10 Practical Film Effects You Probably Thought Were CGI
5. Skyfalls Train Fight
Bond opening sequences are so elaborate that Skyfall's scene with Daniel Craig fights Ola Rapaces burly Patrice on top of a train actually seems quite muted compared to the rest. But still, most audience members probably assumed that Sam Mendes didn't actually plonk the two actors on top of a train and tell them to duke it out.
Somewhat shockingly, thats actually exactly what happened. Thats a real train, shot on location in Turkey, with Craig and Rapace genuinely stood on top of it with razor thin wires attached to the roof protecting them from falling. The wires, of course, were erased digitally in post-production.
Obviously, some parts of the scene were achieved digitally. The back of the train didn't actually fall off (but the shot of the crane eating into the roof was genuine), and Daniel Craig didnt really take a bullet for Queen and country. A stuntman was shot falling a certain distance from a stationary locomotive, with the footage tinkered with using CGI to create the shot of Bond plummeting to near-death. Its a decent blend of the practical and the digital, then.