Synopsis - GoldenEye
The Arkangel Chemical Weapons Facility, USSR: a lone figure clad
in black runs across the top of a dam then bungee jumps down to
the research base at the bottom. Sneaking in through an air duct,
the figure - James Bond - gains access to the base through the
toilets and ventures further into the building. He's suddenly
confronted by a shadowy figure who holds him at gunpoint and questions
him in Russian. Bond tells the man he's alone and the mystery
man turns out to be Alec Trevelyan, 006. Together they find the
chemical laboratories and begin placing explosive charges.
But before long they are discovered and are trapped inside the
storage bay, surrounded by huge tanks of volatile gases. A gunfight
is halted by the arrival of General Ouromov who takes Trevelyan
captive. When Bond refuses to give himself up [instead, he resets
the bomb timers], Ouromov shoots 006. Bond is able to perilously
stalk across the room hidden behind a large trolley of gases,
knowing that Ouromov has given orders to his men not to shoot
for fear of puncturing one of the barrels. He escapes on a conveyor
belt, burying some of his pursuers beneath barrels.
Outside. Bond battles it out with more guards and is pursued
by motorcycle riders. He manages to get aboard a light aircraft
heading along a cliff-top runway, but during a struggle with the
pilot, both men are thrown out. Undeterred, Bond commandeers a
motorcycle and hurtles over the cliff, free-falling after the
out-of-control aircraft. He manages to struggle aboard and, just
when all seems lost, regains control of the aircraft and makes
good his escape as the Arkangel facility spectacularly explodes.
Nine years later: Bond is driving his Aston Martin DB5 at very
high speed around winding lanes in the hills above Monte Carlo,
terrifying his passenger, MI5 psychologist Caroline, sent to evaluate
Bond's mental state. Bond's attention is caught by an attractive
woman in a red sports car and the pair race at breakneck speed,
much to Caroline's dismay. Bond continues to flirt with Caroline,
despite nearly killing a group of cyclists and running the sports
car off the road. When Caroline orders him to stop the car at
once, he does so and produces a bottle of champagne before seducing
her.
That night, Bond visits a casino where he spots the distinctive
red Ferrari parked outside. Inside, he finds the driver at one
of the tables and joins her in a game of baccarat, beating her.
When the woman tries to leave, Bond follows and talks to her,
learning that she's a Georgian named Xenia Onatopp and tells her
that the number plates on her car are counterfeit. But they are
interrupted by the arrival of Canadian Admiral Chuck Farrel who
whisks her away.
Bond follows at a discrete distance and sees the couple boarding
a boat, the Manticore moored in the harbour near a naval ship
with a helicopter on its launch pad. Using a digital camera, he
sends pictures of both the boat and Onatopp to Moneypenny who
identifies her as an ex-Soviet fighter pilot who now has links
with the Russian Janus crime syndicate. The boat itself is leased
to a Janus front. On the boat itself, Onatopp murders Farrel during
sex, crushing him to death between her thighs! Meanwhile, someone
is stealing Farrel's ID card from his discarded jacket pocket...
The next day, Bond sneaks aboard the Manticore and starts to
look around. He is attacked by a crewman but gets away. Nearby,
a presentation is being given aboard the naval ship of a new helicopter,
the Tiger which is protected against all forms of electronic interference.
Onatopp has infiltrated the presentation along with a mystery
man posing as Farrel. Bond finds Farrel's body aboard the Manticore
[he died with a smile on his face!] and rushes to the naval vessel,
fearing the worst. Onatopp and her colleague have murdered the
helicopter's test pilots and taken their place and make off with
the helicopter while Bond is unable to anything but watch after
he's detained by security guards.
Siberia - the Space Weapons Control Centre at Severnaya: the
small team of technicians, including level 3 programmer Natalya
Simonova and computer nerd Boris are going about their every day
routine, the boredom broken only by Boris' playful hacking of
the US Department of Justice computers. When Boris goes outside
for a breath of fresh - if rather cold - air, he is startled by
the sudden arrival of a helicopter descending out of a snow storm.
Onatopp steps out, followed by General Ouromov, now head of Space
Division and they announce a surprise inspection of the base.
