Overview

In 1986, MI6 agents James Bond and Alec Trevelyan covertly access a Soviet chemical weapons facility known as Arkangel. When Trevelyan is captured and presumed killed by Colonel Arkady Grigorovich Ourumov, the facility's commander, Bond retaliates by destroying the site and escaping in a hijacked aircraft.

Fast forward nine years, following the fall of the Soviet Union, Bond aims to stop Xenia Onatopp, a member of the Janus crime syndicate, from executing a heist during a military display in Monte Carlo, but fails. Upon returning to MI6 Headquarters in London, he monitors an incident in Severnaya, Siberia, after the helicopter appears at a nearby radar installation. An unexpected electromagnetic pulse detonation demolishes the site and Russian fighter jets, simultaneously disrupting satellite systems in orbit.

The newly appointed M tasks Bond with the investigation, revealing that the blast originated from a Soviet-era satellite equipped with a nuclear electromagnetic pulse weapon, codenamed "GoldenEye." While Janus is implicated in the incident, Bond suspects General Ourumov's involvement, given the high-level military access required for such a weapon. In Saint Petersburg, Bond enlists the help of CIA agent Jack Wade, who advises him to meet former KGB operative turned criminal Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky to arrange a rendezvous with Janus. Accompanied by Onatopp, Bond learns that Trevelyan, having faked his death at Arkangel, leads Janus. Trevelyan's motivations stem from a desire for revenge against the British for their betrayal of his parents, the Lienz Cossacks, during WWII.

Bond and Natalya Simonova, the sole survivor of the Severnaya incident, find themselves sedated and trapped in the stolen helicopter. After escaping its destruction, they are detained and interrogated by Russian Minister of Defence Dimitri Mishkin. Natalya reveals Ourumov's connection to GoldenEye and mentions that another programmer, Boris Grishenko, survived and is now collaborating with Janus to operate a second satellite. Before Mishkin can act on this information, Ourumov murders him and captures Natalya. Bond, using a tank, pursues Ourumov to a missile train utilized by Janus, successfully defeating him and escaping just before the train explodes.

Bond and Natalya later trace Boris to a hidden location in the jungles of Cuba. While flying over, they are shot down. Onatopp descends from a helicopter to confront them, but Bond destroys her aircraft, killing her in the process. They discover a concealed base beneath a lake harboring a satellite dish.