The James Bond franchise has constantly shifted its tone with each new movie, and this has resulted in some experimental scenes which are completely unrealistic. The franchise started off with some rather straightforward spy stories. The characters and situations were a little eccentric, but the Sean Connery era didn’t seem nearly as fanciful as what came later. Roger Moore introduced a more lighthearted approach, and this came with sci-fi gadgets, absurd action scenes and a loose approach to the laws of physics.
While fans of the franchise are still waiting for casting news on Bond 26, the actor who plays 007 will be just one piece of the puzzle. The tone will be just as important in shaping the next era of the franchise. Daniel Craig’s movies have been generally more realistic, but the franchise could return to the less serious style of Roger Moore or Pierce Brosnan. Even the best James Bond movies often have some moment that cause audiences to scratch their heads.
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George Lazenby Breaks The Fourth Wall
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was the first James Bond movie without Sean Connery in the lead role. Rather than trying to explain why a different man is in Bond’s shoes, the movie largely ignores the introduction of George Lazenby. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service has grown in stature over the years, even though some reviews at the time were critical of Lazenby’s Bond compared to Connery. The only time the movie addresses the change in its leading man is one fourth-wall-breaking line after a fight on a beach.
After a reasonably grounded start to the franchise, everything soon started to get more ridiculous.
“This never happened to the other fellow,” delivered straight to camera, has become one of the most famous James Bond quotes ever, but it completely shatters the suspension of disbelief. It’s best to take this line as a humorous aside, because thinking about the real implications of it only uncovers plot holes and confusing continuity errors. After a reasonably grounded start to the franchise, everything soon started to get more ridiculous.
9
Bond’s Car Tips From One Side To Another
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Diamonds Are Forever saw Sean Connery returning to the franchise after George Lazenby’s divisive outing, but it doesn’t scale the heights of his earlier movies. Compared to classics like From Russia With Love and Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever is dragged down by an absurd plot. Bond bounces around from one ludicrous plot contrivance to another, with a lot of focus on Blofeld’s small army of doppelgängers, two creepy henchmen and a Bond girl who gets less intelligent as the story progresses.
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Diamonds Are Forever is much sillier than Sean Connery’s best James Bond movies, as if the whimsy of the Roger Moore era started to encroach a couple of years early. One famously unrealistic moment comes as Bond tries to escape his pursuers in Las Vegas, and he uses a ramp to get his car up on two wheels. While the stunt was done practically, a continuity blunder means that it enters the narrow alleyway on its right side and exits on its left side. Bond and Tiffany Case shift their weight to the left, but this hardly explains the implausible maneuver.
8
The Helicopter Hovers At An Angle
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
Tomorrow Never Dies doesn’t truly deliver on its potential. It never makes the most of Michelle Yeoh’s presence, and Jonathan Pryce’s villain is better in theory. However, the movie still delivers some brilliant action scenes that recapture the magic from GoldenEye. The motorbike chase with Bond handcuffed to Wai Lin is a big highlight, but the helicopter pursuing them doesn’t seem to abide by the laws of physics.
Anyone who understands the physics of helicopters will immediately recognize that such a maneuver simply isn’t possible.
The helicopter chasing after Bond and Wai Lin hovers low to the ground over a crowded street, and it moves slowly with its nose titled forward. Anyone who understands the physics of helicopters will immediately recognize that such a maneuver simply isn’t possible. A helicopter tilted forward has to travel at high speeds just to remain airborne. It certainly can’t hover in place with the blades pointed toward the ground, even if this does set up a cool stunt as Bond slides the motorbike beneath the helicopter.
7
Bond Drives Half A Car Through Paris
A View to a Kill (1985)
A View to a Kill is generally one of the weirdest and most outlandish James Bond movies, stretching the limits of credibility with the plot, the characters and the stunts. One particularly unrealistic moment comes during a chase scene in Paris, when Bond commandeers a taxi to pursue May Day. The roof gets smashed off by a barrier, and the car is soon blown in half by a collision with another driver.
A View to a Kill often asks the audience to forgive some outrageous fantasies.
It’s completely unrealistic that the crash would cut Bond’s car so neatly in half. It’s worth remembering that this is just a random taxi taken off the street, not a specially modified car from Q. What’s just as fanciful is the fact that the car is able to keep driving without the back half, and it runs just as smoothly. A View to a Kill often asks the audience to forgive some outrageous fantasies, and the half-car scene is still an exciting chase for those who can get on board with the movie’s tone.
6
Bond Boards A Plane In Mid-Air
GoldenEye (1995)
It’s become common to see James Bond pulling off death-defying stunts, but every now and then he produces something even more unbelievable than his usual bag of tricks. GoldenEye strings a few impossible stunts together, and the result is an action sequence that’s simultaneously exhilarating and completely ludicrous. Bond sees that his only viable escape route is a small biplane, and the fact that the plane has just plunged off a steep cliff doesn’t stop him.