Ouromov enquires after the GoldenEye defence system and cons the
base's commanding officer into handing over the firing keys. Suddenly
Onatopp opens fire with a machine gun, apparently reaching orgasm
as she guns down everyone in the room. Simonova escapes and manages
to hide as Ouromov and Onatopp activate the GoldenEye weapon -
their target is Severnaya itself.
One of the dying technicians sounds an alarm and two Mig fighters
are scrambled. Onatopp fails to find Simonova, who is hiding in
cupboards in the kitchen, and the pair leave as a GoldenEye satellite
makes its way to a new orbit above Severnaya.
In London, Bond is met by Moneypenny who is all dressed up ready
for a date which leaves Bond "devastated." She takes
him to the mission room where he is briefed by Bill Tanner who
tells him that a routine scan of the Severnaya complex by their
spy satellites has apparently revealed the presence of the stolen
Tiger. The new M [who Tanner dismisses as "the evil queen
of numbers"] arrives and discounts rumours that the Russians
had developed the GoldenEye satellite defence system, a weapons
platform capable of firing electro-magnetic pulses at given targets.
But while they are watching live feeds from their satellite, they
see the two Migs approach the complex and a blinding flash that
knocks out their satellite. The GoldenEye weapon has hit Severnaya,
causing massive short circuits in all of its electronics. The
complex explodes as Simonova cowers under falling masonry. The
electronics in the fighters are also affected - one of them explodes
and the other ploughs into the complex, causing the satellite
dish to crash to the ground. In the aftermath, Simonova, crawls
from the wreckage in search of Boris.
A second British spy satellite is moved into orbit over Severnaya
and Tanner, Bond and M survey the ruins. They all realise that
GoldenEye must have been developed and that what they're looking
at is the after effects of the weapon's use. Bond suggests that
the blast at Severnaya was an attempt to cover up the theft of
the weapon and argues that although Janus are the likely culprits,
there must be military involvement as the keys to fire the device
wouldn't be given away to just anyone. He also spots the thermal
image of Simonova fleeing the wrecked complex.
In her office, M asks Bond what he knows about Janus. They're
"top flight arms dealers, headquartered in St Petersburg
- first outfit to restock the Iraqis during the Gulf War. Their
head man's unreliably described, no photographs." M reveals
that Ouromov was among the names their files suggest had access
to GoldenEye. An uncomfortable exchange follows in which M makes
it perfectly clear that she doesn't like Bond's methods and he
makes it clear that he's not keen on hers. She sends Bond in search
of GoldenEye but cautions him not to make this personal - he's
not to pursue a personal vendetta against Ouromov. As he leaves,
M tells Bond to "come back alive."
In St Petersburg, Ouromov attends a meeting of the Russian security
chiefs chaired by Defence Minister Miskin and briefs them on the
destruction of Severnaya. He claims that the detonation was the
work of Siberian separatists and tells them there are no more
GoldenEye satellite, a lie. Ouromov is shocked to hear that there
were two survivors - Boris he knows about, but he knew nothing
about Simonova.
Bond visits Q Branch and is given a new car, a BMW with "all
the usual refinements" including a self destruct system and
Stinger missiles behind the headlights. He's also equipped with
other gadgets including a rappelling wire hidden in a belt and
a pen that houses a class 3 grenade before setting off for St
Petersburg.
Once there, he meets up with CIA contact Jack Wade who chides
him for being "another stiff-ass Brit with your secret codes
and your passwords." Despite Bond's rough treatment of him
when he refuses to give the necessary password [he forces him
to reveal his rose tattoo on his butt-cheek], the two men seem
to get on OK and set off in Wade's dilapidated car. Simonova,
meanwhile, has also arrived in St Petersburg.
Wade has heard that the mysterious head of the Janus Organisation
lives on one of the old Soviet missile trains. The only way to
contact them is through one of their rivals - unfortunately that
man is arms dealer Vladimir Zukovsky, a former KGB man known to
Bond who not only stole his car and his girlfriend but also gave
him a permanent limp.
