Film no. 17 · 1995 · Brosnan era

GoldenEye

TMDB rating: 6.9 / 10 · View on TMDB

Plot

In 1986, James Bond and fellow MI6 agent Alec Trevelyan infiltrate a Soviet chemical-weapons facility near Arkhangelsk. General Ourumov apparently shoots 006, but Bond escapes in an aircraft as the complex explodes. Nine years later, in Monte Carlo, Bond encounters former Soviet pilot Xenia Onatopp. She murders an admiral, uses his credentials to steal a Tiger attack helicopter and flies with Ourumov to the Severnaya satellite centre. They kill the staff, take the controller for the space weapon GoldenEye and erase the station with an electromagnetic pulse. Only programmer Natalya Simonova survives.

M sends Bond to St Petersburg. With help from CIA officer Jack Wade and arms dealer Valentin Zukovsky, he reaches the Janus crime syndicate—and discovers that its leader is the supposedly dead Trevelyan. Alec intends to destroy Britain's financial system with GoldenEye while stealing billions; his deeper motive is revenge for Britain's betrayal of his Lienz Cossack parents. Bond and Natalya escape Russian custody, pursue Ourumov through the city in a tank and confront Janus aboard an armoured train.

The trail leads to Cuba. Flying Wade's Cessna, Bond and Natalya locate a giant satellite dish hidden beneath a lake. Natalya changes the GoldenEye satellite's trajectory while Bond fights Trevelyan on the antenna cradle. The installation collapses, Alec is killed, and US Marines rescue Bond and Natalya from the jungle.

Facts

James Bond: Pierce Brosnan
Director: Martin Campbell
Screenplay: Jeffrey Caine, Bruce Feirstein and Michael France
Producers: Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli
Music: Éric Serra
Title song: „GoldenEye“Tina Turner
Running time: 130 minutes
Budget: $60 millionProduction budget according to The Numbers; JamesBond.de gives a differing figure of $50 million.
Box office: $356 millionworldwide theatrical gross according to The Numbers
Release: UK: 24 November 1995US: 17 November 1995Germany: 28 December 1995

Travel route and filming locations

Gold numbers trace Bond's journey through the story, light markers show the real filming locations. Each layer can be hidden separately.

Bond's route · 12 stops

Total distance (great-circle)≈ 15,437 km

Bond and 006 sabotage the fictional Soviet facility. Trevelyan is apparently shot; Bond escapes by motorcycle and Pilatus before the tanks explode.
Chemical-weapons facility near Arkhangelsk, 1986 → Monte Carlo · ≈ 3,093 km
Nine years later Bond follows Xenia from the mountain race to the casino and witnesses the theft of the Tiger helicopter in the harbour.
Monte Carlo → MI6 headquarters, London · ≈ 1,030 km
M assigns Bond to investigate the GoldenEye strike and missing Tiger; Q equips him for Russia.
MI6 headquarters, London → St Petersburg airport · ≈ 2,094 km
Bond arrives from London and is collected by CIA officer Jack Wade in a blue ZAZ.
St Petersburg airport → Zukovsky's club, St Petersburg · ≈ 15 km
Arms dealer Valentin Zukovsky arranges Bond's meeting with Janus in exchange for money.
Zukovsky's club, St Petersburg → Janus statue park, St Petersburg · ≈ 2 km
Among fallen Soviet monuments Alec Trevelyan reveals himself as Janus. Bond and Natalya are knocked out and left in the rigged Tiger.
Janus statue park, St Petersburg → Russian defence archive, St Petersburg · ≈ 0 km
Mishkin interrogates Bond and Natalya. Ourumov shoots the minister, abducts Natalya and frames Bond for the killing.
Russian defence archive, St Petersburg → Streets of St Petersburg · ≈ 0 km
Bond pursues Ourumov's car in a T-55 through the city's squares and canals.
Streets of St Petersburg → Janus armoured train outside St Petersburg · ≈ 29 km
Bond blocks the train with the tank. He frees Natalya, but Alec and Xenia escape by helicopter and set the carriage to self-destruct.
Janus armoured train outside St Petersburg → Cuban coast · ≈ 8,972 km
Wade delivers the BMW Z3 to Bond and Natalya; Bond trades it for the Cessna to search for the hidden installation.
Cuban coast → Janus lake in the Cuban jungle · ≈ 200 km
The Cessna is shot down and lands by the lake. Xenia attacks Bond in the jungle; Bond and Natalya then watch the water drain and the dish rise.
Janus lake in the Cuban jungle → GoldenEye control centre, Cuba · ≈ 0 km
Natalya reprograms the satellite, Bond sabotages the antenna and fights Trevelyan on the cradle. The collapsing installation destroys itself.

