110 replies to this topic

[Blue Eyes]

I can't do one off the top of my head, but keep hassling me. I'll make it my next project for the site bar standard news reporting!

[Donovan]

I am not sure if the story of Michael France's "Goldeneye" was ever broken down or not. So here it is:

I've only read the first draft of Michael France's "Goldeneye". I know he did some rewrites and completed a second draft. In the second draft, he incorporated the "graveyard of Lenin/Stalin statues" into a scene.

Here are some basic observations of the first draft:

First, it is 156 pages. That's a big screenplay. The law of film averages says that a page is roughly one minute of screen time. This would mean a 156 minute film.

Xenia is not "Onatopp", but she does enjoy killing men a least as much as having sex. Instead of using her thighs, she uses her hands to induce heart-attacks.

PRE-TITLES

We meet the main girl, Marina Varoskaya, immediately. The train chase is because someone is trying to kill her. She is a design/engineer and was a major player in developing the "Tempest" EMP weapon for the Soviet Union, which was eventually changed to "GoldenEye". She's on the train because she helped design it. Our man James is on it working security. A guy posing as a waiter tries to blow the train up. Bond catches him, and the guy climbs out to the top of the train where a helicopter is waiting to pick him up. Bond follows suit, and kills the "waiter". The helicopter attacks the train, and a large hole is blown in the top of the auto-carrying car. Bond climbs through the hole and drives his Aston Martin DB7 out onto the roof of the train, over the streamlined front, and bumps the low-flying chopper so that it flies out of control and crashes into the train, which keeps going. (this is told very quickly by me).

FIRST ACT

The slaughter scene at Severnaya is lead by Augustas Trevelyan, not Xenia. And he uses two EMP-proof helicopters. Alexei Makvenio is basically Boris Grishenko, but not quite as geeky. MiGs are scrambled from an aircraft carrier, not land. The Tempest is set to detonate much like we saw the GoldenEye. The helicopters fly away unharmed while the arriving MiGs are destroyed.

Then the story moves to the death of a scientist. Turns out that he was part of a team that developed the orbiting EMP satelites. These scientists are being killed (or attempted to be, like Marina) to eliminate the chances of their being used to foil Trevelyan's schemes.

Now France includes some Fleming characters. Loelia Ponsonby, Bond's secretary (although France has Bond call her 'Loelia', where he called her 'Lil' in the books) and Sir James Molony, the medical officer. I did not gather that Trevelyan is Messervy's replacement. The M described in this story seems to be Messervy, smoking a pipe. When I read the script, I thought Trevelyan might be Messervy's predecessor, but he's only 60. The Minister of Defense (Frederick Gray, although not mentioned by name) is also back, always asking the usual "what does this mean?" The dialogue in this scene is very much like "A View To A Kill": Minister asks what EMP means, and Bond explains. Bond is sent to Moscow to investigate the murder of the aforementioned scientist, who was cooperating with MI6. His death was KGB-ish. I do not recall seeing Moneypenny...first signal of the end of Caroline Bliss?

Next is a scene where Trevelyan is acting like Blofeld, holding a meeting, killing an operative who failed the train job. Bond is now in Moscow. Instead of Jack Wade, Bond's contact is Valentin Kosygyn, who answers to the name Romaly. Bond has only been to Russia once, and has a dark memory about it. He runs into General Leonid Pushkin (from TLD) and asks point-blank if Pushkin had the scientist killed. Pushkin's character becomes Defense Minister Mishkin in the film. Pushkin doesn't like being questioned by Bond and orders him escorted to his car. There, Bond sees Trevelyan and Bond wants to kill him. One interesting part of the dialogue is Trevelyan asking Bond, "...if the vodka martinis ever completely still the voices of all the men you've killed. Or if you ever find forgiveness, in the arms of all those women, for the one that you failed to protect."

