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It's not your fault; that kind of thing tends to happen whenever religion is brought up. There was a thread on Pope Francis' election earlier this year that met the same fate.
Exactly. I think that I said in that thread that it had descended into the ugly haranging of religion as a whole. I said that then and I say that now. This sort of thing should not be tolerated on this community and I was glad when the mods stepped in and cooled things down there by closing the thread for the time being. Please don't feel that any of that was your fault though, @BeatlesSansEarmuffs, as it clearly wasn't. Your sole thread (thus far) and your contributions to it are very much appreciated by this member and your thread was only the context for a heated row on the merits and demerits of religion as a whole that benefitted no-one. It could not possibly have been foreseen by you or anyone else that it would end up in the way that it did.
I am nearing completion of the trivia and if not tonight, it will appear tomorrow, with thesis questions and updated ratings to follow. I'll be honest- after the discussions wrap, I am seriously considering putting the thread on hiatus for 2-3 weeks until January 2014. After all, it is the holidays and even Sir Henry, staunch defender of the Bond faith, needs a break every now and then. If there were a regular dose of new Bond 24 tidbits happening it would be different. I'm actually more interested in the holidays and lots of the great food that happens then, so I'd expect you'll see more of me on my Cooking thread than here until then.
@SirHenryLeeChaChing I completely understand. I've been experiencing a bit of a Bond burnout as well, I just can't keep discussing the same things over and over again and so I've been staying away from the more Bond specific threads. I'll be going on Christmas vacation in about a week and should be a bit MIA for a while and I'm sure the same will probably happen with a lot other members.
Because he's that sort of guy.
CHARACTER NOTES-
- Daniel Craig's third outing playing James Bond. The film is Daniel Craig's first Bond film not to use an original Ian Fleming story for its title.
- Daniel Craig once told Rolling Stone magazine that he wanted Skyfall to be his third and final Bond movie, saying, "I've been trying to get out of this from the very moment I got into it but they won't let me go". Craig has since signed on for the next two James Bond films, both Bond 24 (2015) and Bond 25.
- Daniel Craig performed many of his own stunts including the signature roof-top fight on the top of a moving train traveling at 50 kph (31 mph) during the film's opening sequence. Producer Barbara Broccoli has said: "Daniel contributes a great deal to designing the action and the fights in particular and he's the one who really pulls it off, because he wants to do as much of it as he possibly can. We were in Turkey for the train sequence and I had my heart in my mouth the whole time; he and Ola were fighting on the roof of a moving train and the moves that they were doing were just heart stopping. Daniel's the reason why the action works as well as it does because he sells it, he's up there and I think audiences know that."
- Judi Dench has more screen time in this film alone than Desmond Llewelyn had in his 17 films as Q, making her portrayal of M the most common character in the series after Bond himself.
- Judi Dench played the role of M in this film at the age of 77. The performance is also Dench's 7th time playing M. This is Dench's largest ever on-screen role playing the M character, the most significant James Bond film ever to explore a relationship between the M and James Bond characters. Producer Barbara Broccoli says that Skyfall explores this relationship perhaps more than in any of the 22 previous films. She has said, "We wanted to really mine the relationship between Bond and M, because it is the most significant relationship he has in his life. M is the only person who represents authority to him. You have two extraordinary actors, and we just thought - let's go all the way. It's worked extremely well. It's a very emotional story."
- Kevin Spacey was considered for a role, but declined due to scheduling conflicts. It is believed that director Sam Mendes originally offered the role of the villain to Spacey, the part in the film played by Javier Bardem. Spacey worked with this Mendes on American Beauty (1999), in which Kevin Spacey's character complains to his wife about missing a James Bond marathon on television.
- Javier Bardem's casting marks the first time that a Spanish actor has played the lead villain in a James Bond movie, whilst Bardem is the third Spaniard to play any villain, after henchmen Simón Andreu in Die Another Day and Fernando Guillén Cuervo in Quantum of Solace. Bardem's villain name of Raoul Silva in the film is actually an alias, the character's real name being Thiago Rodriguez. The film's writers wrote the script with Bardem in mind whilst Bardem had the film's script translated into his native language of Spanish so as to achieve a better understanding of the story and his character. The first Bond movie Bardem ever saw was Moonraker, its henchman Jaws being his favorite Bond villain.
- Villains in the Bond movie series have often had some physiological dysfunction or trait that makes them distinguishable. For this movie, the Raoul Silva villain has a false jaw that was caused by his attempted suicide when a hydrogen cyanide capsule implant in one his back left molar was broken open and left his mandible lower jawbone (aka the inferior maxillary jaw bone) physically scarred. Maybe not coincidentally, Jaws from The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker, is Bardem's favorite Bond villain.
- With his casting, Javier Bardem became the second Academy Award winner to play a major Bond villain. The first was Christopher Walken in A View to a Kill, who had won an Oscar for The Deer Hunter (1978). Both Academy Awards were for Best Supporting Actor, Bardem's statuette was for No Country for Old Men (2007). Bardem is not the only actor in 'Skyfall' to have a Best Supporting Acting Oscar, Judi Dench has one for Shakespeare in Love (1998).
- Javier Bardem has described his Raoul Silva villain character as "An angel of death - a very clean shaven person who happens to be rotten on the inside. He has a very personal objective - he's not trying to destroy the world. And he is on a straight line to that objective: he is a man seeking revenge. It's about being focused on the one person he wants to eliminate." Bardem has also explained about finding the character inside the villain: "It's always about who's the person behind the character. It would be very difficult for me to play a role that I just saw as some kind of symbol. In this case, there is a man suffering, a man full of pain and frustration, who simply wants to fix the situation. Within that journey, there was room to be funny or aggressive, but I could perfectly understand who he was, and that helped me to portray him."
- Javier Bardem apparently was once offered a role in an earlier James Bond film prior to 'Skyfall', perhaps even the role of James Bond himself (though this is unlikely). Bardem told CinemaBlend, "Years ago, I was (offered Bond). I don't remember what movie it was for. But yeah, it just was not that time. I didn't feel that it was the time for me to do something like that. And also, I was doing something else, so I passed. This time, when I read it, I felt that it was very powerful material, and I wanted to join (a Bond movie)."
- Bond Girls in the movie are played by Naomie Harris as Eve; Bérénice Marlohe as Sévérine and Tonia Sotiropoulou as Bond's Lover. Actresses Freida Pinto, Olivia Wilde, Rachel Weisz, Esti Ginzburg, Margarita Levieva, Alice Eve, Ana Ventura, Emilia Fox and Ebru Akel were rumored and/or considered to appear as Bond Girls in the movie.
- Naomie Harris is the fourth actress in the official series to play Miss Moneypenny. Harris' Moneypenny is called Eve making her characterization the first time in the official series that the character has had a first name. The character had been on a 10 year hiatus since Die Another Day. Harris is also the first black actress to play the part. Lois Maxwell first played Moneypenny in 14 Bond films between 1962 and 1985 through all of the Connery, Lazenby and Moore movies. Maxwell was then followed by Caroline Bliss for two films during the Dalton era and then Samantha Bond for four films during the Brosnan era. 'Skyfall' represents the first time that Miss Moneypenny is a fully-fledged main Bond Girl and not a supporting character.
- Naomie Harris is the second actress of Jamaican descent to play a leading role in a Bond movie. American Grace Jones was the first in A View to a Kill. Jones was born in Spanish Town, Jamaica whereas Harris' mother is from Jamaica, Naomie spending some time there as a child. James Bond creator Ian Fleming wrote the James Bond stories at Goldeneye in Jamaica. The first ever Bond Girl in the official series was Swiss actress Ursula Andress who was first seen in a white bikini emerging from the tranquil sea waters of Jamaica in Dr. No. Harris is the third actress of Jamaican descent to play a Bond Girl, Marguerite LeWars was the first in Dr. No. LeWars was the reigning Miss Jamaica and was cast in the film when the production crew encountered her at Kingston Airport where she had been an employee.
- To prepare for the grueling physical demands of her action role as Eve (Moneypenny), Naomie Harris was given a personal trainer and worked-out for around two months for two hours a day, five days a week. For this, Harris did yoga, kick-boxing, running and circuit training. Moreover, for one day of the week, Harris did combat fighting training; for one-two days of the week, Harris did stunt driving training and for three days a week, Harris fired guns on a shooting range learning to shoot machine guns and Walther PPKs.
- French actress Bérénice Marlohe has said that her characterization of Bond Girl Sévérine was in part inspired by actress Famke Janssen's Xenia Onatopp Bond Girl character from GoldenEye. 'Skyfall' is the first English-speaking role for Marlohe who is the sixth French actress to play a Bond girl, the others being Claudine Auger (Thunderball, 1965), Corinne Cléry (Moonraker, 1979), Carole Bouquet (For Your Eyes Only, 1981), Sophie Marceau (The World Is Not Enough, 1999), and most recently, Eva Green in Casino Royale. Prior to 'Skyfall', Marlohe once appeared on a TV show wearing just a red wig and nothing else and reportedly, Marlohe didn't have an agent prior to 'Skyfall' and got the part in the film on her own. Marlohe was born in Paris on 19th May 1979 which was just a few months after Moonraker had finished filming there.
- Actress Bérénice Marlohe has said that she also based her inspiration on her Sévérine character on "The Chimera" which is from the Greek Mythology. Also known as "The Chimaera" or "The Chimæra", Wikipedia defines The Chimera as a "she-goat... a monstrous fire-breathing female creature of Lycia in Asia Minor, composed of the parts of three animals: a lion, a serpent and a goat. Usually depicted as a lion, with the head of a goat arising from its back, and a tail that ended in a snake's head, the Chimera was one of the offspring of Typhon and Echidna and a sibling of such monsters as Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra. The term chimera has also come to describe any mythical or fictional animal with parts taken from various animals." Marlohe has said "I wanted to have that dangerousness spreading through her, but at the same time I wanted to create a real human being with a range of emotions and the inner struggles we go through as human beings." Moreover, the name of the boat that Bond and Sévérine journey on in the film is called "The Chimera".
- The word Sévérine is a French name of Latin origin from the French language and translates into English as meaning "stern". It is a French feminine variation of the Latin male name "Severus" which is a Saint's name. Sévérine is made up of eight letters, has three syllables and is pronounced "Sey-Vah-RIY-N". Sévérine is variant of the name "Severina" used in the Italian, German, Portugese, Romanian and Slavic languages. Other variant forms of the name are Severino, Severinus, Severo, Sevrin and Seweryn.
- Greek model-actress Tonia Sotiropoulou who appears as a minor Bond Girl early in the movie had auditioned for the leading Bond Girl role of Sévérine but lost out to Bérénice Marlohe. After Casting Director Debbie McWilliams suggested that the production might be able to find another part for her, her management company Back Door Management resubmitted her for the film and she was successful. Tonia's Bond Girl character in the film has no name and is billed in the credits only as "Bond's Lover". Moreover, Sotiropoulou's brief role in the film is entirely mute making her the first Bond Girl to visibly consummate a relationship with Bond on screen (as opposed to one that is only implied) without actually saying even one word on screen.
- A number of the actors playing smaller parts in the movie never received a script to work with due to the production's strict secrecy protocols, so stringent and tight, that they reflect real life intelligence espionage. Greek actress Tonia Sotiropoulou did not know what she would be doing on the film until the time her scenes were shot. She commented, "I was one of the people who never had a script. I just got told what I'd be doing on the set by the director. They have to be so careful. You have quite strict contracts that say you can't say anything about the plot. And everyone respects that."
- Swedish actor Ola Rapace plays henchman Patrice who, despite being onscreen for more than 15 minutes in the pre-titles chase and Shanghai scenes, doesn't speak a single word of dialogue in the film. Ola is the ex-husband of Noomi Rapace who starred in the original The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009). James Bond actor Daniel Craig starred in its American remake The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011). Swede Rapace is the third Scandinavian actor to play a James Bond villain in three Bond films. Danish actors Mads Mikkelsen played the villain Le Chiffre in Casino Royale, whilst Jesper Christensen played the villain Mr. White in that film as well as Quantum of Solace.
