Can you recall the early James Bond movies where 007 was portrayed by Sean Connery and George Lazenby? Connery was the first actor to play Bond on the silver screen in the 1962 film 'Dr No' and had caught the attention of the film's producers after appearances in British films in the late 1950s.
Interestingly, author of the James Bond books, Ian Fleming, thought Connery didn't have the panache and finesse to play the character.
Filmmakers used a a technique known as rear window projection, or "driving a desk" was used to show a scene in the background of a stationary car (normally in a studio) to make it appear as though the car is in the middle of a high-speed car chase.
'Something doesn't look right'
It simply wasn't possible to film in busy cities with a full film crew without completely shutting down an area, of course nowadays studios splurge huge money on doing just that. But during the 60s and 70s there were costs and other restrictions that curtailed those plans.
Another issue was the direction of the steering wheel turned by the actor or actress would rarely match the movement in the background. This was due to the fact that camera rigs couldn't rig the equipment to the side of the car.
This would mean if the car was really being driven in the direction it was supposed to be via the steering wheel, it would have taken a completely different route than we see onscreen.
New Bond film set for November
With the latest Bond film, 'Shatterhand', delayed by the coronavirus pandemic and to its new release date in November, Whocanfixmycar.com have taken a look at car chases in classic Bond movies to see where he would really end up if his steering matched up to the real car.
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Dr No
When people think of the first Bond car, they think of the Aston Martin DB5. But in fact, it was the modest Sunbeam Alpine that Bond put through its paces in 'Dr. No'. The chase begins when, after leaving the apartment of Miss Taro, an enemy spy, Bond finds himself being pursued by an assailant.
According to the rear projection used in this chase is perhaps one of the most famous ever images of Sean Connery and Bond in general, making its way on to the cover of some versions of the DVD when it was released. Connery "controls" the car well in the opening of the scene until he stumbles upon some tight curves and hairpins, and then the chaos begins.
Goldfinger
We pick up the action as Bond is about to launch the ejector seat after he had famously been rather comically threatened with a life-changing laser beam injury. As Bond finds himself outside Goldfinger’s car factory, there are a lot of tight corners and long straights, making it easier for the rear projection to keep up with what is going on.
However, as the car turns left before Bond vertically dispatches of his captor, he forgets to turn left on the steering wheel in his Aston Martin DB5, and it knocks the rest of the car chase totally out of sync!
To view all the car chase scenes, . We hoped you enjoyed the taster.
The use of rear projection was in Bond films all the way up to License To Kill in 1989, although they had begun to master the technique as time went on. Nowadays, the Bond producers use CGI to fill any gaps in the surrounding environment.
It seems to us that out of the three car chases that James Bond was driving, and the three that his female accomplices were at the wheel, Bond messes up far more! With 'Thunderball' and 'The Man With The Golden Gun' being by far the worst examples.
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Compiled by: Sean Parker