Focus Of The Week: Kamal Khan

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Charismatic and captivating, Octopussy’s Kamal Khan (Louis Jourdan) is an exiled Afghan prince with a taste for the finer things in life; priceless art, fine wines, expensive jewels. Yet Khan is as corrupt as he is cultured. The suave art dealer and international gem smuggler is in cahoots with the power-crazed Soviet General Orlov (Steven Berkoff) – the two men are plotting to create a ‘nuclear accident’ on a US air base in West Germany.This mishap will encourage NATO to abandon nuclear arms, allowing Orlov’s armies to invade Western Europe while Khan makes a fortune selling priceless masterpieces.

To finance this crazed scheme, the pair generate funds by Orlov stealing Soviet art treasures from the Kremlin Art Depository and replacing them with forgeries designed in the basement workshop of Khan’s Monsoon palace. They use Khan’s mistress Octopussy (Maud Adams)’s travelling circus as a front to smuggle the treasures into the West. Kahn and Orlov betray Octopussy by replacing the treasures with a nuclear warhead.

Bond (Roger Moore) first encounters Khan at an auction where the art collector is clearly desperate to purchase a real Fabergé egg. Bond swaps the real one for a fake, forcing Khan to pay £50,000 for a forgery. 007 tracks Khan back to his palace in India and exposes his cheating at backgammon. Bond is subsequently chased by Khan’s henchman Gobinda (Kabir Bedi) and his hoodlums but evades his pursuers in an auto rickshaw. Gobinda later knocks 007 unconscious and brings him back to Khan’s palace. Bond discovers Khan is working with Orlov and escapes.

As the action switches to Germany, Khan discovers Bond on board Octopussy’s circus train and forces him off. Bond chases the train in a stolen car but Khan is confident Bond will cease to be a problem. Preparing to return to India, unaware that Bond has defused the nuclear bomb (disguised as a clown), Khan starts to pack the smuggled treasures. His departure is thwarted by Octopussy and her gymnast guards who infiltrate his palace. While Octopussy’s guards deal with Khan’s men –  Octopussy confronts Khan but he pulls a gun on her.   Bond and Q (Desmond Llewelyn) arrive to the chaotic battle in a Union Jack hot air balloon. Khan kidnaps Octopussy and escapes first on horseback and then on a light aircraft. Bond gives chase.

Bond jumps onto the outside of the plane and engages Gobinda in hand-to-hand combat as Khan puts the plane through aerobatic manoeuvres. After flicking a metal antenna at Gobinda’s head, causing him to lose his grip, Bond detaches the fuel line sending the plane into a nosedive. 007 and Octopussy leap clear as Khan desperately tries to land the plane on a short runway. Unable to stop the plane falling off a cliff, Khan falls to an expensive death.

 

 

Focus Of The Week: Moonraker

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Within weeks of The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) opening, Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli announced the team would next be tackling Moonraker (1979), an adaptation of Ian Fleming’s third novel. Realising the movie could coincide with the launch of the first NASA space shuttle, Broccoli announced he wanted Moonraker to be “science fact” not science fiction. The idea was simple but enticing: James Bond in outer space.

While Fleming’s novel centred on a nuclear rocket, Christopher Wood’s screenplay sees Bond (Roger Moore) investigate the hijacking of the Space Shuttle Moonraker. The trail leads him to aeronautics mogul Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale) who Bond discovers is developing a highly toxic nerve gas. Teaming up with CIA Agent Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles), Bond uncovers Drax’s plan to launch multiple Space Shuttles to fire globes filled with the deadly gas towards Earth so he can repopulate the planet with his own master race of perfect specimens. Bond and Goodhead infiltrate Drax’s space station, alert the US Marines to the space station’s location, and take part in a huge laser battle to decide the fate of the human race.

The cast was an international one: French actor Lonsdale was cast as the cultured, messianic Drax, American actress Lois Chiles won the role of Dr. Holly Goodhead, an astronaut and CIA agent who is undercover in Drax’s organisation. Due to popular demand, Richard Kiel was brought back to reprise his role as the metal-toothed Jaws, who this time round finds love and undergoes a change of allegiances. Sadly, Moonraker would prove to be the last 007 film to feature Bernard Lee as M.

The production moved from Pinewood to Paris, booking every studio in Paris to accommodate the film. The globetrotting location shoot found logistical challenges at every turn. For the pre-credit sequence, Bond is pushed out of a plane without a parachute. It took over 83 jumps over five weeks to complete the aerial action in the skies above California. A high speed boat chase through Venice’s centuries old canals took careful negotiations with the Italian authorities. And in France, weightless sequences on Drax’s space station required days of rigging to allow a dozen performers to float in Zero G.

