“GoldenEye”: Potato chips from Estrella (1995)

MERCHANDISE


"You know the quality. You know the taste."

With this slightly awkward spin on the "GoldenEye" tagline, the company Estrella A/S launched these GOLDENEYE CHIPS on the Danish market in 1996: 

GoldenEye Chips Estrella 1996 (front)

The packaging proudly stated that these potato crisps were in fact "recommended by James Bond 007". A highly dubious claim, given the four flavour enhancers and artificial meat flavouring (!?) found among the ingredients.

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“Bond in Motion”: Chris Corbould interview (2014)

FEATURE

This interview with special effects supervisor and EON Productions veteran Chris Corbould took place during the "Bond in Motion" press day at London Film Museum, 19 March 2014.

All rights © Brian Iskov for James Bond•O•Rama.

Chris Corbould, your first Bond gig was as a special effects assistant on ”The Spy Who Loved Me” back in 1976. How many Bond films have worked on since then?
I've done 13 in all [14 including the later ”Spectre” - ed.]. The one film I didn't work on was ”Octopussy” (1983).

So you're definitely an integral part of the Bond family.
Yes. They [the Broccolis] are a great family to work with. I've had many great years working with them. Hopefully many more.

Chris Corbould with the Jaguar XKR from 'Die Another Day' (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images for London Film Museum)
Chris Corbould with the Jaguar XKR from 'Die Another Day' (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images for London Film Museum)

Do you ever get to drive any of the cars in the films?
Absolutely. These [Jaguars and Aston Martins from ”Die Another Day” (2002)] are quite interesting, because my department had to modify both cars. We actually had four Jaguars and four Astons to be four wheel-drived, because there were no four wheel-drive models of these cars. The whole chase sequence, the battle sequence, happened on the ice, so we decided to convert them to four wheel-drive. Plus all the weapons. We had a lot of fun on this sequence on the ice, and because we were on ice, both cars had an inflating ... buoyancy system. So if they went through the ice, they would automatically inflate and keep both the driver and the car afloat.

And you're triggering all effects live from this radio-control console?
Yes. That controls the missiles coming out, the gun rotating, the gun firing ... You know, the driver has enough to do doing all the stunt driving, so we figured we wouldn't give him that responsibility. So we would always handle all the gadgetry that went on.

The SFX remote control gadget box for Vanquish and Jaguar (Die Another Day, 2002)
The SFX remote control gadget box for Vanquish and Jaguar (Die Another Day, 2002)

I'm guessing you didn't do the invisible car. That would have been another department.
No, no, no, we left that to somebody else. I'm not a great fan of that one, but there you go! I think we pushed the limits a bit too far on that one.

So which of the Bond cars did you like the most?
I enjoyed the Vanquish, I thought it was a nice car. Actually liked the one in ”The Living Daylights” (1987), which was a real meaty ... the Vantage?

The [Aston Martin] Volante? The black one with the outrigger skis?
Yeah, that was my favorite, because I was prepping that, doing all the preparation in Austria when we shot it, so we would take it out on the ice and drive it around the ice. It was a lot of fun.

Aston Martin V8 Volante from "The Living Daylights" (1987). Photo by London Film Museum
Aston Martin V8 Volante from "The Living Daylights" (1987). Photo by London Film Museum

Did you work on the Lotus Esprit when you did ”The Spy Who Loved Me”?
Sadly, I didn't. I was on that film mainly based back in England, and they shot most of that in the Bahamas.

Is it true that you couldn't get the Aston Martin DBS in ”Casino Royale” (2006) to roll over because the tyre grip was too good?
It wasn't that. The centre of balance was so good that the stunt guys tried several times to steer into it and turn it, and in the end, we had to put a small nitrogen cannon in it. So as they turned into it, we would hit the nitrogen cannon, and it would make that flip. Once it was flipping, it was fine. It was just getting it flipping that was the problem, initially. But we got it in the end. They're just class cars, aren't they? They're not designed to flip over. They put a lot of work into them to make sure they don't flip over. We had to help it a little bit.

Apparently, around the time of ”GoldenEye” (1995), the British Automobile Association complained that Bond shouldn't be driving a BMW.
Well, so what really? You have to change every now and again, and when the Aston came back, everybody loved it again. You can't just stick with the same car every time. We had the Lotuses for a little while, we had the BMW's, and we're back to Astons now. It just makes it more fun, I think, if you change it a little bit every now and again. It would get boring if you just kept using the same car.

