GoldenEye (1995) is the seventeenth spy film of the British James Bond series directed by Martin Campbell and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Unlike previous Bond films, it is unrelated to the works of novelist Ian Fleming, although the name "GoldenEye" was taken from his estate in Jamaica. The story was conceived and written by Michael France, with later collaboration by other writers. In the film, Bond fights to prevent an arms syndicate from using the GoldenEye satellite weapon against London in order to cause a global financial meltdown.

GoldenEye was released in 1995 after legal disputes forced a six-year hiatus in the series, during which Timothy Dalton resigned from the role of James Bond and was replaced by Pierce Brosnan. M was also recast with actress Judi Dench, becoming the first female to portray the character. GoldenEye was the first Bond film made after the downfall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, which provided a background for the plot.

The film was praised by most critics and performed well at the box office, considerably better than Dalton's films, without taking inflation into account. Some critics viewed the film as a modernisation of the series, and felt Brosnan was a definite improvement over his predecessor. It also received two BAFTA nominations – "Best Achievement in Special Effects" and "Best Sound".

Plot

MI6 agents 007 (James Bond) and 006 (Alec Trevelyan) infiltrate an illicit Soviet chemical weapons facility at Arkhangel and plant explosive charges. Trevelyan is captured and shot by Colonel Arkady Ourumov, but Bond steals an airplane and escapes the exploding facility.

Nine years later, Bond arrives in Monte Carlo to follow Xenia Onatopp, a suspected member of the Janus crime syndicate, who has formed a suspicious relationship with a Canadian Navy admiral. She murders the admiral to allow Ourumov (now a general) to steal his identity. The next day, they steal a prototype French Tiger helicopter that can withstand an electromagnetic pulse, flying it to a bunker in Severnaya, where they massacre the staff and steal the control disk for the dual GoldenEye satellite weapons. The two program one of the GoldenEyes to destroy the complex with an electromagnetic pulse and escape with traitor programmer Boris Grishenko. Natalya Simonova, the lone survivor, arranges to meet Grishenko in St. Petersburg, where he betrays her to Janus.

In London, M assigns Bond to investigate the attack, and he flies to St. Petersburg to meet CIA agent Jack Wade, who suggests he meet Valentin Zukovsky, a Russian Mafia head and business rival of Janus. After Bond gives him a tip on a potential heist, Zukovsky arranges a meeting between Bond and Janus, who reveals himself as Trevelyan. A Lienz Cossack, Trevelyan faked his death, having vowed revenge against Britain for their involvement in his parents' deaths. He ties Bond up with Simonova in the Tiger helicopter programmed to self-destruct, which the two escape using its ejection system. They are immediately arrested by the Russian police and interrogated by the Minister of Defence, Dmitri Mishkin. Just as Simonova reveals the existence of a second satellite and Ourumov's involvement in the massacre at Severnaya, Ourumov bursts into the room, shooting Mishkin and dragging Simonova into a car. Bond steals a T-80 tank and pursues Ourumov through St. Petersburg to Janus' armoured train, where he kills Ourumov as Trevelyan escapes, locking Bond in the train with Simonova. As the train's self-destruct countdown begins, Bond cuts through the floor with a laser watch while Simonova locates Grishenko's satellite dish in Cuba using a computer. The two escape just before the train explodes.