Filming locations · 18

doubles for chemical-weapons facility near Arkhangelsk (Russia)
Wayne Michaels performed Bond's pre-title jump towards the chemical-weapons facility here.
doubles for mountain roads above Monte Carlo (Monaco)
The winding pursuit between Bond's Aston Martin DB5 and Xenia's Ferrari F355 was filmed on nearby roads.
Bond watches Xenia at the gaming table and meets her at the bar.
The Tiger helicopter demonstration and theft were filmed in the harbour and aboard the French frigate La Fayette.
Exterior shots established the real MI6 headquarters as Bond's London workplace for the first time.
Stages and backlot housed Severnaya, weapons-factory interiors, most of the tank chase, the armoured train, and sets and miniatures for the Cuban dish.
doubles for St Petersburg airport (Russia)
The grandstand building served as the St Petersburg airport terminal where Wade meets Bond.
doubles for St Petersburg (Russia)
The courtyard stood in for a St Petersburg square and street, including Bond and Wade beside the blue ZAZ.
doubles for Grand Hotel Europe, St Petersburg (Russia)
The hotel portrayed the Grand Hotel Europe, outside which Bond and Wade exchange information.
doubles for Russian church, St Petersburg (Russia)
The cemetery chapel supplied exteriors for the Russian church where Bond contacts Zukovsky's men.
doubles for Russian church, St Petersburg (Russia)
The interior portrayed the church in St Petersburg.
doubles for Russian Ministry of Defence, St Petersburg (Russia)
The ceremonial rooms became the Russian Ministry of Defence council chamber.
Location plates and reference material anchor the tank chase in the historic centre.
Squares, monuments and streets appear in the St Petersburg exterior material for the tank pursuit.
The castle and its surrounding streets appear in the genuine St Petersburg footage.
doubles for railway outside St Petersburg (Russia)
The Class 20 disguised as a Russian armoured train ran here, with Bond blocking it in the tunnel using the T-55.
doubles for Russian rail yard (Russia)
Trevelyan and his people board the armoured train on a short section of track laid for filming.
doubles for GoldenEye installation, Cuba (Cuba)
The giant radio dish and its antenna cradle formed the real centrepiece of the Cuban GoldenEye finale.