- Actor Albert Finney has said he remembers seeing the first James Bond movie Dr. No. Other cast members were working actors in film and TV when Dr. No was in theaters. Actress Judi Dench, who plays M, was appearing as Anya in Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard (1962) whilst Finney's closest film role to the release date of Dr. No was as another great lover, Tom Jones (1963), in which he starred with Diane Cilento, who was once married to original cinematic Bond Sean Connery and who had doubled for Mie Hama's water scenes in You Only Live Twice. Producer Barbara Broccoli has said that her father, pioneer Bond producer Albert R. Broccoli, had been keen to work with Finney but the opportunity never arose.
- The role of Kincade as played by Albert Finney was originally written with Sean Connery in mind. Producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson originally wanted Connery to come out of retirement and make a surprise cameo. Director Sam Mendes told The Huffington Post, "There was a definite discussion about (Connery playing Kincade) - way, way early on. But I think that's problematic. Because, to me, it becomes too... it would take you out of the movie. Connery is Bond and he's not going to come back as another character. It's like, he's been there. So, it was a very brief flirtation with that thought, but it was never going to happen, because I thought it would distract."
- Ralph Fiennes is the fourth actor to play the M character in the official series. Fiennes' character Gareth Mallory becomes M at the end of the film. Bernard Lee was the first actor to play M between 1962 and 1979 through the Connery, Lazenby and some Moore films. Robert Brown then played M for four films for the rest of Moore's films and the two-film Dalton era. Judi Dench played M between 1995 and 2012 with her last appearance being here.
- When Ralph Fiennes confirmed that his character is a government agent, it led to rampant speculation that his character would be the new "M" in the series and that Dench's "M" would be depicted as retiring in 'Skyfall'. None of that was ever confirmed, but Fiennes' confirmation of his role's nature put an end to speculation that he would be playing Bond's old nemesis, Ernst Stavro Blofeld. In the end, the speculation proved true, as Fiennes' character Gareth Mallory, a former lieutenant colonel in the British Army and the Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, becomes M at the end of the film. Fiennes' M is the first time a male has played the part since Robert Brown in Licence to Kill (1989), a gap of around twenty-three years.
- Ben Whishaw is the fourth actor to play Q in the official James Bond series. 'Skyfall' marks the first time that Q is younger than James Bond. The producers have said that "When it came to trying to reintroduce the character of Q, it made sense that he would now be a young technical genius and the character was written with that in mind." Whishaw's character of Q has been likened to that of computer-genius types like Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg. Coincidentally, Whishaw has said that he doesn't even own a computer. Peter Burton first played Q under the character's real name of Major Boothroyd and nick-named the Armourer in Dr. No, then Desmond Llewellyn played Q in 17 Bond films between 1963-1999 followed by John Cleese (as Q's assistant R) in The World Is Not Enough and then as Q in Die Another Day, the latter being the last time the character appeared in the official series before Skyfall, a gap of around a decade.
- Second time in a James Bond movie that Rory Kinnear plays MI6 chief of staff Bill Tanner. His first time was in Quantum of Solace. With this film, Rory Kinnear has played Tanner twice on film and three times in video games, meaning he has portrayed the character more than any other actor.
- When it came time to casting Silva's mercenaries, director Sam Mendes wanted actors rather than stuntmen. In order to find actors that could fit the physical bill, stunt coordinator Gary Powell set up a stunt training camp. Starting with forty-two men, the group had to learn how to throw punches, react to punches, hold guns and react to being shot. The group was eventually narrowed down to the seven men who looked most natural.
- Some of the cast have favorites from the film series's history. Playing the villain in this film, Javier Bardem's favorite Bond villain is Jaws from The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker whilst Bond Girls Bérénice Marlohe and Naomi Harris say their favorite Bond Girls are Famke Janssen from GoldenEye and Grace Jones from A View to a Kill respectively.
- M's name is "Olivia Mansfield." A 2013 props exhibition revealed her full name to be visible in an inscription on the box given to Bond from Eve containing M's porcelain bulldog figurine. In 1995, the original script for GoldenEye had revealed M's name as "Barbara Mawdsley," but this was before the James Bond series "reboot" with Casino Royale, so Judi Dench's interpretation of M is likely two different characters. Curiously, "Olivia" is Dench's middle name, and the first head of the British Secret Service was (George) Mansfield Smith-Cummings (known by the first letter of his last name "C"). According to fellow spy novelist 'John Le Carré', Ian Fleming (ever tongue in cheek), designated the head of SIS as "M", using instead Cummings' first name. Keeping the Mansfield here as a surname is a twist but not intended in any of Fleming's original works. Fleming's "Man With the Golden Gun" gave his M's name as Miles Messervy.
PRODUCTION NOTES-
- Development and production was delayed for almost nine months during 2010-11 due to the bankruptcy and delayed sale of studio MGM, with the production being officially suspended on 19 April 2010. The press release from producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, for the film, then known as 'Bond 23', stated: "Due to the continuing uncertainty surrounding the future of MGM and the failure to close a sale of the studio, we have suspended development on 'Bond 23' indefinitely. We do not know when development will resume and do not have a date for the release of 'Bond 23'". During this period, some development and pre-production work continued on the film despite the canceled financing, with the goal to have this Bond film in theaters for the 50th Anniversary of the franchise. Production resumed in January 2011.
- Script-writer Peter Morgan left the production when development was suspended due to MGM's bankruptcy. Morgan later declared that ideas from his first draft were still retained by the Logan, Purvis & Wade screen-writing team including the film's "big hook". Character and plot details from the script were kept under tight wraps during principal photography with the names and identities of several characters such as those played by Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris and veteran Albert Finney being kept a secret for several months. The script was heavily revised by John Logan, even throughout filming. When filming wrapped, it had been revised thirteen times since the third draft.
- Final Bond consecutive James Bond script written by the screen-writing team of Purvis and Wade. Neal Purvis and Robert Wade have been penning Bond scripts for 15 years and 5 films starting with The World Is Not Enough (1999). They worked on the next 3 films and decided to move on after Skyfall.
- Purvis & Wade thought up the film's title at two in the morning. Neal Purvis and Robert Wade have said: "We needed a haunting place name. I just plucked it out of the air, and it turned out to be something that struck a chord with the filmmakers". Skyfall is the only ever Bond film where the team provided the film's title.
- For a long time in development and pre-production, Skyfall was simply known as "Bond 23". The title was touted in the media during 2011 as either "Carte Blanche" or "Red Sky at Night". Reportedly, other titles that were considered for the movie were "A Killing Moon" and "Once Upon a Spy" and "Silver Bullet." Previously, in 2010, it was reported that a competition would run to pick a title for this film from the remaining Ian Fleming story titles - the two most popular being "Risico" and "The Property of a Lady". In addition, "The Hildebrand Rarity" had also been touted as a possible title. Around October 2011, the new rumored title became "Skyfall" as the internet domain names JamesBond-Skyfall.com and Skyfallthefilm.com were registered prior to any official announcement by the movies' producers, financiers of the film, MGM and Sony pictures. The Skyfall title proved to be correct, with producer Michael G. Wilson calling it "the worst kept secret in London" at the 03/11/2011 press conference. At that event, it was announced that Skyfall would not be related to any previously published Ian Fleming James Bond novel or short-story.
- During this film's development and early stages of pre-production, Variety columnist Liz Smith once wrote about Bond 23 being filmed in New York using its Primola Restaurant as one of its locations. Published on Wednesday 10th September 2008, the piece read: "WHO WAS that blond stunner who froze forks mid-air at the posh Primola eatery in N.Y.? Oh yes indeed, it was Daniel Craig, 007 himself. The studly Daniel was accompanied by his producer Barbara Broccoli. (She is the daughter of Albert R. Broccoli aka "Cubby" who co-produced the James Bond films from Dr. No (1962) until Licence to Kill (1989). Barbara took over and now has a "license to film.") Daniel and Barbara talked about the next Bond epic, part of which will be filmed - for the very first time! - in New York (bad reporting, as Live and Let Die was filmed in New York). Primola itself will have a little cameo. Maybe Daniel just wanted to see if the restaurant could handle those shoulders of his." It turned out that New York apparently was never actually under consideration as a filming location for Skyfall.
- While some Bond films have original titles that do not come from the work of author Ian Fleming, Skyfall is the first original title that has already pre-existed as the title of other fictional works. Skyfall is also the title of a 1966 sci-fi novel by Harry Harrison, a 1987 novel by Thomas Block, a 2004 novel in the "Saga of the Skolian Empire" sci-fi series by Catherine Asaro, a 2007 novel by Anthony Eaton in the fantasy action "Darklands Trilogy", and also the name of a 2002 Norweigan film Falling Sky (2002), its literal English translation being "Falling Sky" or "The Sky Is Falling Down".
- According to Judi Dench, the secrecy surrounding the details of the film's plot was such, that advance copies of the script were individually stamped so they can be specifically traced to each official recipient in the event of negligent disclosure of plot details.
- Daniel Craig said that he was worried by the delays in the production and was eager to get back into the role because, at the age of 43, he feels he is already getting too old to cope with the extreme physical demands of playing James Bond. Craig starts preparation for a Bond movie about six months prior to filming and works-out for about two hours each day of principal photography after shooting has wrapped.
- Daniel Craig was injured during the rehearsal period for this movie whereupon rescheduling took place requiring two weeks rest for his injuries. Craig was not injured during principal photography. This is the second time in the franchise's history that a delay has been forced by an injury to the actor playing James Bond. The first was on Die Another Day, where Pierce Brosnan blew his knee out during filming of the opening hovercraft sequence, shutting down production for around 1-2 weeks.
- Danny Boyle was once erroneously touted in the media as having being asked to direct this film. One of this film's main Bond girls, Naomie Harris, appeared in Boyle's 28 Days Later... (2002) which was released in the same year as the last Bond film with a black Bond girl, Die Another Day. Coincidentally, Boyle ended up directing the James Bond short with Daniel Craig and Queen Elizabeth II which opened the 2012 London Olympics Opening Ceremony: Isles of Wonder (2012).
- First time that an Academy Award winning director (Sam Mendes, for American Beauty (1999) has directed a James Bond movie. The first Bond film seen by Mendes was Live and Let Die whilst his favorite is From Russia with Love. During pre-production, Mendes was originally hired as a consultant during the MGM bankruptcy period so as to avoid a direct connection payment to Mendes from having been classified as a bona fide director to the production, and as such requiring an official director's payment. Reportedly, Mendes was offered the director's job at party by Daniel Craig. A meeting was then arranged for Mendes with the producers and things rolled on from there. As a boy, Mendes owned a die-cast Dinky Toys model car of Bond's Aston Martin DB5 car which inspired him to include the vehicle in the film. Around the time of Casino Royale, Mendes originally thought Craig was miscast as Bond. Mendes told 'Metro': "I was one of the people who said I didn't think he was the right casting. At the time, I was asked in an interview and I said, "I'm not sure, I would advise him not to do it". With a rating of PG-13, this is also Mendes' first non-R-rated film.
- The film was influenced by Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008) by director Christopher Nolan according to the film's director Sam Mendes. A number of the early reviews of Skyfall likened the mood of the film to that of [/i]The Dark Knight Rises (2012)[/i]. Interestingly, a recurring line of dialogue in The Dark Knight Rises was "Permission To Die" - this is also the title of a 1989 James Bond comic book released. A shot in Skyfall of Bond standing on-top of a building looking-out over London with a flag of England evoke Batman perched on roof-tops looking-out over Gotham City. Mendes has said: "In terms of what [Nolan] achieved, specifically "The Dark Knight", the second movie, what it achieved, which is something exceptional. It was a game changer for everybody...What Nolan proved was that you can make a huge movie that is thrilling and entertaining and has a lot to say about the world we live in, even if, in the case with The Dark Knight, it's not even set in our world... That did help give me the confidence to take this movie in directions that, without The Dark Knight, might not have been possible." Nolan has often stated that the classic James Bond films have been an influence on his "Dark Knight" trilogy. As such, one can say that Bond has inspired Batman and that Batman has inspired Bond.
