10 Greatest Ever James Bond Stunts

By Chris Haigh /

Skyfall to their resume, revitalising a franchise that's taken more ups and downs than a rollercoaster. Ultimately, the most iconic moments in a Bond movie aren't the one-liners, the beautiful women (and men) or even the stunning locations - they're the stunts. They are the action sequences which took your breath away, made your heart race with excitement and gave you a grin as big as all outdoors with their ingenuity, their visual appeal and their relentlessly brilliant execution. So with that said, here are my choices for the ten best Bond stunts and action sequences...

10. Quantum of Solace (2008) - The Plane Jump

A controversial choice as was the film it spawned from, but I personally really enjoyed QoS as a study in revenge and a modern, eco-Bourne thriller. Fortunately the strong chemistry and skills of leads Daniel Craig and Olga Kurylenko as Bond and Camille Montes respectively help give the film some gravitas and standing amongst critics, particularly in their airborne attack sequence. The pair are shot from the skies in their rickety old cargo plane by a modern fighter, managing to gun it down before they crash - the real stunt here, however, is when Camille and Bond jump from the plane mid-air, sailing down through the air before Bond activates Camille's parachute, breaking their fall. Even though a lot of it is clearly CGI, their faces and bodies were actually recorded in a vertical wind tunnel, making every expression technically genuine. More than that, Kurylenko had to overcome her fears during this sequence (with the help of Craig) and for that bravery for a then-small-time and inexperienced actress, I feel this impressive sequence deserved a spot.

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