Aston Martin DB5 from "GoldenEye" (1995). Photo by London Film Museum
Aston Martin DB5 from "GoldenEye" (1995). Photo by London Film Museum

What do you think makes the Aston Martin such an iconic car?
I think it's quintessentially a very British car, as Bond is. It's a classy car, elegant, and it just lends itself to fast driving. And also, the gadgets that we put in it. You don't expect to see the gadgets coming out of such a classy car. I think [the contrast] that all helps.

Part of your job seems to be giving the cars personality beyond what they already have from the factory.
Yeah, character. Absolutely. That's what we strive to do. We have to really dig deep in your brain these days to try and come up with something that hasn't been seen before. I mean, when you look at how many of the cars have got missiles on! We have to strive and come up with something different.

Thanks to Chris Corbould and London Film Museum.

Debbie McWilliams: Casting James Bond (interview, 2012)

FEATURE

 
Even though casting director Debbie (Deborah) McWilliams is one of the longest-standing members of EON Productions' Bond family, her media appearances have been few and far between.

Hence, it is my great pleasure to present this interview that I conducted in 2012 with the esteemed British casting director, who has cast every EON Bond film from "For Your Eyes Only" (1981) to "SPECTRE" (2015), with the America-based "Licence to Kill" (1989) being the only exception.

In the interview below, Debbie McWilliams discusses her casting of several Danish actors in the Bond series: Mads Mikkelsen, Jesper ChristensenUlrich Thomsen and Cecilie Thomsen.

McWilliams also offers her opinion on the durability of the James Bond character.

Debbie McWiliams (publicity photo, 2011)
Debbie McWiliams (publicity photo, 2011)

James Bond•O•Rama: So what's the secret? Why do you think James Bond has endured as a cultural icon for so long?

Debbie McWilliams: Bond is part of the blood stream. Any child, from the age when they can walk and talk, know him and make a hand like a gun, even if they haven't seen any of the films. It's inherited through our genetic system, quoted and referred to endlessly. My generation grew up with Bond, and younger generations take him for granted. He's sort of an unclassifiable hero, played by actors from different backgrounds, with different accents and hair colors. Also, he's a troubled hero. Even though we know he's going to win, he has a struggle that we like to watch. Finally, the films set a high standard. They always look good, whether the script is good or not. And even if the series has faltered from time to time, I think ”Skyfall” is gonna put it back up there again.

You've now been part of EON Productions' Bond family for more than 30 years, starting out on ”For Your Eyes Only” in 1981. This makes you one of the longest serving members of the Bond team along with producer Michael G.Wilson and production designer Peter Lamont!

Debbie McWilliams: Yes, I'm part of the furniture, as they say. The producers, Barbara and Michael, are very loyal to the people who work with them, and they've kept the family atmosphere on the Bond series. That all stems from Cubby [Albert R. Broccoli, co-producer of Eon's Bond series 1962-1974 and main producer 1977-1989; father of current co-producer Barbara Broccoli, stepfather of Michael G. Wilson, ed.]. He was fantastic, warm, always on the set, not shut away in his ivory tower. He threw parties, played jokes, cooked food for the actors and crew, and Barbara is much like that. They look after people. It's just the way they think people should be treated, and it produces good work.

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“Dr. No”: Politiken’s film review (1963)

Danish daily Politiken’s review of “Dr. No”, 7 April 1963

Bang on Jamaica

”Agent 007, Operation Murder” [sic], adapted from Ian Fleming's eponymous detective novel, starts out with a terrific bang, but quickly turns silly before ending in utter balderdash.

The agent James Bond, 007 to his friends and colleagues, is sent to Jamaica partly to investigate the homicide of a few English security men, partly to figure out who have been thwarting the American rocket launches from Cape Canaveral through mysterious radiation.

The perpetrator of all this evil-doing is a mad half-Chinese who has built a nuclear station so huge that it makes Risø [a Danish atomic research facility opened in 1958, ed.] look like a village school. Bond solves all of this in stride; the Americans finally manage a successful launch; the nuclear man and his extensive staff go up with a loud uranium bang, and the hero celebrates by being indecent towards a cute lass in a bikini.

007 is played by Sean Connery, who isn't half bad an actor. In America, they call him the new Lemmy; he plays the lead in a series of adaptations of Ian Fleming's other books. May they be somewhat more substantial than the film mentioned.

