| “ | You can't win. | „ |
| ~ Ourumov threatening Bond. |
General Arkady Grigorovich Ourumov (Russian: Аркадий Григорьевич Урумов) is a major antagonist in the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye. He is a corrupt Russian general in league with Alec Trevelyan of the Janus Syndicate.
He was portrayed by the late Gottfried John, who also played Julius Caesar in Asterix and Obelix vs. Caesar.
Biography[]
Beginnings[]
Though a member of the Communist Party, Ourumov values money and power over ideology, and uses whatever means necessary, including treachery, to rise up the ranks of the Soviet military. He hopes to become "the next Iron Man of Russia".
Staging a Shootout[]
Upon his promotion to Colonel, Ourumov is given the important job of being in charge of a Soviet Russian Chemical Weapons Factory. During his early days in his new position he meets rogue British intelligence agent Alec Trevelyan, who offers to make Ourumov rich if he helps him betray MI-6. The two pledge not to see each other until Alec Trevelyan and James Bond were to go on a mission to destroy Ourumov's base. However, Ourumov and Trevelyan had different plans. Trevelyan deliberately gets himself caught by Ourumov and his men, and Bond witnesses Ourumov shoot Trevelyan in the head. Ourumov attempts to catch Bond and almost succeeds, but Bond just manages to escape.
The shooting was staged, however. Unbeknownst to Bond, Trevelyan is alive, albeit deeply scarred on the right side of his face. He becomes an international terrorist and crime lord under the name "Janus" (The two-faced Roman god). Ourumov, supposed to be executed for the destruction of the chemical weapons base, frames one of his soldiers for the incident and is instead promoted to the rank of General, and is placed in charge of the Severnaya Space Facility in Siberia. Ourumov also has the job of employing another member for The Janus Crime Syndicate - he hires Xenia Onatopp, an ex-Soviet fighter pilot, whom he is familiar with. For the next 9 years The Janus Crime Syndicate would terrorize Russia without getting caught and all their identities remaining secret, and Ourumov was earning more power, which was starting to trouble the Russian Government.
Stealing Goldeneye[]
Ourumov and his forces with Alec Trevelyan as their prisoner.
Nine years later, Ourumov completes the establishment of their syndicate's greatest weapon: "GoldenEye". Two GoldenEye satellite dishes were built: one in Siberia, and one hidden in Cuba. Anyone who became suspicious of Ourumov ended up dead at the hands, or perhaps the thighs, of Xenia.
The Syndicate's first act is the theft of the Tiger helicopter - Ourumov and Xenia personally took care of the operation under the strict order of Janus not to fail. They successfully manage to steal it before Bond can stop them, and arrive in Siberia hours later where the second act of their operation would take place. Ourumov made sure to hire the most intelligent computer programmer to take care of the GoldenEye weapon: Boris Grishenko. Ourumov and Xenia enter the satellite base where the corrupt general orders one of his men to give him the GoldenEye and authorization codes they need to test-fire the GoldenEye. Upon receiving these, Xenia suddenly shoots everyone in the base, and together they arm the GoldenEye to fire on Severnaya in order to eliminate the evidence. The two leave, pleased with their success, not knowing one person is still alive - Natalya Simonova.
Ourumov and Xenia take Boris with them and escape moments before the GoldenEye weapon detonates, and their witness, Natalya, narrowly escapes. Afterwards, Ourumov heads back to Russia to report to Defence Minister Dimitri Mishkin. Ourumov soon learns that Natalya Simonova is alive and he leaves immediately, frustrated with Xenia's failure to kill "everyone". He assigns Boris and Xenia to find her, which doesn't take them long. Ourumov takes Natalya to Trevelyan's hideout, where he ties her up in the Tiger helicopter to await her death. Bond also ends up in the helicopter, moments after learning that Trevelyan is alive and that he is a traitor. Bond and Natalya escape moments before the Tiger helicopter's heat-seeking missiles fire back on itself, but they are soon caught by Russian troops and taken to the military intelligence archives and locked in a prison cell.
A Traitor Revealed[]
Ourumov moments before murdering the Defense Minister.
Later, upon hearing that Dimitri Mishkin has Bond and Natalya in custody, Ourumov arrives and storms into the cell where Mishkin is interrogating the pair. Ourumov argues with Mishkin, trying to convince him that Bond is responsible for the attack on the Severnaya Facility. Believing Natalya's story concerning Ourumov's treachery, Mishkin yells for a guard to arrest him, but the general quickly shoots Mishkin's bodyguard and then Mishkin himself with Bond's gun. After improvising a cover story, Ourumov then calls for the guards to kill Bond and Natalya. However, Bond hurls a chair into Ourumov and beats him, then throws him headlong into a wall. While he's dazed, Bond takes on two soldiers who enter the cell, then arms himself before escaping with Natalya. Ourumov leads his soldiers throughout the archives, searching for the pair. Ourumov's men manage to capture Natalya, leaving Bond to escape on his own. Ourumov takes Natalya and one of his men and they escape out onto the streets of St. Petersburg by car, but Bond hijacks a tank and suddenly bursts through a wall in pursuit. He leaves a path of destruction behind him as he chases Ourumov through the busy roads, but the general soon arrives at Trevelyan's converted missile train.
Ourumov boards the train with Natalya, and explains to Trevelyan that Bond has escaped. Later, their journey is halted by Bond, who uses the hijacked tank to stop the train. He then boards the damaged train and holds Trevelyan and Xenia Onatopp at gunpoint. Ourumov is called into the room, holding a gun to Natalya's head. Bond reveals to Ourumov that Trevelyan is a Lienz Cossack, leaving Ourumov shocked - however, Trevelyan smooths things over by telling him how rich and powerful he will soon be. He then nods for Ourumov to shoot Natalya, but his real intention is for Ourumov to distract Bond while he and Xenia escape, turning the general into a sacrificial lamb. Bond then shoots Ourumov, killing him. His body was reduced to ashes when Trevelyan's missile train exploded.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- General Ourumov is actually a quite late addition in the creation of finalized GoldenEye story. In early drafts, Trevelyan's (the older "Augustus" incarnation) involvement is not kept a secret and is established as the main antagonist early on, being more hands on with scheme than Alec is. Furthermore, General Pushkin from The Living Daylights had more active role in movie, being in charge of the Russian soldiers the way Ourumov is in the final version of the movie. Base version of Xenia Onatopp existed in the original draft and character Alexei Makvenio would be revised into Boris Grishenko. Rewrites diminished presence of Trevelyan and changing Pushkin to the less active D.M Mishkin, necessitating the creation of General Ourumov.
