Inside Quantum Of Solace’s Unforgettable Fire

Quantum Of Solace ends in a fiery showdown at an eco-hotel in the Bolivian desert, where eco-industrialist Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric) and the former Bolivian dictator General Medrano (Joaquin Cosio) are meeting to discuss the overthrow of the current Bolivian government. 007 has long dealt in flame-filled sequences — the destruction of the Liparus super tanker in The Spy Who Loved Me, the fireball in the bunker in The World Is Not Enough — but the inferno at the climax of Quantum upped the ante on complicated, extensive, and explosive set-pieces.

Doubling for the hotel is the spectacular European Southern Observatory and hotel complex in northern Chile’s Atacama Desert, roughly three hours from the nearest town and situated at an altitude of 6000 feet. The location was the idea of set decorator Anna Pinnock, who had visited the Observatory and suggested it to Dennis Gassner. The production designer Google-searched the location and, by the third image, was bowled over, so immediately sent the images to director Marc Forster.

“When Dennis showed me that location, I was in awe,” Forster told Mark Salisbury. “I had never really seen anything like it. It’s such a fascinating building, and even now, looking back to it, you felt like you’re on a different planet.”

Gassner took the idea to executive producer Callum McDougall, who approached the German management company behind the complex. The owners stipulated that the production could shoot in the daylight but couldn’t use lights after dark, as it would interfere with the observatory’s monitoring of the night sky. “I said, ‘The bigger thing is, in the script, we blow this place up,’ and they went, ‘Ah,’” said McDougall. “I said, ‘It’s fine. We’ll build our own version of it’.”

Shipping a crew of 200 to the remote location, the production recreated portions of the hotel in the exterior, which was subsequently set on fire. For the interiors, the production returned to Pinewood Studios, building six interior sets, the largest filling Pinewood’s mammoth 59,000ft 007 stage from floor to ceiling with three levels of walkways and staircases. Bond shooting through the skylight was captured on March 28, then the unit shot the firestorm for four weeks in May, setting the garage and stairwell set, the lobby and restaurant, the walkways, and Medrano’s bedroom ablaze.

“We did many explosions, fire and collapsing-ceiling tests prior to filming,” said special effects supervisor Chris Corbould. “We built a full-size replica of the bedroom at Longcross Studios in Surrey to test for the dramatic end sequence where the walls are blown out to enable Bond and Camille to escape.”

As such, the cast and crew underwent multiple rehearsals with fire, Daniel Craig and Olga Kurylenko visiting Corbould’s workshop to get a sneak preview of the pyrotechnics, helping them feel confident so they could focus on the emotion of the scene. For the showdown between Bond and Greene, stunt coordinator Gary Powell rehearsed Daniel Craig and Mathieu Amalric separately with stunt doubles and then brought them together. 

“People assume that as soon as you see fire you can’t get within 20 feet of it, but you can actually get quite close if the heat is going in the right direction,” said stunt coordinator Gary Powell. 

When it came to shooting, the actors sported Nomex fire-resistant material soaked in retardant gel under their costumes to protect them from burns.

“The hotel was eco-friendly, so we thought it would have biofuel cells for the heating. Dennis wanted to reflect that with an unusual look to the flames,” said Corbould. “We filmed the sequence using directional steel pyrotechnic pots with mixtures of petrol, isopropanol and green/blue flame fluid imported from the US. This concoction gave an orange core explosion with green and blue tinges around the outside.”

With complex choreography and huge spectacle, the filmmakers didn’t risk anything. “We had six cameras carefully placed to cover the fire and explosions, because there would be no second chances,” said cinematographer Roberto Schaefer. No second chances. Sounds like a motto Bond might live by.