Characters and cast

Henchmen

Allies

MI6

Others

Vehicles & Gadgets

Vehicles

Production example of a 1964 Aston Martin DB5.Photo: Vauxford · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Aston Martin DB5
Car1964
Silver-grey classic with communications and surveillance equipment
Bond drives the DB5 with Caroline on the mountain roads above Monte Carlo and engages Xenia's Ferrari in a playful race. A built-in fax, telephone and image-transmitting binoculars support surveillance, while champagne and a rose are ready for his passenger. The appearance returned the DB5 to the EON series for the first time since Thunderball.
Driven by
James Bond
Sources: 007.com: GoldenEye vehicles · IMCDb: 1964 Aston Martin DB5 in GoldenEye
Production example of a 1995 Ferrari F355 GTS.Photo: Calreyn88 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Ferrari F355 GTS
Car1995
Red sports car in the mountain race with Bond's DB5
Xenia drives the red F355 GTS aggressively through the narrow French mountain roads, challenging Bond's DB5. The race establishes her appetite for risk before they meet again at the Casino de Monte-Carlo. An F355 used for the sequence was later offered with documented GoldenEye provenance.
Driven by
Xenia Onatopp
Sources: 007.com: GoldenEye vehicles · Bonhams: 1995 Ferrari F355 GTS with GoldenEye provenance · IMCDb: Ferrari F355 GTS in GoldenEye
Production example of the BMW Z3 Roadster.Photo: 328cia · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
BMW Z3 Roadster
Car1995
Radar, self-destruct, emergency parachute and Stinger missiles behind the headlights
Q gives Bond a Z3 shown before the model reached showrooms. In Cuba Bond uses only the radar, then trades the roadster for Wade's Cessna. The promised missiles and other systems are never used, leaving the car undamaged.
Driven by
James Bond, later Jack Wade
Sources: 007.com: GoldenEye at 30 · IMCDb: 1995 BMW Z3 in GoldenEye · MI6-HQ: BMW Z3 Roadster
Production-standard German Army Eurocopter EC665 Tiger.Photo: Julian Herzog (Website) · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Eurocopter EC665 Tiger prototype
Aircraft
Attack helicopter fictionally hardened against electromagnetic pulses
Xenia and Ourumov steal the Tiger during a naval demonstration in Monaco and fly it to Severnaya. Its claimed EMP hardening makes it the ideal escape aircraft after the GoldenEye strike. The real prototype appears in Monaco; full-size and scale models were used later, and the actual Tiger has no ejector seat.
Driven by
Xenia Onatopp and General Ourumov
Sources: 007.com: GoldenEye vehicles · IMPDb: Eurocopter EC665 Tiger in GoldenEye
T-55 displayed at Imperial War Museum North.Photo: Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ZTS-Martin T-55
Other
Main battle tank used in the pursuit through St Petersburg
Bond commandeers the Soviet tank from a military depot and pursues Ourumov's car through St Petersburg. It crashes through walls, crushes cars and drags a statue behind it. The crew nicknamed the 42-ton vehicle 'Metal Mickey'; Russian exterior work also used a wheeled vehicle dressed to resemble the tank.
Driven by
James Bond
Specs
Film vehicle: 42 tons, stated by the production to reach 35 mph
Sources: 007.com: GoldenEye at 30 · IMCDb: ZTS-Martin T-55 in GoldenEye
Cagiva 350 T4 / W16
Other
Trail motorcycle used for the jump after the falling aircraft
Bond takes the Cagiva from a soldier and rides it over the cliff after the pilotless Pilatus. He abandons the motorcycle in free fall and reaches the aircraft. The exact model identification remains disputed: it is generally listed as a 350 T4, while a later specialist comment identifies the similar W16.
Driven by
Soviet soldier, later James Bond
Sources: 007.com: GoldenEye vehicles · IMCDb: Cagiva 350 T4 in GoldenEye
Preserved Class 20 in service condition; locomotive 20188 was heavily disguised for the film.Photo: Peter Broster · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
British Rail Class 20 No. 20188
Other
Diesel locomotive disguised as a Russian armoured train
Trevelyan's mobile command centre is a black, heavily armoured train with a ram and a detachable roof for a helicopter. Beneath the film bodywork was Nene Valley Railway Class 20 No. 20188 with two condemned passenger coaches. Bond blocks a tunnel with the T-55; after the collision Alec and Xenia escape in an R22 while Bond and Natalya cut through the carriage floor.
Driven by
Alec Trevelyan's crew
Sources: 007.com: GoldenEye at 30 · British Railway Movie Database: GoldenEye
Production example of the ZAZ-965A Zaporozhets.Photo: KVK2005 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ZAZ 965A Zaporozhets
Car1963
Blue compact car used by the CIA liaison
Wade collects Bond at the supposed St Petersburg airport in the small blue Zaporozhets. The rugged but battered rear-engined car is the opposite of a glamorous spy vehicle and needs roadside repair during their meeting.
Driven by
Jack Wade
Sources: 007.com: GoldenEye vehicles · IMCDb: 1963 ZAZ 965A in GoldenEye
Boeing 757-200 in the period British Airways livery.Photo: Eduard Marmet · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
British Airways Boeing 757-236
Aircraft
Scheduled flight from London to St Petersburg
Bond travels to Russia on a British Airways Boeing 757. The brief arrival shot connects the London briefing with Wade's airport reception and visibly places the mission within ordinary scheduled travel.
Driven by
British Airways crew
Sources: 007.com: GoldenEye vehicles · IMPDb: Boeing 757-236 in GoldenEye
Production example of a Pilatus PC-6 Turbo Porter.Photo: JDrewes (see www.jandrewes.de), slight edit by Alvesgaspar · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Pilatus PC-6/B2-H2 Turbo Porter
Aircraft
Weapons-factory transport aircraft in the pre-title sequence
A pilot attempts to leave the facility during Bond's escape but is thrown from the aircraft. Bond rides a motorcycle after the falling Porter, reaches the cockpit and pulls up just above the valley floor. The aircraft used carried registration HB-FFW.
Driven by
Soviet pilot, later James Bond
Sources: IMPDb: Pilatus PC-6/B2-H2 in GoldenEye · 007.com: GoldenEye at 30
Mikoyan MiG-29
Aircraft
Interceptors during the GoldenEye attack on Severnaya
Three MiG-29s scramble towards Severnaya after the alarm. The electromagnetic pulse disables their electronics: two explode and the third crashes into the satellite dish. No real aircraft were used for these shots; the sequence relied on models and digital effects.
Driven by
Russian Air Force
Sources: IMPDb: Mikoyan MiG-29 in GoldenEye
Production example of a Robinson R22 Beta.Photo: Calistemon · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Robinson R22 Beta
Aircraft
Small escape helicopter carried by the armoured train
The two-seat R22 is hidden beneath the armoured train's opening roof. After the tunnel collision Alec and Xenia take off, leave Bond and Natalya locked inside the carriage and depart towards Cuba.
Driven by
Xenia Onatopp
Sources: IMPDb: Robinson R22 Beta in GoldenEye
Production example of a Cessna 172P Skyhawk.Photo: ZLEA · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Cessna 172P Skyhawk
Aircraft
Search aircraft over the Cuban jungle
Bond trades the BMW for Wade's single-engined Cessna and searches with Natalya for the hidden satellite dish from the air. Once the installation is discovered, a surface-to-air missile hits the aircraft; Bond manages a crash landing by the lake. The screen aircraft carried registration N98616.
Driven by
Jack Wade, later James Bond
Sources: IMPDb: Cessna 172P Skyhawk in GoldenEye
Eurocopter AS355 Ecureuil 2
Aircraft
Janus helicopter in Xenia's jungle attack and at the antenna cradle
Xenia rappels from the twin-engined helicopter into the Cuban jungle. Later another aircraft brings support to Alec at the antenna cradle, but Natalya forces its pilot down at gunpoint and uses the helicopter to escape.
Driven by
Janus pilot
Sources: IMPDb: Eurocopter AS355 Ecureuil 2 in GoldenEye
Bell UH-1 Iroquois
Aircraft
Rescue helicopter in the final scene
After the GoldenEye installation is destroyed, Marines land in the jungle and Wade reveals himself. A Bell UH-1 collects Bond and Natalya, ending the mission with the promised flight to a debriefing at Guantanamo.
Driven by
US Marines
Sources: IMPDb: Bell UH-1 Iroquois in GoldenEye

