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007 Issue #13 (1983)

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John Stars (1934-1999) SPECIAL EFFECTS WIZARD EXTRAORDINAIRE!

One of the main ‘stars’ of the film Goldfinger (1964) was undoubtedly the Aston Martin DB5. Did the idea for the gadget car originate from ‘Cubby’, and was it possible to actually build a car that housed all those gadgets?
The Aston Martin was scripted from the word go. We had a long discussion with Ken Adam about it, and Ken came up with some schemes, I came up with some schemes, and I went to Aston Martin and told them what I wanted to do and they told me I was crazy. They said I’d never do it but they gave me their prototype DB5 and I took it back to Pinewood and started cutting it up. All the things you see in the car were real, they worked. With the ejector seat we didn’t use real rockets, we used compressed air, but we could have done.

Aston Martin DB5 at Pinewood Studios Goldfinger (1964) Aston Martin DB5 Goldfinger (1964)
Aston Martin DB5 Goldfinger (1964) Aston Martin DB5 Goldfinger (1964)

So Aston Martin weren’t too keen on your modifications?
Well, you can say they weren’t very happy, but at the end of it they built four of their own ‘Bond’ cars with all my gadgets and did a world publicity tour.

What made the laser sequence in Goldfinger so impressive and more realistic was the way the beam actually appeared to be cutting through solid gold with a tongue of flame moving in line with the beam. How was this effect achieved?
I built a rig underneath the table that travelled very slowly, and also built a special jet so that I could obtain a long pointed flame that was totally controllable and used sheets of brass for the gold, overlaid with lead painted gold, and synchronised the laser to move in line with the flame. The laser beam was matted in later.

Laser Beam set designed by Ken Adam Goldfinger (1964) Laser Beam set designed by Ken Adam Goldfinger (1964)
Sean Connery as James Bond 007 in Goldfinger (1964) Laser Beam set designed by Ken Adam Goldfinger (1964)

Presumably effects like Oddjob’s hat throwing were done with wires?
Yes, that was quite a tricky piece of mechanics.

How did the jet-pack come to be used in Thunderball (1965)?
I always try to be up to date with new technology as much as I can be, and if we came across anything that was unusual or out of the ordinary that would resolve a situation in the films we would try to get hold of it – and more often than not we did.

Sean Connery with the Bell-Textron jet-pack on location at Château d'Anet near Paris during the filming of Thunderball (1965)

ABOVE: (left) Sean Connery wearing the lightweight prop version of the Bell-Textron jet-pack (built by Bert Luxford) on location at Château d'Anet near Paris during the filming of Thunderball (1965). (right) Director Terence Young watched by [L-R] Producer Kevin McClory, John Stears, Special Effects technician Bert Luxford and Production Designer Ken Adam.

I believe one of the larger models of the Vulcan bomber used in Thunderball was almost full scale?
It was full scale, albeit without the wing tips that we sank. I can’t remember the scale of the bomber that had to ditch, but yet again, you can have a small miniature aircraft, but when the aircraft hits the water you are going to have scale problems. But I think it worked out to something like a 15-foot wingspan. The same size model that was seen dropping down to the seabed.

That was an interesting thing because I had to find a location in miniature very much akin to the area where the full-sized bomber went down. I used to finish work on a Friday night at Pinewood, hop on a plane out to the Bahamas, get a boat and go round all the islands for about four weekends in a row until I eventually found a little island called Rose Island with miniature coral etc. – and that’s what we used.

Full-size and miniature Vulcan bomber Thunderball (1965)

Was Largo’s yacht, the ‘Disco Volante’, a model that you blew up?
No, it was the hydrofoil used in the film, when the destroyers arrive. Now that was a BIG explosion, that really was! I put windows out 60 miles away. It was enormous! I was using deviants from rocket fuel at the time that I got hold of from a friend at Cape Kennedy. When we blew it I remember looking at the sea – there was a 50-foot deep hole in the water – you could see the seabed! It nearly didn’t happen at all because the night before some bright spark stole the engine exhaust manifolds, so we had to tow the hydrofoil into position. As the smoke cleared we couldn’t believe it – there was nothing left. We thought the explosion had vaporised the boat and walked out on to the reef to investigate. Luckily one of my crew looked up and saw what was left of the craft hurtling back to earth. The force of the rocket fuel had literally blown it sky-high. Believe me, you’ve never seen a group of men move so fast – the metal debris only just missed us!

Disco Volante in Thunderball (1965) Disco Volante in Thunderball (1965)
Disco Volante in Thunderball (1965) Disco Volante hydrofoil in Thunderball (1965)

ABOVE: The ‘Disco Volante’ (Flying Saucer) consisted of two vessels, a front hydrofoil and a rear attached cocoon, this enabled the hydrofoil to be detached and move independently at high speed.
BELOW: (top L-R) Bert Luxford, John Stears and Joe Fitt enjoying the sun and the sea in The Bahamas during the location filming of Thunderball (1965), and (bottom) reunited 30 years later.

Bert Luxford, John Stears and Joe Fitt on location in The Bahamas during the filming of Thunderball (1965) Bert Luxford, John Stears and Joe Fitt on location in The Bahamas during the filming of Thunderball (1965)
Bert Luxford, John Stears and Joe Fitt Bert Luxford, John Stears and Joe Fitt

How was the conversion of the ‘Disco Volante’ achieved?
We got a hydrofoil, I think from one of the Italian lakes, and built the back half to that.

Disco Voante sketch Thunderball (1965)

CONTINUED


ARTICLES ARCHIVE

Goldfinger (1964) FACT FILE

Thunderball (1965) FACT FILE