Bond’s Greatest Stunt

2

Comments

  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    edited June 2012 Posts: 9,117
    Going over the edge on the bungee jump at the Arkhangel facility in the Goldeneye opening

    The free fall sequence in Moonraker teaser

    Somersault car over bridge, Man with the Golden Gun

    Jump off the Eiffel Tower, View to a Kill

    Parachute jump, Spy who loved me

    there are just a few examples I would include

    GE Bungy - whilst it looks impressive on the big screen, any stunt where I can just stroll up, pay my money and do it myself doesn't cut the mustard for me: http://www.trekking.ch/en/bungy/007-bungy-jumping-verzasca-like-james-bond

    MR parachute - whilst the sequence is technically stunning it was put together from loads of separate jumps so any problems or mistakes they just called cut and went again.

    TMWTGG - Although this was the most dangerous incarnation of the stunt as it took place over water the DVD extras make it clear that this was by far the first time it had been performed and so it's not as original or ground breaking as people think.

    AVTAK - a difficult base jump to be sure as the tower curves outwards as you go down but it's a jump from a stationary position rather than on skis which adds an extra element of variables which add to the risk.

    TSWLM has to take the crown as what you see on screen is exactly what you get - there are no tricks or cuts. Also to the best of my knowledge it had never been done before and has never been repeated. In addition to a spectacular base jump theres also the skis which come close to getting stuck in the chute making it even more dangerous. Simply legendary.
  • Posts: 1,143
    As stated by others, the ski jump in TSWLM is for me the best. No ticks or effects, just one crazy dude skiing off a sheer mountain top into a free fall. Gutsy to say the least!
  • Posts: 7,653
    DAD: the icechase with the jaguar and the Vanish
  • Posts: 5,745
    SaintMark wrote:
    DAD: the icechase with the jaguar and the Vanish

    Yes, actually, I'll go for this one for DAD, not the surfing. They had to flip a car, navigate on ice, and work all those modified gadgets. Quite the stunt work indeed.
  • Posts: 406
    The Ski jump in Spy, and also the 360 car flip in golden gun, although I think that sllide whistle just ruins it for me
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,480
    Alan007 wrote:
    The Ski jump in Spy, and also the 360 car flip in golden gun, although I think that sllide whistle just ruins it for me

    Pretty much everbody involved, including Barry in hindsight, wish it had been left out. (It was Barry wasn't it? I am tired ...)
  • St_GeorgeSt_George Shuttling Drax's lovelies to the space doughnut - happy 40th, MR!
    Posts: 1,699
    There's so many great stunts to discover and relive in the world of the cinematic Bond. But the all-time greatest - still - after all these years is probably the ski-jump/ Union Jack parachute effort from Spy. There's a reason why so many audiences around the world applauded as the film's opening credits began.

    Mind you, the first time I saw CR the audience in the cinema broke out into applause as its end credits began. That says something too, methinks... :)
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,976
    @TheWizardOfice, you would be willing to do the bungee jump from GE? Congratulations, I sure wouldn't. The man who did it was a professional, and said it was hard for him to pull out the gun at the end because the wind got severely knocked out of him when the cord snapped back. Doesn't sound simplistic to me.
  • Posts: 11,425
    This is quite cool, old skool stunt stuff:

  • edited April 2016 Posts: 1,386
    My 5 favorite stunts would be:

    1. MR Two Men One Parachute: A ton of work went into not only choreographing the midair fight sequences but also filming the sequence in freefall. Anything that involves people having to do something this dangerous this many times just to get useable footage is a technical marvel of moviemaking and I invite anyone who thinks it's easy or unimpressive to go out in an airplane with some buddies, parachutes, and videocameras to do it better and post the footage.

    2. GE bungee jump (that is a very long drop and I find it breathtaking to watch every time).

    3. GE motorcycle jump & freefall. (performed by Jacques Malnuit & B.J. Worth).

    4. CR parkour run up the side of the scaffolding.

    5. TSWLM ski jump

    There are definitely others that I like, but these are the ones that floor me when I see them.
    :D
  • edited April 2016 Posts: 337
    TSWLM is the grandest stunt, especially on screen, but when it comes to the greatest stuntwork, it's the freefall scene in the PTS of Moonraker, unquestionably.
  • edited April 2016 Posts: 1,817
    TSWLM's ski jump is definitely the best stunt. The only question that remains is which stunt claims SECOND place.

