The 17th James Bond movie. After a six year hiatus from LICENCE TO KILL, major political upheaval would drastically envelop: the fall of the Berlin Wall, communism collapses in Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union being dissolved. As the Cold War came towards its' end, fans may have felt weary the James Bond series would end with it. It wasn't until producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli (under supervision from Albert R. Broccoli) now owned the franchise and gambled to bring new life to the character and series. The ongoing events of global alliances, superior weaponry, and advanced technology inevitably set the standard for action, excitement, and suspense. Of course the major component is casting Pierce Brosnan in the role of James Bond. With a riveting performance by Brosnan, and a new thrilling adventure blessed with exotic locales, high-tech gadgetry, beautiful women, deliciously evil villains, and a new female M as portrayed by Dame Judi Dench, GOLDENEYE proves 007 once again a true hero of lethal charm and ruthless determination.
THE ASSIGNMENT: In 1986, Bond and Agent 006 collaborated for a mission in Archangel that went aury with 006 being murdered. Now in the present year (1995, the films' release) Bond has an encounter with mysterious Soviet Xenia Onatopp who has a flair for stunt driving and erotic pleasure. Unaware to Bond or MI6, Onatopp works for the now General Ourumov (who was the enemy in the 1986 mission) under the Janus Crime Syndicate in Russia. Ouromov and Onatopp burst into the Severnaya Computer Facility, kill everyone, and test-fire the GoldenEye satellite in space, obliterating the entire facility. M assigns Bond to seek those responsible and why. He has only two leads; streetwise yet infamous crime boss Valentin Zukovsky, and Natalya Simonova, the sole survivor of the Severnaya disaster, who is out to seek revenge of her own.
THE VILLAINS: Sean Bean as Alec Trevelyan, Famke Janssen as Xenia Onatopp, Gottfried John as General Ouromov, Alan Cumming as Boris Grishenko, and Tcheky Karyo as Defense Minister Dimitri Mishkin.
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