Tomorrow Never Dies ~007 ~The Stunt Scenes ~A Personal Recollection

                                                                                                                                                                  Well, to be honest, there isn`t a great deal that I can tell you about the making of the movie, other than that I worked on the film as part of the Paint crew & that it was a great picture to have been a part of. I was also very fortunate to have been employed by such experienced & professional people. As a young painter I learnt much from my colleagues on the film & I also enjoyed working in a new studio where this part of the picture was being made & shot away from Pinewood.
                                                                                                                                                                     For the sake of your FB page, I can share with you my recollection of the famous motorbike stunt scene where the stunt man drives across a  street. I can also assure you that it was incredible to watch.

 I remember the stunt man spending ages setting himself & his motorbike up for the shot. The scene was being shot from high up on top of the street sets with additional cameras set -up down below to capture every possible angle. A special ramp had also been rigged up for the shot so that the stunt man could enable himself to jump across the street at great speed.  He prepared himself for this shot by repeatedly driving up & down the nearest part of the ramp for a good couple of hours.

 When he was ready to roll we were all told to stand -by & be quiet as it could only be shot once. I was watching from below, nervously, as I`d never seen or experienced anything like this before.

 Suddenly, after much ado, the stunt man gave the thumbs up & the first AD shouted; " stand-by ", & that incredible BMW motorbike fired up. The roar was deafening, you knew it was going to be happening for real.                                                                      

 " Action ! ", the dude shot off along that ramp with speeds that I didn`t think existed & within seconds he & his bike were flying through the air poised upright, with the grace of a bird. As I looked up at this spectacle I remember wondering if he had slowed himself down in some way. The engine one could no longer hear, an eerie silence had fallen upon us for the duration of the crossing. Then, suddenly, as if time had started again, there was a loud bang & the stunt man was suddenly touched down safely on the other side of the set.

Let me tell you, if I felt great relief knowing he`d made a safe landing then I can only imagine what he must have been thinking as he roared down that opposite side of the ramp. Either way, everyone cheered with great affection at being a part of his incredible stunt.

Funny,  I remember saying to myself, as I watched the cheering, adoring, crowds running over to the man as he rode back onto the set, " I wish I was stunt man ! "