- Director Sam Mendes used to be in a relationship with actress Rachel Weisz who was once rumored to going to be cast in this movie. Weisz is now married to the actor playing James Bond, Daniel Craig. Weisz has also starred in espionage films such as The Bourne Legacy (2012) and The Constant Gardener (2005) for which she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and which coincidentally also starred Ralph Fiennes.
- Judi Dench and Sam Mendes have previously worked together in theatre on Anton Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" whilst James Bond actor Daniel Craig and Mendes previously worked together on Road to Perdition (2002). Mendes and cinematographer Roger Deakins have also worked together previously on Revolutionary Road (2008) and Jarhead (2005). Craig and actor Ben Whishaw previously worked together on 3 films: Layer Cake (2004), Enduring Love and The Trench. Skyfall is the second time Javier Bardem has worked with Director of Photography Roger Deakins. The first was No Country for Old Men (2007). Bardem features as the main villain in both films.
- Tenth James Bond film produced by Michael G. Wilson as a fully-fledged producer (excluding executive producer credits). 2014 will mark producer Wilson's 50th Golden Anniversary Year of his association with the James Bond official series, Wilson first appearing as an uncredited extra as a Soldier at Fort Knox in Goldfinger (1964). Wilson has also acted on the films as a screen-writer and as a legal/administrative/technical consultant and is also known for making regular cameo appearances in the franchise.
- 2013 will mark the 30th Anniversary Year that producer Barbara Broccoli has officially been associated with the series, first officially credited as an executive assistant on Octopussy (1983). Broccoli's first start on the series however was as an uncredited second assistant director on Moonraker, a 30th Anniversary milestone for this was in 2009 after the release of the previous Bond film Quantum of Solace. Skyfall's release year of 2012 also marks the 25th Anniversary Year for Broccoli as a producer on the series as her first credit as a producer was as an associate producer on The Living Daylights in 1987. Skyfall is also the 25th Year for executive producer and production manager Callum McDougall who started as an assistant director on the same Bond film.
- Skyfall marks the 10th Anniversary of Gregg Wilson on the James Bond film series. The movie marks the milestone of Gregg being the first 3rd generation member of the Broccoli/Wilson family to achieve a senior producer credit on the series, that of an associate producer. Gregg is the son of Michael G. Wilson. Gregg's first credit on the series was a decade earlier as development executive on Die Another Day. Gregg was also an assistant producer on Quantum of Solace.
- Second James Bond movie to be edited by Stuart Baird, after Casino Royale. Also the second Bond film for production designer Dennis Gassner. whose first was Quantum of Solace. Third Bond movie as Stunt Coordinator for Gary Powell, who has worked in other stunt positions on four other bond films beginning with GoldenEye. Also the seventh Bond film as Special Effects Supervisor for Chris Corbould whose tally totals thirteen Bond movies starting with The Spy Who Loved Me.
- This film marks the return of title designer Daniel Kleinman who did the opening titles and gun-barrel sequences from GoldenEye to Casino Royale. In the previous film, Quantum of Solace, Kleinman was replaced by US special effects company MK12. Skyfall is Kleinman's sixth collaboration as title designer in the series and his second one in a Bond film starring Daniel Craig.
- During the opening titles a number of daggers plunge into a graveyard. One of the daggers is a Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife, issued to British special forces from WWII until the present day as of 2013.
- Stuntman Gary Powell and other members of his family have worked on every EON Productions official series Bond movie since Dr. No. Father and uncle Nosher Powell and Dinny Powell worked on all the early 60's and 70's Bonds with Sean Connery and George Lazenby; brother Greg Powell worked on the 70s and 80s Bonds with Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton whilst Gary has worked on all the 90s and 00s Bonds with Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig as well as Skyfall, the first Bond movie of the 2010s.
- 2011 was the 30th year that casting director Debbie McWilliams had being working on the series. McWilliams first Bond movie was For Your Eyes Only in 1981. For this film, McWilliams coordinated casting sessions that took place in various locations all around the world which included, amongst others, Athens, Greece; Beijing and Shanghai in China; Istanbul, Turkey; London, England; Madrid, Spain; Stockholm, Sweden and Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- The film was originally going to be shot in six countries but budget cutbacks in January 2012 resulted in filming primarily taking place in England, on location and in studio. Additional shooting was set in Scotland, Turkey and China. Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands replaced Duntrune Castle in Argyll, Scotland as the location for the film's climatic action scenes though some of that was actually filmed at Surrey's Hankley Common in England. Scenes planned to be originally shot in India or South Africa were instead filmed in Turkey. In the end, the picture was filmed in five countries: England, Scotland, China, Turkey and Japan. In Japan, just a small amount of filming was done on Hashima Island.
- Relative to the above, Skyfall has been said to use a large amount of computer-generated imagery, around 500 CGI shots, the most since Die Another Day. A large amount of the visual effects in the film were created by around 850 staff of Technicolor owned post-production house The Moving Picture Company (MPC), 250 in Bangalore and 600 in London. Animators, graphic artists, visual FX technicians and other VFX professionals worked for eight months creating literally thousands of frames, computer animations, graphic insertions and high-end visual effects integrating all the digital content for the movie.
- The first James Bond film to be shot entirely using digital cinematography. Previously only part of one scene in Quantum of Solace was shot digitally. It is also the first film to use the Arri Alexa Studio camera, which cinematographer Roger Deakins selected because, unlike the other Alexa models, it has an optical viewfinder. It is also Deakins' second digitally-shot film, after In Time (2011), on which he also used the Alexa.
- For the first time in the EON series both the first and last name of M, Gareth Mallory, is revealed (albeit before he becomes M). Bernard Lee 's M's first name, Miles, was spoken aloud in The Spy Who Loved Me and his successor Robert Brown has been confirmed by producers to be the same Miles, and not Admiral Hargreaves (played by Brown in The Spy Who Loved Me) as some fans believe. Neither Judi Dench 's M's first or last names were ever revealed, although in Casino Royale, Bond says that one of her names does begin with the letter M before being cut off by her (and some drafts of the screenplay for GoldenEye give her name as Barbara Mawdsley, but it was never spoken aloud in the final film). This film is also the first time that two actors playing the character of M, in this case Judi Dench and M successor Ralph Fiennes, have shared the screen in the same scenes.
- First James Bond film in 23 years where a "traditional" series M's office is seen, the last time was in Licence to Kill. It's also the first time in the series that the old "traditional" and new "modern" types of M offices have been seen in the same Bond movie. In fact, there are actually three M's offices in 'Skyfall', the old "traditional' type, the new "modern" MI6 type as seen in the series ever since GoldenEye and M's temporary office in the underground bunker.
- First one-word Bond movie title in seventeen years, the last was GoldenEye (1995). 'Skyfall' is also the shortest ever one word James Bond movie title.
- Second time in the official James Bond series that James Bond has broken into M's home as he did in Casino Royale. That time, M said, "Don't ever break into my apartment again" though she fails to reference this in Skyfall. In earlier drafts of the script, when M enters her house to find Bond waiting for her, the line "007 reporting for duty" was followed by, "You're supposed to be dead." Bond's response was "I came back" and M said, "You only live twice, Mr. Bond" This would have been a reference to the 5th film of the series, You Only Live Twice, starring Sean Connery.
- Second time in the official James Bond series that James Bond is seen with a beard, the first time was Pierce Brosnan in Die Another Day. In both pictures the character only has the beard for a portion of the film.
- Only the second time Bond cries openly. The first time was in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
- This marks the third consecutive James Bond movie which ends with James Bond alone, where most other films in the series he is seen with one of the leading Bond girls. In addition, every featured girl Bond sleeps with or fools around with wind up dying. This includes: Solange, Vesper Lynd, Strawberry Fields and Sévérine. He doesn't sleep with Camille Montes or Eve Moneypenny and they both live.
- Third consecutive James Bond film dealing with terrorism. The central type of terrorism depicted in 'Skyfall' is cyberterrorism. In an interview in the 'Skyfall' tie-in documentary Everything or Nothing (2012), producer Barbara Broccoli commented on how 9/11 made the producers think about doing something more serious and that it might be time to move on from the Pierce Brosnan style of Bond films. In another interview, Broccoli added: "In terms of 9/11, we thought Die Another Day had become too fantastical. That's something that's happened in previous Bond films along the way. There comes a time when you have to recalibrate the tone of the films to fit the times we live in".
- This is the third Bond film with an Asian shooting location and an actress of Asian descent playing one of the main Bond Girls. The first two were You Only Live Twice and Tomorrow Never Dies. Bond Girl Bérénice Marlohe was born to a Cambodian/Chinese father and a French mother. A few Bond films which shot in Asia did not feature a main Bond Girl who was from Asia, these were Die Another Day, Octopussy, and The Man with the Golden Gun. However, these three films did have cast Asian women in minor Bond Girl roles.
- Fourth time in an official Bond movie that an M character's home has been seen. The first time was M (Bernard Lee)'s manor Quarterdeck in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The 2nd & 3rd times followed much later with M (Judi Dench)'s homes in Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2008). 'Skyfall' is the fifth time if one counts the unofficial Bond spoof Casino Royale (1967) which also showed an M character's home.
- One of just a handful of Bond films to feature a British country home or manor house. Others include Shrublands in Thunderball, M's home Quarterdeck in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and the Blayden Safe House in The Living Daylights.
- Seventh James Bond film where the villain resides on an island lair. Raoul Silva's home is Hashima Island, an abandoned island near Nagasaki, Japan. The others were Dr. No's Crab Key island; Largo's Palmyra Estate on the Bahamas Islands in Thunderball; Blofeld's Japanese island volcano lair in You Only Live Twice; Mr Big/ Dr Kananga's fictitious Carribean island of San Monique in Live and Let Die; Elektra King and Renards' Kizkulesi Island (aka The Maiden's Tower) in Turkey's Bosphorus Sea in The World Is Not Enough ; and perhaps the most famous of all, Scaramanga's island in The Man with the Golden Gun.
- Not every Bond movie has a casino sequence but 'Skyfall' joins the ranks in the official series of those that have: Dr. No, Thunderball, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever, The Man with the Golden Gun, For Your Eyes Only, Licence to Kill, GoldenEye, The World Is Not Enough, and Casino Royale. All the unofficial Bond films have also featured a casino. Skyfall is the first Bond movie since The Man with the Golden Gun to feature a casino in Asia. Its name is "The Golden Dragon Casino" and it's a floating-casino in Macau, China and is based on the actual real-life Macau floating casino, "The Macau Palace".
- The gun-barrel sequence was re-shot specially for this movie as it was in the previous film. With this third Daniel Craig Bond movie, Craig has still never appeared in a traditional series gun-barrel sequence shown at the start of the film (the last film to use the sequence at the beginning was Die Another Day. According to Sam Mendes, there was an attempt to put the gun-barrel walk before the pre-titles sequence but it did not work out artistically. It was also put at the end of the film so as to be able mark the Golden Anniversary of the franchise with Bond's 50th Anniversary logo. Daniel Craig is also the first actor to film three different gun-barrel sequences, which depict Bond wearing different suits and having different stances as he shoots. For the first time in the famous gun-barrel sequence, Bond is seen wearing a grey suit rather than a black one. Roger Moore is the other Bond actor to shot more than one gun-barrel sequence as he had filmed one for Live and Let Die, which was reused in The Man with the Golden Gun, and eventually would film a second one for The Spy Who Loved Me that would be reused for the rest of the Bond films starring Moore. The traditional end-of-movie James Bond official series coda "James Bond Will Return" is included during the film's closing credits.
- The passport used by Daniel Craig was not created by the props department, but an authentic document as issued by the British Home Office, according to producer Michael G. Wilson. Everything from the paper, print, photograph and jacket are entirely genuine on James Bond's 'official passport'. However, as a security measure, the passport is encoded with information that would instantly flag its improper use in any official transaction. The actual details shown on Bond's passport in the film are as follows: Name = John Adam Bryce; Date of Birth = 16th December 1968; Sex = Male; Place of Birth = London; Date of Issue = 22nd June 2012; and Expiry Date = 22nd August 2029.
