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For Sale Mar 31, 2026 at 4:24 PM

More people need to give props to the Bond films for the insanely talented and creative stunt work

Posted by nthroop1

Having just completed a full series rewatch for the first time in a while, I'm shocked by how many of these record setting stunts have influenced films like the MI series, Cliffhanger, Fury Road and the like. While they were specifically groundbreaking for the 70s and 80s, they tend to get overshadowed by the innuendo laden dialogue, the bond girls, the charismatic villains, and the occasional hokeyness. I also think, Austin Powers did these films dirty cuz now it's hard to separate Bond from the spoof. Here are some of the more memorable sequences all of which performed by professionals without any Hollywood magic * **License to Kill**: The mid-air plane heist * **Goldeneye**: The record setting Bungee jump off the dam in the intro followed by the motorcycle jump into a falling plane * **Man With the Golden Gun**: The corkscrew jump which was done in ONE TAKE * **Live and Let Die**: The infamous crocodile jump AND the speedboat race that occurs on water and land * **The Living Daylights**: The final plane scene where you can actually see the stuntman being flailed about thousands of feet in the air * **Moonraker**: The skydiving fight opener Of course there are more and Daniel Craigs run has some very impressive work but I was amazed by these specifically because they seem revolutionary for their time
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roto_disc Mar 31, 2026 +39
People **did** give those movies' stunts attention. It just happened back in the 70s, 80s, and 90s when those movies came out. The franchise is *known* for it's attention to stunt work and action set pieces.
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Ganondorfsfist Mar 31, 2026 +22
And ruining those stunts with stupid whistles.
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roto_disc Mar 31, 2026 +2
Correct.
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eren_yeegarr Mar 31, 2026 +6
Yeeeee hawwwwww boyyy
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StillStanding_96 Mar 31, 2026 +3
Omg, the slide whistle on the cross-river jump was so unnecessary
3
thecravenone Mar 31, 2026 +4
there's this weird internet thing where we have to frame the discussion as an argument instead of simply posting hey i think the stunts in bond are great here are some examples
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clothanger Mar 31, 2026 +9
>for the insanely talented and creative stunt work Afaik it's not just Bond films. Stunt actors are very, very underrated. When was the last time you actively knew about one being awarded or credited in public?
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Kraqrjack Mar 31, 2026 +4
[Taurus World Stunt Awards](https://www.taurusworldstuntawards.com/) Also beginning in 2028 the Oscars will include a category for it. And if I were organizing it the first announcer for these awards will be announced not by a celebrity, but by that celebrity's stunt double.
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lipp79 Mar 31, 2026 +3
Who announces the candidates while on fire.
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deadspacekillers Mar 31, 2026 +3
That was a huge purpose behind The Fall Guy (2024), from what I hear. They used the movie to drum up support for getting a best stunt coordinator Oscar category.
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CorkInAPork Apr 1, 2026 +1
Stunt actors - doing amazing physical acting stuff that is both dangerous and exhausting only to get paid peanuts Celebrity actors - OH LOOK HE HAS 5 SECOND SCENE BETTER DROP 1 MILLION FOR THAT
1
R_V_Z Apr 1, 2026
Does the John Wick franchise count, since that was created by stunt guys?
0
real_triplizard Mar 31, 2026 +9
Are you saying people didn't give them enough props? I mean, they are absolutely the gold standard of action film stunt work and were widely acknowledged as such. You left off probably one of the most iconic: the ski jump from The Spy Who Loved Me. Google it and you will find many articles written about just that one stunt. It's widely recognized as one of, if not \*the\* greatest movie stunts ever. E.g. [The Full Story Behind James Bond’s Greatest Stunt | Bold Entrance](https://boldentrance.com/the-spy-who-loved-me-ski-jump/)
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spiderglide Mar 31, 2026 +3
Roger Moore's autobiography mentions the reception to that scene. Worth a read - there's an abridged version that just covers his screen career.
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deadspacekillers Mar 31, 2026 +2
I couldn't get past the first paragraph. "Cubby" Broccoli was a human man's name?????
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real_triplizard Mar 31, 2026 +2
