Would you see Daniel Craig wearing a bobble hat in a bond film today? Not even likely. Looking back, even though Roger Moore was edging dangerously close to swapping his ski poles for a zimmer frame, it didn't really seem to matter to audiences. The activity of skiing was exciting and glamourous. And seeing Bond skiing, in an exotic location, even in a bobble hat and shiny flared sellopetes, looked cool as he escaped the goons dispatched on him.
Snow scenes in the bond films are usually teamed with a heavy dose of action to propel the story along. Here, the pace is really rammed up and you could say there are certain formulas evident; Bahamas for the bikinis, Austria for the sellopetes. The audience is swiftly transported from one place and introduced to another location, bringing a grander scale to the picture. It it this aspect that is a key signature of the bond films, and one that Chris Nolan has admitted he was inspired by for Inception (check out the post here).
But for now, here's a round-up of the iconic Brit spy, being chased, giving, ahem, chase and generally handling tricky situations (garish wardrobes included) in the white stuff as easily as kicking back with a vodka martini.
“He’s branched off”
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
1969
Bond: George Lazenby
Snow scene: Piz Gloria, Switzerland
Bobsleds, trees and St Bernards. Blofeld (Telly Savalas) and Bond engage in a furious bobsled chase down Piz Gloria, culminating with Blofeld becoming snared in a tree branch and injuring his neck. Bond leaps from the out-of-control bobsled just before it crashes; he's rescued by a St. Bernard.
“But James I need you...” “So does England ”
The Spy Who Loved Me
1977
Bond: Roger Moore
Snow scene: Austria
Fur rugs, dodgy yellow skiwear and Union Jack Flags. Roger Moore
(a bond about as cool as your dad skiing and thinking “the mission’s in the bag”) is ambushed by Soviet agents, kills one during a downhill ski chase and escapes via a Union Flag parachute.
“I took the scenic route”
For Your Eyes Only
1981
Bond: Roger Moore
Snow scene: Cortina d'Ampezzo, Northern Italy
Ski jumps, chalet lunches interrupted, slightly better ski outfits. Another scene with Roger’s James (fromage) Bond. Kriegler attempts to kill Bond with his biathlon rifle, and pursues him on a machine gun armed motorcycle, over a chalet balcony, down a bobsleigh track, and into a farm where Bond escapes. Three other men also attempt to kill Bond on an indoor ice rink, but he manages to fend them off.
“We’ve nothing to declare”
The Living Daylights
1987
Bond: Timothy Dalton
Snow scene: Austria
Exploding sheds, Aston Martins and cellos. Bond and Kara (Maryam d'Abo) sledge down a mountain using a cello case as their sled and speed through the border customs kiosk.
“Morning Q. Sorry about the leg. Skiing?”
Goldeneye
1995
Bond: Pierce Brosnan
Snow scene: Severnaya Zemlya, Russia
Helicopters, huskies and IT geeks. Ourumov and Xenia steal a prototype Eurocopter Tiger helicopter fly it to a bunker in Severnaya, where they massacre the staff and steal the control disk for the dual GoldenEye satellite weapons. Natalya (Izabella Scorupco), is caught in the devastation and is the lone survivor.
“See you back at the lodge”
The World is Not Enough
1999
Bond: Pierce Brosnan
Snow scene: Azerbaijan
Snowmobiles, bug-faced henchmen and avalanche airbags. During a tour of the pipeline's proposed route in the mountains, Bond and Elektra (Sophie Marceau) are attacked by a hit squad in armed, paraglider-equipped snowmobiles.
“I have been known to keep my tip up”
Die Another Day
2002
Bond: Pierce Brosnan
Snow scene: Iceland
Satellites, ice palaces and spikey tyres. Bond attempts to rescue Jinx (Halle Berry), where he is discovered and chased by Zao. Zao dies after Bond tricks him into crashing his car into a flooded portion of the facility and causing a chandelier to fall on him.
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