It was to be one of the defining stunts of the new Bond film. Certainly it
would be the best car-chase stunt seen in any recent Bond movie, the one to
reassert the reputation of the franchise after the challenge posed by The
Bourne Ultimatum, said by critics to have topped anything 007 has done.
The location was the narrow twisting road on the shores of Lake Garda in
Italy, known as Gardesana. The sequence started well. The stunt drivers
gunned their engines, the cameras rolled. Then - disaster. Two men injured,
one of them seriously ill in hospital, and a break in shooting that will
cost Eon, the production company, millions.
Worse still, coming on top of a spate of other mishaps - including an accident
that sent a £120,000 Aston Martin DBS into the lake - the crash has left the
latest Bond film, Quantum of Solace, with the reputation of being jinxed.
How did it all go wrong-
Filming of the stunt was due to begin 10 days ago and even by the standards of
modern action movies it was daring. Four vehicles - two trucks and two cars,
both Alfa Romeos - were to be involved in a spectacular, metal-wrenching
crash. Edited together, the sequence would form part of the dramatic opening
15-minute car chase that cinema-goers will see when the film is released in
November.
The Alfas chase Bond’s Aston Martin DBS along the twisting shoreline of Lake
Garda at hair-raising speeds. At one point the pursuing Alfas get stuck
behind a slow-moving truck, and one tries to overtake, resulting in the
high-speed, head-on smash with an oncoming truck. It was this sequence that
the crew were filming when things went wrong.
To look realistic, the Alfa would have to collide with the truck at a closing
speed of about 100mph. On the set, the lorries were driven by Peter Miles
and Rowley Irlam (although it is unclear which driver was in which truck).
They are both experienced stuntmen, Miles having credits that include
Gladiator and the Bond film The World Is Not Enough, while Irlam had
appeared in The Bourne Ultimatum and Casino Royale. In one of the Alfas was
Aris Comninos, a Greek who lives in London, and Bruno Verdirosi.
The second Alfa, which was to be involved in the collision, was driverless. It
was attached with steel rods to the side of the truck that it was supposed
to be overtaking, giving the illusion that it had drawn level.
The plan was that as the second truck bore down on the Alfa, the car would be
released by detonating small explosive charges at the base of the steel
rods. Freed from the carrier truck, the Alfa would be totalled in the crash,
but because there was nobody driving the risks were minimal.
Initially, the plan worked. As the oncoming truck approached the Alfa, the
driver of the other truck got ready to detonate the charge and release the
car. Moments before impact a switch was flicked in the cabin, followed by
muffled explosions and the Alfa was freed. Seconds later something went
wrong. Instead of crumpling beneath the wheels of the oncoming truck, the
Alfa, perhaps because it hit the kerb, was catapulted into the air by the
force of collision. The crew looked on in horror as it cartwheeled across
the road smashing into the second Alfa, driven by Comninos, just above the
B-pillar on the driver’s side.
The force of the impact threw Comninos off course and the car smashed through
a guard wall at the side of the road before it came to a halt. The danger
was not over. Half of the car, with driver and passenger still inside, hung
over a 50ft drop, with the other half wedged against the wall.
“It was like the final scene in The Italian Job, where the bus is pivoted on
the edge of the cliff,” said a source. “Bruno managed to clamber out but
Aris was trapped inside wearing his racing harness. The crew were all
clambering onto the car trying to get him out while others sat on the other
end of the car to stop it plunging off the drop. They were all incredibly
brave; the car could have fallen off at any time and if it had there is no
way that Aris would have survived.”
Last week Comninos was said to be in a stable condition after being flown to
Borgo Trento hospital in Verona.
However, the atmosphere behind the scenes remains charged. “Everyone is being
very professional, but this has already been by far the most eventful shoot
I have ever been on, and we are still only halfway through,” said one stunt
driver. Even discounting the crashing of the DBS, which was driven not by a
stuntman but by an Aston Martin delivery driver, the Bond film looks set to
be one of the most accident-prone films in history. Three weeks ago another
stuntman was injured in a car chase.
