Does E = mc² or mc³? The Science in Bond Films Thread

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  • RichardTheBruceRichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.
    Posts: 14,863


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    Eye on Design: Flipping Small High-Speed
    Powerboats
    See the complete article here: Rik van Hemmen, Contributor
    Rik van Hemmen is the President of Martin & Ottaway...
    August 25, 2022

    Planing hull design is incredibly complicated and dynamic behavior is actually more difficult to predict than the dynamic behavior of airplanes.

    ...

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    CFD Analysis of Hull Aerodynamics
    TotalSim Searches for the Cause of Side-By-
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    The Situation:In 2019 there was a significant incident during the Race World Offshore World Championships in Key West, where two identical Doug Wright 32' race-prepared catamarans experienced a simultaneous blow-over.

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    Revealed: The top secret
    surprises that make Quantum
    of Solace the most explosive
    Bond yet
    By MICHAEL HELLICAR FOR THE DAILY MAIL
    Updated: 20:20 EDT, 23 October 2008
    See the complete article here:
    It's the 22nd Bond film and the first to be a sequel, but when Quantum Of Solace opens next Friday it will be to unprecedented hype. Daniel Craig's first outing as the secret agent in Casino Royale not only produced Bond's highest ever box office takings, it was also nominated for eight BAFTAS and earned outstanding reviews.

    Producers claim the latest 007 adventure has been shot in more locations than ever before, that the stunts are better and bloodier - and that even the fashions have been given a new edginess. Here MICHAEL HELLICAR gives 22 things to look out for in the 22nd Bond. . .

    ...
    14 Bond's boat chase, filmed in Panama, provides one of the most hair-raising sequences.

    It was devised by special effects supervisor Chris Corbould, who has been working on the 007 films since he was a 17-year-old trainee on The Spy Who Loved Me.
    'Daniel was at the wheel of the boat most of the time, but when it came to the really dangerous stuff, the insurance company wouldn't let him take the risk,' he says.

    'So we had to find a way of hiding a driver to take over the action, while it looked as if Bond was still at the helm. We had boats going over other boats and explosions demolishing everything around him.
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    Boat scene
    Hair-raising sequence: Bond's boat chase was devised by special effects supervisor Chris Corbould, who has been working on the 007 films since The Spy Who Loved Me
    'One of the boats somersaults, which took a long time to get right. We did it with a hidden underwater cable which pulled the front of the boat down at a certain point, forcing it to flip over.'
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  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,997
    That's exactly the question: why did it flip-over in that direction? If it was for the same reason the other boats flipped over (the racing boats) that's because of the bottom of the boat suddenly working as an airofoil (a wing) and as the weight balance is completely off for an aeroplane (then the weight should be in front of the center of gravity) the boats tumble over backwards. However, in QoS, the boat nosedives, so it can't be from a sudden grip of the air on the bottom of the boat. It seems to be implied (as seen in those GIF's) that Bond somehow manages to dump an anchor and hook the grappling hook on the other end on the nose of the boat. sadly, said anchor stays out of sight, leaving us to giess.
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    Posts: 15,449
    This old chestnut... Said it before several times over the years - the only way the boat could flip like that is if Bond threw that boat's own anchor into the water, which he did not do. And for that anchor's rope to be draped over the bow and remain there so it can nosedive as such. Also, (nitpicking now) it would've taken several more seconds to reach the seafloor and catch on something before flipping.

    Another oddity in that film IMO is in the PTS when that piece of metal juts out the side of the truck's bumper and shish kebabs the Aston's door. To me it always seemed like another case of inventing something that doesn't make sense just to pull off a cool-looking stunt.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 19,546
    It would be nice to see an original script to see exactly what was intended for that sequence. I have to guess it was the anchor-into-the-sea thing, I don't think anything else makes sense.
    Also the PTS, where there was some kind of stunt involving the Aston flipping onto its side in the quarry which was shot but cut out. I don't think that one has ever been solved..?
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    Posts: 15,449
    I've never heard of that one, with the Aston on its side. Just that one of them went over the side and the stuntman nearly died, or something to that effect.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited November 5 Posts: 19,546
    Yeah there's video footage of it:



    My guess is that maybe it's part of him trying to reach the gun? Maybe as the car roof hits the wall, it rights itself and the gun sort of flips up into his hand and he turns and shoots the baddies? That sequence could do with him doing something Bondy and I think that would help, if it was that. It does happen at that final part of the chase when they're passing the tractor; maybe something similar happened with the boat chase where they edited it together and it was too hard to follow with all the shots needed to tell the story.
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,997
    mtm wrote: »
    Yeah there's video footage of it:



    My guess is that maybe it's part of him trying to reach the gun? Maybe as the car roof hits the wall, it rights itself and the gun sort of flips up into his hand and he turns and shoots the baddies? That sequence could do with him doing something Bondy and I think that would help, if it was that. It does happen at that final part of the chase when they're passing the tractor; maybe something similar happened with the boat chase where they edited it together and it was too hard to follow with all the shots needed to tell the story.

    Wow, thanks for sharing that one. My uneducated guess would be they thought the car would hit the digger slightly and then torn on its side, or just on two wheels, then fall back again. When they're doing the filming inside (with the mock-up car on a truck and turning it) it doesn't go that far.
    Still, indeed, it makes little sense, as the car would probably just swing its back out if it hit de digger like that.
    That said my step-father (RIP) once ran onto the back of a tractor like that. He didn't flip over, but was launched by the (turning) wheel of the tractor, flying through the air with his Peugeot 406 and ending in a ditch.
    He wasn't trying to do anything Bondian mind you, he was just trying to change the radio station. And yes, he lived to tell the tale, allthough quite bruised.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited November 6 Posts: 19,546
    Yikes, that sounds like a very scary incident! I can imagine how shocking that would have been.
    It's quite interesting how many shots of that stunt that vid pulls together: it looks like a similar thing to what your stepfather experienced: the Aston hits the rear wheel of the tractor, is flipped on its side, then in the footage from what looks like a RTL behind-the-scenes programme at the start of the vid, you can see them filming the car from behind as it hits the wall and lands back on its wheels. They're also doing or rehearsing shots of Bond inside on the rolling rig.

    It's quite interesting watching the finished sequence: there's no shots of the Aston driving past the tractor, apart from a really close-up shot of its bodywork which could come from anywhere- there is a hole where this stunt was. There is a shot of Bond's hand holding the gun and moving, I wonder how that shot started- we never see him actually grab the gun. I feel like this stunt must have had something to do with Bond's attempt to get the gun as it's what ends this little part, unless Bond shooting the car was planned to come later and it was pieced together in the edit.

    One curious thing is there's a shot of them filming the Aston just driving past the tractor at slow speed with a Carabinieri Land Rover following, even though in the finished scene that had already crashed at that point (I like that the Aston is towing an old tyre behind, presumably as a mark for the Land Rover driving to know how close to follow for the camera!). Was there more than one Land Rover and that got cut out?





    Incidentally, apropos of nothing, I just happened to pause that vid on this frame by accident, and how cool is this shot?! I feel like that could be the poster on its own!

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  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,997
    At 2.44 we see the digger, then at 2.46 we see the alfa going on the left side. Tha'ts where the stund should have been, 'cause the aston goes on the right, next to the wall. and indeed, at 2.47 it seems Bond already has the gun in his hand.
    And yes, that shot is epic. I've always loved this chase and especially this moment.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited November 7 Posts: 19,546
    It would have been pretty cool if Bond had been revealed to have the gun out as the car fell back on its wheels, taking them by surprise and firing as the car was on it way back down :)

    I do like the chase, but it ends so suddenly and without Bond doing A Big Cool Thing: he just shoots them -and with a gun we didn't know was there until a few seconds before (I know it's introduced at the end of CR, but that was two years ago!). Also I guess it's not ideal that two consecutive action scenes in the film climax with Bond trying to grab a gun before the baddie shoots him, then grabbing the gun and shooting them :D
    The Spectre Rome car chase is worse, but I think what it does do right is build up to a climax, and Bond does a Bond thing at the end of it.
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