Gadgets

Parker Jotter as the real counterpart to the grenade pen.Photo: Johanna83 at Dutch Wikipedia (Original text: Johanna83) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Parker grenade pen
The metal ballpoint contains a class-four explosive. Three clicks arm or disarm its four-second fuse; Boris triggers it inadvertently while clicking nervously, allowing Bond and Natalya to escape the control room.
Sources: 007.com: GoldenEye gadgets
Omega Seamaster Professional 300M
Bond's quartz watch carries a laser that cuts an escape opening through the armoured train floor. Pressing the helium-release valve also transmits a signal that disarms the magnetic limpet mines attached to the Tiger helicopter.
Sources: 007.com: GoldenEye gadgets
GoldenEye access key
The electronic key device generates access codes for the two Soviet GoldenEye satellites. Ourumov and Xenia steal it at Severnaya, giving Janus control of a nuclear electromagnetic-pulse weapon.
Sources: 007.com: GoldenEye
Piton belt
The belt buckle houses an explosive piton and a thin steel-reinforced line. Bond fires the hook into the archive roof and swings with Natalya out of the pursuit.
Sources: 007.com: GoldenEye gadgets
Piton laser gun
The compact Q Branch tool combines a firing climbing piton with a cutting laser. Bond carries it as part of his field equipment for St Petersburg.
Sources: 007.com: GoldenEye gadgets
Code-cracking device
A portable electronic device helps Bond defeat secured access systems. It forms part of the equipment Q supplies for the mission in Russia.
Sources: 007.com: GoldenEye gadgets
Digital monocular
The compact observation device digitally magnifies distant targets and transmits imagery. Bond uses it for reconnaissance without carrying a full-size camera.
Sources: 007.com: GoldenEye gadgets
Magnetic limpet mines as the real-world counterpart to the charges on the Tiger.Photo: HM Government · OGL v1.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Magnetic limpet mines
Janus attaches two magnetic charges to the stolen Tiger and programs its missiles to strike the aircraft itself. Bond disarms the mines at the last moment through his watch.
Sources: 007.com: GoldenEye gadgets
Rocket-firing leg cast
An apparently plastered leg in Q's laboratory contains a rocket launcher. Its demonstration misses the sandbag target, showing that even medical aids can conceal weapons.
Sources: 007.com: Q Lab's gadgets · 007.com: GoldenEye gadgets
Phone-box airbag
A modified phone box inflates a huge airbag inside, pinning its test user against the glass and cutting off his air. The device appears as a darkly comic background demonstration in Q's laboratory.
Sources: 007.com: Q Lab's gadgets
X-ray document scanner
A tray in Q's laboratory conceals an X-ray scanner that reads documents without visibly removing them from a folder. Its disguise allows confidential papers to be captured discreetly.
Sources: 007.com: GoldenEye gadgets
Walther PPK, Bond's long-standing service pistol.Photo: Tomascastelazo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Walther PPK 7.65 mm
Bond again carries the compact Walther as his service pistol. Because of Brosnan's injured little finger, insurance restrictions kept him from holding it during the first two weeks of filming.
Sources: 007.com: GoldenEye · 007.com: GoldenEye at 30

