The Top 5 James Bond Car/Motorbike Chases
Car chases have been an iconic tradition for James Bond stories for several reasons. The first is that it’s viscerally exciting to see people demonstrate their ability to drive fast and keep control. A second is that Bond chases utilize a variety of vehicles, some with “extra-special” options.
Below are Eye on Bond’s picks for the best or most distinctive car chases in the Bond franchise.
Sean Connery – Goldfinger
Goldfinger was the first time Bond’s iconic DB5 used smoke trails and oil slicks to make pursuers slow down or spin out of control. Also worth noting is that this chase can be broken into two sections. The first is dedicated to Bond attempting to make enough distance so that Tilly Masterson can escape on foot. The second is Bond’ attempt to escape Goldfinger’s men after Oddjob kills Tilly and captures him.
There is the second key thing about this chase. Despite the assortment of Q-branch chase-hacks and quick thinking, Bond fails. Tilly dies. The end of this chase (in which Bond is fooled by an optical illusion) is a rare failure for Bond that adds more peril to his predicament.
Roger Moore and Barbara Bach – The Spy Who Loves Me
This was the debut of Moore’s gadget loaded Lotus Esprit. One reason this chase stands out is the number and variety of henchmen SMERSH throws at our heroes. Bond and XXX take on other cars, Jaws on a Motorcycle, and later on, torpedo jet-sled totting frogmen.
The second is that like Goldfinger, the chase can be broken down into two halves: The more expected (but still exciting) road one, and that one starts when Moore transforms the Esprit into a Submarine!
Never had James Bond had such an athletic and well-equipped car. Also worth mentioning is how XXX’s deployment of the Esprit’s arsenal helps establish her as Bond’s equal.
Roger Moore and Carole Bouquet – For Your Eyes Only
Do you know what can be even more exciting than a chase with a tricked out car? A chase where the cannon fodder have better cars than the heroes.
What happened to 007’s Esprit? Unfortunately, one of Gonzales’ henchmen tries to break open the passenger side window, and accidentally activates the self destruct!
So now Bond has to escape a hit man’s home with Melina in her econobox. While pursued by killers driving Mercedes-Benz’s. Bond has to use the twisting roads, and a combination of smarts and nerves, to beat the competition.
Some people love to point out how the chases in Jason Bourne movies are the 21st century’s answer to the conventions of a 007 chase. What the sometimes forget is that For Your Eyes Only got there first, 21 years earlier.
Pierce Brosnan and Michelle Yeoh – Tomorrow Never Dies
Tomorrow Never Dies has two good chase scenes. What put this one on top? For one thing, I think this was the first time both James and the Bond girl had to ride a motorcycle together.
The second reason is because, according to a behind the scenes booklet on the production I got in Germany, the stunt doubles were able to do that fourty-four foot jump near the end with the real BMW motorbike. That’s pretty epic. Also, the chase ends with Bond and Wai Lin taking down a helicopter using a clothesline. That’s indisputably cool.
Daniel Craig and Naomie Harris – Skyfall
The starting place for this mammoth set piece is so simple. Assassin extraordinaire Patrice has killed an MI6 agent, and stolen a hard drive with sensitive information. Both 007 and Eve Moneypenny pursue. Patrice and his associates drive an Audi, our MI6 agents a Land Rover. Yes, Moneypenny is driving so fast that the mirrors clip off the sides of buildings.
The police start chasing after them. Then Bond uses the Land Rover to send the Audi spinning upside down. From there, it becomes a running gunfight before Patrice steals a motorbike. Bond steals one too, and the chase continues! It continues up stairs, on the roof of the grand bazaar, and then through the bazaar at street level.
This thing just keeps on going and going. Sam Mendes and his stunt coordinators chaining together as many jaw-dropping moments as possible onto one sequence. After five minutes Patrice jumps onto a train and the car chase becomes a foot (and crane!) chase. However, Moneypenny is still driving, parallel and ahead of the train.
Skyfall’s opening is one virtuoso 12 minute sequence that combines driving, shooting, fist fighting, and sudden escapes. It’s the action high point of the movie, and one of the action high points of the Bond franchise.
If there are any personal favourites we’ve neglected to mention, please sound off about it in the comments section. As always, thank you for reading.