GoldenEye (1995)

GoldenEye (1995) is the seventeenth installment in the James Bond franchise brought to you by Eon Productions. Starring Pierce Brosnan as MI6 agent James Bond and directed by Martin Campbell, this film strays from utilizing any story elements from Ian Fleming’s novels. In 1986, Bond and his fellow MI6 agent Alec Trevelyan infiltrate a Soviet chemical weapons facility known as Arkangel. After a failed mission and Trevelyan’s apparent death at the hands of Colonel Arkady Grigorovich Ourumov, Bond destroys the site before escaping in a stolen aircraft. Fast forward nine years, post-dissolution of the Soviet Union, and Bond is hot on the trail of Xenia Onatopp, a member of the Janus crime syndicate attempting to steal a Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopter during a military demonstration in Monte Carlo. Although unsuccessful, Bond returns to MI6 Headquarters in London for further investigation as they monitor an incident at Severnaya, Siberia involving the stolen helicopter turning up at a radar facility.

As the electromagnetic pulse blast strikes, it destroys both the site and Russian fighter aircraft, as well as disrupting some of the satellite systems in orbit. In light of this event being traced back to a Soviet-era satellite equipped with a nuclear electromagnetic pulse space-based weapon called ‘GoldenEye’, M assigns Bond to investigate. While Janus is believed to be the mastermind behind the attack, Bond suspects Ourumov (now a general) due to his level of military clearance necessary for operating such a weapon. Upon arriving in Saint Petersburg, Bond heeds advice from CIA contact Jack Wade to seek out ex-KGB agent-turned-gangster Valentin Zukovsky and enlist his help in arranging a meeting with Janus. Accompanied by Onatopp, Bond finally comes face to face with the true identity of Janus: none other than Trevelyan, who had supposedly died at Arkangel.