February 1966, a challenge was put forward to James Bond production designer Ken Adam: Could he build the massive volcano lair of 007 nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld – complete with working monorail, 60-foot crater opening, 33-meter rocket and 700 tons of structural steel – for $1 million?
Adam’s simple “yes” was matched by 250 workers who logged 12-hour shifts seven days a week during a six-month span to complete the grandiose set featured in “You Only Live Twice.”
REVIEW
“Bond by Design.” By Meg Simmonds. DK. 320 pages. $50.
That story is just one of many that drives “Bond by Design: The Art of the James Bond Films,” a mammoth 320-page book by Eon Productions archivist Meg Simmonds that collects concept art, design notes and storyboards from all 24 official Bond canon films, from “Dr. No” to “Spectre.”
The result is, to borrow a line from “Goldfinger,” positively shocking – not least because designers Adam, Syd Cain, Peter Murton, Peter Lamont, Allan Cameron and Dennis Gassner get their due.
“What the Bonds did, they stimulated my imagination,” Adam, the production designer for seven of the first 11 Bond films, is quoted as saying. “I felt the sky was the limit. I could do anything.”
Beyond its sharp details – look no further than the gadgetry meticulously incorporated into the Aston Martin DB5 from “Goldfinger” – part of what makes “Bond by Design” so enjoyable are the fun facts.
For instance, that great tank chase scene through the streets of St. Petersburg from 1995’s “GoldenEye?” Pierce Brosnan never set foot in the Russian city. The scene was created on an exterior lot in Britain that required 62 miles of scaffolding and 700 tons of plaster to mimic pre-shot location footage.
It’s stories like these, combined with the pages upon pages of stunning artwork, that make “Bond by Design” a pleasure. You won’t look at a James Bond film the same way again.
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