Hundreds of effects shots were needed depicting space shuttles, the space station and space debris customised for each shot. Visual Effects Supervisor Derek Meddings created all the special effects in camera, shooting one element, winding back the film in camera and then shooting the next element — for one shot of the space battle, a single piece of film might require 48 exposures. To realise the moment of Drax’s space station exploding, the team obtained two shotguns, closed the doors at a stage on Pinewood and blew the model to smithereens. The effects work earned Meddings and his team an Oscar nomination.

John Barry wrote the score and theme song with lyrics by Hal David. Johnny Mathis was the original choice to sing the song yet didn’t click with the song so Barry quickly recruited Shirley Bassey to lend the song her stunning vocals. The film would break office records during the summer of 1979, grossing $210 million.

Focus Of The Week: May Day

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Stylish and deadly, May Day (Grace Jones) is the bodyguard and lover of millionaire Max Zorin (Christopher Walken) in A View To A Kill (1985). She has an eye for high fashion — we first see her in a striking red suit trying to tame Zorin’s horse, Pegasus — her ensemble is the result of a collaboration between Grace Jones’ friend, Paris designer Azzedine Alaia and costume designer Emma Porteous.

May Day is strong enough to lift a man over her head and is the perfect partner for Zorin: both share a near complete lack of regard for human life coupled with a manic personality. May Day’s main role in Zorin’s life is killing his opponents. She murders French detective Aubergine (Jean Rougerie) with a poisoned barbed butterfly prop. Bond (Roger Moore) gives chase up the Eiffel Tower but she takes a death defying leap from the top and skydives onto a wedding boat. 007 gives chase by car but she manages to evade him.

The pair meet again at Zorin’s chateau where May Day assassinates Bond’s MI6 cohort Sir Godfrey Tibbett (Patrick Macnee) while he is taking a Rolls-Royce through a car wash. She later takes part in an attempt to drown Bond in the same car and later kills 007’s CIA contact Chuck Lee (David Yip) in San Francisco.

Yet, when Zorin unleashes his plan to set off a double earthquake, flood Silicon Valley, and monopolise microchip production, May Day is forced to reconsider her allegiances. After she dutifully chases Bond and Stacey Sutton (Tanya Roberts) into a mine, Zorin floods the caverns while she is trapped inside. When May Day realises Zorin has left her to die, she helps Bond disrupt the millionaire’s scheme. Using her upper body strength, she puts the bomb in a cart to send it outside the mine. When the brake suddenly activates, blocking the cart, May Day stays on board to hold the brake open, knowing she will die when the detonator explodes. Bond implores her to save herself but she simply tells him: “Get Zorin for me.”

Zorin escapes in an airship from which he watches her exit the mine on the cart. She throws back one last defiant stare. As Zorin falls to his death following an encounter with Bond on top of the Golden Gate Bridge, her dying request comes true.

Focus Of The Week: From Russia With Love

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After creating a cinematic smash with Dr. No (1962), producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, along with director Terence Young, were locked into creating a follow up for an October 1963 release date. The filmmakers chose Ian Fleming’s fifth 007 novel ‘From Russia With Love’, believed by aficionados to be among the best books — President John F. Kennedy was a fan. Novelist Len Deighton contributed briefly to the project before Richard Maibaum and Johanna Harwood worked on subsequent drafts. Although producers wanted to remain faithful to such a well loved novel, the screenplay shifted the villainy from Soviet Union’s SMERSH to the non-affiliated criminal organisation SPECTRE, a conscious decision by Broccoli to steer the series away from current international politics.

The story that emerged sees 007 assigned to help young Russian Tatiana Romanova defect from her job as a clerk in the Russian Embassy in Istanbul with an invaluable Lektor cipher machine. Tatiana is an unwitting pawn in a plan by terrorist organisation SPECTRE who plan to use her to kill Bond and discredit the USSR and British secret service agencies. With the help of Kerim Bey, Bond and Tatiana escape on board the Orient Express. Bond defeats SPECTRE agent Donald “Red” Grant in a fist fight onboard a cramped train compartment but is chased by a SPECTRE helicopter and speedboats across the gulf of Venice. After defeating one final adversary, Rosa Klebb, the architect of the SPECTRE murder organisation, Bond and Tatiana are left alone on a romantic boat ride.

