Skyfall - Review

[teethgrinder]

I think that speeded up car chases are great!

But they aren't done properly. They need to be Benny Hill-ified to add an element of comedy.

[LEE]

Speeded up  car chases were evident in the TopGear Bond Cars prog - they really are absurd things. I suspect they looked absurd when I was 8, too. Did the Professionals ever stoop to such things? I like to think not ...

Bodie and Doyle didn't need their cars speeding up...they were driving Capris and Escort RS2000s for god's sake (to this day the 2 fastest production cars ever produced)

The Avengers may have needed some help as they drove British Leyland cars.  Not so much speeding-up as bump-starting required.

[redshift]

Of course I didn't have to read those posts. But I'm worried they will distract from the other content of Paul's marvellous and thoughtful review.

The Benny Hill comparison was particularly astute, and needs more analysis.

On the bright side, the thread has now given more coverage to ejector seats and golden showers, so things are looking up.

Speeded-up car chases are, and have always been, intolerable.

It could be me but they annoyed me even as a kid.

I can't believe any director worth their salt would look at one and think, "that looks bloody exciting now".

They are right down there with the idiot who added the "Swanee Whistle" to the most incredible car stunt of it's time (the "Live and Let Die" corkscrew jump).  Mind you, we're talking about Roger "Safari Suit" Moore era.

Point of order:  "Astral Spiral" (TM and © ) was in The Man With The Golden Gun.   

Carry on...

[LEE]

Of course I didn't have to read those posts. But I'm worried they will distract from the other content of Paul's marvellous and thoughtful review.

The Benny Hill comparison was particularly astute, and needs more analysis.

On the bright side, the thread has now given more coverage to ejector seats and golden showers, so things are looking up.

Speeded-up car chases are, and have always been, intolerable.

It could be me but they annoyed me even as a kid.

I can't believe any director worth their salt would look at one and think, "that looks bloody exciting now".

They are right down there with the idiot who added the "Swanee Whistle" to the most incredible car stunt of it's time (the "Live and Let Die" corkscrew jump).  Mind you, we're talking about Roger "Safari Suit" Moore era.

Point of order:  "Astral Spiral" (TM and © ) was in The Man With The Golden Gun.   

Carry on...

Good call.  It's the fact that he's sat with Sheriff Pepper that threw me.

[gene hunt]

Unlikely. BMT 216A has spent most of its life indoors!

From what I have read it only wears that number plate for filming, 2 cars were used a concours one for all the detail work and a shed that was made to look nice before being shot to bits.

The DB5 in goldeneye was a different car I believe.

[jogler]

^^^^^
Aston Martin's version of a Jensen Interceptor

[Butterfly]

That must be the ugliest thing they ever made!

[LEE]

That must be the ugliest thing they ever made!

You'd think wouldn't you?

[clarion]

I had erased that from my memory.  An insult to not just one, but two great marques.

Someone pass the mindbleach, please!

[LEE]

I had erased that from my memory. 

As has every one of the 650 people who bought one new.

One of the few cars that makes that blue Austin Maxi in the background seem desirable.

I suppose that, if I was a Russian billionaire, I may buy one, ironically, and have a customising company transform it into something reliable.

[clarion]

As many as that?  A fool and his money...

[rogerzilla]

The DBS is pig ugly, but the only affordable vintage AM.

[hatler]

An A reg. will be what, '63/'64 and probably needed a new body due to rust in the last 48 years.

Aluminium panels, hand beaten, individually tailored for each car. Al doesn't rust (sort of).

I had a visit to the AM factory in Newport Pagnell many years ago. It was a Friday afternoon and all the machine tools weren't working 'cos the engine makers had Friday afternoons off. The only noise in the whole place was the panel beaters who were clashing sheet aluminium with panel beating hammers around wooden formers. (Clearly their union didn't have as good a hold over the management as the engine makers. Engine makers got to put their own nameplate on each engine. I don't think the panel beaters had that opportunity. A friend of a friend was a panel beater in London at the time and he had bought a badly beat up DBS V8. It had been written off so he got it for very little. The repair bill was ENORMOUS 'cos every panel needed replacing, and at the time one panel was well over a grand. He was planning to re-panel it in his own time at weekends. No idea if he ever completed or not.)

[hatler]

That must be the ugliest thing they ever made!

You'd think wouldn't you?

Wasn't there a Talbot Tagora (have I got that right) that looked like a slightly scaled down version of this thing ?

When they were designing it (can we use that phrase) they were seriously considering not having a steering wheel but instead some form of electronic touch screen.

[LEE]

Well I think you may just be lumping cars designed in a lunch-break with just a ruler together




I'd say the AM was more of a huge saloon version of a 70's Lotus (the Eclat for example).

From what I hear, the AM Lagonda may have been more of a success if they hadn't tried to implement "SciFi" LED displays, push-button gear box and CRT displays, and stuck to more traditional technologies in the cabin.

They tried to implement technologies that really only became reliable 20-30 years later.

[clarion]

Isn't that the one which had to be pushed out in front of the journos assembled for the unveiling?

[bobb]

I love the DBS! I'm guessing people don't like the front end.... Each to their own....

I love the Lagonda too!

[pcolbeck]

Me too. But I like Jensons as well which are similarish looking.

[clarion]

There's still time to edit out the latter part of your post to avoid people pointing and laughing (or else scratching their heads at your appalling and uncharacteristic lapse in taste)

[LEE]

I love the Jensen Interceptor.  It would have been an ideal Bond car.

[andyoxon]

Passed a Jensen I. on the M4 the other day, with driver obviously very aware of it's Chieftain tank-like fuel consumption...

[LEE]

Passed a Jensen I. on the M4 the other day, with driver obviously very aware of it's Chieftain tank-like fuel consumption...

To be fair the Chieftain probably had a smaller engine (and Aston DB5's weren't much better).

Flippancy aside, most Jensen Interceptors on the road have Chrysler 7.2litre V8s. 

Pouring petrol into a 1970's Chrysler 7.2 litre V8 is a more efficient way of disposing of petrol then pouring it off Beachy Head from a bucket.

[Bledlow]

Passed a Jensen I. on the M4 the other day, with driver obviously very aware of it's Chieftain tank-like fuel consumption...

To be fair the Chieftain probably had a smaller engine (and Aston DB5's weren't much better).

Flippancy aside, most Jensen Interceptors on the road have Chrysler 7.2litre V8s. 

Pouring petrol into a 1970's Chrysler 7.2 litre V8 is a more efficient way of disposing of petrol then pouring it off Beachy Head from a bucket.

Yeah, but pouring it into the 26.1 litre engine of a Chieftain is an even more efficient way to dispose of it. 

[hatler]

And Chieftain engines are built to consume virtually anything liquid which has a calorific content.

[rogerzilla]

The Chrysler slant 6, on the other hand, was a remarkable design that can achieve 40mpg in some cars despite being of farly large displacement.  It's also one of those overbuilt, iron-block, indestructible engines like the Mazda B-series.