Goldeneye: Revisiting the iconic intro to Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond

Last Updated on August 4, 2023

The James Bond franchise has had its share of iconic moments on the big screen over its nearly 60 year run. The character itself has become one of the most recognizable and beloved protagonists of the last five decades and has seen 7 actors take on the mantel. Now, fans of 007 will all have their different favorites when it comes to the character and the movies- but one of our favorites at JoBlo is 1995’s Goldeneye. The film stars Pierce Brosnan as the debonaire secret agent with a license to kill in his very first take on the character. In fact, this movie is chalk-full of firsts which not only elevated the franchise into the modern era, but also sealed its status as one of the greatest 007 adventures ever committed to screen.

The film was released in 1995 and was the first Bond movie to be released since the fall of the Soviet Union. As a result, the film went bold and filmed on location in Russia, and hiring expert Russian and German engineers and architects to consult on the set (Both men went uncredited to keep their identities anonymous) and to add to the madness, Pierce Brosnan injured his hand days before filming began which resulted in the studio hiring his son, Christopher Brosnan, to act as Pierce’s hand-double for shots that feature Bond’s hands in a close-up. The opening scene features the highest reported base jump ever done on film at the time with a shocking 220-meter fall. We also get introduced to the character of Alec/006 (played by Sean Bean) who was nearly cast as Bond himself. 

The surprising amount of confusion and unknowns that went on behind the scenes of this movie are in no short supply. At one point it was confirmed that the movie would star Timothy Dalton as Bond, who was the current actor in the role before Goldeneye. Of course, we all can agree that Brosnan did an incredible job in this iconic first outing, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Brosnan gave a charming and confident performance that perfectly brought the character into the modern day, but also stayed true to the character’s roots. Speaking of roots, this movie was also the very first Bond movie to not be based on any of Ian Fleming’s 007 books. The screenplay consisted of an ALMOST completely original concept. I say “almost” because the original script was nearly identical to another popular film of the time, True Lies (1994).

There is so much more trivia and interesting facts to know about the film and specifically, the opening scene. Make sure to check out our episode (embedded above) of Scene Breakdown where we get into all the fun and flavor of this iconic opening scene, in this iconic movie.