Movie Car Chases Are 'All Too Long,' James Bond Special Effects Boss Says

If you’re anything like me, your favorite parts of a blockbuster action movie are undoubtedly the car chase scenes. There are smoky drifts through downtowns, bad guys crashing into each other with pyrotechnics, and more gear shifts than anyone can count. What’s not to love? Well, according to Academy Award-winning special effects supervisor Chris Corbould, they have a serious problem: They’re too long, too over-the-top—and by extension, too repetitive.

Corbould has been in charge of special effects on nine James Bond films and has worked on a total of 15 since 1977. He won the Oscar for best visual effects for his work as special effects supervisor for Inception, and has also been in charge of effects for numerous Batman, X-Men, and Star Wars films, among others. So, he knows what he’s talking about. I caught up with Corbould at a media roundtable hosted by Aston Martin and 72 Films to promote 007: Road to a Million, a Bond-inspired reality show that’s sort of a mix between The Amazing Race and Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? with a healthy dose of 007 references.

He referenced the opening sequence of 2021’s No Time To Die, in which Daniel Craig and Léa Seydoux are cornered in an Aston Martin DB5, with bullets spraying the windows and bodywork. Seydoux asks Craig to "do something," and Craig flips a switch that retracts the DB5’s headlights to reveal machine guns before launching the Aston into a series of donuts, guns ablaze. It’s a perfect 007 moment where a seemingly cornered Bond reveals one more trick up his sleeve, and it barely lasts a minute.

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