- On an October 2012 episode of The Graham Norton Show (2007), Judi Dench revealed how her mobile cell phone has a ringtone with the James Bond theme and how when it rang during filming on the set, it would often produce laughter, and after a while, her annoying 007 cell-phone ring-tone became an on-set running joke.
- There were 85 versions of James Bond's Tom Ford suit tailor-made for the opening chase sequence. Thirty were made for actor Daniel Craig and thirty for his double and stunt-double. Each version of the suit was made specifically for a particular scene of the opening sequence. For example, when Craig was riding the motor-bike, a suit with longer sleeves was worn so that it wouldn't raise up over his forearms. Costume Designer Jany Temime has said: "Each suit had three fittings, like a real traditional Saville Row suit. It was very high class tailoring. The first suit was mohair, very lightweight, woolen silk. The tuxedo is woolen silk. They were all [made of] beautiful fabric. He [would be] jumping and fighting, and then he would stand up, and the suit would be perfect." Moreover, Craig's tie had to be weighted for the motorbike section of the chase. The weight kept the tie from flying around when he rode at high speeds.
- First James Bond movie to have two separate train action sequences involving different trains. From Russia with Love, Live and Let Die, The Spy Who Loved Me, Octopussy, and GoldenEye all had just the one locomotive. Skyfall is also the second James Bond movie to have a roof-top fight on a train, the first was Octopussy. Moreover, the Charing Cross Underground Station was used for location shooting for the Underground stations seen in the movie: Temple and Westminster.
- This film and the previous two Bond films have villains with names based on colors. They are Raoul Silva (silver) in Skyfall, Dominic Greene (green) in Quantum of Solace, and Mr. White in both Casino Royale and of Quantum of Solace.
- At two seconds shy of 143 minutes, this is the second longest Bond movie of all time, the longest being Casino Royale at 144 minutes. The third longest running time for a Bond movie is On Her Majesty's Secret Service which runs 142 minutes.
- Just prior to post-production lock-off, about ten minutes of footage were cut out of the film due to the picture's extensively long running time. These scenes and sequences include MI6 agents after the MI6 HQ explosion; a funeral procession for MI6 agents; Sévérine at Shanghai International Airport; an M and Mallory scene; early scenes with M's Assistant Vanessa; Bond running through Regent's Park; and scenes involving Sévérine's activities.
- The movie does not feature any American actors or characters, which is unusual for a big budget English language film.
- The first time a character is audibly heard saying the "F word" in a Bond movie. In the 25th anniversary Bond film The Living Daylights (1987), Bond clearly says "For f***'s sake!" but it cannot be heard due to plane engine noise. Skyfall is the first Bond film to ever use an audible variation of the "F word", said by M at Skyfall Lodge.
- The production shoot for this film went for 127 days whilst the movie features 172 scenes.
Skyfall marks the fourth film in which Daniel Craig and Ben Whishaw appear together. The other three being The Trench (1999), Enduring Love (2004) and Layer Cake (2004).
BACK TO ISTANBUL-
- The opening train action sequence was originally planned to be shot on in the Sabarmati railway yard of the Konkan Railway in India. However, delays in getting permission to film there with the many complex problems meant the sequence was not filmed there. South Africa was considered to film this sequence but in the end it shot in Turkey.
- Third James Bond movie to film in Istanbul, Turkey. The first was From Russia with Love and the second was The World Is Not Enough. Skyfall shares two of the same filming locations that From Russia with Love utilized: Turkey and Scotland (although the Scottish scenes in From Russia with Love were not set in the country). Turkish locations that Skyfall shares with From Russia with Love include Istanbul's Sultanahmet Square and the Hagia Sophia Mosque, now a museum. Producer Barbara Broccoli maintains that Istanbul was James Bond creator Ian Fleming's favorite city.
- Turkish producer Ali Akdeniz who has worked on both The World Is Not Enough and Skyfall says that the location of this part of the film was particularly chosen as a homage to the James Bond character's connections with Istanbul, once known as "The City of Spies". James Bond creator Ian Fleming once visited Istanbul in June 1955 for an Interpol Conference which he was covering on behalf of [/i]The Sunday Times[/i]. The event provided both a setting and much background information for his novel From Russia with Love. For example, Fleming met Nazim Kalkavan, an Oxford educated man who inspired the Darko Kerim character. Moreover, whilst there, Fleming covered the "Istanbul Pogroms" aka "The Great Riot of Istanbul" which was published in The Sunday Times on September 11, 1955. When Fleming left the conference, he traveled by train, commenting that the experience was drab because there had been no dining car. Interestingly, both Skyfall and From Russia with Love involve trains, both the London subway tube and a Turkish train in Adana in Skyfall and The Orient Express in From Russia with Love.
- The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is featured prominently during the film's opening chase sequence. The Grand Bazaar is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over three thousand shops attracting up to 400,000 visitors daily. Due to the hazardous nature of the sequence, access to the location for the film unit could only to be granted on Sunday, when the bazaar is closed. Through a combination of efforts from the locations department, set decoration, art and props teams, the bazaar was dressed overnight on preceding Saturday nights to look like the hive of activity that the one would expect from the location. 500 Turkish extras and stunt background were brought into the Grand Bazaar to provide the location with its usual crowded and buzzing atmosphere. The rooftops of the Bazaar served as a spectacular platform to view Istanbul's ancient and dynamic skyline. The production went to great lengths to protect and preserve the Grand Bazaar's historic architecture, which included floating reinforced steel roof panels over the existing tiles to protect the original structure. The age of the Grand Bazaar shop where a motorbike crashes through its window was around 330 years.
-Eminönü Square, a busy business district in Istanbul, was used for filming the movie's opening sequence and had to be closed for three weeks in order to do this. The place is one of Istanbul's oldest and most magnificent squares and is surrounded by the ancient Spice Bazaar and the fabulous Yeni Mosque. In a curious requirement for the bazaars, the shops could open but could not trade due to the area being off-limits to the public, traffic and pedestrians. Shop-keepers were reimbursed 750 Turkish Liras per day to cover their losses. The Turkish bazaar sequence in the film featured over 250 dressed market stalls created by the film's art and props department and was populated by around 500 extras and background artists.
- The production was criticized during principal photography in Turkey for allegedly damaging the rooftops of buildings in Istanbul where a rooftop motorcycle chase was being filmed. One such incident that made local headlines was when a stunt-rider rode off a roof and smashed the window of the renowned Bobeyi jewelery store. Producer Michael G. Wilson held a press conference and the claims were quashed as the roofing had been removed for the stunt riding and replaced with replicas until filming wrapped, whereupon the original tiling was returned. Skyfall is not the first Bond movie to feature a rooftop motor-cycle chase, it's the second, as one also appeared in Tomorrow Never Dies.
- During principal photography, three Turkish youths bypassed tight security in Adana, Southern Turkey to infiltrate a closed film set where they filmed with their mobile phones footage of a train scene being shot. Fitting of the intrigue from the earlier Turkey set Bond movie From Russia with Love, the three sneaked through alleyways and jumped a wire fence into a train station where Skyfall was being filmed. The trio slipped under train cars and rendezvoused at the repair depot where they went into spy disguise and put on off-duty worker's helmets and overalls. They were later caught by security, interrogated and removed from set.
- The wounded agent that Bond tries to save in the opening sequence is named Ronson. This is also the name of a popular brand of cigarette lighter used by Bond in Ian Fleming's novels.
- The film's opening sequence shot in Adana and Istanbul took around two months to film, three months of rehearsals, four months of preparation, 200 crew members from England and another 200 local crew in order to produce around 12-14 minutes of screen time.
- For the motorbike chase in Turkey, Coca-Cola was sprayed on the tarmac of the streets in Istanbul to keep the bikes from sliding. While Coca-Cola is not an official product placement in the movie there was a Coke Zero marketing campaign that tied in with the movie.
- This vehicle chase was originally written and intended for the earlier also Istanbul-lensed Bond film The World Is Not Enough but was scrapped as the film's story had become too expansive. As such, this is the second consecutive Bond film to have a car chase in the opening sequence.
- The climax of the opening chase sequence takes place at the breathtaking Varda Bridge about an hour's travel out of Adana in southern Turkey. The stone arch structure is also known by a number of other names including Alman Köprüsü (German Viaduct), Koca Köprüthe (Big Viaduct), the Varda Viaduct and the Giaour Dere Viaduct. Construction was started in 1905 and was completed in 1916, the bridge being around 570 feet (174 m) long and 322 feet (98 m) high. The viaduct was originally designed and built by Imperial German engineers for the former Ottoman Empire as part of the Istanbul-Baghdad Railway Project.
- Stunt-man and Bond stunt-double Andy Lister performed the opening sequence's fall from the bridge into the river. Riggers were set up a crane on a train carriage to hold a safety line. Andy then reacted to the gun shot by limply diving backwards off the 300 foot (92 m) drop. This jump stunt is a typical Bondian 'Skyfall' jump stunt synonymous with the series. Skyfall jumps having appeared regularly since The Spy Who Loved Me, with others in Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights, Licence to Kill, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, and Quantum of Solace.
- In 50 years of Bond movies, Skyfall is only the second film in which James Bond suffers a gunshot wound. (He is also shot in Thunderball during the Junkanoo chase.
- The exotic Calis Beach, a remote beach in Fethiye, a coastal town on the in the south of Turkey, was a great challenge for the locations department to secure for filming a sequence featuring James Bond. EON Productions had to negotiate with the six hundred and thirteen part owners of the beach to allow filming to take place there.
CHINA, CHIMERAS, AND KOMODO DRAGONS-
- The shooting location of Shanghai makes this the first Bond movie to have filmed in China. Originally, Licence to Kill was to be filmed in China but when the Chinese Government made a number restrictive demands such as veto rights over the script, the viability of the location fell through. The film was once rumored to feature a motorcycle chase along the Great Wall of China, a chase sequence originally intended for Licence to Kill, but instead there is a roof-top motorbike chase filmed in Istanbul, Turkey. Another sequence, a fight sequence in the then recently discovered museum of ancient terracotta statues at Xian was also scheduled for Licence to Kill but this sequence wasn't used for Skyfall either. Scriptwriter John Logan wanted to use Shanghai as a filming location because "What we were looking for was opposition to London. We wanted exotic locations that seem so unlike the world that he grew up in, the world that he functions in, in a way trying to find places for Bond to be uncomfortable."
- Second Unit Director Alexander Witt and the second unit traveled to Shanghai in China to shoot establishing shots and driving sequences. The crew worked nights in the busy week leading up to the Chinese New Year to capture the exhilarating, ever-changing metropolis that is one of the most dynamic cities in the world. An aerial unit piloted by Marc Wolff was granted rare access to the skies above the city to shoot from a helicopter on loan from the Chinese Government. Production Designer Dennis Gassner and the art department then worked to create the rest of the Chinese environment on sound-stages at Pinewood Studios.
- The glass set depicting the inside of the Shanghai office skyscraper was nick-named "The Jellyfish." It was built at Pinewood Studios and was likened to being like "a hall of mirrors". 'Skyfall' cinematographer Roger Deakins has said: "Because it was all glass, the crew walking through it kept bashing into things". For filming, Deakins lit the set with two gigantic LED (Light Emitting Diode) panels which were used to represent electronic billboards exterior to the skyscraper's office's windows. The production had originally location scouted for a Chinese skyscraper but this proved unsuccessful, the substitute set providing improvements by being multi-dimensionally made of glass. The sequence where "The Jellyfish" is seen is when Bond is on the track of Patrice on his way to a Shanghai office complex. In the earlier James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun, a hall of mirrors was seen during the opening sequence and at the film's denouement.
- When Bond tracks Patrice to Shanghai, Patrice assassinates a man (identified in the credits as "Shanghai Art Collector") while he is viewing a painting. The painting is "Woman with a Fan (Luna Czechowska)", painted by Amedeo Modigliani in 1919. In reality, on May 20, 2010 this painting was stolen from the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, along with works by Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso and Fernand Léger. The paintings are still missing, and their collective worth has been estimated at $200 million.