Production and trivia

GoldenEye returned James Bond to cinemas after a six-year hiatus and was Pierce Brosnan's first film as 007. The world premiere took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York on 13 November 1995.
Barbara Broccoli received her first producer credit on a Bond film, working with Michael G. Wilson. The title refers to Ian Fleming's Jamaican home Goldeneye, where he wrote the Bond books.
With Pinewood Studios fully booked, the production converted a former Rolls-Royce helicopter-engine factory at Leavesden into a studio with 1.25 million square feet of interior space and a large backlot.
Filming began on 16 January 1995 with scenes in the Severnaya control room. Brosnan's first scene, with Valentin Zukovsky, was shot on 18 January; principal photography ended on 6 June.
Pierce Brosnan severed a tendon in his little finger before filming. The injury kept him out of action for five weeks, and insurance restrictions barred him from action scenes or holding the Walther PPK during the first two production weeks.
Wayne Michaels performed the bungee jump from the 220-metre Contra Dam in Ticino on 11 March 1995. The following motorcycle-and-aircraft sequence combined several real aerial stunts with visual effects.
Peter Lamont recreated large parts of St Petersburg at Leavesden because liability for possible damage to historic buildings made a location tank chase too risky. The 42-ton T-55 was nicknamed 'Metal Mickey'; the pursuit took about four weeks to film.
Two crew members spent nearly a week emptying roughly 90,000 cans of Perrier for the collision with the tank. This allowed empty rather than carbonated cans to burst across the road during filming.
Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico portrayed the Cuban GoldenEye installation. Derek Meddings' team also built a moving miniature at Leavesden that could rise from a draining lake.
GoldenEye was the first Bond film to use computer-generated imagery and ultimately contained 140 digital-effects shots. Daniel Kleinman designed both the digitally renewed gun barrel and the title sequence for the first time.
Michael France wrote the first screenplay draft; Kevin Wade, Jeffrey Caine and Bruce Feirstein worked on later versions. The finished credits name Caine and Feirstein for the screenplay and France for the story.
Judi Dench filmed her first appearance as M on 7 February. The characterisation drew on Stella Rimington, who had become the first woman to head Britain's domestic intelligence service MI5 in 1992.
Xenia's killing of the admiral was reshot in a less explicit form to satisfy US censors. In Britain the film initially opened in a cut version rated 12; the BBFC later passed uncut editions at 15.
Tina Turner's title song, written by Bono and The Edge, reached number ten on the UK singles chart and remained there for nine weeks. Éric Serra composed the score and also performed the end-title song The Experience of Love.
The German dub was produced by Berliner Synchron Wenzel Lüdecke. Thomas Danneberg wrote and directed the German dialogue, with Frank Glaubrecht voicing Pierce Brosnan as James Bond.
The Numbers reports a $60 million budget and a worldwide theatrical gross of $356.4 million. JamesBond.de gives a differing $50 million budget, but the commercial success of the series' return is unambiguous.