SPECTRE Featurette: Stunts Highlight Daniel Craig Action

Over the last five decades, the James Bond franchise has become synonymous with thrilling action. Each installment in the franchise has featured a stunt, car chase, and/or fight scene (or scenes) that has/have become instantly iconic in its own right.

With the imminent release of Spectre – the latest Bond adventure starring Daniel Craig as 007 – later this fall, a new featurette has been released showcasing the film’s seemingly endless action and stuntwork.

The featurette chronicles the globetrotting 007 adventure — with locations ranging from Austria, Mexico and Morocco– showcasing behind-the-scenes elements about how the filmmakers achieved the impressive practical stunts. Providing almost no context so as to preserve the integrity of the story, the video displays the film’s various stunt work; that includes multiple car chases, planes tumbling down mountainsides, and (of course) massive explosions. Several members of the crew are interviewed, with director Sam Mendes explaining the importance of capturing such moments in as real a fashion as possible.

The main emphasis in this Spectre video is that the film’s stunts actually occur and possess an aura of authenticity. Not only do the filmmakers use real vehicles and pyrotechnics, but they make a concerted effort to put Craig into the fray as much as possible. While CGI will obviously come into play in order to augment many sequences in Spectre, this featurette argues that the new Bond movie – like Mad Max: Fury Road and the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens – also relies on an old-fashioned practical approach, in combination with digital era techniques.

Tradition seems to be at the core of everything associated with Spectre — that much is obvious. The title alone emphasizes the return of Bond’s long absent villainous organization — and maybe its sinister leader: Blofeld. Similarly, much of the marketing has invoked iconic James Bond imagery such as his white tuxedo and trusty Walther PPK. With regard to action, the filmmakers are similarly emphasizing that they wholeheartedly intend to adhere to the longstanding tradition of the Bond franchise in order to provide audiences with real stunts and real danger.

Despite the seemingly traditional return to form, Spectre is also set to delve deeper into Bond’s history and personal life more than ever before; meaning, it’s still about balancing the old with the new. That’s all the more fitting, as this is the first 007 adventure since the franchise marked its 50th birthday with Skyfall‘s massive critical/commercial success.

Spectre opens in theaters on October 26th (London) & November 6th (United States)