20 Things You Didn’t Know About Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
9. “He Didn’t Even Say Goodbye!”
James Bond’s high altitude, low opening (HALO) jump over the South China Sea was shot between 9th and 29th June 1997 near Las Vegas, Arizona and 14th and 25th July 1997 over the Florida Keys.
It was performed by veteran Bond stuntman, B.J. Worth, who had joined the franchise on Moonraker (1979) and contributed aerial stunts on every Bond film from Octopussy (1983) to Tomorrow Never Dies.
Worth made 80 jumps to capture Double-0 Seven’s daring parachute-assisted dive to find the wreck of HMS Devonshire, clocking himself as travelling between 120 and 200 miles per hour, head first. Fixed frame shots were used to give a sense of the speed of his descent.
Whilst Bond activates his parachute 200 feet above sea level to avoid radar detection, Worth opened his much earlier; a special camera lens was used to make him appear much lower. He also performed ten jumps from a catamaran’s stern to capture Double-0 Seven entering the ocean.
“My greatest problem was that the script demanded I wear a wet suit and diving gear, plus headgear which was like something from Darth Vader,” he explained. “But it was a good idea. I always expect those from Bond films”.