Casino Royale Stunt Sets World Record

While ‘Casino Royale’ has yet to make its world premiere, it has already broken a Guinness World Record. The James Bond production team staged a dramatic car crash that saw 007’s Aston Martin roll seven times - a Guinness World Record for a single take.

The scene, which features in the movie, is performed by stunt double Adam Kirley in the Bond Aston Martin. It beat the previous record of six rolls performed by BBC’s
Top Gear stunt man last year.

Casino Royale’s stunt coordinator Gary Powell, designed the manoeuvre for the film. In his initial attempt Powell decided to raise the ramp to just under two feet in the end, but the car just literally took off in the air, levelled pretty much, and landed on all four wheels. The car had no chance of rolling whatsoever because of the stability of the car.

Eventually the special effects guys decided to use cannon which sits just behind the driver’s seat. It has a cylinder that, as you press a button, releases a load of air which punches the cylinder into the road which then, in turn, turns the car over. “We rehearsed the stunt several times driving test cars, which were a similar weight to the Aston Martin, at 80mph towards a 10in ramp. That worked very well, causing the cars to flip over at least five times in rehearsal,” Press Association quoted him as saying.

“But we knew, due to the design and suspension of the Aston Martin DBS, it would probably level itself out in mid-air. When we came to filming the stunt on the night, as suspected, the Aston Martin DBS levelled itself out in mid-air refusing to flip over,” he said. “Adam, the stunt driver, had to drive the cannon fitted Aston at high speed and hit the release at exactly the right moment, resulting in the record breaking stunt. We are thrilled to have broken the Guinness World Record,” he added.
The movie sees Daniel Craig driving off the road in order to avoid Vesper Lynd, who is lying in the middle of the road.