James Bond is one of the cinema’s most iconic characters and has different Bond girl and different car in every movie. He always ends up in tough spots but always escapes from them, with Bond film number 24 – named Spectre – now in cinemas. In honour of this, here are five of his greatest car stunts. All these stunts required some fully functional Car Batteries.
- Ski jump – The Spy Who Loved Me
1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me got off to a bang with a spectacular pre-credit sequence that saw Bond (Roger Moore) fly off a mountain before descending wearing a Union Jack parachute. This was actually the favourite stunt of Bond producer Cubby Broccoli and led into an adventure where Bond tried to stop Stromberg (Curt Jurgens) from using nuclear weapons on New York.
- Corkscrew jump – The Man With the Golden Gun
This 1974 film saw Moore’s Bond up against Scaramanga – played by Christopher Lee – who has access to an invention able to use the heat of the sun to destroy. In the big climactic chase, Bond pursues Scaramanga has to get his AMC Hornet over a river – and does so with a stunning twisty corkscrew jump. The stunt was performed by Loren ‘Bumps’ Willard, who secured a bonus payment of £30,000 for his efforts.
- Aston Martin Rollover – Casino Royale
Casino Royale, from 2006, was the first Bond movie to star Daniel Craig and saw him up against arms dealer Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) who is financing terrorism. Although Bond could have easily sat in the safety of his home playing mobile blackjack on sites like mobilecasinocanada he chose to face the villains’ front on. The action revolved around a central Texas hold’em poker showdown at Casino Royale, but after they have left the casino Bond is pursuing Le Chiffre in his Aston Martin only to find lover Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) tied up in the middle of the road. Swerving to avoid her, his Aston Martin performs a record-breaking number of rollovers.
- Car steps chaos – Spectre
The latest Bond film, Spectre, also features an impressive car stunt during a thrilling chase sequence that takes place in Rome. It sees Bond (Daniel Craig) drive his Aston Martin down a forty-foot flight of steps at a frankly terrifying clip, and marks one of the high points of the action. The plot of the movie sees Bond infiltrating an underground organisation called Spectre, with the help of Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux).
- Wheelie Mr Bond – Diamonds are Forever
Diamonds are Forever (1971) was Sean Connery’s last Bond film and the plot had Blofeld (Charles Gray) stealing diamonds for use in a laser satellite. In one sequence Bond has to escape through a narrow alley during a chase and does so by turning his car onto two wheels to get through!.
It is scenes such as these that have made James Bond such a legendary film character.