Friday, April 22, 2016

The best bits from Hamilton-directed 007 legends

Aston Martin DB5 in Goldfinger
Veteran James Bond director, Guy Hamilton, passed away at the age of 93. At his time in the world of James Bond, Hamilton directed 007 legends such as Goldfinger, Diamonds are Forever, Live and Let Die, and The Man with the Golden Gun. Each film features unique stunts and Bond car moments a true Bond aficionado can remember if he spent all day binge-watching Bond films.

So, remember any of the best bits from Hamilton-directed 007 legends?

Goldfinger - The Aston Martin DB5 is noteworthy one of the most iconic Bond cars in existence and in this film, Bond actor Sean Connery unleashed all of the gadgets offered on the DB5 such as ejector seat, oil slicks, bullet-proof rear shield, tire shredders, machine guns, all the things this Bond car unleashed until its untimely crash at Auric Headquarters while being chased by Auric Goldfinger's goons.

Diamonds are Forever - Diamonds are Forever, the sixth and final Bond film to have Sean Connery on it as the iconic British spy, features one of the most infamous stunt in cinematic history involving a Mustang Mach 1 going on two wheels. It became one of the most memorable blooper moment when the car drives into the alley on its right wheels and reappears balanced on the left. A bizarre phenomena when an in-car shot was inserted to show the car apparently rotating within the alley rather than reshooting the stunt.

Live and Let Die - Live and Let Die is the first Bond film for Sir Roger Moore to play the role of 007 and in this film, Bond fends off against a corrupt drug dealer as well as the one with the mechanical arm and the other one who is immortal. This film features one of the most bizarre car chase involving a double decker bus. Bond, in a bus, tries to shake off against pursuers and then at the latter part, the bus sliced into half and the top part ended on the pursuers. Little did you know that despite Sir Roger's training for the scene, he still couldn't cut the mustard and while there are no stuntmen capable of dealing with the bus part, an actual bus driver took part of it.

The Man with the Golden Gun - This 007 legend features one of the most complicating car stunt in cinematic history; the barrel roll. In this scene, Bond and CIA agent Jack Wade snagged an AMC Hornet from a dealership in Bangkok while pursuing Scaramanga and his henchmen Nick Nack in another AMC car. With Scaramanga headed to the other side, Bond takes the shortcut and that's where the barrel roll kicked in. The chase ended with Scaramanga took a dramatic exit in a flying car. Here's a trivia about this scene; while the barrel-roll stunt is purely a computer-simulated stunt that requires a human being in the hot seat, the flying car is one thing because at one time, there was once an old Ford Pinto bolted with some bits and bobs from a Cessna plane, called the AVE Mizar. The Bond people plan to do such a thing but when reports told that the creator of the AVE Mizar died during his test flight with this creation, the Bond people took retreat by using a miniaturized model unit instead.

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