    EDIT: Not sure if this happened another time but remember that a stuntman was killed doing the stunts for the FYEO ski chase. Obviously any stunt is dangerous but perhaps this one was particularly so.
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    @TheWizardOfice, you would be willing to do the bungee jump from GE? Congratulations, I sure wouldn't. The man who did it was a professional, and said it was hard for him to pull out the gun at the end because the wind got severely knocked out of him when the cord snapped back. Doesn't sound simplistic to me.

    Would do and have done.

    The real skill is holding the body position like he does which I didn't really manage after about the first 20 feet.

    When they hauled me back in the guy said 'Welcome back Mr Bond, we've been expecting you' which I thought was a nice touch.

    I'm still going to give TSWLM the nod for the overall best package although I think technically the TLD cargo net is simply staggering.

    And the water ski to plane sequence in LTK is pretty damn good as well. The 70s and 80s really were the high water mark for jaw dropping stunts.

    Notably there's nothing you could really say from the Craig era that can hold a candle to The Rog or Tim eras.
  • Posts: 4,044
    No mention of the guys hanging outside the plane in Octopussy?

    I'd say TSWLM is impressive and iconic due to the Union Flag for Silver Jubilee, but the best stunts are TLD cargo net and MR freefall.
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    For me it's TLD that always let's me think, wow what great stunt work and wow, how brave Dalton was who wanted to do everything on his own.
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    vzok wrote: »
    No mention of the guys hanging outside the plane in Octopussy?

    That's a good shout. Some great work there.

    To be honest you could pretty much make a case for something in all of the 80s Bonds.

    John Glen certainly delivered on stunts. Might not be a bad idea if Mendes consulted with him on how to film Bond action if he ends up doing another as his action has been pretty average overall. But he probably considers journeyman John beneath him and his artsy 'Dead are alive' and tracking shots pretentions.
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    John Glen is the best Bond director anyway. The 80's is the best Bond decade too.
    4 of the five 80's movies are in my Top 10.
  • Posts: 79
    Again I can't believe that one of the most incredible and insanely dangerous stunts is not even mentioned - even though 30 years later Tom Cruise get all the applaus for doing something similar but not half as cool or challenging in MI-RN...

    Of course I'm talking about OPs totally underrated Jet sequence in the showdown.
  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    edited April 2016 Posts: 4,423
    royale65 wrote:
    Here are the runners and riders; updated 01/04/16

    YOLT: Gliding down into the Volcano Base
    OHMSS: One ski Bond
    DAF: Down the alley
    LALD: Speedboat jump
    LALD: Running over those “potential overnight bags”
    TMWTGG: Corkscrew jump
    Spy: Mount Asgard jump
    MR: Two men, one parachute
    MR: Hang gliding over Iguacu Falls
    MR: Sugar Loaf Mountain; Dicky Graydon stunt, Cable Car
    FYEO: Beckton Gasworks helicopter stunt
    FYEO: Dangling from St Cyril's
    FYEO: Bobsleigh chase, at Cortina
    OP: Martin Grace’s stunt; clinging on the train
    OP: Bond and Gobinda mid air flight
    AVTAK: Parisian car chase; car on a bus...
    AVTAK: Eiffel tower base jump
    TLD: Gibraltar skydiving
    TLD: Cargo net fight
    TLD: Clambering on the Jeep
    LTK: Water-skiing, behind the plane
    LTK: Tanker Climax
    GE: Bungee Jump
    TND: HALO
    TND: Helicopter and a motorcycle
    TWINE: Out the window in PTS
    TWINE: Corkscrew jump on the Thames
    DAD: The real surfing; PTS
    CR: Crane Jump
    CR: Totalling the Aston Martin
    SP: PTS Helicopter Stunt

    (Should we include OHMSS’s epic ski chase, or TB’s underwater battle, TLD’s Soviet Airbase etc, etc, etc? They’re not stunts per se, what do you think?)

    I know I forgotten some stunts, so any help would be appreciated peeps. ;-)



  • Posts: 4,044
    The OHMSS ski chase might be too long to be called a stunt, but the skiing on one ski bit could be included. I thought that was awesome when I first saw OHMSS at the movies.
  • w2bondw2bond is indeed a very rare breed
    Posts: 2,252
    The 80's definitely are the best decade for stunts, which is partly why 3 of them are in my top 8. LTK misses out on the top 10 because of the score and it's not much of a Bond movie
  • w2bond wrote: »
    The 80's definitely are the best decade for stunts...

