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MI6 caught up with 2003 Taurus World Stuntman Nominee
and "Die Another Day" stuntman George Cottle...
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Interview - George Cottle (Part 3)
23rd December
2003
MI6 caught up with 2003 Taurus World Stuntman Nominee, George
Cottle last month. In this in depth four part interview we look
at his experience on the latest Bond film, driving a hovercraft
through a minefield and chasing Bond across the ice in a Jaguar.
Across The Open Ice..
DVD Chapter
"Die Another Day" Special
Edition
In Cold Pursuit
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Where was the sequence filmed, and how long did it
take from prep to shot?
The ice chase was filmed in Iceland in Hotham. We filmed the main chase on the
glacier lake there and when it goes into the ice palace that was all shot in
Pinewood. We had 4 weeks filming in Iceland and then came back to I think 8 or
9 weeks at Pinewood. |
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Were there any heart-stopping moments during the shot
or did everything go to plan?
I’ve been on
a few films now but I would have to say the worst one for
me was Iceland.
When Ray hit the Aston in to the iceberg
because no one knew how the ice was going to respond
and how Ray was going to be. Ray got out of the car with
quite
a
nasty cut to his head. It was all a bit panicky at the
time but the good thing about Bond is that you are always
surrounded
with the best safety crews in the world and your with
a good bunch of boys around you so you always know your
in
the best of hands.
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Above: The gripping action has even
the stunt drivers biting their nails.
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Jag’s And Aston’s
Was the car retrofitted for the chase sequence on the open
ice ?
With regards to the engine. We always knew that the problem with
the car was 400bhp of rear wheel drive so that on the ice all
your going to be doing is sitting spinning in circles. Andy Smith
with Vic was responsible for car modifications, and Vic stated
very early on that he wanted all the cars 4 wheel drive. To be
honest if we didn’t have that we would never have been
able to what we did. So everything was stripped completely
out and
all they had was a bare shell, and they built a complete new
car chassis, axle, etc. The car was phenomenal - we could lock
all the discs,
unlock all the discs, and alter break pressures from the front
to the back. Essentially we had a rally car in an Aston Martin
and
Jaguar shell. So it was great for us to have someone who knew
that much about it and would work so closely with us.
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How many cars did you have for this part of the shot?
We had 4 Jaguars and we had 4 Aston Martins, they were
all retro fitted. And then we had what they call “Hero”
cars, one genuine Aston Martin and one genuine Jaguar as
well.
Left: The cars were stripped
down and fitted with 4-wheel drive. |
How close to the storyboards and pre-visualisation did the
chase end up?
I think it was pretty close, obviously things changed on the day, due
to weather and what not. But I think that pretty much things did go to plan.
Vic
feared in the beginning was that the ice wasn’t going to be thick enough,
which
would have been one hell of a rewrite, but I think it pretty much all
went
to plan.
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The ice sequence were notably shorter in the final
cut of the film than expected, how much extra footage
was shot?
There was loads, I mean we spent the best part of 3 ½
weeks on the ice everyday doing some fantastic stuff and
it’s really a shame none of it will ever come to
light - but you know that’s the way it goes. What
stuntmen look at and think is fantastic, some
directors will think `no that’s not what I want`.
It’s
a shame because there’s some awesome stuff we had
and it never made it to the film.
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Above: The XKR and Vanquish on the
Ice Palace set at Pinewood Studios, UK.
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Have you seen the footage?
Yes I have. That for us is obviously the ideal cut because Vic will always
want the best for the boys and from a stunt point of view.
Keep an eye out for the part three of the interview where
we chat about the world wide recognition for his skills at the
wheel..
Many thanks to George Cottle.
Images © 2003 Ford Motor Company and Wieck Media Services,
Inc
Related Articles:
Interview - George
Cottle (Part 1)
Interview
- George Cottle (Part 2)
Interview - George
Cottle (Part 4)
MI6 "Die Another Day" Coverage
