20 Things You Didn’t Know About The Living Daylights (1987)
13. It Must Have Scared The Living Daylights Out Of Him!
As filming could not take place in an active warzone, the Soviet air base in Afghanistan was actually Ouarzazate Airport in Morocco. Nevertheless, the location was far from safe, particularly for director of photography, Alec Mills.
In true explosive Bond style, Kamran Shah’s Mujahideen freedom fighters attack Soviet Colonel Feyador’s (John Bowe’s) forces whilst James Bond hijacks a Lockheed Hercules C-130 cargo plane.
The C-130, other vehicles, personnel, and weaponry were loaned to the production by the Royal Moroccan Air Force as King Hassan II wanted to encourage filmmakers to showcase the country.
During filming, Alec Mills was wearing ear defenders to soften the noise around him (including the aircraft’s engines); however, he was unknowingly edging back into the aircraft’s propellers!
The pilot desperately summoned John Glen's attention to warn him of the imminent danger, but Glen’s shouted warnings to his cinematographer could not be heard. Ultimately, Glen pulled Mills away from the propellers just in time, much to Mills’s subsequent relief.