Simonova, posing as a potential purchaser of a large number of
personal computers, manages to get access to the Internet and
sends an e-mail to Boris. He arranges to meet her at the Church
of Our Lady of Smolensk in an hour's time. When she gets there,
however, Boris is waiting for her with Onatopp...
Bond goes calling on Zukovsky who is less than pleased to see
him. Bond is disarmed by some of Zukovsky's henchmen and held
at gunpoint. He and Zukovsky talk and Bond asks him for a favour.
He asks him to meet at a funeral parlour later that afternoon
where he explains the deal - he's going to help him set up a rival
in exchange for a contact with Janus. Zukovsky reveals that Janus
is led by a Lienz Cossack.
That night, Bond is relaxing in his hotel's swimming pool when
Onatopp arrives. Bond holds her at gunpoint, but she tries to
seduce him and assault him at the same time. A struggle ensues,
during which Bond very nearly goes the same was as Admiral Farrel.
But he gets the better of Onatopp ["No more foreplay!"]
and forces her to take him to meet Janus. She drives him to a
scrapyard full of ruined statues, reminders of former Communist
glories. Deep inside the maze of icons, busts and statues, he
finally comes face to face with the man behind the Janus Organisation
- Alec Trevelyan, now badly scarred down one side of his face.
Bond is astonished and Trevelyan chides him and his dogged loyalty
to his job. Trevelyan reveals his motivation - his parents were
murdered by Stalin's death squads after the betrayal of the Lienz
Cossacks and now he's out for revenge. Bond is knocked out by
a poisoned dart to the neck.
He's woken some time later by Simonova's screams. They've been
strapped into the cockpit of a helicopter and a counter is ticking
down. Bond realises that the helicopter's missiles are about to
fire and that they've been set to double back and hit the Tiger.
In desperation, he head butts the emergency escape button and
the Tiger's cockpit is fired out of the rest of the machine just
in time to avoid the incoming missiles. Once free, Simonova seems
less than thankful and struggles with him, only to be interrupted
when the Russian military arrive and arrest them.
Bond and Simonova are taken to a cell where he questions Simonova
about what happened at Severnaya. At first she's suspicious, but
slowly comes to trust him. She tells him that she believes Boris
to be responsible for the massacre at the complex. Miskin suddenly
enters and begins his own interrogation. Bond tries to persuade
Miskin that he has a traitor in his ranks and Simonova suddenly
blurts out that Ouromov was the real culprit and that there is
another GoldenEye satellite.
Ouromov bursts in and tries to protest about the interrogation
and murders Miskin and a guard with Bond's Walther PPK, trying
to make it look like he shot them while trying to escape. Bond
overpowers Ouromov and he and Simonova fight there way through
the building, pursued by and shot at by Russian soldiers. After
a ferocious gun battle, Simonova is captured but Bond escapes
using his rappelling line to swing across an archive room, through
a window and into a yard full of tanks.
Bond steals one of the tanks and sets off on a highly destructive
chase through the streets of St Petersburg in pursuit of Ouromov
and Simonova. Bond [pausing briefly only to adjust his tie!] wreaks
havoc as he demolishes buildings, statues, a truck full of Perrier
water and dozens of cars in his relentless pursuit. Ouromov takes
Simonova to a railway siding where they board Trevelyan's armoured
train. Bond, seeing them making ready to depart, speeds on ahead
and prepares an ambush.
On the train, Trevelyan is amazed to hear that Bond is still
alive. He clumsily tries to seduce Simonova but is disturbed when
he hears that Bond is waiting, his tank straddling the tracks
ahead of the train. Bond opens fire on the train, setting it alight
and abandons the tank on the tracks, causing the train to derail
inside a tunnel. Bond boards the train and holds Trevelyan and
Onatopp at gunpoint, but Ouromov has Simonova hostage. Bond tries
to drive wedges between the gang by revealing to Ouromov that
Trevelyan is a Lienz Cossack.
As Ouromoc is about to execute Simonova, Bond kills him, but
both Trevelyan and Onatopp get away and booby trap the train.
While Bond tries to defuse the bombs set to explode in 3 minutes
and the two villains escape by helicopter, Simonova hacks Boris'
computer searching for the Janus Organisation's base of operations.
