By Robin Rowe

HOLLYWOOD, CA (RushPRnews) 15/11/08 – “People always talked about the fact that Casino Royale was a departure for Bond and this has to be a departure again,” says Quantum of Solace star Daniel Craig. “We felt we needed to tie up the loose ends from Casino Royale and make sure people realize we are back making Bond movies.”

Judi Dench is back as M, the Head of MI6 and James Bond’s boss. “It is terrific to be back, just wonderful!” says Judi Dench. “Also, MI6 has gone rather up market. All I have to tell you is, I don’t think our government has enough money to change the real MI6 into my MI6, I don’t think they will be able to manage it. It’s phenomenal. We don’t do telephones anymore!”

Key to any Bond film is the Bond Girl, and Quantum of Solace has two who are each fantastic in totally different ways. “Finding beautiful girls who can act can be tricky, but we narrowed it down and Olga just nailed the audition,” says Craig. “She was fantastic. She has this fantastic icy detachment about her, which is really essential for this part because both she and Bond are on this journey of revenge.”

Olga Kurylenko is Camille, a tough beautiful girl with a tragic past. “I don’t think Camille is a typical Bond girl,” says Kurylenko. “She’s one of the only Bond girls in the history of the films who does not sleep with Bond! Once I read the script I was super-excited. I really liked the characte,r and I liked that she was going to be involved in so much action. There would be a lot of work with weapons and stunts, driving, freefalling. Where else do you get the opportunity to do that?”

When Bond and Camille freefall out an aircraft, the stunt was performed by Daniel Craig and Olga Kurylenko. “When the idea first came about we were planning on having a parachutist do the actual freefall and insert images of Daniel and Olga’s faces with visual effects,” says stunt coordinator Gary Powell. “I wanted to use Bodyflight rather than put the actors on wires with a wind effect. It’s them for real doing the fall.”

Bodyflight is the UK’s first and world’s largest skydiving wind tunnel. Located in Bedford, the facility was built by the British Ministry of Defense for testing ejector seats before being decommissioned in 1997. The tunnel is 16.47 feet in diameter (4.95m) and 26 feet tall. Dropping into the wind tunnel simulates the experience of freefalling at 170 mph…without jumping out of a plane. Daniel Craig and Olga Kurylenko trained with Gary Powell and his stunt team at Bodyflight for several weeks before filming for one day at the site.

Gemma Arterton is the other Bond Girl. She has a sexy innocence last seen in a Bond Girl in From Russia with Love. “Agent Fields works for MI6,” says Arterton. “She tries to be professional and takes herself very seriously, but she is naive and that makes her a funny character.” Arterton is the Ugg boot-wearing hottie-type who guys remember from dating in college…or wish they did. Not a sophisticated Bond Girl, rather the Bond Girl next door.

Arterton was an unknown, fresh out of drama school, when she auditioned for the Bond role. “When I did my screen test, I thought I had blown it,” says Arterton. “Then, a couple of weeks later, I was filming in the middle of the ocean in Gibraltar. I was in scuba diving gear and I got a phone call from my agent singing the James Bond theme tune.”

Quantum of Solace opens with a fantastic car chase scene, big enough to be a finale, and the action just keeps going. Over 200,000 rounds of ammunition were purchased for testing, training and filming. The film has more stunts, more chases, and more Bond Girls. A must see.

Quantum of Solace (Bond 22)
Distributor: Sony
Duration: 1:45
Release Date: Nov. 14, 2008 (USA)
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and some sexual content

Source: Hollywood Today