- During the martini scene at the Macao casino bar, the famous Bond drink catchphrase "Shaken, not stirred" isn't actually spoken, but the martini is explicitly concocted on screen and the bartender is shown shaking the martini before pouring it. Moreover, the bottle of alcohol that Silva offers Bond on his island says "1962" on its label, referencing the franchise's 50th anniversary. Skyfall is also the first James Bond film in the official series where James Bond is seen drinking beer (although in GoldenEye Pierce Brosnan's Bond remarks to 006 "Buy me a pint"). The ale is Heineken who contributed a rather large amount of money for the product placements. The Bill Tanner character is also seen drinking the beverage in Skyfall.
- The Paddock Tank (aka the Exterior Tank) at Pinewood Studios doubled as the exterior of the Shanghai Golden Dragon Casino. The set was lit by three-hundred floating lanterns and two thirty-foot high dragon heads. Twelve artisans were flown in from China to create the authentic structures. They were made from wound steel cables, silk fabric and lit from within by 400 light bulbs. The Golden Dragon Casino interiors were filmed on the D Stage.
- The type of lizards seen in the pit at the Golden Dragon floating casino are Komodo Dragons or Komodo Monitors, their species genus is "Varanus komodoensis", being part of the Varanidae monitor lizard species family. They are the both the largest species of reptilian dragons located in the Indonesian Islands and also the largest living species of lizard in the world, they can grow to a length of 10 ft (3 m) and weigh up to around 150 lb (70 kg). Track 13 of Thomas Newman's score is called "Komodo Dragon". The name of the casino where the dragons are seen, "The Golden Dragon Casino", references the lizards which are housed in it.
- The name of the boat that Bond and Sévérine journey on in the film is called "The Chimera" which is from the Greek Mythology and is what co-inspired the Sévérine character. The vessel is in real life called the "SY Regina" and is also known as the "Medyat Regina".
- Hashima Island, the site of Silva's lair, is a tiny deserted industrialized island situated off the south west coast of Japan, 15 km from Nagasaki, and running just 480 meters long and 160 meters wide. The small isle is one of 505 uninhabited islands in the Nagasaki Prefecture. The isle is also known as "Ghost Island" as well as "Gunkanjima" which translates as "Battleship Island". The island was last significantly inhabited in 1974 and was once a thriving coal mining community. The island is notable for its character due to its sea wall and its untouched abandoned and derelict concrete buildings.
- The exterior of Hashima Island was built on the North Lot at Pinewood
- The computer main-frame room in which Silva gives his introductory speech was specially constructed so that it would be the right length for a one take shot in which Javier Bardem leisurely walks and ends up right at Bond when at the end of the speech. The other significant room that Silva is seen in during the film is a plexiglass enclosure which was nicknamed by Javier Bardem as a "Crystal Cage".
- Reference to "Station H" in the film refers to MI6's Hong Kong office.
DEFENDING THE REALM-
- It has been claimed that Skyfall has used Great Britain and specifically London for filming locations more than any other Bond film in the franchise's history. Several different locations in the city of London were used as interiors and exteriors for the film, some of which would not normally be accessible for filming. London locations included Vauxhall Bridge; Millbank; The Old Vic Tunnels; an underground car park on Great Suffolk Street; Trinity Square; the entrance to Broadgate Tower; The Virgin Active Pool in Canary Wharf; Cadogan Square, The National Portrait Gallery; Parliament Square; Tower Hill; the building roof of the Department for Energy & Climate Change (DECC); the Smithfield Meat Market; St Bartholomew's Hospital; Charing Cross Underground Station; Greenwich's Old Royal Naval College; Southwark; Whitehall; and London's landmark Trafalgar Square.
- For exterior scenes shot in Whitehall, halfway through the chase between Bond and Raoul Silva, there were 100 background vehicles, 300 film crew, 750 extras, and massive multiple government agency bureaucracy co-operation. Permissions, negotiations and authorizations for the London chase sequence were permitted from such offices of English officialdom as the Westminster City Council, Transport For London (TFL) and TFL Buses, the Met and CHX Police, The London Underground, Network Rail, Herts Traffic Management Systems, the The Ministry of Defence (MOD), The Royal Parks, and The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
- Filming at Pinewood Studios utilized thirty-one different sets on eight different sound stages including the gigantic "007 Stage". The interior of MI6's underground bunker headquarters was filmed on the "007 Stage", the latter taking 9 weeks and 250 crew members to build the set.
- When Q delivers the Walther PPK & passport to Bond in the National Gallery in London, the painting behind him is Joseph Wright of Derby's "An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump" (1768), featuring a natural philosopher - a forerunner to a modern scientist - demonstrating an experiment to curious onlookers. This fits Q's role as scientific research/development for SIS/MI6 and 007.
- When Bond and Q meet, Q jokes about giving Bond an exploding pen when Bond moans about the tools received to fulfill the mission. The joke of course
references original Q Desmond Llewellyn giving Bond such a pen in GoldenEye.
- The mug Q drinks from in his lab has the letter "Q" from the game Scrabble printed on it, complete with the number "10", the point value of the letter Q in the board game.
- The porcelain bulldog on M's desk (which she later gives to Bond) is draped in the Union Jack. These bulldog figurines were created by Royal Doulton during World War II to represent Patriotism. In Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Control (John Hurt), the head of MI6, has two Royal Doulton bulldogs sitting on his desk.
- The quotation that M recites is from Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "Ulysses", e.g. "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield". First published in 1842, its recitation in the film's 2012 release occurs on the poem's 170th Anniversary.
- The shoulder number on Silva's fake police uniform is 101, which is the non-emergency public contact telephone number for London's Metropolitan Police Force.
- Daniel Craig performed the stunt of leaping and sliding down the escalator rail himself.
- A sizable amount of the film's story takes place below London's street surface, an underground environment that is based on what was historically known as "The Churchill Bunker System". During World War II, many government offices were relocated underground for protection from German bombing during "The Blitz". In 'Skyfall', after the headquarters at MI6 are the subject of a terrorist attack, M makes the decision to relocate underground, just like Winston Churchill did during the Second World War.
- With the cooperation and assistance of the London Mayor's Office and Transportation For London, the production was able to shut down both Vauxhall Bridge and Millbank for a scene where M witnesses a terrorist attack on MI6 headquarters. The explosion of the MI6 HQ was represented by a few fireworks on the day, but then an MI6 model miniature was later rebuilt at third scale on the back-lot at Pinewood Studios where long-time Bond FXpert Chris Corbould, the film's special effects and miniature effects supervisor, used twenty-eight explosives to replicate the attack.
- The London underground tube train crash that occurs when James Bond chases Raoul Silva was filmed at Pinewood Studio's mammoth 007 Stage which has been the filming home to most of the super-scale Bond set pieces of the past. For the crash, filmed on "The Catacombs Set", crew built two full size fabricated replica Tube train carriages, each weighing around 5-7 tons, the real ones weigh around 25-30 tons. The Tube carriages were raised onto a track about 20 feet above the base of the set. Near the ceiling of the set, broken Tube tracks curved downwards with a monorail supporting the carriages from above. The trains were then accelerated on the elevated track guided by the monorail as they veer off the tracks and crash through the catacombs ceiling which was composed of breakaway elements. When the train crashed, it dismantled the majority of the 007 Stage. Digital visual effects were later added in post-production to supplement the practical special effects. It was too dangerous to allow people to stay on the sound stage during the filming of the crash, so eleven remotely-operated cameras were placed around the 007 Stage to cover the crash from various angles.
WELCOME TO SCOTLAND-
- Fourth James Bond movie to film in Scotland after From Russia with Love (various locations in the Argyll and Bute region), The Spy Who Loved Me (the Faslane naval base) and The World Is Not Enough (Eilean Donan Castle at Kyle of Lochalsh in the Highlands). The first actor to play James Bond on the big screen was a Scot, Sean Connery. The Scottish Dalness Estate once belonged to the Fleming family and author Ian Fleming loved the Scottish region so much that he gave James Bond a Scottish genealogical lineage, the character's father Andrew coming from Glencoe where 'Skyfall' filmed alongside the Buachaille Etive Mor mountain. In On Her Majesty's Secret Service, James Bond was seen wearing a kilt.
- The film deals with James Bond's Scottish ancestry. Bond's family history was created by Ian Fleming in the Bond novel On Her Majesty's Secret Service, first published in 1964. Fleming was inspired to add the back-story of Bond's genealogy into the book after seeing the character played by Sean Connery in Dr. No. Skyfall is the second time in the official James Bond film series that James Bond discusses the death of his parents, the first time was in GoldenEye. Clan of Bond names created by the production for the plaques and headstones at the chapel and graveyard include Andrew Bond, Robert Bond, Monique Delacroix Bond, Celia Bond, Kathleen Bond, Elsa/Elsie Louise Bond, Ramsay William Bond, and Margaret Jean Davidson Bond.
- There is an implication in this movie that Bond's ancestors were Recusant Catholics. When Kincade shows M the secret escape passage in the chapel at the Bond ancestral estate, he explains that it was originally a hiding place for priests, which strongly refers to the very long period in British history during which Catholicism was illegal, and the families who continued to practice Catholicism, shelter priests, and refuse the authority of the official church (Church of Scotland aka Presbyterianism in this case) were referred to as "Recusants". One such prominent, real-life Recusant family from Dorset, the descendants of whom Ian Fleming had known as a schoolboy, were named "Bond." Their Latin family motto was "Non sufficit orbis," which translates to "Not even the world is enough" - or, more colloquially, "The World Is Not Enough" used in Fleming's novel On Her Majesty's Secret Service and the title of a later Bond movie. One member of this family, John Bond, was reportedly a spy for Sir Francis Drake during Elizabethan times (despite his family's Catholicism).
- Glencoe in Scotland is a filming location that portrays its own setting. In the James Bond novel "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", author Ian Fleming gave Bond a sense of family background, writing that Bond's father Andrew Bond was from Glencoe. The Glencoe region has one of the most iconic landscapes in Scotland, the mountains contain some of the oldest sedimentary and volcanic strata in the world. In 'Skyfall', these mountains served as a beautiful backdrop for Bond and M's drive through Glencoe's scenic roads in the iconic silver-birch Aston Martin DB5.
- Skyfall Lodge is not an actual real-life building but a purpose-built exterior set construction made of just plywood and plaster stone. The custom-built artificial house in the film's story is a countryside residence, it's setting is in Glencoe, Scotland but the filming location for it was actually Hankley Common in south-west Surrey.
- When James uses his father Andrew Bond's rifle, an "AB" can be seen engraved on it. These are also the initials of classical Bond Producer Albert R. Broccoli, but this is purely a coincidence.
- The explosion sequence in the film's climax was shot over two consecutive nights. It's the second consecutive Bond film where the film's climax and denouement results in the blowing-up and explosion of a landmark building. In Quantum of Solace it was a facility in the desert, here it's a mansion in the Scottish countryside. Ironically, prior to the big bang, Javier Bardem was banned from smoking at the on-set location because of the fire-risk of the dry grass in the field where the set was located.
PROMOTIONAL NOTES-
- The most successful ever James Bond movie at the international box-office in the official franchise's film history. Previously, Skyfall grossed $100 million at the international box-office in its first week, and also had the biggest ever opening weekend at the box-office for a Bond film in Britain.
- After receiving a personal invitation from Queen Elizabeth II, Daniel Craig appeared as James Bond in promotion of this film at the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games in London in the games' introductory video originally entitled "The Arrival" but later known as "Happy and Glorious". The Daniel Craig and Queen Elizabeth II pretend entertainment segment features Craig as James Bond who meets with the Queen to escort her safely to the stadium. They are seen going to a helicopter which flies along the Thames River to the cauldron whereby stunt-doubles then "skyfall" jump out of the copters down to the awaiting ceremony to familiar James Bond music. The segment has been said to be the Queen's first ever acting role.
- Skyfall is only the fourth James Bond movie in the official series which doesn't allow for marketing purposes the formation of the OO7 symbol within the film's title wording by way of forming one or two of the 'O's. The others include Thunderball, Live and Let Die, and The Living Daylights.