The hotel pool scene is for the most part similar to how it worked in the film. Xenia greets Bond without any clothes on. In the film, Bond doesn't sleep with her, but in this script he does...twice. Xenia sets a trap for Bond, who thinks he's going to surprise Trevelyan. Trevelyan wants to play the Russians and British off against each-other (similar to TLD). Bond escapes the trap (poison gas) and breaks into old KGB headquarters to pick up some records/files (as Mission: Impossible did on a different level). He is looking for the girl, Marina, from the train. He is discovered and the militia come out blazing. Bond naturally escapes.

For some reason, this next part reminds me of Fleming's "Moonraker"---the test-firing of a new weapon. What is actually happening is a nuclear weapon is supposed to explode in a controlled area, and destroy 300 other weappons as part of a treaty. Marina, who has been hiding much like Natalya, arrives at the site where she runs into Alexei (Boris), who was her mentor. She trusts him, and is knocked unconcious for it by a thug named Illya Borchenko. Bond then enters the scene, sees the girl, and questions Alexei about what is really going on. This part seems a bit weak: Alexei is basically trying to test what an EMP would be like with this blast. Bond is knocked out by Illya (I know). When he comes to, they are in amid a collection of hundreds of warheads. He manages to whack Illya in the leg, who sprays machine gun bullets everywhere, killing Alexei. Illya is chasing Bond who grabs Marina and they run for it. They run past blast doors just as they shut (TWINE). A small explosion from gunfire makes a chain reaction of warheads physically toppling over. Bond dives through the last blast door, Illya is caught inside and incinerated by the nuclear explosion. Bond and Marina still have to escape the shaking/crumbling ground. This scene was toned down to basically become the Tiger helicopter destruction in the film.

SECOND ACT

Once safe, Bond and Marina are captured and brought to a remote interrogation headquarters. Bond has a short talk with Marina, somewhat like the short talk with Natalya in the prison. It is here that he has a flashback that reveals what he has against Trevelyan. 003, 005 (female) and 007 are sneaking up on a house (same one that Bond has just been brought to) where Trevelyan is being held by the KGB. This is Bond's first time in Russia. Bond can see inside the house as Trevelyan is interrogated by KGB. Bond snipes the guards. He signals to Trevelyan to move. Trevelyan picks up a weapon from a dead guard and gives away Bond's position to other on-coming guards. Trevelyan shoots 003 and 005, killing them both. Bond gets away, but is visibly angered by the betrayal.

Back in the present, as Marina is being interrogated, Trevelyan shows up in a helicopter and attacks the building. Bond and Trevelyan come face-to-face again, Bond is held at gun point. Trevelyan explains to Bond about defecting. He was the head of MI6, and wanted to defect to the Soviet Union. Trevelyan boasts that he supplied the Russians with every bit of secret information he could. Now Bond does what Roger Ebert calls "the fallacy of the talking killer routine" where Bond plants a seed of doubt in the killer's mind and this delays Bond's execution long enough to let Bond escape from a distraction.

Part of Bond and Marina's escape involves a broken-down plane. After that, they escape on skis, and are chased by the helicopter with the sawblades.

Now with all this commotion surrounding Bond, Puskin thinks it is he that is leaving the wake of dead Russian soldiers. He orders him captured or killed. Meanwhile, Marina expresses guilt and regret for her role in developing the Tempest. There is or were three satellites, not two. They are in space under the guise of belonging to legitimate communications firms. They also have defenses such as lasers. As Bond and Marina make it to a crowded celebration at dusk near a palace. Bond's contact Romaly helps them, but they are soon chased by Pushkin's militia. Bond splits off from Romaly and Marina. Bond gets captured. Xenia is there too and has a henchman shoot at Marina, but Romaly pushes her out of the way and is killed. Meanwhile Bond plants a seed of trust with Pushkin directly, and escapes. Pushkin is not sure he can trust Bond, but he won't have him killed. Bond gets on a horse from the celebration and chases after Marina, Xenia and the henchman. Bond engages the henchman, and Xenia uses a garrotte concealed by earrings to strangle Marina. The henchman gets lost in the crowd, and Bond throttles Xenia off of Marina. Then Xenia attacks Bond and Marina shoots her with a gun Xenia dropped in the fight. Bond grabs Marina and they flee on horseback. The horse walks across an icy waterway, and the ice cracks under the weight, but never gives. Chasing militia cannot persue because of the weakened ice.

