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.