Yep. Pretty fascinating history, he had. The whole Broccoli family controlled the rights after Cubby died, right up until they were sold to Amazon a couple of years ago.
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pantstoaknifefight2 Mar 31, 2026 +1
Broccoli 🥦 was named after the family.
1
pantstoaknifefight2 Mar 31, 2026 +1
As someone who grew up near that era, that Spy Who Loved Me jump is the defining stunt of the era, just like Ben Hurr's chariot race was in its. Personally, I wasn't a big Bond fan, but the parkour in C***** Royale knocked my socks off.
1
Gorka_me Mar 31, 2026 +4
The corkscrew jump in Man With the Golden Gun in one single take is still insane
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spiderglide Mar 31, 2026 +1
Greatest car stunt of all time.
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LargeWeinerDog Mar 31, 2026 +4
Okay so this weekend I decided to see if I could watch GoldenEye on anything. And I find it on netflix. So I turned it on for a moment not really intending on watching it yet but maybe later cause I had shit to do with my four year old. We come back into the living room a little later as Bond is falling out of the plane and grabbing the moter cycle to chase it down. From that point until the plane pops back up out of the canyon, my little girl was holding her breath and then looked at me with pure amazement and said "WOOOW!" I was like okay enough of that and turned it off and now she won't quit asking me to watch the airplane movie. She got a taste of bond now she wants the rest. What have I done.
4
Expensive-Sentence66 Mar 31, 2026 +3
The skydive sequence in Moonraker was insane. They had to build special cameras and do a stupid amount of takes for that stunt sequence. They got the Glastron speed boat replica stock at the top of  Iguazu falls wanting to film it going over. The SFX director was kicking at it from a helicopter before his safety harness started to rip and he gave up. Dude was nuts.
3
ahorrribledrummer Mar 31, 2026 +6
Man with the golden gun is greatest because of the slide whistle
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spiderglide Mar 31, 2026 +2
I admit killing you *would* be a pleasure.
2
Sea-Jaguar-5742 Mar 31, 2026 +2
honestly, the stunts in those films are next level. it’s wild how much influence they still have today—those sequences really set the bar for action cinema.
2
VelisaUcy Mar 31, 2026 +2
The mid-air plane heist in License to Kill is still one of the craziest stunts ever filmed
2
haysoos2 Mar 31, 2026 +2
People give Austin Powers too much credit for piss-taking when nearly everything about Austin Powers was stolen from Matt Helm and Our Man Flint. Those movies were direct competitors to Bond, and even heavily influenced those 70s Bond movies (several stunts and even gags from the Matt Helm movies in particular were straight up stolen for the Bond movies).
2
heartbreakkiddxz Mar 31, 2026 +2
Moonraker (1979) Skydiving Fight A mid-air fight sequence filmed during actual freefall. No green screen just multiple parachutists coordinating choreography at terminal velocity.
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AdditionalAddress525 Mar 31, 2026 +1
Totally agree — the older Bond films have this “how did a human survive that?” energy that modern CGI can’t replicate. The crocodile jump alone feels like something no studio would ever sign off on today. #
1
TrickNatural Mar 31, 2026 +1
I thought we already did.
1
roiki11 Mar 31, 2026 +1
You forgot the drifting tank sequence from goldeneye.
1
400footceiling Mar 31, 2026 +1
And the Borne movies and the mission impossible films.
1
Own-Librarian-9699 Mar 31, 2026 +1
It's one of the defining traits of bond movie.  1) stunts 2) n*** babes in distress 3) exotic locations 4) haute couture  5) humanity in peril
1
Loki-L Apr 1, 2026 +1
Willy Bogner did the ski stunts in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only and A View to a Kill. He leveraged the recognition for that into making his own movies that were basically all ski stunts. I don't think Fire and Ice had much in the way of plot, it did have narration by John Denver though. Its sequel Fire, Ice and Dynamite had Roger Moore and a bunch of star cameos. Other stunt performances like the corkscrew car jump in The Man with the Golden Gun or the alligator walk in Live and Let Die are legend in the industry. The Jetpack scene in Thunderball was so iconic that it got included in the opening montage of the Fall Guy TV show that showed off typical stuntman work from famous movies.
1
gotthelowdown Apr 1, 2026 +1
For some fun watching: if you search YouTube for "[James Bond movie title] behind the scenes," you can often find 30-minute-ish documentaries about each Bond film. Great fodder for James Bond fans.
1
darkholemind Apr 1, 2026 +1
Totally!
1
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