Meanwhile, apparently after a report from Bond, NATO is tracking down the two most likely evil satelites. The good satelites try to destroy them, but the evil satelites have some interesting weapons, like mini-mines that are magnetic (how did the magnets differentiate from the satelite it is protecting?) and cling to the good satelite and explode.

CONTINUED.....

[Donovan]

THIRD ACT

Bond and Marina know to go to the Carribbean, to an island called St. Latrelle (ode to Fleming's Solitaire?). A giant 600-foot diameter dish is seen (not camouflaged by being underwater). The plane is promptly persued by two helicopters. Bond leads a plane into the dish, and quickly manuevers out so that the helicopter has little time to react and crashes into the edge. Bond and Marina parachute out of their damaged plane. In the film, Bond and Natalya slide along the smooth edge of the dish. There is a fairly more complicated scene in this script involving crashed helicopters and Bond with opening a second 'chute as he and Marina reach the center, which is a hole leading to a large cavern.

Bond and Marina split up. He tells Marina she has to try and stop the Tempest from being fired. He plants a bomb on a parked plane in a hangar full of planes. Meanwhile, we see Trevelyan, in a computerized control complex that France describes as looking "like the New York Stock Exchange as designed by Ken Adam."

This part is very interesting: Trevelyan's target is New York City. Why? For much the same reason as the film: to wipe out a trace of his stealing hundreds of billions of dollars ($600 bil). New York is chosen because he is doing this via the World Trade Center. One million New Yorkers will be killed in the process. The WTC has trillions of dollars processed from overseas daily. After the '93 bombing (which occurred just as the script was written--so this was topical), Trevelyan planted a computer operative in the WTC as new security protocols were enacted. As for the death of one million people, Trevelyan dismisses them as "merely dust on the globe."

Trevelyan relishes that no one can trace him. Tensions are high between east and west, thanks to his Koskov-like plan of playing agents off each-other, and New York will be engulfed "in flames from a terrorist attack." Trevelyan also will use the impending sharp drop in the dollar to his advantage in the exchange rates after the blast.

Meanwhile, Marina has broken into the complex and re-routed the satelite to their position in the Carribbean. The bomb Bond planted goes off, starting a chain-reaction of exploding planes in the hangar. This while Trevelyan's techs are trying desperately to re-task the approaching satelite...which will be here in five minutes. Bond and Marina escape to safety, but Bond gets a bullet wound in the arm. There is a chance the techs can recover, and Bond sets out to stop them--which places him in the line of fire for the Tempest along with the operation. He has a savge fight with a henchman named Savatier, who has been in and out of the scenes prior. The Tempest explodes and Savatier, surrounded by conducive girders, is electrocuted. Bond grabs a non-conducive rope and dangles from it. Trevelyan barely escapes. Bond and Marina make eye contact as Trevelyan grabs her and pushes her into the dish. She falls into a precarious net of wreckage, delaying her doom. Bond and Trevelyan engage in a fight upon loosened panels of the dish, which slowly give way with every punch. Bond notices this and gives a final powerful kick to a panel holding Trevelyan. This breaks loose and Trevelyan falls 200 feet into flaming wreckage. Bond barely grabs Marina as her safety net gives way and falls. They escape in a EMP-proof helicopter.

FINAL RESOLUTION

At NATO HQ, M, Q and and American security head the damage and where it has occured. They know 007 went to that area, but cannot reach him because of the effects from the EMP blast. "Heaven only knows what survival conditions he's being forced to deal with," says Q.

CUT TO: Bond upset that his vodka martini is stirred, not shaken. But then manages to get over it in a romantic embrace with Marina.

