I was surprised that the director decided to give us the best right away and not hold anything back. Money Penny drove a Land Rover 110 Double Cab Pick Up in the first chase scene and there were many things about this scene which made it the best in the movie. First it was long. It gave the viewer plenty of time to admire and lust over the Rover. The Double Cab Pick Up is a great vehicle that we do not get to see on the streets in the States (this is a travesty). Of course the chase was dangerous with all of the tight urban streets of Istanbul, but Money Penny had no problem behind the wheel of her Rover and all of the bullets hitting the Rover did not stop it. We then had to endure a break in the action while the bad guy and Bond played around on some motorcycles. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against motorcycles, but let's face it, they were not made by Land Rover and isn't this just a bit of a waste of film? Back to the real action, the guys get rid of the moto chase thing and jump on a train. A train you say. Not made by Rover? Waste of film? No. The Rover is driving along with the train and having to dodge VW cars as they fall off the train. At the end of the long chase Money Penny finally makes her big blunder and stops the Rover and gets out and well there is nothing left to say except for she is no longer driving a Rover.
Throughout the film they do tease us with a Range Rover here and there and the bad guys do show up at the final shootout in a couple of classic 110s that look like they belonged in the Scottish field.
Other things that made this a great film...guns.
While there were all kinds of pistols and machine guns thowing lots of lead in the air, when it comes time to defend your Scottish family estate what do you reach for? Of course, a couple of side-by-sides. The gamekeeper chose a smooth bore with exposed hammers. I did cringe when he pulled the hacksaw out, but I guess he was not thinkning about future driven game shoots when all of the bad guys started piling out of the two Rovers and the military helicopter in the front yard. It was effective at the right times. Too bad he dropped his shells on the wood floor when the bad guy was about to get him.
Bond chose an Anderson Wheeler 500 Nitro Double Rifle for his weapon along with the machine guns mounted in the front of his Astin Martin DB5. This just goes to show that some of the best things to use in a pinch are the tried and true.
I would be remiss if I did not mention that of course when Bond goes running around the moors of Scotland, he dons a Barbour. Enough said.
Found this wanting to know about the cars used in the movie but interested in the comments about the first chase scene. This actually ruined the whole movie for me because of its stupidity, Bond finds the dead guys, one dying in the room, whom he stops to help, then races through the building out into the street where he gets immediately picked up by Money Penny, convenient and hey look, the bad guys car is just 50 meters in front of us; total fail. That kind of obviousness mixed in with much more ridiculous scenes of impossible timing amd circumstance ruin everything. I thought they did a decent job on a couple of the more previous films for realism but Skyfall was not great.
ReplyDeleteMay not have liked the movie so much but love, love, love the Rover. Where can I get one. I can see it hauling my Airstream to my destination and then going off into the rough roads of the West.
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