- The first ever James Bond film in the official series where production notes and publicity materials generally refer to the leading actresses in the film as 'Bond Women' and not as 'Bond Girls'.
- October 5th, 2012 was "Global James Bond Day". It was created by the production to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the James Bond film series and as a promotional tie-in for the release of Skyfall. The original Dr. No had been released on 10/5/62. In addition, a new Bond documentary was made and released to tie-in with and celebrate the Golden Anniversary of the franchise, Everything or Nothing, also premiering also on October 5th. According to the official website "Global James Bond Day" featured "Worldwide events celebrating Bond's golden anniversary (and) include(d) a global online and live charity auction event organized by Christie's in London, a global survey to discover the favorite Bond film country by country, a film retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, a Music of Bond night in Los Angeles hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and Designing 007: 50 Years of James Bond Style [in Toronto]".
- Previous Bond films to be released in similar celebration include Die Another Day (2002) in the series' 40th anniversary year, Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) in the 35th anniversary year, The Living Daylights (1987) in the 25th anniversary year, and The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) in the 15th anniversary year.
- First James Bond film to feature MGM's new 2012 logo. The first James Bond movie to be released with the MGM Lion logo at the beginning was Octopussy. MGM merged with United Artists in 1982, the year before the release of that movie which was the first Bond movie distributed by the then new company, MGM/UA Distribution Co.
- The Royal World Premiere was held on Tuesday 23rd October 2012 at Royal Albert Hall in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall (Camilla Parker-Bowles). At the request of HRH Prince Charles, the Gala Charity Premiere Benefit aided the support of former and current serving members of Britain's three intelligence agencies, GCHQ, the Security Service, and the Secret Intelligence Service. Prince Charles is England's Royal Patron of the Intelligence Services. Also in attendance were director Sam Mendes, and actors Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Bérénice Marlohe, Albert Finney, Ben Whishaw and Judi Dench. The only ever previous Bond World Premiere to be held at the Royal Albert Hall was for the franchise's 40th Anniversary where Die Another Day (2002) debuted. The gala premiere raised UK £300,000+ in aid of the Prince's chosen charities.
- The Royal World Premiere marked a rare reunion for the families of James Bond producers Harry Saltzman, Albert R. Broccoli and author Ian Fleming on the 50th anniversary. Since Saltzman was able to secure the film right's for the 007 novels in 1962 from Fleming given both men's shared experience as Intelligence operatives, the unique seating arrangement at Royal Albert Hall reflected that relationship. In the Royal Box adjacent to His Royal Highness Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall (Camilla Parker-Bowles, the surviving family of Ian Fleming, including niece Lucy Fleming and cousin Sir Christopher Lee, who also served in British Intelligence, were seated alongside Saltzman's daughter Hilary Saltzman, son Steven Saltzman, and Canadian print and broadcast journalist David Giammarco, a longtime associate of the James Bond films and author of the book "For Your Eyes Only: Behind the Scenes of the James Bond Films". The Gala Charity Premiere of Skyfall (2012) benefited retired members of Britain's Intelligence agencies, for which HRH Prince Charles is England's Royal Patron.
- The secret Intelligence career of original James Bond producer Harry Saltzman was first revealed by fellow Canadian David Giammarco in his acclaimed 2002 book ."For Your Eyes Only: Behind the Scenes of the James Bond Films". on the 40th anniversary of the James Bond Films. For the 50th anniversary, Hilary Saltzman, Steven Saltzman, and David Giammarco disclosed the full extent of Saltzman's Intelligence work with previously-classified documents, photos and analysis in an exclusive feature for Vanity Fair Magazine titled ."50 Years of 007: The Secret Spy Life of James Bond Producer Harry Saltzman"..
- At the film's Spanish Premiere at Madrid's Espanol Theatre on October 29th, 2012, a number of the big red carpet stars of the film including Javier Bardem held posters in protest against the dismissal of theater workers during the film's premiere.
- The first James Bond film to be released in the IMAX format. Unlike most films blown up for an IMAX release, the film did not go through their DMR (Digital Media Remastering) process, as cinematographer Roger Deakins thought that the film's image quality was high enough to make it unnecessary. Deakins has said they ."...shot 2.35:1 [aspect ratio] but because of the size of the chip, you've got so much space top and bottom that basically I shot it for both formats...the IMAX was clean and the image quality is fantastic because you're using the full size of the chip. So I had seen a lot of tests and was blown away by the IMAX. We did a 4K finish and it's down rez'd to 2K after that. It quite surprised me, the fantastic quality.". Films shot in IMAX have an aspect ratio of 1.44.1 which takes up the entire IMAX screen. Skyfall wasn't shot in IMAX, but the aspect ratio of the IMAX 'Skyfall' prints is 1.90.1 compared to standard theater 'Skyfall' prints which have an aspect ratio of 2.40.1. The IMAX image is 26% larger at the top and bottom of the frame than the screen image in conventional theaters thereby giving audiences a taller depth of field to view.
- Third consecutive official James Bond movie to be distributed by Sony Pictures after Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. It is also expected that Sony will co-distribute the next James Bond film, Bond 24 (2015), after 'Skyfall'. The official 13th April 2011 press release stated: ."Sony Pictures and MGM look forward to Sony Pictures co-financing and distributing Bond 24 (2015) on a similar basis".. Skyfall is Sony Pictures' widest ever theatrical release in the UK and Ireland with the film launching on 1500 screens.
- The four-year gap between the release of Skyfall and Quantum of Solace ties for the second longest period between James Bond films. This gap between films also represents the longest time between films without a casting change to the actor playing James Bond. Previous hiatuses between Licence to Kill and GoldenEye (the longest period between films in the franchise) and then between Die Another Day and Casino Royale were both accompanied by casting changes to the actor playing James Bond.
- Skyfall's marketing has been said to have gone to a new level with the actual actor who plays James Bond appearing in a number of commercial television advertisements for product placements seen in the film such as Heineken, Omega Watches and Sony Electronics. However, this has been justified, Daniel Craig has said, ."The simple fact is that, without them, we couldn't do it. It's unfortunate but that's how it is. This movie costs a lot of money to make, it costs nearly as much again if not more to promote, so we go where we can.".
- Product placements, brand integrations and promotional tie-ins for 'Skyfall' include Heineken Lager Beer; Coca Cola's Coke Zero; Bollinger Champagne; Visit Britain Tourism's 'Live Like Bond' campaign; "The James Bond Archives" and "SKYFALL: Bond On Set" books; Procter & Gamble fragrance; Virgin Atlantic; 'Literary Review' magazine; Tom Ford clothing; Cartamundi playing cards; Omega Watches including a 50th Anniversary Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M "SKYFALL" Limited Edition watch; Swarovski Jewelery; Corgi die-cast James Bond Skyfall toy Aston Martin DB5 cars; the London 2012 Olympics; Honda Motorcycles; Hornby Scalextric car sets; Jaguar & Land Rover vehicles; Activision's 007 Legends (2012) video-game; RT Marketing James Bond 007 merchandising; Sky TV's Sky Movies 007 HD Bond channel and Sony Electronics products including Bravia TVs, Vaio laptops & computers, and Xperia tablets & smart-phones, the Sony Xperia TL phone and Heineken beer being two of the products making brand-cameos in the film. The London 'Mirror' newspaper has reported that about £29 million or about a third of the film's budget was raised from commercial deals.
- The promotional tie-in with Heineken Lager Beer for this movie has been valued at being (UK) £28 million (= US $45 million). The product placement caused a controversy in the media prior to release, criticism being made for lacking integrity, blatant commercialization with Daniel Craig actually appearing in a Heineken ad and being disrespectful to Bond's traditional drink, the shaken and stirred martini. Producer Michael G. Wilson and actor Daniel Craig defended the financing by indicating that the Bond films cost a lot of money to make and Skyfall could not be completed without this support; that many of the product placements are based around supply of the products with technical support and the fact that James Bond is still seen drinking a Vodka Martini in Skyfall.
- Reportedly, sales of cut-throat razors increased by around 400% in the week following the film's launch. Online retailers of cut-throat razors reported sales increases of 50% to 400% due to the exposure generated by this film. The spike in sales has been attributed to the scene where Bond Girl Eve gives Bond an erotic close-shave with an old style straight razor commenting with a classic line, "Sometimes the old ways are the best". This line occurs twice, said by both Eve and Kincade.
- A few days after the film debuted in Britain, the real MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), took out a full page advertisement in "The Times" and "The Sunday Times" running with the headline, ."If the qualities that make a good spy were obvious, they wouldn't make a very good spy".. The aim of the ad was to debunk the legend and mythology associated with film fiction spies like James Bond in Skyfall, saying that real life spy work is not "high-speed chases and shoot-outs", an average spy is not a "globe-trotting secret agent" and that psychological profiles of real life agents show that they are actually "far more ordinary". The ad also dismisses the white male spy stereotype saying that "the truth is we don't care what sex you are or where you're from, as long as you're a British national". The humorous advertising campaign is considered one of MI6's most open ever recruitment drives. But in true espionage fashion, the ad still warns of utmost secrecy and strict confidentiality advising potential candidates that they cannot disclose that they are making an application to anyone.
- Skyfall represents the 10th Anniversary of the now regular "Bond On Set" book, a photo record of the filming of a Bond movie, with pictures that are shot by Bond regular stills photographer Greg Williams. The 'Skyfall' "Bond On Set" book is the fourth to be published, the first was in 2002 with the Die Another Day "Bond On Set" book. Prior to this, there had been "Making of" books for Bond films such as for GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies.
- A number of new books on James Bond were released in 2012, many around the time of early October 2012 a few weeks before 'Skyfall' was first released and around the time that the franchise celebrated its 50th Golden Anniversary on 5th October 2012. The books include "Bond on Bond" by Sir Roger Moore; "The James Bond Archives" by Paul Duncan; "Bond On Set: Filming Skyfall" by Greg Williams; "LIFE: 50 Years of James Bond" by the Editors of LIFE Books; "James Bond 50 Years of Movie Posters" by DK Publishing; "The Music of James Bond" by Jon Burlingame; "James Bond Unmasked" by Bill Desowitz; "All About Bond" by Terry O'Neill; "Amazing & Extraordinary Facts - James Bond" by Michael Paterson; ; "The World of James Bond: From Dr No to Skyfall" by Luke Quantrill; "Ken Adam Designs the Movies: James Bond and Beyond" by Christopher Frayling and Sir Ken Adam; and "The Many Lives and Deaths of James Bond: From Casino Royale to Skyfall" by Nader Elhefnawy; "James Bond: The Unofficial Reference to the Man, the Books, the Movies, and the Man Who Invented It All" by Jennifer Warner and LifeCaps; "How to Live the James Bond Lifestyle: The Complete Seminar" by Paul Kyriazi; the 2nd 2012 edition of "James Bond 007: The Definitive Guide" by Paul Fleming; the 2nd edition of "James Bond Drinks: The Complete Guide to the Drinks of James Bond" by David Leigh and "Essential James Bond Quotes" by William Rogers and "A Brief Guide to James Bond" by Nigel Cawthorne.
DESERVED AND LONG OVERDUE RECOGNITION-
- At the 2013 Academy Awards ceremony, Skyfall became the first James Bond film to achieve a number of records in the franchise's history:
The most number of Academy Award nominations ever received by a Bond film totaling five (Best Song, Score, Sound Mixing, Sound Effects Editing and Cinematography).
The first Bond film to get Oscar nominated in three decades. The last time was in 1982, when For Your Eyes Only (1981) was nominated for Best Song. 1982 also saw producer Albert R. Broccoli receive the Honorary Thalberg Award.
First Bond film to win two Oscars (Goldfinger and Thunderball won just the one each)
The third Bond film to win an Academy Award and the first in forty-seven years, the last being Thunderball.
Skyfall's tied Oscar for Sound Editing was not actually the first in that category, as Goldfinger had won for Best Effects, Sound Effects whilst Diamonds Are Forever had been nominated for Best Sound.
