GoldenEye (movie)
GoldenEye is the seventeenth James Bond movie made by Eon Productions and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as James Bond. It was released in 1995 and made at Leavesden Film Studios. It was the first "official" Bond film which was not produced by veteran producer Cubby Broccoli, who was undergoing major heart surgery at the time. He entrusted the making of the forthcoming generation of Bond films to his daughter and stepson Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, both of whom had been executive producers of the films in the 1980s. This is technically the first original James Bond movie without any sort of references to any Ian Fleming novel.
Goldeneye is notable for addressing head-on the role of the character in the post Cold War world - the last film, Licence to Kill, was released in June 1989 before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The cleverly cast Judi Dench as M describes Bond as a "sexist, misogynist dinosaur. A relic of the Cold War"
In the film, "GoldenEye" is the code name of a secret military satellite which uses electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) to disable electronic devices. The name is that of the house in which Fleming was living when he wrote the first James Bond novel.
Plot Summary
Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.
The beginning of the movie shows James Bond and his friend Alec Trevelyan, agent 006, infiltrating a base in Arkhangelsk in the Soviet Union, now Russia. Trevelyan is captured and presumably killed at the hands of Colonel Arkady Grigorovich Ourumov, but Bond escapes.
Several years later, after the collapse of the USSR a prototype helicopter, the Eurocopter Tiger, is stolen from the French frigate La Fayette. Xenia Onatopp made this possble by seducing a Canadian Admiral the night before the scheduled demonstration flight and killing him by crushing his chest between her thighs during sex, allowing her to take the admiral's place the following day.
Bond discovers the dead Admiral's body, but is too late to stop the theft of the the Tiger. Ouromov and Xenia Onatopp use the helicopter, designed to withstand EMP, to steal the Goldeneye satellite controls. A technician, a woman named Natalya Fyodorovna Simonova (surname pronounced Sim-yo-ni-va) becomes the only survivor of the attack on Severnaya. Simonova is being chased by Janus operatives.
Bond is charged with finding GoldenEye and stopping Janus from doing any dastardly deed with it. His only clue is Natalya, whom he sees in satellite imagery as the only survivor of Severnaya station, escaping.
He discovers during his mission that Trevelyan is not only still alive, but in fact is the mastermind of Janus.
Cast & Characters
- Director: Martin Campbell
- Producers: Michael G. Wilson , Barbara Broccoli
- Written by: Phil Meheux
This is Joe Don Baker's second character in the James Bond franchise. The first was the villain Brad Whitaker in the movie, The Living Daylights.
Theme Music
The theme "GoldenEye" was written by Bono and performed by Tina Turner. The sountrack was done by Eric Serra.
Vehicles & Gadgets
- 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. Unfortunately, the car, in the film is never really used. Bond ends up trading it for Jack Wade's plane.
- Grappling Belt - Q gives Bond a size 34 belt that contains a 75-foot repelling cord built into the buckle. When fired it shoots a grapple followed by a high tensile wire designed to support Bond's weight.
- Explosive Pen - Q-Branch gives Bond a pen that doubles as a class-4 grenade. Three clicks arms the four second fuse, another three disarms it.
- Omega Watch - This watch, standard issue of MI6, has a built in laser and can remotely detonate mines.
- Grapple and Laser Gun - In the intro sequence 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 it's grapple function. Once down, Bond uses the laser built inside the gun to infiltrate the venting system that leads into the bathroom.
Locations
Film Locations
Shooting Locations
Trivia
- While this is the first appearance of Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, he was actually picked to replace Roger Moore in the film The Living Daylights. Due to his contract with the television show Remington Steele he was unable to play the role. Timothy Dalton was then brought in to play the role.
- Brosnan's contract specifically states that while he is playing the role of James Bond he is not allowed to wear a full tuxedo in other films. Brosnan would get 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.
- GoldenEye features the highest bungee jump from a structure in a movie. The drop was over 722 ft.
- Reportedly, GoldenEye's script had to be rewritten as it was found to be too similar to a plotline in the James Cameron film True Lies.
Video Game
GoldenEye was made into a famous video game for the Nintendo 64 by Rareware.
In the Fall of 2004 EA Games will release GoldenEye: Rogue Agent for X-Box, PlayStation 2 and GameCube videogame consoles. The game, based on the James Bond license, will actually have nothing to do with the movie GoldenEye.
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