FINAL THOUGHTS

It is certainly well-desrved recognition for France that he got a story credit for the film. What he provided is a fresh, new story in script form. The producers and subsequent writers took this, as if it were a Fleming novel, and adapted it. I like his version of Trevelyan a bit better than the film. An older, one-time superior of Bonds holds more weight than a younger less-than-equal (we know 007 is the best agent, 006 can only be second-best or less). I like Sean Bean, and his character, but again, this somehow had more substance. His plan for New York makes more practical sense than London, even though it is part of personal revenge. Anthony Hopkins would not be ideal based on what I read. I pictured Trevelyan to be a big, fit man. Hopkins is short and stocky. I like some of the name changes that happened for the final film. The name Marina sounds like a water dock. Xenia was certainly improved for the film. I like the final Tempest explosion--more satisfying than a fire started by a small exploding pen. I am not sure why this script is called "Goldeneye". I may have missed something. So for the Tempest to be renamed GoldenEye is an improvement. For the lesser roles, I think the film was more successful in creating a wider range of personalities. This script lists one Russian name after the other, so it is harder to keep everyone straight. It was nice to see Pushkin. This script, a first draft, mind you, was a very positive step in bringing back Bond. I did read it with Dalton in mind, and it would have been interesing to see this realised.

[IrishCrown]

This was a James Bond movie, and would go on to be one of the best--and we know there's no place for Tim Dalton in a Bond movie. He's proven that.

[Roebuck]

Thanks for that Donovan!

This clears up a lot of rumours for me, especially about the third act helicopter sequence.
The somewhat convoluted version I heard involved Bond machine gunning Xenia's helicopter as he is free falling from his plane. Then Onatopp is somehow chopped up the helicopters rotor blades.

[Xenobia]

I wonder if this means that BE has not sent me the first draft script as he said he would when he sent me back the book I loaned him.

Hmmm....

-- Xenobia

[JimmyBond]

Originally posted by IrishCrown
This was a James Bond movie, and would go on to be one of the best--and we know there's no place for Tim Dalton in a Bond movie.  He's proven that.

Do we really need these kind of personal attacks on Bond actors? Especially in a thread that isnt about Bond actors? While I like Dalton, I'm not gonna say anything about your statement, since it is your opinion, but others may ignore it like I am going to (yes, I realize commenting on it is not ignoring it, but you know what I mean )

As to the first draft of Goldeneye. Man oh man oh man! Why couldnt they have filmed this script, it sounds like it would have made a damn fine Bond film. Too bad it had to be turned into a uneven film that loses focus of its star halfway through.

[zencat]

NICE summery Donovan. You seem to really know your stuff. Happy to have you as a part of the CBn "family."

[RossMan]

Thanks for posting that, Donovan.

I think I like this version better than the final product. I think it has the potential to be one of the best films in the series. I would have liked have seen Dalton do this one.

[rafterman]

thanks for that Donovan...

[Bondpurist]

Dalton would have been excellent in a film of that nature. Fascinating synopsis by the way Donovan.

[PrinceKamalKhan]

Thanks for posting the summary, Donovan. It sounds like with Dalton as 007 and Anthony Hopkins as Trevelyan it would have been an even better film although if it had been made as written, it would be very strange(to say the least) to see a Bond film involving the scheme concerning the World Trade Center post 9-11. Is this original GE script available anywhere online to read like the original TND script is at universalexports.net?

[bryonalston]

Where did you get this draft? I'd very much like to read the entire thing.

[marktmurphy]

I'd like to see an article about this, people-in-the-know.

[marktmurphy]

Any sign of that article yet?

[Nicolas Suszczyk]

I hope to find it somewhere on the net....

[Mr. Blofeld]

I have the draft; if you want, I can send it to anybody.