With Sean Connery returning as Bond, the rest of the casting encompassed actor and novelist Robert Shaw as Grant, Academy Award nominee and singer Lotte Lenya as Klebb (aka SPECTRE No. 3) and Mexican character actor Pedro Armendáriz (a suggestion from legendary Westerns director John Ford) as Kerim Bey, head of British Secret Service ‘Station T’ in Istanbul. Yet the tricky role to cast proved to be Tatiana Romanova. Press releases put a request out for a “young Greta Garbo” — Italian actress and runner up in the Miss Universe competition Daniela Bianchi won the role.

Shooting started on April 1 1963. On April 8-9, Young shot the first meeting between Bond and Tatiana, a scene so perfectly realised it became a piece for actors and actresses auditioning for the series over the next 40 years. Young’s ambition to up the ante on the action in the series also provided complications for the shoot. The Turkey boat chase was scrapped because the boats were moving too slowly and was subsequently re-shot in Scotland, along with the helicopter attacking Bond and Tatiana.Young’s rapid shooting style was augmented by editor Peter’s Hunt’s faster, more kinetic editing style. The approach was typified by the fight between Bond and Grant on the Orient Express, which only utilised stunt doubles in two shots. Hunt also suggested putting the scene of Grant seemingly murdering 007 before the titles, thus creating the pre-credit sequence that has become a hallmark of the series.

Composer John Barry delivered a rich lush score, adding a new composition ‘007’ that captured the adventurous spirit of the character. The composer of the musical Oliver! Lionel Bart wrote the theme song performed by Matt Munro that reached #20 in the UK charts, the soundtrack album charting on both sides of the Atlantic.

Premiering on October 10, 1963, From Russia With Love became the highest grossing film in the UK to that point and broke box office records across Europe, cementing Bond’s place as a cinematic phenomenon.

Aston Martin Recreate 25 Goldfinger DB5 Cars

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The iconic Aston Martin DB5 is back, thanks to a unique collaboration between Aston Martin and EON Productions. A series of 25 Goldfinger DB5 continuation editions, will be created for customers based on James Bond’s legendary car from 1964 and built by Aston Martin Works at Newport Pagnell – the original home of the DB5. They will be authentic reproductions of the DB5 seen on screen, with some sympathetic modifications to ensure the highest levels of build quality and reliability.

This authenticity will extend to include functioning gadgets, such as revolving number plates, which were made famous in Goldfinger. The gadgets will be co-developed with Oscar®-winner Chris Corbould OBE, special effects supervisor from the James Bond films. Officially sanctioned by Aston Martin and EON Productions, all the Goldfinger edition cars will be produced to one specification – Silver Birch paint – just like the original.

Since its seminal appearance in Goldfinger the DB5 has featured in a further six James Bond movies: Thunderball (1965), GoldenEye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), Casino Royale (2006), Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015). James Bond and his DB5 have become two icons of popular culture and one of the most successful and enduring movie partnerships of all-time.

Andy Palmer, President and Chief Executive Officer, Aston Martin, said: “The connection between Aston Martin and James Bond is something of which we are very proud and it is remarkable that the DB5 remains the definitive James Bond car after so many years. To own an Aston Martin has long been an aspiration for James Bond fans, but to own a Silver Birch DB5, complete with gadgets and built to the highest standards in the very same factory as the original James Bond cars? Well, that is surely the ultimate collectors’ fantasy. The skilled craftspeople at Aston Martin Works and the expert special effects team from the James Bond films are about to make this fantasy real for 25 very lucky customers.”

Paul Spires, Managing Director at Aston Martin Works, added of the Goldfinger DB5 continuation editions: “The connection between Aston Martin and James Bond originated more than half a century ago. Creating 25 Goldfinger continuations and working with EON Productions and special effects supervisor, Chris Corbould, is something truly unique and a real career highlight for everyone involved here at Aston Martin Works.”

Each Goldfinger DB5 continuation car will be priced at £2.75m plus taxes. First deliveries to customers will commence in 2020.

Focus Of The Week: The World Is Not Enough Boat Chase

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The World Is Not Enough opens with the longest pre-credit sequence in 007 history lasting 14 minutes. After retrieving a large sum of money from a Swiss banker in Bilbao, James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) hands it over to oil tycoon Sir Robert King (David Calder) at M16 HQ in London. When the money explodes killing King, Bond sees the Cigar Girl assassin (Maria Grazia Cucinotta) in a boat trying to shoot him so steals a small experimental boat from Q branch to give chase. The high-speed pursuit takes place along the Thames, past the Houses of Parliament and through a restaurant, ending at the Millennium Dome where the Cigar Girl comes to a spectacular end in a hot air balloon rather than give up her secrets to Bond.

