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MI6 trawls through the record books to see how James
Bond has left his mark in history...
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James Bond Records & Awards
13th July 2004
As of March 20th 2000, the whole James Bond film franchise
has accomplished to become the most profitable movie series
ever.
In this achievement, Albert R. Broccoli�s spy series has
grossed at least a total of $3.2 billion over the past 40
years. This is also not the first great achievement in James
Bond�s history by any means.
Right: Alert R. Broccoli pictured outside
the 007 stage at Pinewood.
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Awarding Work
The 007 series has been loved by fans young and old; But, how
well has James Bond done at the Academy Awards?
007 and the team started out early on their road to success with
Guy Hamilton�s first James Bond picture "Goldfinger",
in which Norman Wanstall received an Oscar for best Sound Effects.
Just a film later, the film makers achieved a second Oscar. This
time it was John Stears who was rewarded for his Special Visual
Effects on "Thunderball".
Out For Moore
Roger Moore�s first 007 outing, "Live and Let Die" grabbed
a nomination for Paul McCartney�s title song in 1974. "Live
and Let Die" grossed a total of $126.4 million while the
title song reached number 2 on the US charts.
Two films later in the Moore era, "The Spy who Loved Me"
composer Marvin Hamlisch received an Academy Award nomination
for "Nobody Does it Better" in best Musical Scoring, as well as
for best Original Song. "Nobody Does it Better" made it to number
2 in the US but didn�t fare as well with the Brits, only making
number 7 in the UK.
Above: Cover artwork from Duran Duran's
7" vinyl single for "A View To A Kill", released in May 1985.
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To top off the Moore era at the Academy Awards Bill Conti,
"For Your Eyes Only" composer clinched a best
Original Score nomination. Conti made a 007 hat-trick for
the Moore era, sadly none of those musical nominations turned
into Oscar gold for 007 and the team.
Scraping past Paul McCartney�s "Live and Let Die", was
Duran Duran�s "A View to a Kill" title song. The British
group put James Bond at number 1 one the US charts and number
2 in the UK.
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I�ll Drink to That
In more recent times, Brosnan era films has made a few appearances
in the Guinness World Records, 2004 edition.
Brosnan�s most recent outing as 007 landed the stunt and special
effects team a world record. During the Aston Martin �Ice Palace
Chase� in "Die Another Day" the production team used
the largest �breakaway glass� structure ever in a film.
The panel of glass that Bond�s Aston Martin Vanquish drives through,
was built of eight panels measuring 2.525 x 1.635 x 0.03m. The
full construction was built at Pinewood studios and weighed 160kgs.
Seven years earlier, the stunt team had broken another
record with "GoldenEye". The pre-title sequence
that involves a bungee drop of over 220m was what gave the
Bond team their record.
The sequence took place at the Verzasca hydroelectric dam
in Switzerland. The man who made the leap of fate was UK
stuntman Wayne Michaels.
Another stunt related record is held by stunt man Vic Armstrong
for Most Prolific Movie Stuntman (Guinness Book of World
Records 2004). Armstrong achieved the record for performing
over 200 stunts and more importantly for Bond fans, doubling
every actor to play the legendary 007.
In July 2004, Guinness Records announced that Roy Alon
was awarded the "Most Prolific Film and TV Stuntman". Roy
has spent 35 years crashing cars, being thrown off cliffs,
getting blown up and setting himself on fire. He has appeared
in "The Spy Who Loved Me", "Never Say Never Again", "The
World Is Not Enough" and "Die Another Day".
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Above: The Verzasca hydroelectric dam
in Switzerland, made famous by 007's bungee jump in "GoldenEye".
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Famous Fan
Huge James Bond fan, Max Reid, paid the largest sum ever for a
piece of Bond memorabilia. Max Reid brought the Aston Martin driven
by James Bond in "GoldenEye" on February 14th 2001,
for �157,750 at a London auction for 007�s most famous car. Max
was quoted to say: "It's absolutely awesome - you've just got
to stop and look at it�. The James Bond Mad Max only went to the
auction to bid on a movie poster, but came away owning a huge
piece of Bond history.
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Another piece of Bond memorabilia was Ian Fleming�s gold
plated typewriter.
It was sold in an auction to the lucky bidder for �56,250
in 1995. Fleming commissioned the typewriter to celebrate
the success of his first novel Casino Royale.
Left: A 24kt gold plated typewriter, as
bought and used by Ian Fleming - costing $174 back in the
late 1940's.
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From records to Oscars, the world or James Bond has certainly
made its mark on our society.
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