartridge. | |
Browning BDM pistol — Alec Trevelyan's pistol of choice. At the beginning during the facility infiltration, he is seen with a Browning BDA (FN HP-DA), but the ending battle scene at the antenna cradle is seen with a Browning BDM. Both guns are a evolution of the ubiquitous Browning Hi-Power pistol, with BDA released in 1983 and BDM in 1991. Both pistols are chambered for the 9mm x 19 Parabellum cartridge. | |
Astra 2000 Cub — used by Xenia Onatopp to assassinate the two Tiger Pilots. | |
CZ 52 — semi-automatic pistol wielded by Zukovsky to intimidate Bond. | |
Kalashnikov AK-74 rifle — Standard-issue assault rifle of the Soviet/Russian armed forces and has been in Soviet/Russian military service since 1974/1975. Chambered for the 5.45mm x 39 Soviet M74 cartridge. | |
Kalashnikov AKS-74U carbine — The AKS-74u was prominently used by James Bond at the Arkangel Chemical Weapons Facility in 1986 and in St. Petersburg in 1995 when he and Natalya were escaping from the Russian military base. The AKSU-74 was also used by Xenia Onatopp when she used the weapon to kill the personnel at the Severnaya satellite control centre after General Ourumov got control of the two GoldenEye satellites. Bond can be seen wielding it on Trevelyan's Train. Also chambered for the 5.45mm x 39 Soviet M74 cartridge. | |
Timed Explosive — used by Bond at Arkhangelsk Chemical Facility to destroy the gas tanks and facility. | |
Remote-detonated Limpet Mine — explosives with magnetic properties which are detonated with the use of Omega Seamaster watch's detonator. Used by Bond at the Cuban Satellite Control Centre to try sabotage the computer epicenter. |
Deleted scene[]
Glock 17 (Chinese counterfeit) — One of the weapons the Pakistani weapons dealer tries to sell to Zukovsky, latter who professes his love for the gun only to turn it against the former. Zuvosky then telling that the Chinese made a batch of counterfeits and scares the dealer by attempting to shoot him, only for the gun not to fire, since the Chinese made the firing pin is too short. | |
H&K MP5 (Czech counterfeit) — One of the weapons the Pakistani weapons dealer tries to sell to Zukovsky, latter who deems the MP5 to be obsolete hardware and "Czech counterfeit crap" to boot. |
In the movie GoldenEye, a number of the AK-74 rifles that were used during filming were not real AK-74s but non-Russian made Kalashnikov rifles that were made to look like the AK-74 rifle. The folding-stock variant AK-74 rifles that were seen in GoldenEye were Chinese-made Norinco Type 56/AKM rifles that were fitted with AK-74-style muzzle brakes and Russian-make red bakelite plastic magazines that were made for the AKM rifle in the 1970s. The rifles that were fitted with fixed buttstocks were real, Russian-made AK-74 rifles.