After a number of Bond Songs having being nominated for the Best Song Oscar (Live and Let Die, The Spy Who Loved Me, and For Your Eyes Only, Adele's "Skyfall" became the first James Bond theme to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
- The number of individual Academy Awards totaled from this film's cast and crew is as follows. Crew: Director Sam Mendes (1 win), cinematographer Roger Deakins (9 nominations), first draft of script by Peter Morgan (2 nominations), final script by John Logan (3 nominations), composer Thomas Newman (10 nominations), Designer Dennis Gassner (1 win & 3 more nominations), and Chris Corbould on special effects (1 win). Cast: Javier Bardem (2 nominations, 1 win), Ralph Fiennes (2 nominations), Albert Finney (5 nominations) and Judi Dench (5 nominations & 1 more win) making at least 41 nominations, and 5 wins.
GADGETS, VEHICLES, AND WEAPONS-
- Gadgets featured in the film include a tiny radio tracking device; a NFC (Near field communication) enabled Sony Xperia T smart-phone (aka "The Bond Phone"); an Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Mid-Sized Chronometer watch; an Agusta Westland Merlin AW101 helicopter with a Public Address (PA) system fitted on its undercarriage to play music; an original silver-birch Aston Martin DB5 car with various gadgets including an ejector seat (unused) and two 20mm Browning Machine Gun headlights; a Sony VAIO laptop computer; a Sony Xperia Tablet; and a hand recognition Walther PPK/S 9mm short firearm with a palm-sensitive hammer coded to James Bond's palm prints.
- Vehicles featured in the film include a Range Rover Vogue SE; a 3.0 L V6 Diesel Jaguar XJ L; a Range Rover Evoque; black 2007 Audi A5 B8 cars; a Mercedes; a Stornoway metallic grey Land Rover Defender 110 wheelbase double cab ute; a 320D L Cat Hydraulic Excavator; 1998 Volkswagen Typ 1C New VW Beetles; an Agusta Westland Merlin AW101 helicopter; various Honda CRF 250R motor-bikes and the classic James bond car, the silver birch Aston Martin DB5.
- Sixth appearance in the official James Bond series of the classic silver-birch Aston Martin DB5 car. The film marks the return of the vehicle which first appeared in Goldfinger and last appeared in Casino Royale. The DB5 has also appeared in Thunderball, GoldenEye, and Tomorrow Never Dies. The car also features in the James Bond video-games James Bond in Agent Under Fire (2001), 007 Racing (2000), James Bond 007: Blood Stone (2010) and James Bond 007: From Russia with Love (2005) but not in the 'Skyfall' tie-in video-game 007 Legends (2012) which has instead the Aston Martin DBS. The license plate number of the DB5 in 'Skyfall' is BMT 216A, the same as it was in Goldfinger and Thunderball, the complex the car drives out of in Skyfall resembling that from Goldfinger. The famous DB series of Aston Martin cars is named after Sir David Brown. Brown was an entrepreneur, adventurer, and chairman of Aston Martin from the late 1940s to the 1970s.
- The Skyfall car chase includes a fleet of twelve Land Rover Defenders and sixteen Audi A5's which were all modified and reinforced in different ways to the requirements of the stunt and camera departments. Two of the Defenders had driving 'Pods' fitted to the roof of Eve's (Naomie Harris) eight feet above the ground car allowing her to concentrate on delivering dialogue while being driven by former 'Stig' Ben Collins at 50 mph (80 kph) through the packed streets of Istanbul. Multiple British rally car champion Mark Higgins was Harris' driving stunt double for wide-angle shots of the Land Rover weaving through traffic. Other modifications to the vehicles for the stunt sequence included spread wheels to give greater stability, conversion from manual to automatic, modified engines to enhance engine power and the addition of interior roll cages for protection and safety.
- For the destruction of the Aston Martin DB 5, the production crew naturally did not rely on the real car. Instead the model shop turned to a German company that created parts of the car utilizing vintage 3D printer technology. The built model was at a 1:3 scale and then destroyed in front of the cameras.
- The chopper seen at the end of the movie is an AgustaWestland Merlin AW101 helicopter. Even though this was one of the most newest and advanced helicopters in the sky when the film was made, the sound effects editor did the common practice of dubbing in the sound of a two-bladed Bell Huey Vietnam-era helicopter developed in the late 1950s. An AgustaWestland Merlin AW139 helicopter was seen in the opening "Happy and Glorious" sequence of the 2012 London Olympics where stuntmen Mark Sutton and Gary Connery took a skyfall jump in the guise of being James Bond and Queen Elizabeth II respectively. Silva's helicopter also bears an orange-red logo that looks just like the logo of the Austrian Air Force, though the movie leaves it open whether this is a hint at any of Silva's connections or not.
- A total of twenty Honda CRF250R motor-cycles were used for the opening motorcycle chase. The sequence is notable for being performed on narrow roof-top tracks and without any helmets or heavy-duty protective gear. The 'Police' and 'Street Merchant' bikes seen were ridden by stunt-riders and due to the high speed of the chase, the stunt crew teams filming it also rode the bikes too in order to carry the cameras. For the film, the Honda motor-bikes were modified especially for the stunt sequence by the special effects team of Chris Corbould.
- Weaponry and guns in the film include an Anderson Wheeler double-barreled chambered 500 NE (Nitro Express) hunting rifle belonging to James Bond's father; Silva's reproduction Percussion Cap Ardesa 1871 Duelling Pistol; Kincade's Colt Model 1878 shotgun; two Steyr M9-A1 pistols; various Heckler & Koch HK416 assault rifles belonging to Silva's men; Heckler & Koch G36C rifles with G36V carry handles used by the Metropolitan Police Service's CO19 officers; M4-style carbine assault rifles used by Mi6 security officers; Eve's Olympic Arms K23B rifle; various standard Glock 17 pistols; a 100 round drum mag semi-automatic Glock 18 machine pistol-class pistol used by Patrice who also has a sniper rifle and a hand recognition Walther PPK/S 9mm short firearm with a palm-sensitive hammer coded to James Bond's palm prints. For the weapons training, the cast went through 200,000 rounds of ammunition.
- In the film, Bond (Daniel is given a Walther PPK/S 9mm short firearm by Q. The Walther PPK is considered the most popular and widely known Bond gun, since it is the one he has used the most. Originally, Bond used a Beretta, but that was later replaced with the Walther PPK. The hand-gun he has in 'Skyfall' is uses hand recognition coded to his palm prints. Timothy Dalton's Bond used a weapon with the same feature in Licence to Kill (1989).
- Patrice's gun in the film is a 100 round drum mag semi-automatic "Glock 18" machine pistol-class firearm which holds 100 rounds of ammunition and fires 20 rounds a second. The firearm has an effective range of 50 m (55 yd) and a muzzle velocity of 1,230 ft/s (375 m/s). It's an Austrian gun that was developed at the request EKO Cobra, the Austrian counter-terrorist unit.
MUSIC AND GAMING NOTES-
- It was initially speculated that James Bond veteran composer David Arnold would be providing the score for this film despite a long-running collaboration between director Sam Mendes and composer Thomas Newman. However, in January 2012, it was finally announced that Newman would, in fact, be composing the score. This marks only the sixth time (out of twenty-three films) that a James Bond film has not been scored by either Monty Norman, John Barry, or David Arnold. It is a myth that Arnold was unable to score the film due to his duties as musical director for the 2012 London Olympics - in numerous interviews he has stated that Newman was simply chosen due to his ongoing work with Mendes. In October 2012, David Arnold revealed on Twitter that the producers had licensed some of his film score from Casino Royale for Skyfall.
- The movie's soundtrack composed by Thomas Newman features the most tracks (30) ever for a James Bond film score. The previous record holder in the official series had been Casino Royale with 25 whilst next is Quantum of Solace with 24. The CD is the second time that a James Bond soundtrack has not featured the title song. The first time was Chris Cornell's title song "You Know My Name" not appearing on the Casino Royale soundtrack. Skyfall's end titles utilize composer David Arnold's arrangement ("The Name's Bond... James Bond") of Monty Norman's "James Bond Theme" but this also does not feature on the soundtrack. Skyfall's film's score also contains interpolations of Monty Norman's original "James Bond Theme". The whole score on the soundtrack is composed and conducted by Thomas Newman except for the "Komodo Dragon" track which is an instrumental interpolation of the film's "Skyfall" theme song. "Skyfall" is also the first Daniel Craig Bond film to make use of Norman's original "James Bond Theme" throughout the entire film (in "Casino Royale" the fully orchestrated version was played during the end credits and in Quantum of Solace during the gun barrel sequence and at the start of the end credits).
- The film's theme song sung by Adele is the first Bond Song to share the same name as the film's title since Madonna's Die Another Day a decade earlier and the first Daniel Craig Bond film to do so. The 'Skyfall' song was released at 0.07am on Friday October 5th 2012 at 0:07 am BST/LONDON time (7:07pm EST on 4th October), the exact 50th Anniversary of the launch of Dr. No. A 90-second version of the song was leaked online not long after Adele officially announced on Twitter that she was the artist singing the film's title song. The song was recorded at London's Abbey Road Studios with a full orchestra.
- Adele's title song "Skyfall" is the first ever James Bond theme to debut in the Top 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100 Chart, entering at No. #8. It's the 7th Bond song to reach the US Top 10 and the 13th to reach the US Top 100. It's the first to chart in the US Top 10 in a decade, the last time being Madonna's Die Another Day song in 2002. Adele's song sold 261,000 copies in the USA in its first three days. The song debuted in the UK Singles Chart at No. #4 within just 48 hours of release and then went to No. #2 within a week, tying with the previous record holder, Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill (Dance into the Fire)" as the highest ever charting Bond song in UK singles history. The song sold 84,000 copies in the UK in its first two days and had sold 92,000 copies within a week. The song went to No. #1 on the UK iTunes chart within 10 hours. On its first day of release worldwide, the song hit the Top 10 on the iTunes Charts in 21 countries. Of those, it also went to Number #1 in Belgium, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.
- Adele's "Skyfall" is the first Billboard Top 10 hit to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song since Eminem's "Lose Yourself" from 8 Mile (2002), ten years earlier.
- The name of the World War II era French song heard playing on Silva's island lair is "Boum!" and is sung by the famous French singer/songwriter Charles Trenet. The song won the Grand Prix du Disque and was first released in 1938, its use in the film occurring around 74 years after it first debuted.
- M (Judi Dench)'s house in the film is the former home of the legendary Bond composer John Barry. The filmmakers thought it would be a lovely tribute to the late composer who composed many of the James Bond film scores and defined the signature theme music in the series, his work being a core inspiration for the modern Bond music composed by David Arnold. John Barry passed away in 2011. Thomas Newman's score for 'Skyfall' has been said to pay tribute to Barry.
FLEMING AND OTHER REFERENCES-
- The influence of three of Ian Fleming's novels can be seen in the movie: the early sequences of Bond "missing/presumed dead" are reminiscent of the end of "You Only Live Twice" wherein Bond is suffering from amnesia and is "missing/presumed dead" and M writes the obit for the London Times. When he returns to London, the evaluation her goes through is similar to the tests he goes through at the start of "The Man With The Golden Gun" upon returning from Japan and Russian. And the emotional ending is reminiscent of the end of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" where Bond mourns the loss of his wife in his arms.
- The meaning and relevance of the film's title is that it refers to "Skyfall Lodge" (aka Skyfall Glencoe or Skyfall House), the name of James Bond's Scottish childhood ancestral home. In the Bond books, author Ian Fleming gave his James Bond character a real life lineage to the Bonds of Peckham. The real life Bond family motto "Orbis non sufficit" ("The World Is Not Enough") was used in the novel of On Her Majesty's Secret Service and as a title for the Bond film The World Is Not Enough. The Bond Family Arms were once displayed prominently in St. Giles Church in Camberwell but were destroyed in a fire in the 1800's. Similarly, an explosion of fire is the fate of 'Skyfall' in the film. 'Skyfall' forms the third part of an unofficial trilogy in the James Bond franchise dealing with Bond's ancestry, the first and second parts being On Her Majesty's Secret Service and The World Is Not Enough. Producer Barbara Broccoli has said that the film's title "has some emotional context which will be revealed in the film". This was also the case with the previous Bond film Quantum of Solace.