    Yes. And Timothy did a lot of his own, which was quite refreshing after all the obvious stunt doubles in AVTAK.
  • ForYourEyesOnlyForYourEyesOnly In the untained cradle of the heavens
    Posts: 1,984
    Hanging onto the plane in OP was a brilliant stunt, even if it looked a bit fake when translated onto the screen.
  • Hanging onto the plane in OP was a brilliant stunt, even if it looked a bit fake when translated onto the screen.

    It did? One of the greatest Bond moments as far as I'm concerned.
  • Posts: 4,044
    How did it look fake? The stunts were done for real.
  • w2bondw2bond is indeed a very rare breed
    Posts: 2,252
    vzok wrote: »
    How did it look fake? The stunts were done for real.

    Probably the cuts between the stuntmen and the actors, the latter which are obviously faked.

    I just watched it again, the stuntmen's faces are really obvious now especially on blu ray, which is fine, I prefer it done for real. But thanks @ForYourEyesOnly, you just ruined that scene, I won't be able to unsee the cuts now
    :(( :P
  • ForYourEyesOnlyForYourEyesOnly In the untained cradle of the heavens
    Posts: 1,984
    vzok wrote: »
    How did it look fake? The stunts were done for real.

    The stunts were done for real, but the shots and the cutting as @w2bond mentioned weren't that great. It's sort of like the MR tram fight, which had real stunts but looked fake as hell. OP still looks fine for me, though, since it was 1983 and the stuntwork outweighs the cutting by far. They might've been able to add some music in that sequence though.
  • edited April 2016 Posts: 2,015
    Would do and have done.

    The real skill is holding the body position like he does which I didn't really manage after about the first 20 feet.

    Look at the stunt again, you may notice something.

    There is no digital fakery to remove anything in the first seconds. It wasn't available at that time (hence why you can spot the trucks on the top of the dam :) )

    And well, did you jump really away from the wall, or did you "fall" parallel to it ? I'm pretty sure it's forbidden to jump away from it, I could not find a single video like it, everyone is parallel to the wall to balance along it.

    Yes they make you believe you make the 007 stunt. But, well, you won't find anyone posting a video looking anything close to it... They don't want anyone to smash on the wall by balancing away from it and back, they probably had to tune the real 007 jump at the kilogram to avoid this and still have the visual impact of such a long fall on screen away from the concrete.
  • ForYourEyesOnlyForYourEyesOnly In the untained cradle of the heavens
    Posts: 1,984

    GE Bungy - whilst it looks impressive on the big screen, any stunt where I can just stroll up, pay my money and do it myself doesn't cut the mustard for me: http://www.trekking.ch/en/bungy/007-bungy-jumping-verzasca-like-james-bond

    MR parachute - whilst the sequence is technically stunning it was put together from loads of separate jumps so any problems or mistakes they just called cut and went again.

    TMWTGG - Although this was the most dangerous incarnation of the stunt as it took place over water the DVD extras make it clear that this was by far the first time it had been performed and so it's not as original or ground breaking as people think.

    AVTAK - a difficult base jump to be sure as the tower curves outwards as you go down but it's a jump from a stationary position rather than on skis which adds an extra element of variables which add to the risk.

    TSWLM has to take the crown as what you see on screen is exactly what you get - there are no tricks or cuts. Also to the best of my knowledge it had never been done before and has never been repeated. In addition to a spectacular base jump theres also the skis which come close to getting stuck in the chute making it even more dangerous. Simply legendary.

    1. You can do it, but that doesn't mean the stunt wasn't one of the best of the franchise. There was very, very real danger involved here, which other posters have explained.

    2. Sure, but would you be willing to skydive dozens of times over and over to get the perfect fight scene that the producers want? And the parachutes are hidden in your clothes, so it's not exactly easy to access either.

    3. I don't know what you mean here. "By far the first time it was performed"? How does that make it not original, then?

    I agree that TSWLM takes the cake, though.
  • ForYourEyesOnlyForYourEyesOnly In the untained cradle of the heavens
    Posts: 1,984
    Ah, damn me. I didn't realize it was from 2012, lol.
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