Vehicles[]
- Main article: List of James Bond vehicles
Used by Bond[]
Aston Martin DB5 - Registration BMT214A. Note this is not the same car as seen in Goldfinger and Thunderball (that car was registered BMT216A). This appears to be Bond's personal car and re-appears in the next film Tomorrow Never Dies (its appearance at Castle Thane in The World Is Not Enough did not make it into the final film). The car is equipped with a refrigerator in the centre armrest to hold champagne and two glasses, and also a communications system including fax and voice commands. | |
BMW Z3 - A convertible, it comes fully loaded with all the usual Q refinements including a self-destruct system and stinger missiles located behind the headlights. In the movie, Bond uses none of the car's gadgets (except for the covert receipt-like printer disguised as a mobile CD player). He ends up trading it for Jack Wade's plane in the Caribbean region. | |
T-55 battle tank - A Russian tank taken by Bond to pursue General Ourumov in St. Petersburg. | |
Cagiva W16 600 - Motorcycle used by Arkangel Chemical Weapons Facility troops. Bond ends up taking one to catch the unpiloted plane. | |
Pilatus PC-6/B2-H2 Turbo Porter - Used by Bond to escape the Arkangel Chemical Weapons Facility. | |
Riva Monte Carlo 30 Offshorer – Used by Bond to get aboard Manticore and then leave it to try catch Xenia at the La Fayette frigate. | |
Cessna 172P Skyhawk - Used by Bond and Natalya in Cuba to scout for the Janus Satellite Control Centre. Shot down by an underwater Surface-to-Air Missile. |
Other notable vehicles[]
Ferrari F355 GTS - Xenia Onatopp playfully races James Bond in his Aston Martin DB5 by chance on the mountain roads behind Monte Carlo in this vehicle, which is later revealed to have false French registration plates, hinting that it may be stolen. | |
Manticore (Northern Cross) - Yacht owned by the Janus Syndicate that's docked at Monaco. Bond boards it to try find Xenia, only to find the body of Admiral Chuck Farrell, who has been murdered by her. | |
La Fayette (F710) – French Navy Frigate docked at Monaco, it is used to demonstrate the Tiger Helicopter, which is then stolen by the Janus Syndicate. | |
Eurocopter Tiger - New French EMP-resistant attack helicopter. Stolen by Xenia and her associate from La Fayette frigate. It is then operated by Xenia and General Ourumov to steal the controls for the GoldenEye weapons system from Severnaya Satellite Control Center. Later in the film, Bond and Natalya are trapped inside it, but escape before it destroys itself with its own missiles. | |
Riva Aquarama Special – Used by Xenia and the imposter Chuck Farrell to leave to the La Fayette frigate, before Bond infiltrates the Manticore yacht. | |
Mikoyan MiG-29 - Three respond to the emergency alarm triggered at the Severnaya facility. All are destroyed by the electromagnetic pulse generated by the GoldenEye satellite weapon. | |
ZAZ 965A - Jack Wade's car in Russia, and uses it to drive Bond around St. Petersburg. | |
File:Vehicle - Mercedes-Benz 230 E (W124).png | Mercedes-Benz 230 E (W124) - the car Xenia drives James Bond to the St. Petersburg Statue Graveyard with, to meet with "Janus". |
UAZ-469/3151 - used by the Russian soldiers following the explosion of the Tiger Helicopter to arrest Bond and Natalya. It is then used again by Russian soldiers during the tank sequence in St. Petersburg. | |
File:Vehicle - GAZ-31029.png | GAZ-31029 "Volga" - used by General Ourumov to try take Natalya to the Soviet Missile train, while chased by Bond in the T-55 Tank. |
File:Vehicle - VAZ-2106.png | VAZ-2106 "Zhiguli" - used by St. Petersburg police during the tank sequence. |
DAF 2300 aka "the Perrier Truck" - truck transporting boxes of Perrier beer in St. Petersburg, which Bond drives through with in his T-55 Tank. | |
Soviet Missile Train - Operated by the Janus Syndicate. | |
Robinson R22 Beta - Small helicopter used by Trevelyan and Xenia to escape the Soviet Missile Train. | |
Eurocopter AS355 - Appears in Cuba, first used by Xenia to attack Bond and Natalya in the jungles and later called in by Trevelyan to get him out of the Cuba dish' beam steering mechanism. | |
File:Vehicle - Bell UH-1 Iroquois.png | Bell UH-1 Iroquois - Used by the Marines accompanying Jack Wade, after Bond and Natalya have destroyed the Cuban dish. |
Background vehicles[]
Background vehicles include:
- AEC Routemaster
- 1980 Audi 200 C2
- 1981 Audi Coupé B2
- 1983 Barkas B1000 KM
- 1977 BMW 7 (E23)
- 1987 BMW 7 (E32)
- 1994 BMW 8 (E31)
- 1986 Cadillac Seville
- 1982 Citroën CX
- 1987 Daimler 3.6
- 1995 Daimler Six
- 1986 Fiat Uno
- 1991 Ford Transit Ambulance MkIII
- 1995 Ford Scorpio MkII
- 1975 GAZ 52
- 1985 GAZ 52
- 1986 GAZ 24-10 Volga
- 1990 IZh Moskvitch 412 IE
- 1994 Jaguar XJ6 (XJ40)
- 1989 KAvZ 3270
- 1975 Lada 1200 (2101)
- 1978 Lada Niva (2121)
- 1979 Lada 1500 Station car (21023)
- 1983 Lada Riva (21056)
- 1987 Lada Samara (2108)
- 1980 Mercedes-Benz 200 (W123)
- 1980 Mercedes-Benz 500 SE (W126)
- 1991 Mercedes-Benz S-Klasse (W140)
- 1989 Nissan Bluebird
- 1982 Opel Kadett (D)
- 1985 Opel Kadett Caravan (E)
- 1985 Peugeot 205
- 1979 Plymouth Horizon TC3
- Polaris Big Boss 250
- 1976 RAF 2203 Latvija
- 1973 Renault 551
- 1979 Renault 18
- 1982 Renault Fuego
- 1974 Robur LO 2002 A
- 1980 Rolls-Royce Silver Spur
- 1971 Tatra 603-2
- 1978 Toyota Celica
- 1982 Toyota Celica
- 1985 Toyota Camry
- Ural 375 D
- 1973 VAZ 2103 Zhiguli
- 1977 VAZ 21011 Zhiguli
- 1985 VAZ 2108 Sputnik
- Vickers-Armstrong FV 4201 Chieftain
- 1978 Volkswagen Scirocco MkI (Typ 53)
- 1981 Volvo GL
- 1983 Volvo 240
Locations[]
In-Film Locations | Shooting Locations |
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Map[]
Video games[]
- Main article: GoldenEye 007 (N64), GoldenEye: Rogue Agent and GoldenEye 007/GoldenEye Reloaded (Wii/PS3/Xbox 360)
GoldenEye was adapted into a highly successful video game for the Nintendo 64 by Nintendo and Rare in 1997. At the time of its release, it was considered a flagship game for the console, and was considered revolutionary in First-Person Shooter history which led to many later games and series inspired by it, including the Bond series itself; It ultimately sold over 8 million units - making it the 3rd best-selling title for the N64 (behind only Nintendo's own Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64) and it is still widely regarded as the best James Bond video game as well as one of the greatest of all time. Interestingly, GoldenEye 007 was originally planned to be an on-rails shooter game intended for the N64's predecessor, the Super NES. The game itself was popular enough to gain another critically acclaimed game, a spiritual successor called Perfect Dark, also by Rare on the Nintendo 64, three years after its release.
In the Autumn of 2004, Electronic Arts released GoldenEye: Rogue Agent for the Xbox, Sony PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube and later the Nintendo DS. This is the first game based on the James Bond franchise in which the player does not take on the role of James Bond himself; rather they control a 00-Agent candidate (ironically named GoldenEye) who is recruited by Auric Goldfinger, the Bond Villain in the novel/film Goldfinger. Despite its name, the title has little to do with either the film GoldenEye or its video game adaptation, and was released to mediocre reviews, and was criticized for using the "GoldenEye" name in an attempt to sell the game by riding on the success of Rare's game.
In 2010, Activision and Eurocom produced a re-imagining of the GoldenEye 007 game, albeit with major changes to the plot and graphics (Rareware had been acquired by Microsoft in 2002). Some changes include the likeness of Daniel Craig as James Bond instead of Pierce Brosnan, the removal of Boris, and different level layouts. Originally a Nintendo Wii/DS exclusive, it was later released on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 as GoldenEye: Reloaded. It was moderately well-received, though not to the extent of the original N64 game.
Trivia[]
- While this is the first appearance of Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, he was actually picked to replace Roger Moore in the 1987 film The Living Daylights, but due to his contract with the television show, Remington Steele (which is known for launching his career prior to becoming 007), he had to drop out of the film and the role was ultimately given to Timothy Dalton, instead. Indeed, the pre-titles Arkhangelsk sequence takes place in 1986, when Brosnan was originally meant to begin his Bond tenure.
- GoldenEye was the first James Bond film to have filmed on location inside the former Soviet Union (Russia), a country which had banned all sixteen previous movies.
