Bond, James Bond, 007. The legendary British secret agent is an all-time action hero. Over 54 years, in 12 novels and 26 movies, played by seven actors, James Bond has done it all, beating the bad guy and getting the girl, and always with panache and style. London belongs to Bond. Movies have been filmed here and the metropolis has even stood in for the occasional foreign city. Our hit list will help you track down all the secrets of James Bond’s London locations.
Location: Somerset House
GoldenEye (1995) and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) both saw Somerset House starring as the War Office, with the Strand frontage standing in for the Ministry of Defence and Bond making his exit in an Aston Martin DB5.
The huge central courtyard nestled in the middle of the Somerset House was presented as a St. Petersburg courtyard in GoldenEye.
Address; Strand, London WC2R 1LA
Nearest tube station: Charing Cross or Temple
Location: The National Gallery
In room 34 of the National Gallery, Bond is busy in his first encounter with boffin Q (Ben Wishaw) in Skyfall.
Q hands Bond a high-tech pistol that will fire only through his palm print match.
Art nerds will spot Joseph Wright’s 1768 painting, An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump, in the background.
Address: Trafalgar Square, London WC2N
5DN Nearest tube station: Charing Cross
Location: The Reform Club
The Reform Club acts as the Foreign Office in Quantum of Solace. It also witnessed the most notoriously wooden flirting scene in the history of cinema: the ‘sword conversation’ between Pierce Brosnan and Madonna in Die Another Day.
Madonna: ‘I see you handle your weapon well.’
Pierce: ‘I have been known to keep my tip up.’
Address: 104 Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5EW
Nearest tube station: Charing Cross
Location: Dukes Hotel
This Mayfair bar is where Ian Fleming created the famous line: ‘shaken, not stirred’.
Pierce Brosnan and Sean Connery have also been known to enjoy a martini cocktail or two here. The bar is open to visitors.
Address: 35 St. James’s Place, London
SW1A 1NY Nearest tube station: Green Park
Location: Buckingham Palace
Gustav Graves made a parachute jump above Buckingham Palace in Die Another Day.
This would never happen in the real world as no plane is allowed to fly closer than 1km to Buckingham Palace. Exceptions are Olympic Opening Ceremonies and, of course, James Bond!
Address: London SW1A 1AA
Nearest tube station: Victoria
Location: Whitehall
Whitehall is the ultimate heart of power in the British establishment, but Bond shut it down in March 2012 while shooting an explosive sequence for Skyfall.
The rooftops between Trafalgar Square and the Houses of Parliament were transformed into a stunning location, but London could handle the glamour.
Location: runs south from Trafalgar Square, London
Location: SIS/MI6 Headquarters
Vauxhall Cross SIS Building is also the headquarters of the British secret intelligence service MI6.
This building on the banks of the Thames beside Vauxhall Bridge, has appeared in many James Bond movies including GoldenEye (2002), The World Is Not Enough (1999), Die Another Day (2002) and Skyfall (2012).
The building was completed in April 1994 and seen in a Bond film just a year later. There was some movie trickery, with a 50-foot model of Vauxhall Cross carefully constructed at Pinewood Studios.
Die Another Day features a night shot of the building from across the Thames showing a Bond training session. In Skyfall, the front of the building is destroyed by a deadly explosion. It should be noted that filming in the vicinity of this British treasure was never allowed.
Address: 85 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TP Nearest tube station: Vauxhall
Location: Victoria Square
The Bond magic’ started here. Ian Fleming moved into this property in 1953 and wrote 12 Bond stories here before he died in 1964. Note that Fleming was obsessed with tea. In Goldfinger, Bond blamed tea as being entirely responsible for
the fall of the British Empire!
Address: 16 Victoria Square, London SW1W 0RA
Nearest tube station: Victoria
Location: The South Bank Lion
Remember the entirely fictitious entrance to the equally fictitious Vauxhall Cross Station in Die Another Day? This lion was hired to do the station guarding job.
Location: It stands proudly at the south-west corner of Westminster Bridge.
Nearest tube station: Westminster
The post Bond, James Bond, All Over London appeared first on Felix Magazine.
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