The James Bond franchise is known for including over-the-top action sequences with effects to match 007’s epic displays of derring-do. Still, there’s a chance for mediocrity in all things, even when the world’s most famous fictional spy is a part of the equation. Speaking with Yahoo! Movies, Bond film director Lee Tamahori says he regrets decisions made about filming the infamous kitesurfing sequence for Die Another Day. According to Tamahori, he wishes he didn’t use CGI for the scene. CGI is standard in film today, but Die Another Day hit theaters in 2002 when VFX methods were still rough around the edges. Watching the clip online, I can see why Tamahori cringes at the sight of Bond’s all-too-fake tsunami surfing.
“The only thing I’d do differently [with Die Another Day] would be the kitesurfing sequence,” Tamahori told Yahoo! Movies. “I don’t know how you’d do it differently. It was virtually impossible to do it for real as a real stunt: falling off the edge of a glacier, hastily concocting a kitesurfing rig, and kitesurfing your way out of danger. If you tried to do it for real… you just couldn’t do it.”
In the scene, Bond villain Gustav Graves triggers an avalanche, sending glaciers tumbling into the sea, causing a tsunami of epic proportions. Bond, being the savvy stuntman of Queen and Country, rides the tidal wave like he’s starring in a beach movie with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. The scene is made even funnier by Bond using stray glaciers as ramps for his sick stunts.
Die Another Day also includes a scene involving an invisible Aston Martin, which did not go over well with audiences. The film is a product of its time, but audiences can be fickle, and no one wants to see their hero looking silly while kitesurfing in front of a green screen. I’ve seen worse examples of CGI in big-budget films before, but Bond deserves better.
Are you bothered by the kitesurfing sequence in Die Another Day? The scene is hilarious, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Without epic visual fails like this, filmmakers might not learn valuable lessons they take into the future.
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