[Guy Haines]

THIRD ACT

Bond and Marina know to go to the Carribbean, to an island called St. Latrelle (ode to Fleming's Solitaire?). A giant 600-foot diameter dish is seen (not camouflaged by being underwater). The plane is promptly persued by two helicopters. Bond leads a plane into the dish, and quickly manuevers out so that the helicopter has little time to react and crashes into the edge. Bond and Marina parachute out of their damaged plane. In the film, Bond and Natalya slide along the smooth edge of the dish. There is a fairly more complicated scene in this script involving crashed helicopters and Bond with opening a second 'chute as he and Marina reach the center, which is a hole leading to a large cavern.

Bond and Marina split up. He tells Marina she has to try and stop the Tempest from being fired. He plants a bomb on a parked plane in a hangar full of planes. Meanwhile, we see Trevelyan, in a computerized control complex that France describes as looking "like the New York Stock Exchange as designed by Ken Adam."

This part is very interesting: Trevelyan's target is New York City. Why? For much the same reason as the film: to wipe out a trace of his stealing hundreds of billions of dollars ($600 bil). New York is chosen because he is doing this via the World Trade Center. One million New Yorkers will be killed in the process. The WTC has trillions of dollars processed from overseas daily. After the '93 bombing (which occurred just as the script was written--so this was topical), Trevelyan planted a computer operative in the WTC as new security protocols were enacted. As for the death of one million people, Trevelyan dismisses them as "merely dust on the globe."

Trevelyan relishes that no one can trace him. Tensions are high between east and west, thanks to his Koskov-like plan of playing agents off each-other, and New York will be engulfed "in flames from a terrorist attack." Trevelyan also will use the impending sharp drop in the dollar to his advantage in the exchange rates after the blast.

Meanwhile, Marina has broken into the complex and re-routed the satelite to their position in the Carribbean. The bomb Bond planted goes off, starting a chain-reaction of exploding planes in the hangar. This while Trevelyan's techs are trying desperately to re-task the approaching satelite...which will be here in five minutes. Bond and Marina escape to safety, but Bond gets a bullet wound in the arm. There is a chance the techs can recover, and Bond sets out to stop them--which places him in the line of fire for the Tempest along with the operation. He has a savge fight with a henchman named Savatier, who has been in and out of the scenes prior. The Tempest explodes and Savatier, surrounded by conducive girders, is electrocuted. Bond grabs a non-conducive rope and dangles from it. Trevelyan barely escapes. Bond and Marina make eye contact as Trevelyan grabs her and pushes her into the dish. She falls into a precarious net of wreckage, delaying her doom. Bond and Trevelyan engage in a fight upon loosened panels of the dish, which slowly give way with every punch. Bond notices this and gives a final powerful kick to a panel holding Trevelyan. This breaks loose and Trevelyan falls 200 feet into flaming wreckage. Bond barely grabs Marina as her safety net gives way and falls. They escape in a EMP-proof helicopter.

FINAL RESOLUTION

At NATO HQ, M, Q and and American security head the damage and where it has occured. They know 007 went to that area, but cannot reach him because of the effects from the EMP blast. "Heaven only knows what survival conditions he's being forced to deal with," says Q.

CUT TO: Bond upset that his vodka martini is stirred, not shaken. But then manages to get over it in a romantic embrace with Marina.

FINAL THOUGHTS

It is certainly well-desrved recognition for France that he got a story credit for the film. What he provided is a fresh, new story in script form. The producers and subsequent writers took this, as if it were a Fleming novel, and adapted it. I like his version of Trevelyan a bit better than the film. An older, one-time superior of Bonds holds more weight than a younger less-than-equal (we know 007 is the best agent, 006 can only be second-best or less). I like Sean Bean, and his character, but again, this somehow had more substance. His plan for New York makes more practical sense than London, even though it is part of personal revenge. Anthony Hopkins would not be ideal based on what I read. I pictured Trevelyan to be a big, fit man. Hopkins is short and stocky. I like some of the name changes that happened for the final film. The name Marina sounds like a water dock. Xenia was certainly improved for the film. I like the final Tempest explosion--more satisfying than a fire started by a small exploding pen. I am not sure why this script is called "Goldeneye". I may have missed something. So for the Tempest to be renamed GoldenEye is an improvement. For the lesser roles, I think the film was more successful in creating a wider range of personalities. This script lists one Russian name after the other, so it is harder to keep everyone straight. It was nice to see Pushkin. This script, a first draft, mind you, was a very positive step in bringing back Bond. I did read it with Dalton in mind, and it would have been interesing to see this realised.