Boris tries desperately to destroy his own mainframe to prevent
the secret from getting out, but it's too late - shortly before
they escape from the train, Simonova learns that Janus is based
in Cuba. She and Bond escape and prepare to head for Cuba.
In the Caribbean, Bond and Simonova are met by Jack Wade who
hands over a bag from Q. Wade confirms that there are no satellite
dishes big enough to operate the GoldenEye [they'd need a duplicate
of Severnaya] anywhere in Cuba. Bond leaves his BMW with Wade
and in a rare moment of introspection, Bond sits quietly on the
beach until Simonova tries to persuade him that his ways will
lead to only loneliness then death. Bond responds to her affection
and they make love on the beach.
The next day, they begin their search for the satellite dish.
They are flying over a lake in their hired light aircraft when
they are shot down by a missile fired from beneath the surface
of the water. Both survive the crash landing, but are left unconscious.
When Bond revives, he has groggy visions of a helicopter landing
and is attacked by Onatopp when she abseils down towards him.
She tries to kill Bond in her own inimitable fashion, but Bond
grabs her machine gun and fires at the helicopter, causing it
to spin out of control. Onatopp, still attached to the abseiling
rope, is killed when the helicopter drags her away and crushes
her against a tree.
In his headquarters, Trevelyan is preparing to fire the second
GoldenEye satellite and orders the dish to be made ready. As Bond
and Simonova watch, the huge dish emerges from its cover beneath
the lake as the water is drained away. They are spotted by security
guards and fired at, forcing them to slide down the huge parabola
of the dish. They gain access to the main buildings as Trevelyan
positions the GoldenEye above its target - London.
Using the equipment that Q sent him, Bond is able to plant bombs
against huge fuel tanks, then allows himself to be captured. Simonova
gets hold of one of teh computers and tries to prevent the launch
while Bond is taken to see Trevelyan who, knowing how Bond's mind
works, uses his wristwatch to deactivate the explosives.
Trevelyan is planning to hack into the Bank of England's computers,
electronically transfer masses of money, then hit London with
the GoldenEye blast, thus erasing all records of his intrsuion.
It will also plunge Britain into chaos, taking revenge for teh
country's betrayal of his people.
Simonova is caught trying to hack the computer and is also taken
to Trevelyan. She angrily attacks Boris, but is restrained by
the guards. In the confusion, he has picked up Bond's pen and
is nervously fiddling with it, obsessivly clicking it - three
successive clicks and the grenade it contains is primed. Bond
watches tensely, waiting for Boris to inadvertantly operate the
pen.
But Simonova has reprogrammed the satellite, sending it into
re-entry and locking Boris out of the system. While Boris struggles
to over-ride Simonova's changes to the software, he activates
the grenade and Bond manages to throw it into the fuel tanks he
had ruptured earlier. The base goes up in flames and Bond realises
that he has to destroy the transmitter in case Boris manages to
crack Simonova's codes. Forcing his way back out onto the dish
itself, Bond rushes to destroy it as Boris races against time
to regain control of the satellite.
Trevelyan goes out to the dish in search of Bond and the two
former friends fight a running gun battle. Bond hides in a machine
room as Boris regains access to the satellite and starts realigning
the dish. Bond jams the repositioning mechanism and finally confronts
Trevelyan hand to hand. Trevelyan briefly gets the better of him,
holding him at gunpoint, but Bond escapes through the floor on
an extending ladder that leaves him dangling high above the dish.
The fight continues as Trevelyan tries to dislodge him as Simonova
hijacks a helicopter gunship closing in for the kill.
The struggle culminates in Bond turning the tables and sending
Trevelayan to his death from the top of the dish. Inside the base,
Boris screams as the satellite explodes in the upper atmosphere
and harmlessly disintegrates. Bond jumps onto the landing skis
of the helicopter and gets away as the dish explodes, the flaming
wreckage crashing down on Trevelyan. Boris is frozen to death
when tanks of liquid nitrogen are ruptured.
Bond and Simonova abandon the helicopter and are getting friendly
in the jungle when Wade arrives with a huge force of extremely
well disguised US Marines. Bond carries Simonova aboard one of
the helicopters and everyone is airlifted to safety.