Bond in Motion: travelling James Bond exhibition comes to Prague
The travelling ‘Bond in Motion’ exhibition, which features original items from the sets of James Bond movies going all the way back to the 1960s, has come to Prague from Brussels, where it was a huge success, receiving over 100,000 visitors. Displaying 75 means of transport driven, flown or ridden by Bond in the series, many of the exhibits bear the authentic marks and traces of the stunts they featured in during filming.
Few things say ‘James Bond’ more than the iconic modes of transportation he used to get around in the movies, and this exhibition has them all: cars, motorcycles, boats, planes, helicopters – even the cello case that Timothy Dalton used as a sleigh in the legendary scene with Maryam d’Abo in the 1987 movie The Living Daylights.
Meg Simmonds, Archive Director at Eon Productions Ltd, the company that has produced all 25 official Bond films, says that for her, the Bond cars encapsulate many of the qualities that have made the franchise successful.
“Glamour, gadgets, and action. All of these cars incorporate those qualities – many of them have gadgets, many of them are glamorous – qualities that have made the Bond series last over generations.”
The exhibition is divided into four sections inspired by the four elements: fire, earth, water and air. Along the way, you'll find iconic Bond automobiles such as the Lotus Esprit Turbo from the 1981 film For Your Eyes Only, the BMW Z8 from the 1999 film The World Is Not Enough, and the Aston Martin DBS from the 2006 movie Casino Royale, which was filmed in the Czech Republic.
Chris Corbould, a special effects supervisor who worked on a total of 15 Bond films, remembers working on the movie fondly:
“I spent quite a few months in Prague on Casino Royale. My family came out and stayed with us and we had a wonderful time. We’ve probably been back to Prague more times than anywhere else in the world. It’s a magical place and to come back for this event was wonderful.”
He says that for him, the exhibition is a nostalgic walk down memory lane.
“The exhibition is so unique, seeing all the various cars from over the years. For me, walking around, I can see different parts of my career – I did that when I was 18, that when I was 25, that when I was 35 – it’s quite emotional sometimes.”
Held in two pavilions connected by a glass tunnel, in a space measuring almost 3000 m², the installation also features scale models that were used during filming to create special effects for action scenes, such as a model of the Sugarloaf Mountain cable car where Bond and the villain Jaws have a fight in the 1979 movie Moonraker.
Lee Morrison has performed as a stunt double in the last five Bond movies and says it is not just the props that receive a battering during filming – he has broken his nose several times, as well as his ankle and knee.
“The schedule to shoot a whole Bond movie is normally 20 weeks. I could be working in Prague, but there might be another unit in Italy, and another one in London. So you have to have doubles that can start the sequence so that you can continue shooting. Also, insurance – sometimes they insure the actor to do the work, sometimes they won’t. Some actors were better at certain things – for example, Daniel always wanted to do his own fights.”
Bond in Motion is open to the public until 31 March 2024 in Křižík Pavilions B and C at the Prague Exhibition Grounds (Výstaviště) in Holešovice. Entry is from the rear of Pavilion C.