CAMEOS-
- Michael G. Wilson: Producer Wilson has been doing regular cameos in the official James Bond series since The Spy Who Loved Me, with his first being in Goldfinger in 1964. Wilson's cameo in this film mostly got cut out of the picture but there is one shot of him still in the movie thereby keeping intact the series tradition of the Wilson cameo. The sequence that got cut was a funeral procession of hearses, Wilson's cameo was as a pall bearer.
- Wolf Blitzer: The real-life CNN newscaster as a CNN News Anchor reporting on the Mi6 agency.
- Huw Edwards: The real-life BBC news-reader as a BBC News Anchor reading the BBC news.
- Nicky Hayden: Uncredited, the professional motorcycle racer as a motor-bike rider during the film's opening chase sequence.
I second that motion. I really need to print all of this stuff out too! Great research on your part, Sir Henry. You've certainly earned you knighthood with this thread, @SirHenryLeeChaChing!
- M (Judi Dench)'s house in the film is the former home of the legendary Bond composer John Barry. The filmmakers thought it would be a lovely tribute to the late composer who composed many of the James Bond film scores and defined the signature theme music in the series, his work being a core inspiration for the modern Bond music composed by David Arnold.
And I really like that. It's classy. That is the kind of subtle nod/tribute that can be appreciated by many.
Wasn't that a beer? Or is that just my imagination?
Thanks for the trivia.
I don't know that they ever specified it, and for whatever reason I thought Felix was the only one drinking.
@4EverBonded, I didn't know that bit of trivia either, and I somehow missed it in the big list. That really is a great, yet not overbearing, tribute to the man behind the sound of James Bond.
Happy new year and all that hope all went well over the Christmas period.
Looking forward to the Skyfall thesis questions and then ... I just can't believe we are finally at this point! Where we can put our ratings together. We did it! All the Bond films. A thoroughly entertaining, interesting, thought provoking, and great fun marathon this has been! After that, on to a new stage. But I am really excited about where we are right now in this thread. Thanks, SirHenry, for manning this ship the whole course. :-bd
Here's this week's thesis questions for Skyfall- 6 in all and hopefully not too complex. Deadline for answers? Does next Tuesday 1/14 sound good? Special thanks to @4EverBonded for suggesting musical question #5 that for some reason "Mr.Music" didn't consider :\">
1. The reintroduction of the Moneypenny character seemed to have followed a trend of "empowerment" by adding field duties to her resume. Comments from Sam Mendes and others seem to indicate that her return to strictly desk type duties that the end of Skyfall alluded to may not be written in stone. The thesis question here is, should Moneypenny again physically participate in car chases and other action sequences, or she largely be desk bound and be kept as a non-combatant?
2. While our new Q is less the buffoon of the Cleese era, I felt that his credibility took a hit when Silva outwitted him. More disturbing to me is this era of "political correctness" and the temptation to have the character reflect Ben Whishaw's real life status as a gay man to promote diversity. Having seen in prior entries that Q certainly appreciates the ladies in a heterosexual sense, the question is both how would you feel if the "gay Q" scenario happened, and does this level of PC belong in a film series that has thrived just fine without it?
3. The eternal question I will always have- did you agree with the decision to kill off Severine? Please explain your answer and specifically what you would have done if your answer is "no".
4. Silva's escape plot I think we all can agree was implausible. Now you be the writer. What would you have done?
5. A two part question. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest, how would you rate Newman's score? Please feel free to detail as to what you liked and if you didn't like it, what was missing for you? Second, do you want Newman back or would you prefer a return to David Arnold or another composer entirely?
6. Much has been made about Mendes' acknowledgement that the film reflects his admiration for the recent "Batman" films. And yet Bond films have always survived just fine on their own special formula. So with Skyfall appearing to have brought Bond full circle from CR/QOS and with that in mind, name any three "formula elements" lacking in the current films you would like to see return. For example, they brought back Moneypenny and Q, so what else should return and how would the next adventure look to you?
1. I'd like to see her role be less 'partner-ish' and more 'back-up-in-a-pinch' if necessary. I don't mind her being in the field every once in a while.
2. Oh please, I don't like that he's even a kid, much less a gay one. We gave up Cleese for this?
3. They either should have established her as definably bad, or had Bond tied up to watch her executed IMO.
4. Bathosub from the island.
Okay, seriously? With a big hand from Quantum.
5. 3.5
Not enough Barry-like riffs.
Arnold, PLEASE!
6. Let me think... Proper gunbarrel in the proper place.
Girls in the titles, and one in his arms in the end.
Some cool gadgets.
I'd like the next one to be a Thunderball-like Caribbean adventure- time for some fun!
Is that a yes or no?
But I'll start ~
1) I love this Moneypenny and I am happy for her to not be the traditional secretary ONLY and deskbound. I can see her in the field a bit, but just from time to time. And not necessarily shooting guns. But in action, in the field: Yes, in a limited role. And I like her chemistry with Bond very much and I am happy for her to do more, without her role becoming a real sidekick or damsel in distress often. It would be a tricky balance, but a good writer and director could do it. I am hopeful. I do want to see more of this Moneypenny than from the "good old days" of Connery, Moore, and Dalton.
2) I was open to a younger Q because I thought it might bring a new dynamic to the chemistry between Q and Bond - and I did like Q when I saw Skyfall. I agree with SirHenry that he was shown up by Silva and needs to be more brilliant and savvy in the next Bond film to get the credibility the role deserves. I think that perhaps it may be suggested at some point in the future, as this is a recurring role, that Q is gay. But that may not come up. I cannot foresee it. My instinct is that I would prefer Q not to be gay because I want some of the original character to continue. He is already geekier ... Desmond played Q as a brilliant and cranky and perhaps tad eccentric inventor and researcher. This Q seems to be more computer geek in style; Desmond's was definitely stronger and tougher. I am okay with changing a bit about Q - the banter and chemistry between Bond and Q is most important for me as a fan ... but my answer would be No, I prefer for Q not to be gay. But if he is portrayed that way in the future, it won't upset me unless it becomes too much of the plot or takes away from his corp identify as genius armourer/inventor and grudging thorn (albeit with respect and underlying affection) in Bond's side.
See I write so darn much. Okay those are two done for now. Rest to follow ... :)
2. Q does the gadgets, and whoever he does it should not feature in a 007 movie.
3. I found Bonds taking advantage of Severine slightly distastefull, her death seemed to serve no purpose and Bonds remark made him look like a right wanker. I never had that with any pervious movies that I found 007 a bit of a tosser.
4. An attack on the new HQ with busting Silva out and they could still derail a underground during the chase.
5. a 2 a reasonable musical soundtrack, but I kind of miss the 007 aspects of the soundtrack (on cd that is), the man Newman should at least recognise his employer when working on such a great franchise. I fear his part will not be remembered well, I found previous guest composers doing a better job. Disco Conti, whose soundtrack I do rate very well, does dance circles around Newmans pedestrian effort.
6.
1- The gunbarrel at the begin
2- A adventure which leaves out 007's anxieties or childhood problems, a flaming adventure yarn please.
3- James Bond being more of gentleman and less being a chav.
Also why do people assume the new Q is gay? Ben Whishaw didn't come out until after Skyfall made it to DVD and bluray. A little bit harsh don't you think? Zachary Quinto is gay but doesn't make his portrayal Spock the same.
In fact I liked Ben's portrayal of Q. It was something new and different. This is a time where the franchise needs some new blood. Ben Whishaw along with Naomi Harris and Ralph Fiennes will bring a new great spin to these characters.
Also I'm not saying he should be gay either, It's a James Bond film not a Q film. But I think some of the comments on the subject are a bit harsh.
2. What would be the context of a "gay Q"? Would he have a crush on Bond? Would he make offhand remarks about how much he likes dudes? Would Q's boyfriend get hired? Q should be primarily asexual, but if he is to have a sexuality I suppose he should be heterosexual, since they'd have no reason to feature a gay Q's sexuality, given Bond's, and tradition, although it's once again less important.
3. I don't have any objection to it. People dying isn't an unheard-of practice in the Bond movies.
4. Hmm, this is definitely the toughest question on here. I'll wait for the other responses and think it over before diving in.
5. I'll give it a 3; it didn't have much going for it either way, and I don't care overly much about the scores. Sure, a good one is good (OHMSS, DAF), and a bad one is bad (FYEO, GE), but they never make or break the movie.
6. Much has been made about Mendes' acknowledgement that the film reflects his admiration for the recent "Batman" films. And yet Bond films have always survived just fine on their own special formula. So with Skyfall appearing to have brought Bond full circle from CR/QOS and with that in mind, name any three "formula elements" lacking in the current films you would like to see return. For example, they brought back Moneypenny and Q, so what else should return and how would the next adventure look to you?
6. First, regarding the Batman movies, the influence is overblown, as the Dark Knight Saga was clearly influenced by Bond, from Lucius Fox's role as Q to Alfred's borderline-M to the near-PTS at the start of The Dark Knight Rises to the whole plots of The Dark Knight Rises and The World is Not Enough (outlined in the revisit of TWINE). Bond has also been primarily reactive at least since Diamonds are Forever, lifting from blaxploitation, kung-fu, 80's cop thrillers, and Bourne, with brief flashes of originality. Anyway, onto the original question: The gunbarrel at the start of the movie, the MI6 crew remaining in the office, and the movie ending with Bond's victory and him and the Bond girl together. Those would be the most concrete steps toward a traditional movie while still allowing for changes to the scenery and characters and plotlines.
2) I don't really care if Q is gay or not but I don't want it to become his identity. I would prefer that his sexuality is not brought into the equation at all. I don't think that continuity is an issue here because I don't feel any connection with Whishaw's character to that of Llewelyn's. This is a completely different person so he needs to be his own man and not try (and fail) to follow in the footsteps of a legend. With that said, obviously this franchise does not need to make a political statement in favor of or against homosexuality so it's better left untouched.
3) Okay, I'll bite. I think that they should have kept Severine alive for several reasons. First off, Bond should have cared more about her. We are lead to believe that this is not the rookie agent from Casino Royale anymore. Yet he is content to use her sexually for his own personal gain just like he did with Solange. This pattern of women who are intimately involved with Bond meeting an untimely demise is getting rather stale now. I believe that there was a missed opportunity for Bond to learn Silva's secrets from Severine much like he did with Domino in Thunderball. She could have been a crucial ally to him in a desperate time. At the very least he could have acted like he cared when she died. I suppose there is another angle to consider as well. If we are to interpret any Christian symbolism out of Skyfall (not a popular topic) then Severine could have been a Mary Magdalene type of figure who was ultimately redeemed by her "resurrected" savior, James Bond.
4) Well, why did he need to be captured? Surely a man of his influence and resources could have carried out this terrorist attack without all of the unnecessary melodramatics. He had access to police uniforms and vehicles. He was able to plant the bomb on the subway without detection. He also knew where M was going to be. Why take the huge risk of counting on Q to allow the virus to corrupt the MI6 computers? It's not as if Bin Laden or his followers broke out of Langley right before the 9/11 attacks. For a series that desperately wants us to believe that it is grounded in reality this was too over the top. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
5) I would give it a 3. I felt that Brave New World and The Chimera were definitely standout tracks but there was little else to offer. I didn't love it or hate it. In the end it was just... there. Skyfall, perhaps more than any other Bond film, was all about the visuals. Everything else was secondary. There were so many beautiful images to take in that it helped to distract us from the plot holes and the less than inspiring soundtrack. I wouldn't mind seeing Arnold have another go at it. If not then let's see what someone new can bring to the table.
6) I want to see a grand old adventure again. I want the focus to be on the mission and not Bond's psyche. I have enjoyed the Craig era thus far but I feel like a change in direction is needed at this point. I want to see Quantum and Felix Leiter return. I want Bond to have fun with women again. There's nothing wrong with a more romantic sexual escapade as opposed to an entirely lustful one. I wouldn't mind seeing some cool new gadgets as long as they aren't too ridiculous. And for the last time, put that d*** gun barrel sequence back where it f****** belongs.
By the way, welcome back Sir Henry!