Spy Harder

5 JULY, 2002: The Ice Palace, 007 Stage

The Ice Palace is a one-day exhibition of what Graves can do,” says production designer Peter Lamont, a veteran of 16 previous Bonds. “But, for me, it was a chance to do something out of the ordinary.” Three months earlier, this gargantuan set was beautiful. Now it’s in a state of destruction, with an inch of water swirling around Total Film’s boots – all a result of Tamahori’s decision to stage a car chase inside the Palace itself.

Action Unit director Vic Armstrong, another 007 veteran who’s been doing Bond stuntwork since sliding down a rope in You Only Live Twice, is preparing one of the shoot’s final sequences. An Aston Martin squats in a corridor, with a Brosnan-a-like dummy lodged behind the wheel. A track snakes out from beneath the car, leading to a chamber blocked by a thick “ice” door, which is filling with water. Once it’s full, the Aston’s path is cleared, with Total Film politely shoved to a place of safety. A clapperboard is snapped and the car hurtles forward, smashing through the door. Water gushes out and the corridor briefly transforms into a raging river. When it subsides, Armstrong strolls to the monitors and replays the stunt. He’s happy. This was the second take and he’s nailed it.

Despite having been a Bond stalwart since the Sean Connery days, Armstrong is anything but complacent. “Creating stunt sequences is tough on a Bond movie,” he says, drying off in his trailer, “because we’ve done everything before and we’ve still got to avoid rehashing anything. To stay original – that’s what keeps me awake at night.” However, Armstrong doesn’t seem overly worried today, and is confident that Die Another Day has plenty to offer in the way of never-before-seen stunts.

But how does he find having to get to know the working methods and quirks of a different director on each Bond movie? “With my background, I’m used to working with hundreds of different directors anyway,” he says. “Scorsese, Paul Verhoeven, David Lean... [The World Is Not Enough director] Michael Apted was good in the way he didn’t just leave it up to me. And Lee has never done action before, really, so it’s interesting. It’s quite different from watching it to doing it and actually capturing it...”

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine. 

Latest in James Bond Movies
Daniel Craig in new James Bond movie No Time to Die
Amazon boss reportedly said "I don’t care what it costs" to buy James Bond after they approached long-time producers with a Moneypenny spin-off
Bond in suit
Former James Bond actor Timothy Dalton reveals his "shock" at Amazon taking over the franchise, as he reveals his hopes for the future of 007
Henry Cavill
After Amazon lands control of James Bond, Jeff Bezos turns to social media for ideas with predictable results as stans of all kinds swarm his replies: "Who’d you pick as the next Bond?"
Daniel Craig in new James Bond movie No Time to Die
Amazon is taking over the James Bond franchise and fans are worried about the future of 007
Avatar
Avatar star Sam Worthington called his James Bond audition "awful" but fans disagree after it leaks online
homelander in the boys season 4 episode 6
Homelander actor Antony Starr's James Bond screen test for Casino Royale has been leaked online, and The Boys fans are all making the same joke
Latest in Features
The Punisher holding two machine guns in the rain
Daredevil: Born Again - Learn the bullet-riddled comic book history of the Punisher before he officially joins the MCU
A woman in a underwater machine waving during the cinematic teaser for Subnautica 2.
Subnautica 2: Everything we know about the new underwater survival game
The AMD Ryzen 7 8700G being held above a motherboard by a reviewer
AMD's pro-consumer 9070 strategies are exactly why it's primed to dominate the CPU market in 2025
Assassin's Creed Shadows cinematic screenshot
Assassin's Creed Shadows' transmog looks set to combine the best of Odyssey and Vahalla to make changing my drip easier than ever
Split Fiction screenshot of Zoe and Mio in a fantasy world
Split Fiction feels like a Mass Effect-meets-Fable platformer and I'm obsessed with it after just one hour
Monster Hunter Wilds characters share a meal
Oh no, Monster Hunter Wilds is so good that I'm already counting the days until its inevitable Master Rank expansion