The Hero with Mad Skills James Bond and the World of Extreme Sports
The Hero with Mad Skills James Bond and the World of Extreme Sports DAVID M. PEGRAM In the 2007 Matchstick Productions film, Seven Sunny Days, professional skier and BASE jumper Shane McConke created a near shot!" -shot remake of the #ames Bond ski chase from The Spy Who Loved Me $%&77'( )he original featured stuntman +ick S l,ester $as #ames Bond' skiin* off the top of Mount Asgard, in Canada, to -hat appears to "e certain death( But, in the midst of freefall, S l,ester kicks off his skis and then opens a .nion #ack parachute, in -hat has become one of the /most iconic” scenes in the cinematic histor of #ames Bond $Aja Cho-dhur 1td( in Murph 20%2'( In Seven Sunny Days, McConke 3s jump is more darin*( As he flies off the ed*e of the cliff $shot in 4or-a , rather than Canada', he completes three full somersaults in midair before deplo in* his chute, in a demonstration of ho- far e5treme sports had come in the thirt ears since the S l,ester3s jump( )he recreation of S l,ester3s stunt -as McConke 3s homage to the cinematic moment that inspired him the most6 /)hat -as the coolest stunt I3d e,er seen,0 he recalled, creditin* S l,ester3s jump for *i,in* him the idea to sk di,e and BASE jump in the first place $McConkey 20%2'( )hat a #ames Bond film should ha,e such an influence on a skiin* /legend0 $Ble,ins 200&' su**ests, perhaps, a si*nificant connection "et-een the Bond franchise and the -orld of extreme sports.
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