- Earlier on the year of GoldenEye's release, Alan Cumming (who portrayed Janus' computer whiz Boris Grishenko) and Minnie Driver (who portrayed Zukovsky's mistress Irina) had shared several scenes together in the film adaptation of Maeve Binchy's romantic/friendship novel Circle of Friends. In GoldenEye, however, they never appeared together onscreen. Driver also had no spoken lines in GoldenEye except singing the lyrics of "Stand by Your Man" by Tammy Wynette.
- For a time it was rumoured that Brosnan's contract specifically stated that he was not allowed to wear a full tuxedo in other films and that Brosnan had apparently worked around this in the film The Thomas Crown Affair by leaving his tie untied during a black-tie ball, thus not wearing a full tuxedo. This rumor turned out to be false.
- Minnie Driver (Irina) and Izabella Scorupco (Natalya Simonova) had appeared alongside American actor Chris O'Donnell in different movies. Driver in Circle of Friends and Scorupco in Vertical Limit. Alan Cumming (Boris Grishenko) also appeared in Circle of Friends, but never had scenes together with O'Donnell in the movie. Pierce Brosnan attended the premiere of Vertical Limit and posed with O'Donnell and the latter's Vertical Limit co-star Bill Paxton for a photograph during the event.
- GoldenEye features the highest bungee jump from a structure in a movie, performed by British stuntman Wayne Michaels. The drop was more than 722ft.
- Reportedly, the script had to be rewritten as it was found to be too similar to a plotline in the James Cameron film True Lies.
- Joe Don Baker returned as CIA agent Jack Wade in the sequel Tomorrow Never Dies: his previous appearance in the Bond films was as the villain Brad Whitaker in The Living Daylights. Baker had played a similar character, also a CIA agent, for GoldenEye director Martin Campbell in the 1985 BBC television drama Edge of Darkness. Baker became the second actor to portray both Bond's main adversary and Bond's ally (after Charles Gray who portrayed a murdered MI6 contact in Tokyo in You Only Live Twice and would later play Blofeld in Diamonds Are Forever), and the first one to play the ally character twice after previously played a different main villain character.
- Maurice Binder, the title sequence designer for most of the James Bond films since Dr. No, died in 1991. The job of title designer for GoldenEye as well as several future James Bond films was then passed to Daniel Kleinman.
- "Cubby" Broccoli died shortly after the film was released. He had been too ill but could visit the Pinewood studios by being a consulting Producer. The next Bond film, Tomorrow Never Dies, was dedicated to his memory.
- This is the first James Bond film where the MI6 Headquarters scenes are being filmed and set in its actual real-life building.
- During the tank sequence, the T-55 tank can be seen running over a Russian vehicle, clearly crushing the driver (presumably a mannequin). This depiction of "collateral damage" may have been an accident during filming as it is followed by a quick shot of the driver getting out of the car.
- The uniform of the Canadian Admiral was incorrect. The admiral was shown with two bars and an executive curl on the cuffs of his tunic. As this was filmed in 1995, the admiral's uniform should have one solid bar on the cuffs, and three maple leaves on the shoulders, and without the wings on the sleeve. The Canadian Navy would have these restored in 2010.
- Boris the programmer's global tracking software features the outline of a united Czechoslovakia on its map, even though the country had (peacefully) split into the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic in 1993, two years before that part of the film takes place.
- Xenia Onatopp is shown to kill men by squeezing their chests with her thighs. In the previous Bond film The Living Daylights, Q reviews a range of Soviet KGB female assassins, one of which, Ula Yarkhov, kills using her thighs.
- GoldenEye has the distinction of being the first - and currently, the only - EON-produced James Bond film to include a semi-explicit sex scene, specifically the scene in which Xenia kills the Canadian Naval Admiral while making love to him. Despite this, the film was still released with a PG-13 rating.
- In a scene set at Q lab, Bond and Q test an exploding pen which successfully works, prompting Bond to quip, "The writing's on the wall?". The phrase would later become the title of the main theme to Spectre, starring Daniel Craig as Bond.
- This was the only Brosnan Bond film not to be released in the same year as a Austin Powers movie, the movie series that parodied James Bond.