What an interesting film this would have made. On the thread about whether we want the return of a male M, I suggested a scenario in which a villain, if not the main villain was M's successor. I never thought that such an idea would be the basis for the GE first draft.

Perhaps the film makers could revisit this draft script for ideas?

[Matt_13]

This is hugely interesting stuff.

[Mr. Blofeld]

Anyone have any questions about the France draft? I'm available for comment and analysis...

[JimmyBond]

Sure I'll bite.

One of my issues with the finished film is that Bond feels like a spectator for pretty much the first half of the film. While I do enjoy the scenes at the beginning of the film where Bond takes it upon himself to launch an investigation while he's seemingly on holiday (much like he did in Thunderball), once we get back to London Bond is relegated to watching the Goldeneye theft play out on computer monitors and such.

Now that I've rambled a bit, I guess what I'm saying is I've always felt Bond was more of a reactionary character in the film, never really pushing the plot forward. Does he play more of an active role in the script?

[Mr. Blofeld]

He does; the pre-titles sequence involves Trevelyan's men attempting to kill Marina (who would develop into Natalya) on a mag-lev train Bond has been assigned to watch, and not only is Bond the first person to see anything suspicious (the sommelier is serving drinks for the host, not the ladies), he also pretty much foils the plot single-handedly (although Marina, being the train's designer, does unhook the passenger compartment to keep them out of harm's way), driving his Aston-Martin over the roof of the train and destroying the helicopter sent to pick up the "sommelier".

The Severnaya sequence takes place immediately after the titles; Marina is not involved in the sequence, and Bond learns about it during a meeting with M, Sir Frederick Gray (listed only as "Minister", but obviously Gray), Q, and Sir James Molony, shortly after researching known associates of the "sommelier" -- at the meeting, it's Bond and Q who are on top of things, immediately.

...so, yes, Bond does have a more active role; he's not at Severnaya when the EMP goes off, to be sure, but he's involved in foiling Trevelyan's early damage control as soon as the gunbarrel opens up.

[Royal Dalton]

France had Bond as more of an investigative character. But Jeffrey Caine changed it because he thought Bond should just throw himself into situations and deal with the consequences as they happen. Not unlike Craig's Bond, really.

[Mr. Blofeld]

I suppose... but Craig's Bond never drove a tank through the streets of St. Petersburg, did he?

As it stands, France's Bond throws himself into a good couple of action sequences, as well; let's not forget the train sequence, but Bond also infiltrates KGB headquarters when he knows it's a trap, and an obvious one -- but that's less Bond being brash than it is a very good callback to From Russia with Love.

[JimmyBond]

But Jeffrey Caine changed it because he thought Bond should just throw himself into situations and deal with the consequences as they happen. Not unlike Craig's Bond, really.

I never got that impression from the finished film at least. Craig's Bond creates situations that he deals with in his own way. Brosnan's Bond (at least in Goldeneye) dealt with situations that he got pulled into, escaping from the archives, chasing Natalya, etc.

[Mr. Blofeld]

Any more questions?

[marktmurphy]

I think your PM box may be full

[Mr. Blofeld]

I think your PM box may be full

I've responded to everyone who wants a copy, unless you'd care for one, too; any more questions?

[JimmyBond]

Yeah I suppose. Are there any action sequences in the script that haven't yet been used in a Bond film? Aside from the opening train sequence which was removed because it was too similar to Mission: Impossibles ending action scene.

[The Shark]

Could I have a copy, please?