# James Bond car chases **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 6, 2005, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-car-chases/320331 "2005-09-06T13:59:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-car-chases/320331/1 "2005-09-06T13:59:54Z")
I remember in one of the Pierce Brosnan movies, 007 controlled his car from the trunk (or was it from the back seat?) by means of a remote control, zooming around a parking garage as the bad guys blazed away with machine guns. Which movie was that? And what’s your favorite Bond car chase? Mind would have to be the one in “The Living Daylights,” with Bond cutting a Czech police car in half with lasers, racing over the ice on outriggers, then leaping over a military roadblock. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-car-chases/320331/2 "2005-09-06T14:21:03Z")
I don’t think anything will ever top Bosnan as Bond smashing through a wall in a tank, then adjusting his tie because it was slightly out of line. ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-car-chases/320331/3 "2005-09-06T16:28:52Z")
IIRC, that car chase came out of _Tomorrow is Not Enough_, after the media mogul’s wife eats it (pun intended :D) in Bond’s hotel room. And yes, the tank scene is muchly awesome. A close second are the scenes where the Bond car emerges out of implausible places, and the Guy Who Thinks He’s Had Too Many does a double take and wonders whether he should quit drinking. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-car-chases/320331/4 "2005-09-06T16:36:34Z")
Best Bond car scene is when he jumps that canal in _The Man with the Golden Gun_. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-car-chases/320331/5 "2005-09-06T17:13:42Z")
Not to hijack, but something that seems to happen in virtually every Bond film is a car chase where he uses all of the gadgets that Q has given him, but they don’t help him to get away and he gets captured by the evil genius’ henchmen anyway. Q’s gadgets almost never make any real difference, except for knocking off some of the henchmen. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-car-chases/320331/6 "2005-09-06T17:16:44Z")
The tank chase was from _Goldeneye_, in St. Petersberg after Bond escapes from Ourumov and is chasing after him trying to rescue Natalya. He follows them to Janos’ armored train, parks the tank in a tunnel and shoots the train. A tip of the cap to _Goldfinger_, which introduced the gadget car to the Bond series. (And was it the first ever, in any format? Further research is clearly called for.) But it was a bit too dark to really see what was going on, too much headlights-flitting-between-buildings and no way to tell what was really going on. The chase from _The Man with the Golden Gun_ was good. Most movie car chases are shot with the cars only going about 40 miles per hour, with various cinematic tricks to exaggerate the speed; but most of this one looks like it was filmed at full speed. It was a bit too staged, though. It was so considerate of the locals to be driving in formation for Scaramanga and Bond to slalom perfectly between them. And the spiral jump was a great stunt, but the impossibility of finding that perfectly collapsed bridge to use as a ramp is just too much. And the slide whistle? I think my favorite might be from the beginning of _Goldeneye_, with Bond and Xenia Onatopp racing down the Grand Corniche toward Monaco. I’m a sucker for the classics, and Bond in his DB5 keeping up with a modern Ferrari is fantastic. But why would you chase after Famke Janssen when you already have that cute redhead in the car? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-car-chases/320331/7 "2005-09-06T17:57:59Z")
It’s worth mentioning that Bond goes up the passenger-side wheels to get through a narrow alley in _Diamonds are Forever_ yet emerges on the driver-side wheels. Neat trick. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-car-chases/320331/8 "2005-09-06T19:36:21Z")
> [@dotchan](#): > > IIRC, that car chase came out of _Tomorrow is Not Enough_, after the media mogul’s wife eats it (pun intended :D) in Bond’s hotel room… Um… do you mean _Tomorrow Never Dies_? Anyone else want to confirm that particular car chase was in that movie? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-car-chases/320331/9 "2005-09-06T19:58:32Z")
I’ll confirm that the scene you’re referring to is in _Tomorrow Never Dies_. It’s one of my favorite bits when, at the end of that chase, he sends the car over the edge of the garage roof and it crashes right through the window of the car rental office (harking back to an earlier scene in which Q posed as a rental agent when giving him the car in the first place). My favorite Bond vehicle chase was the fire engine chase through the streets of San Francisco in _A View To A Kill_. A close second is the buggy chase through the streets of New Delhi in _Octopussy_. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-car-chases/320331/10 "2005-09-06T20:21:42Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Best Bond car scene is when he jumps that canal in _The Man with the Golden Gun_. Except for that bloody slide-whistle! :smack: :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-car-chases/320331/11 "2005-09-06T20:34:40Z")
**For Your Eyes Only** – I like the chase through the olive grove-covered hillsides of Greece (IIRC), in which Bond commandeers Melina Havelock’s tiny, yellow Beetle-like car. It’s not the motor muscle but the driver’s skill which wins the day. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-car-chases/320331/12 "2005-09-06T21:24:06Z")
> [@The Scrivener](#): > > Melina Havelock’s tiny, yellow Beetle-like car. Citroën, either a 2CV or a 3CV. The 4CV looked like a Morris Minor. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-car-chases/320331/13 "2005-09-06T21:32:30Z")
Two moments stand out: 1. When Roger Moore drives straight down the mountain instead of following the curvy road. (Octopussy?) 2. When Roger Moore’s car splits in half upon impact with another car (losing the entire back half of his car)… but since it’s front-wheel-drive, he keeps right on going through the streets of Paris. (A View to a Kill). Funny stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-car-chases/320331/14 "2005-09-06T21:33:36Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > 1. When Roger Moore drives straight down the mountain instead of following the curvy road. (Octopussy?) That’s the one with the yellow Citroën. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-car-chases/320331/15 "2005-09-06T21:36:42Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > 1. When Roger Moore’s car splits in half upon impact with another car (losing the entire back half of his car)… but since it’s front-wheel-drive, he keeps right on going through the streets of Paris. (A View to a Kill). Funny stuff. Front-wheel-drive, yes. Just a pity that the _gas tank_ was in the back half.