16 Before-and-After Photos: The Astonishing Special Effects in Bond Films That Redefine Movie Magic

Crash! In Spectre, Daniel Craig's portrayal of 007 is surrounded by the ruins of a collapsed skyscraper in Mexico City. Or, rather, a stuntman at Pinewood Studios runs for his life as Craig's head is slapped onto him by a computer.

The visual effects took weeks to develop, while the mock-up took three months to construct.

Bang! For the movie Spectre, special effects supervisor Chris Corbould used 70 tons of TNT explosives to produce the largest explosion in the history of cinema, destroying the wicked Blofeld's desert lair.

The only actual structures in the otherwise lonely area were a door frame and some stage props for the players. However, the buildings only appeared thanks to computer trickery.

In real life, a stunt helicopter flies above an airport 100 miles south of Mexico City (bottom). With the use of visual effects, the scenes in Spectre (top) look as though they are flying above crowded Mexico City.

Top: James Bond (right) and Bond girl Madeleine (Léa Seydoux) witness Blofeld's base fall, which was captured on camera near Erfoud, Morocco.

Bottom - With 70 tonnes of TNT employed, the 24th Bond movie has the biggest cinematic explosion ever. The explosion went off for 7.5 seconds.

Yikes! In a chase scene for the movie Spectre, a helicopter spirals dangerously overhead. The pilot actually executed the life-threatening corkscrew maneuver on a real airplane. but not over the throng in Mexico City, as shown in the movie from 2015.

Authorities forbade the stunt, so it was shot over an abandoned airport in the bush at a distance of 100 miles. Then the background was "removed" to reveal crowd scenes in place of the forest.

Squeak! This mouse makes an appearance in the movie Spectre as it squeezes through a wall opening to disclose Silva the villain's hidden lair.

There were two choices: employ a live mouse to record a large number of takes (certainly risking the wrath of the National Union of Mice).

Splash! In the 2006 adaptation of Casino Royale, an elegant Venetian mansion collapses and falls into the Grand Canal. The actual structure, which is still standing, was captured on camera from the other bank.

A 90-ton model was collapsed into a tank, and exact dimensions were recorded to recreate the event at Pinewood. The mocked-up palace was then put back into the underwater scene by use of visual effects.

Eek! The legendary Parkour-style chase from Casino Royale was captured on camera in large part by stunt actors.

However, before the background was added to the video, Daniel Craig's fast climb on a crane hook was produced by superimposing his image on that of a stuntman.

Steve Begg, a special effects artist, holding a third-scale model of an Aston Martin DB5 and (top) the same model after it had exploded for the 2012 film Skyfall, in which James Bond's beloved Aston Martin DB5 is destroyed by an explosion.

Boom! In Skyfall, the MI6 headquarters in London is destroyed by fire. Or, more precisely, a Pinewood Studios model does. On a peaceful Sunday morning, Dame Judy Dench, who plays the character "M" in the 2012 film, was recorded on Vauxhall Bridge'reacting' to the explosion.

The photographs were then combined utilizing the identical camera angle and natural lighting by first enlarging a replica of the iconic edifice.

Oh no! Almost a national treasure to automobile enthusiasts, Bond's stunning Aston Martin DB5 is no longer on the road. But it's not, really.

In order to create the one-third-size miniature of the DB5 that was overlaid on the original movie for Skyfall, a special effects crew first blew up an old BMW.

Splat! In Skyfall, another helicopter crashes into a home and catches fire. Even with a Bond movie budget, this might be incredibly pricey. Until you use the man on the right of the photo to determine the real measurements, that is.

The footage was placed over the explosion, and the airplane and structure were scale reproductions.

Crunch! One of Skyfall's highlights and a breakthrough for special effects was the breathtaking train pursuit.

But due to Health and Safety regulations (yes, even in Bond movies), special effects had to be used to simulate the crunching and scratching of a mechanized digger pulling out a carriage from under Bond's boots.

Left: In the final cut, the background is entirely made up of buildings.

Right: Using green screen technology, special effects subsequently cover the background street scene as Bérénice Marlohe (second from left) and Daniel Craig as James Bond walk a set created to represent Silva's (Javier Bardem) lair.

(Oh)! Many Bond movies use backgrounds and structures that appear to be extremely pricey. Unless they do, that is.

The majority of Skyfall's grandiosity, including parts of the scenery and Raoul Silva's opulent lair, comes from mock-ups that Steve Begg's visual effects have augmented.

Daniel Craig (left) is drawn into the 'not-so-grand' lair of villain Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem, right) as special effects create the illusion of a towering hall.

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