Part of the reason is the increased complexity of the stunts, which, along
with gadgets and girls, are a defining motif of the franchise and must
become ever more elaborate and realistic. No longer is it acceptable simply
to have a car driven on two wheels along a narrow alley as Sean Connery did
in Diamonds Are Forever. And computer generated imagery (CGI), though
impressive in science-fiction blockbusters such as Independence Day, is
still not good enough to fool audiences.
Before the release of Casino Royale, billed as the first in a new line of
grittier Bond movies, Gary Powell, stunt co-ordinator for the Bond movies,
said CGI would not be taking over from the real thing. “It’s back to
basics,” he said, “stunt people doing real stunts.” He couldn’t have asked
for more authentic footage.
Sinking feeling
Fraser Dunn is either the luckiest or unluckiest man alive, depending on which
way you look at it. On the plus side, he escaped with his life after
skidding off the road, crashing through a barrier and plunging into Lake
Garda. On the downside, he committed the worst sin in the delivery driver’s
handbook: if he’s found to have been driving too fast he’ll be lucky to keep
his job.
The 29-year-old was delivering the £120,000 Aston Martin DBS to a press event
on the Bond film set two weeks ago, when he lost control. The incident made
headlines around the world, not least because Dunn miraculously survived in
a car that was crushed beyond recognition.
He claims to have been knocked out by the impact before coming around in the
car at the bottom of the lake, freeing himself, possibly through one of the
smashed windows, and swimming to the surface. “All I remember was that the
road was wet and I wasn’t going that fast. The next thing I remember is
swimming up to the surface,” he said from his hospital bed.
“How I managed to get out I will never know. I do feel lucky to be alive. I
have been told I was 150ft down. The whole thing was a bit James Bond-like.
I just kicked out of the car and swam to the surface. My lungs felt as if
they were going to explode and my chest still hurts now. Apart from a few
bruises I’m fine. It’s actually embarrassing. I’d like to try and forget the
whole thing.”
Land Rover
Nissan
Peugeot
Volkswagen
Subaru
Alfa Romeo
Fiat
To the poster who decried Bond's "refashioning", perhaps a trip back to the Fleming books might remind them Bond was sent on missions despite being a liability, not because he was a superhero. Bourne was human in "Identity", but devolved to a blank Terminator in the sequels. Craig is simply perfect
Peter Briggs, Los Angeles, United States
Two notable factors come to my mind: first, that stupid title, it simply doesnt have the ring of Bond to it. It sounds like some sci-fi episode. Second, the new style thuggish Bond of Craig will be seen, in the end, to have damaged the Bond branding: in my mind it absolutely should have been Clive Owen. Look at him, you just see Bond oozing out all over. What a waste to film.
D Wilson, Fairfax VA, USA
These are not the first accidents to Bond cars. In the mid-sixties, the Goldfinger Aston Martin DB5 was used in the Tattoo at the Edinburgh Festival. On the first night the driver skidded hard into the temporary barriers separating the performers from the crowd. Only the car was injured!
Tom Milton, Vienna VA, USA
The Bourne x3 movies do seem to have outbonded Bond; Bourne has a greater depth of character than Bond, who has been refashioned as an indulged MI6 delinquent with drinking, gambling & relationship problems. Can't stand that phony pseudo-macho pout of Craig's either.
Eddie, Sydney, Australia
Consider rewriting the script to include all the real life dangerous happenings. Most of the public can spot CGI immediately, so car crashes need to be really spectacular, and those dexcribed, may fit the bill.
gmac, Kassel, Germany
As a James Bond fan I have to say the Bourne franchise is better simply because it is better written with a better storyline . The best Bond film O.H.M.S.S was the best because it had a story .
Michael Wilson has made the franchise more glamorous but appears to leave the script in the office.
Nick Dixon, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands
Perhaps the gods are tired of James Bond and all the stunts and are sending a message - the producers still have to awake to the fact.
Mark Peach, Glasgow, Scotland