“In the past we had not really used London as a location,” said Producer Michael G. Wilson. “When I saw the logistics involved in arranging the chase up and down the Thames, I understood why.

The sequence was filmed between March 29 and May 7 1999. On the first day of filming, a burst of gunfire prompted a member of the public to call the emergency services but the production already had police officers on set. Other challenges saw the highly tuned engines of the speed boats often breaking down and the tide played havoc with continuity. “The visual difference can be quite large with sand banks appearing and disappearing during shots,” recalled Second Unit Director Vic Armstrong.

On April 16 at Millwall docks, the production captured debatably the most spectacular moment in the sequence as Bond’s boat performs a mid air barrel roll. Unable to achieve the stunt with a ramp like the AMC Hornet corkscrew jump in The Man With The Golden Gun (1974), the roll was performed by stuntman Gary Powell using Vickers air mortars attached to the side of the boat — six cameras captured the stunt.

“Everybody’s in love with Bond and everybody wanted to co-operate,” remembered director Michael Apted about the smooth running of the sequence. “The doors were opened for us to work on the Thames; to shoot around the Houses of Parliament to shoot on, in, and around the Millennium Dome. It’s a great credit to the people who had made the previous Bonds.”

Focus Of The Week: Kissy Suzuki

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In You Only Live Twice (1967), Kissy Suzuki (Mie Hama) works as a local field agent for Japanese Intelligence Chief Tiger Tanaka (Tetsuro Tamba). Based on the island of Matsu, she works as an Ama diver (female divers known for collecting pearls), a skill, along with her courage and tenacity, that makes her invaluable in assisting 007 (Sean Connery) in his mission to track down captured US and Soviet spacecraft.

Kissy first meets Bond when he must pose undercover as a local fisherman. She is chosen by Tanaka to marry Bond in a pretend wedding ceremony, allowing Bond invisibility to continue his search of the islands as a local. During a meal at Kissy’s house, she makes it perfectly clear to Bond that, despite their faux marriage, their relationship is purely business.

Later, Kissy offers Bond useful information for his investigation when she explains that an Ama girl died in Ryuzaki, a cave on the mainland that served as an ancient vent for a nearby volcano. The following day, Kissy takes Bond to the caves and the pair discover it is filled with lethal phosgene gas, and so swim underwater to escape danger. Continuing to look for clues, the couple share an intimate moment cut short by a helicopter flying into the mouth of the volcano. Kissy tells Bond the volcano has never been active in her lifetime and, on further investigation, they discover what looks like a lake within the crater’s surface is actually a canopy for a SPECTRE rocket base below.

As 007 infiltrates the base, Kissy heads back to meet Tanaka. During the swim home, she is targeted by a SPECTRE helicopter taking shots at her. Employing her skills as an Ama diver, she stays beneath the water to protect herself. She makes it to the mainland and joins Tanaka and his ninjas on an assault on the volcano. She saves Tanaka’s life by shooting an assailant during the battle. When Blofeld blows up his own base, Kissy and Bond escape via the Ryuzaki cave. They find a raft and relax in each other’s arms — until their dinghy is scooped up by M’s submarine.

 

Focus Of The Week: Diamonds Are Forever

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For the first James Bond film of the seventies, producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman were facing a challenge. While the filmmakers believed On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) worked as a film, they also felt the need to return to the entertainment values of Goldfinger (1964). This hunch was confirmed when studio United Artists released Thunderball (1965) and You Only Live Twice (1967) barely six months after On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, the double bill opening to full houses and cheering crowds. The message was clear: with Diamonds Are Forever (1971) audiences wanted the return of classic Bond. They also wanted the return of the original 007. Although the producers originally chose John Gavin, an American actor, to take over from George Lazenby, they reverted to wooing back Sean Connery.

To direct and also ensure the “Goldfinger” touch, Broccoli and Saltzman hired that film’s director Guy Hamilton and co-screenwriter Richard Maibaum. Maibaum’s first draft included a story involving Auric Goldfinger’s twin brother and a boat chase on Lake Mead. Later, American screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz was hired to bring some wit and pace within the remit of 007’s essentially British tone. To further consolidate the return to the series’ core values, all agreed to bring back Bond’s arch nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld (this time played by Charles Gray) whose story arc was left unresolved. Mankiewicz’s final screenplay also saw a return to memorably sinister henchman — Mr. Wint (Bruce Glover) and Mr. Kidd (Putter Smith) — a grand villainous scheme and lots of humour amidst the action.