- The first James Bond film to be released in the 1990's and the first to be released in the two year chronological odd-numbered gap.
External links[]
Template:Wikiquote
- GoldenEye (1995) at IMDb
- MGM's official GoldenEye website
- Movie Tour Guide.com - Maps and directions to GoldenEye Filming Locations
References[]
- ↑ The May 1990 draft by Alfonse Ruggiero and Michael Wilson - analysis by Clement Feutry (in French)
- ↑ The July 1990 draft by Alfonse Ruggiero and Michael Wilson - analysis by Clement Feutry (in French)
- ↑ Meslow, Scott (12 May 2014). Timothy Dalton opens up about Penny Dreadful, leaving James Bond, and the demon in all of us. The Week.
- ↑ *GoldenEye, January 1994 draft analysis by Clement Feutry (In French)
- ↑ GoldenEye, March 1994 draft analysis by Clement Feutry (In French)
- ↑ https://ukm.propstoreauction.com/lot-details/index/catalog/299/lot/80900
https://ghostarchive.org/archive/c0gmv
A collection of scripts, storyboards, production paperwork and a crew jacket from the production of Martin Campbell's Bond movie GoldenEye. This lot comes from the personal collection of renowned production manager Philip Kohler.
The set comprises a script dated "6 July, 1994"; a revised script dated "12 September 1994"; a green binder containing printed storyboards; a black binder containing mixed paperwork; several additional sets of printed storyboards; 17 call sheets; nine "Season's Greetings" cards; assorted paperwork; and a black crew jacket (size XL). The jacket features a faux fur collar, and "Goldeneye, Phil Kohler, 007" is embroidered in gold-coloured thread on the right breast. There are minor signs of wear from production use, including creasing, corrosion marks and loose threads. Dimensions (largest binder): 34.5 cm x 28 cm x 7 cm (13½" x 11" x 2¾")
Retrieved July 21, 2023 - ↑ https://ukm.propstoreauction.com/lot-details/index/catalog/299/lot/80901
https://ghostarchive.org/archive/t9dZ0
A model miniature Cessna 172P Skyhawk plane with a revised script and storyboards from Martin Campbell's Bond movie GoldenEye. James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) flew this aircraft with Natalya (Izabella Scorupco) as they searched for the Janus satellite dish.
Constructed by miniature effects supervisor Derek Meddings and his team, by modifying an off-the-shelf toy, the detailed plastic plane has "N96816" on both sides of the fuselage. A revised script dated "28 November 1994" in a red folder, and two folders containing 264 storyboards are included. The plane comes in a custom-made display and exhibits glue remnants where weights were fixed to stabilise it, and there is staining on the pages in one of the storyboard folders. Dimensions (plane): 11 cm x 15 cm x 19 cm (4¼" x 6" x 7½"); (each folder): 31.5 cm x 25.5 cm x 4 cm (12½" x 10" x 1½")
Retrieved July 21, 2023 - ↑ Edlitz, Mark (13th September 2020). "Timothy Dalton’s Unmade Third Bond Film - Alfonse Ruggiero", The Lost Adventures of James Bond (in En-UK). Bowker. ISBN 9781234567890.
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James Bond films |
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Sean Connery Dr. No (1962) • From Russia with Love (1963) • Goldfinger (1964) • Thunderball (1965) • You Only Live Twice (1967) • Diamonds Are Forever (1971) |
George Lazenby On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) |
Roger Moore Live and Let Die (1973) • The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) • The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) • Moonraker (1979) • For Your Eyes Only (1981) • Octopussy (1983) • A View to a Kill (1985) |
Timothy Dalton The Living Daylights (1987) • Licence to Kill (1989) |
Pierce Brosnan GoldenEye (1995) • Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) • The World Is Not Enough (1999) • Die Another Day (2002) |
Daniel Craig Casino Royale (2006) • Quantum of Solace (2008) • Skyfall (2012) • Spectre (2015) • No Time To Die (2021) |
Unofficial films Casino Royale (1954) • Casino Royale (1967) • Never Say Never Again (1983) |
All Bond films on Archive |