Written by "fano"
Translation: James Bond•O•Rama.dk

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43 hours of Bond: Diary of a record attempt (1999)

FEATURE

During the weekend of 5 to 7 November 1999, BioCity Odense screened all of EON Productions' by then 18 Bond films in a row. The goal was to secure an entry in Guiness' Book of Records, and this writer ["Brie" from James Bond•O•Rama.dk] perservered to the bitter end with notepad in hand

By Brian Iskov

Friday, 5th November, 7:08 PM – The screen in BioCity's Cinema 1 is said to be the largest in Denmark, even bigger than the one in Imperial in Copenhagen. On the other hand, the theatre only seats 433 people, and around a fifth of the seats are empty to ensure proper spacing between the audience members. It's a sound arrangement.

The manager of the cinema informs us that 55 kilometers of celluloid await us, that free coffee will be served ad lib, and that a local brewery is serving Christmas beer (the latter bit of news sets off the weekend's first roar of approval). Two Funen reporters will be present as adjudicators for the Guiness' Book of Records. Along with the projectionist and two customer service assistants, they will show solidarity with the paying customers and hang around until the projector spits out the last bit of film on Sunday afternoon.

9:07 PM – "Dr. No" (1962). The very first glimpse of Sean Connery's tuxedo-attired back makes the crowd go wild, and the applause thunders as he introduces himself for the first time: "Bond ... James Bond". It turns out that every time this line is repeated, it has the exact same effect. During the intermission, jaunty renditions of ”The James Bond Theme” are whistled in corners, and in a small group by the door, someone asks the question: "When does Q turn up?"

11:14 PM – "From Russia with Love" (1963). And then he came. Q, the quartermaster with the delightful technological gadgetry, receives a hearty welcome. In the span of just one year, Connery has improved significantly as an actor; Terence Young's staging is a lot more refined too than in the previous film. Even now, the audience tends to cheer the male chauvinist remarks that once in a while pass Bond's lips up there on the screen.

Ticket for the James Bond maraton showing at BioCity Odense 5 November 1999
Ticket for the James Bond maraton showing at BioCity Odense 5-7 November 1999

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“SPECTRE”: Nohrlund Limited Bond Edition cocktail (2015)

This potent cocktail of tequila, orange liqueur and ginger was served at the Danish gala premiere of "SPECTRE", held at the Imperial cinema in Copenhagen on 27 October 2015.

Nohrlund Bond Cocktail_front Nohrlund Bond Cocktail_back

Nohrlund Limited Bond Edition was produced exclusively for this event. Only 1000 bottles were made.

The drink was developed and manufactured by Danish drinks company Nohrlund, who specializes in original bottled cocktails made from all natural ingredients.

Nohrlund bucket at Bond galla _FB-photo
At the Danish "SPECTRE" gala premiere in Copenhagen, 27.10.2015 (photo © Nohrlund)

Bartender and Nohrlund CEO Søren Aamand says to James Bond•O•Rama that SF Film, who distributes "SPECTRE" in Denmark, asked them to make a special James Bond variant for the gala event.

"It couldn't just be a vodka martini," Søren Aamand says. "The drink had to appeal to both feminine and masculine tastes. That's why it's a neutral white cocktail."

Søren Aamand and his colleague Anders Houmann developed the recipe without having seen ”SPECTRE”. 
"We knew that the first act of the film takes place in Mexico, which made tequila the natural choice for us," Søren Aamand says.

"The tequila is flavoured with lime, sugar and ginger. The ginger gives warmth and some spice, which fits perfectly with the Bond theme. It has a little kick in it."

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“Dr. No”: Berlingske Tidende’s film review (1963)

Danish daily Berlingske Tidende’s review of ”Dr. No”, 7 April 1963

Childish cynicism

English detective film at Nørreport [Cinema]

The most amazing thing about the screen version of Ian Fleming's ”Dr. No” is really that it was made in England. Its shameless exploitation of violence and sex, and the pulpiness of its whole approach, differs substantially from the many recent British detective films dealing with serious problems.

”Dr. No” is entirely devoid of that kind of ambition. The protagonist is the unscrupulous Secret Service agent James Bond, a hard-boiled and hard-hitting comic book hero. He divides his time equally between vodka martinis, forthcoming girls and the disarmament of nasty gangsters, and his gamut of emotions is exceptionally limited. This superman for all immature souls is confidently played by Sean Connery, although his steely lack of conscience is by no means a match for Ralph Meeker's unforgettable Mike Hammer in ”Kiss Me Deadly”.

The skilled director Terence Young places Connery in a long series of effectively hair-raising situations without skimping on the semi-sadistic seasoning. The tone of the entire film is so incredibly cynical that it borders on the harmlessly infantile, so shamelessly ”pulpy” in its effects that it almost becomes entertaining.

By pim (Morten Piil)
Translation: James Bond•O•Rama.dk

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