Sequences like this are a big reason why GoldenEye is considered a high point for the franchise.
Bond drives a motorbike off the cliff, skydives towards the falling plane, enters through the side, and steers the plane upwards to avoid a collision with the ground. Any one of these stunts would be unlikely, but put together they are unbelievable. He manages to pull a plane out of a near-vertical nose-dive with no time to spare, and this isn’t even his most impressive feat. Sequences like this are a big reason why GoldenEye is considered a high point for the franchise.
5
Bond’s Invisible Car
Die Another Day (2002)
There are times when the James Bond franchise veers into sci-fi territory, and Q’s fanciful gadgets are usually to blame. The invisible Aston Martin in Die Another Day has often been derided among the fan base, particularly because Bond drives it on snow, so the tire tracks give away its exact position anyway. This is helpful for the audience, but not for Bond. It’s no huge surprise that he hasn’t used a similar car since.
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While stealth technology remains a vital field of scientific study, the idea of an invisible car might never come to fruition. Successful experiments with similar technologies often rely on the viewer being positioned in exactly the right place, but Bond has no control over where anyone else is. There’s no way to bend light around the car from every possible angle, although Q’s gadgets often resemble magic.
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Bond Surfs Away From A Tsunami
Die Another Day (2002)
The invisible car isn’t the only absurd element of Die Another Day. There are other reasons why it’s seen as one of the least realistic Bond movies ever, such as Bond’s miraculous escape from a tumbling iceberg. Bond quickly has to improvise a solution as a large chunk of the ice shelf plummets into the ocean, and he pops up from behind an enormous wave kitesurfing on a small sheet of metal.
Not only is it illogical and unrealistic, but it’s also rendered in CGI that has aged poorly, to say the least.
Bond’s kitesurfing escape is one of the weirdest action sequences in the franchise. Not only is it illogical and unrealistic, but it’s also rendered in CGI that has aged poorly, to say the least. Water is notoriously different to create with CGI, so the tsunami doesn’t look real at all. Perhaps the emerging technology inspired the Bond franchise to come up with the biggest action scenes possible in an attempt to keep up with other blockbusters in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Ultimately, James Bond looks best with more practical effects.
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Jaws Bites Through A Steel Cable
Moonraker (1979)
Jaws is one of only a handful of villains who appears in two separate James Bond villains, and his memorable appearance makes his return a welcome one. After serving Stromberg in The Spy Who Loved Me, Jaws works with Drax in Moonraker. The silent brute puts his metal teeth to the test by chomping through a metal cable that looks to be a couple inches in diameter, halting Bond’s cable car ride.
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Jaws’ metal teeth make him an intimidating foe, and he uses them to kill in The Spy Who Loved Me. This makes a lot more sense than him biting through a steel cable. No human has the jaw strength to bite through such thick metal, no matter what their teeth are made of. Although it’s a fun scene that makes Jaws seem even more powerful, it would never happen in real life. To get the shot, Richard Kiel bit through a large licorice rope.
2
Jill Masterson Is Suffocated By Gold
Goldfinger (1964)
Goldfinger combines one of the best James Bond villains with some thrilling action and an exciting plot. It’s revered as a franchise highlight, and a must-watch for anyone who wants a taste of Bond, but there’s one infamous moment that makes no sense. Auric Goldfinger’s intense obsession with gold manifests in many ways, including his fashion, the design of his home and his preferred method of murder.
It’s a little unclear whether Ian Fleming believed in the myth or he just thought it would create a striking visual.
Jill Masterson helps Goldfinger cheat at cards, until Bond discovers the deception. He also sleeps with her, which only irritates Goldfinger further. To exact his revenge, Goldfinger kills Jill by covering her in gold paint from head-to-toe, presumably allowing Oddjob to do the dirty work. Of course, “skin asphyxiation” is complete nonsense. It’s a little unclear whether Ian Fleming believed in the myth or he just thought it would create a striking visual.
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Dr. Kananga Swells Up Like A Balloon
Live and Let Die (1973)
Live and Let Die makes a habit of creating unrealistic scenes. It’s a strange, dark fable that doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of the Bond franchise, since it envisions a world in which magic and fortune-telling seem to be completely legitimate. One scene is even less realistic, however, both within the established world of the movie and in real life. Dr. Kananga’s infamous death scene is certainly memorable, but it has no basis in reality.
Dr. Kananga’s death is probably the single weirdest moment in the James Bond franchise.
Bond forces Dr. Kananga to ingest a gas pellet which causes him to inflate like a balloon and explode. Dr. Kananga’s body reacts to the pellet as if it’s made of rubber. If such a weapon could exist, this isn’t how it would look in practice. It’s also strange that the gas causes Dr. Kananga to float upwards, since the gas doesn’t appear to be lighter than air when it’s demonstrated on a sofa earlier. Ultimately, Dr. Kananga’s death is probably the single weirdest moment in the James Bond franchise.