The final story saw MI6 assign Bond to investigate who is hoarding the world’s supply of diamonds. Posing as criminal Peter Franks, Bond meets small-time smuggler Tiffany Case (Jill St. John) and the pair smuggle a stash of diamonds to Las Vegas, where Bond believes industrialist Willard Whyte (Jimmy Dean) is involved in the conspiracy. 007 infiltrates Whyte’s laboratory and discovers the diamonds are being used as a part of a laser-beam satellite. Bond’s detective work leads him to a run-in with Blofeld who has kidnapped Whyte and is planning to hold the world hostage for ransom with the deadly satellite.

Shooting began on April 5 1971 with the desert outside Las Vegas doubling for South Africa. Cooperation from billionaire Howard Hughes (whose use of doubles and reclusive behaviour inspired Willard Whyte) helped pave the way for a spectacular car chase through downtown Las Vegas. The memorable moment in which Bond turns a Ford Mustang on two wheels had to be shot three times: once at Universal and then twice more in Las Vegas to capture the car emerging from an alley.  The climax, an attack on Blofeld’s base, was filmed at an oil rig off the coast of Oceanside, California.

Yet the biggest challenge facing the team occurred when the main unit returned to Pinewood Studios. Every shot with Connery had to be completed within 18 weeks. On August 13, 1971, Hamilton called cut on Connery’s last shot in an EON 007 film. He finished the shoot with a game of golf, a grudge match against production designer Ken Adam.

John Barry returned to score the music, bringing back Goldfinger chanteuse Shirley Bassey to sing Don Black’s lyrics. Barry’s score captured the glamour and glitter of diamonds without  diluting Hamilton’s tone and visuals. Gordon  K. McCallum, John Mitchell and Alfred J. Overton were nominated for Best Sound Oscar. Bond had returned with a spectacular success and a fitting goodbye for Sean Connery.

 

New LEGO Aston Martin DB5

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Today, the LEGO Creator Expert James Bond Aston Martin DB5 was unveiled at its Global launch in London.
Naomie Harris exclusively revealed the new 1:8 scale LEGO DB5 model at LEGO’s UK flagship store in Leicester Square alongside a real silver birch Aston Martin DB5.
Speaking at the launch, Naomie Harris said: “It’s such an honour to be here. To see the iconic DB5 reimagined in LEGO brick form is such an exciting moment to be part of and the attention to detail on the model is truly remarkable.”
LEGO designer Michael Psiaki said: “James Bond fans will go wild for all the authentic features and functions we’ve put into this car including the tyre-scythes, pop-up machine guns, and working ejector seat. The iconic status of James Bond’s DB5 makes this car a perfect fit for the LEGO Creator Expert series. We’re really excited to unveil our LEGO brick version of this elegant and timeless machine.”
The DB5 is available now from LEGO stores and shop.lego.com. It will also be available at 007store.com from 1 August.

Focus Of The Week: Mary Goodnight

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In The Man With The Golden Gun (1974), Mary Goodnight (Britt Ekland) is a Hong Kong based field operative who hinders Bond (Roger Moore) as much as she helps him in his mission to kill assassin Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee). Enthusiastic, courageous and with a crush on 007, Goodnight often finds herself in over her head in her attempts to be taken seriously in Bond’s eyes.

She helps 007 to track down Scaramanga’s girlfriend Andrea Anders (Maud Adams) but fails to inform Lt. Hip (Soon-Taik Oh) of Bond’s presence, a mistake that gives Scaramanga a chance to steal the Solex Agitator (a small device that harnesses solar energy) from its designer Gibson (Gordon Everett). Lt. Hip is played by Soon-Taik Oh.

Bond finally responds to Goodnight’s advances only to suffer the indignity of being shoved into the closet by 007 when Andrea Anders arrives. She has to keep hidden while the pair make love, eventually falling asleep.

Later, at the meeting point with Anders, Goodnight takes control of the Solex. Placing a tracking device in Scaramanga’s AMC Matador, she is discovered by the killer, pushed into the boot and taken to his island. She awaits Bond’s arrival and is present during dinner when Scaramanga proposes to Bond the idea of a duel.

