John Glen talks 'Skyfall' and reminisces about his bond with 007

Veteran 007 director John Glen helmed five consecutive 007 adventures, starring Roger Moore and later, Timothy Dalton, attended the premiere of "Skyfall" earlier in the year. He explains to The Star, he crossed paths with incumbant 007 star, Daniel Craig, at the "Skyfall" premiere and after party - a bustling a fantastic affair in central London - but the director and star never formally met.

Despite this, he thought "Skyfall" excellent, saying: "Up until now, I’ve always thought that probably Goldfinger had the best original story, because we’ve now run out of original Fleming stories. But I think Skyfall really got that; I’d certainly rank it amongst the top three."

Although he helmed his first Bond film in early 1980s, Glen was involved in the second unit of 007 adventures as early as "O.H.M.S.S." (1969). Of his Bond legacy, the "Moonraker" pre-titles sequence is one of his stand-out moments: "I’m... fond of the pre-title action I shot for Moonraker, which was the first that had ever been done in a free fall. I went to California and I camped out for over a month, shooting the free fall sequence. We did it in tiny segments. We got to about 7,500 feet and just concentrated on doing it about a second and half each time. Being an ex-film editor I was able to design the sequence and shoot it in very small segments, which you have to do when you’re shooting in free fall. You have very little time. It was very successful."

The Bond films were never stressful, John says: "There was no fear, you know. It was just a wonderful atmosphere. Laughter was the order of the day. There were always jokes, especially with Roger. People weren’t fired if someone made a mistake; we’d just roar with laughter. I just happen to think that people work better when they’re in a comfortable frame of mind, you know?"

Read the complete interview at thestar.com.

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