20 Things You Didn’t Know About GoldenEye (1995)
2. “No Wonder We Couldn’t See It!”
Miniature effects supervisor, Derek Meddings originally joined the Bond family in Live And Let Die (1973), in which he set the explosions that destroyed Dr. Kananga’s (Yaphet Kotto’s) poppy fields. He continued in that capacity on every Bond film up to and including For Your Eyes Only before being invited to return for GoldenEye.
Pierce Brosnan’s first Bond film was also the first one to use CGI, but continued to do things for real where possible. The scope of the plot kept Meddings and his team busy, providing a diverse range of miniature effects from snowbound radio dishes and armoured trains to space weapons and receding Cuban lakes.
In fact, Meddings claimed that GoldenEye contained the most miniature effects of any film that he had worked on, but all his hard work certainly paid off in the finished film.
Sadly, Derek Meddings did not live to see his work on the big screen; he succumbed to colorectal cancer in September 1995 during his post-production work on the movie at the age of 64. As a mark of respect for his contribution to James Bond’s universe, the 17th Bond film is dedicated to his memory.