During the showdown, Goodnight is guarded by technician Kra (Sonny Caldinez). He makes a crude pass at her so Goodnight hits him over the head with a spanner, sending him into the temperature-sensitive vat of liquid helium in Scaramanga’s solar energy plant. After 007 kills Scaramanga, Mary helps him retrieve the Solex, accidentally triggering a lethal solar-powered laser cannon.

When the island explodes due to Kra’s body in the cooling vats, she escapes with Bond in Scaramanga’s personal junk. Following a final battle with Nick Nack (Hervé Villechaize), Goodnight finds herself alone with Bond — just where she always wanted to be.

S.T. Dupont 007 Limited Edition Collection

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Celebrate the legacy of the James Bond movies with the new S.T. Dupont 007 limited edition collection. Two styles of pens and lighters are amongst the collection: A pale gold guilloche design on a Line 2 lighter and a New Line D Pen. Plus an alternative version of the Line 2 lighter and Line D pen featuring the same guilloche design but beautifully coated in black lacquer. Each item is limited to 1962 pieces to celebrate the year the first James Bond movie, DR. NO, was released.

A range of accessories is also included in the collection: Cufflinks in the same pale gold guilloche, engraved with both the 007 logo and the signature of S.T. Dupont. A seven credit card wallet and a cigarette case in subtle black leather enhanced by the same embossed guilloche pattern. Minijet with its powerful torch flame completes the collection with a choice of PVD gold or matt black finishes. A cigar cutter and a key ring hand spinner both in PVD gold guilloche, are also available.

The centre piece of the range is the limited-edition collectors set containing a
Line D Pen, lighter, cigar cutter, cufflinks and extra roller nib. The ingenious composition of the accessories pays homage to Bond’s Walther PPK. The set is limited to 400 pieces.

To buy go to:

S.T. DUPONT 007 COLLECTION

 

Naomie Harris Opens 007 Elements

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007 ELEMENTS, an exciting new James Bond experience situated within the summit of the Gaislachkogl mountaintop in Sölden, Austria is now open to the public. The cinematic installation was officially opened by actress Naomie Harris who plays Moneypenny (Spectre, Skyfall) and Jakob Falkner Managing Director of Bergbahnen Sölden.

After visiting 007 ELEMENTS for the first time, Harris commented: “It’s fantastic to be here today at the launch of the brand new exhibition in this amazing location at the top of the Gaislachkogl mountain in Sölden”.

Jakob Falkner said: “It was wonderful to have Naomie here with us to mark this special day. I’d like to thank EON Productions and Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) for their guidance and support. Special thanks go to architect Johann Obermoser and his team for designing and building the perfect mountaintop home, to Neal Callow, Tino Schaedler and the team at Optimist Inc. for bringing the idea to life by creating this unique Bond experience and our partners Jaguar Land Rover, OMEGA and Bogner.”

“007 ELEMENTS complements the wide range of activities we have to offer and firmly puts Sölden and the wider Tyrol region on the map as a year-round destination for sports and entertainment in the Alps.”

At over 3,000m above sea level, 007 ELEMENTS is the highest experience of its kind taking visitors on a journey through a series of nine galleries and an outside plaza with stunning views of the Alps. The dramatic spaces complete with an immersive soundscape showcase the fundamental elements that define the James Bond films placing visitors inside the world of 007 and revealing how that world is made. Construction of the 1,300sqm permanent structure started in May 2017 and was completed just over one year later.

Visitors to 007 ELEMENTS will see the original Land Rover Defender and Range Rover Sport SVR from Spectre and learn how the thrilling action sequences were filmed in Sölden. Also featured are four James Bond OMEGA watches including the Seamaster 300 from Spectre the laser watch from GoldenEye, the Seamaster Quartz from Tomorrow Never Dies, and the Piton from The World Is Not Enough. In addition to the stylish uniforms designed by Bogner for the 007 ELEMENTS team, several iconic Bogner ski suits worn by Bond are on display.

EON Productions’ Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli commented: “We are truly proud to be in partnership with Jakob Falkner and launching our latest experience, 007 ELEMENTS on the very mountaintop in Sölden where we filmed Spectre. Architect Johann Obermoser, our Art Director Neal Callow and Tino Schaedler have created a Bondian lair worthy of a Ken Adam set in which visitors immediately become enveloped in the cinematic world of 007.”

007 ELEMENTS is accessed via the Gaislachkoglbahn Gondola in the resort village of Sölden. Open daily from 09:00 to 15:30, tickets are available online or from the Bergbahnen Sölden ticket offices and cost €22 for adults, €12 for children. For further information or to book tickets, please visit: 007elements.com