Every James Bond Movie Pre-Credits Scene Ranked Worst To Best
6. Goldeneye - Bond And 006 Attack A Soviet Military Base
Between Licence to Kill and Goldeneye, the Bond franchise was in quite a lot of trouble. Legal disputes meant that the franchise was absent for years and furthermore, some wondered if maybe it was time to retire the character. It was fearer that, now that the Cold War was over, James Bond would lose relevance.
This opening was the first audiences had seen of Bond in six years... and it's likely that anyone who thought it might be time to end the series swallowed their words as soon as they saw this.
Goldeneye's pre-credits starts out with an amazing dam bungee jump stunt and then delivers an absolutely jaw-dropping action-sequence, all while Pierce Brosnan quickly establishes himself as the best Bond since Sean Connery.
The one jarring thing here is the fake-out death of 006, Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean), who is later revealed as the film's villain. It seems likely this was intended to be a big twist, but the marketing gave it away and Sean Bean is given second-billing in the pre-credits, so this really wasn't a twist at all.
Still, other than that, this is a fantastic opening scene and a brilliant way to reintroduce the character of James Bond to audiences.