This was taken from some notes I made visiting Sugarloaf Mountain in 2016. I was there for the Rio Olympics in 2016. Without realising it, this visit would spark my imagination for James Bond travel.
So forgive the lack of useful information in this article. I have just repurposed this slightly from the remnants of another blog post and thought you might want to see some photos.
Fancy seeing you here
JAMES BOND UP SUGARLOAF MOUNTAIN
The cable cart trips up Sugarloaf Mountain is one off the bucket list for James Bond aficionados.
Although it soon becomes apparent that Sir Roger Moore would have never have been able to ‘jump’ and shoulder roll after zip lining down with Holly Goodhead.
The drop to the nearest bit of greenery would have been at least 150-200 feet. There are also no telescopes up on the mountains. (Dr Goodhead, fancy seeing you here).
Would never survive the drop
The Cable Cart scene is one my all time favourites in the franchise. Below is a production still of Richard Kiel in Moonraker, taken from the Thunderballs website. For more production stills of Moonraker be sure to check out the link here.
*Click to see more stills from Moonraker on the Thunderballs website
The fact that everyone knows
Jaws wasn’t actually biting through metallic cabling when he looked to ambush Bond, the cable was actually made of liquorice. However, you can see how the art department strived to get as close as possible in reimagining the set by painting the pulley wheel bright orange.
The photo below is one I took up Sugar Loaf Mountain.
The wheel deal
On the way to Sugarloaf
The streets are quiet on the way to Sugarloaf Mountain, the trees over hang the streets like a tropical umbrella offering a weird post-apocalyptic feel.
Man hasn’t so much as invaded this oasis, but formed an alliance with it’s surroundings.
The trees have accepted our presence, cooling the streets from an abundance of shade and a symbiotic relationship between man and nature is omnipresent.
Some of the best views of Rio can be found up this mountain and it’s quite easily one of the best James Bond locations I’ve ever been to.
Lastly a word on the fashion
I wore some very funky stuff four years ago as you can see in the photo below. I’m afraid I wasn’t in the right headspace yet to wear my tuxedo.
*Click to follow this fashion disaster (me) on Instagram. (Although I like to think I’ve improved slightly from this).
Recommended reading
For more information on the suits Roger Moore wore you can check out the blog Matt Spaiser wrote on his site, The Suits of James Bond, here.
Lois Chiles who played Holly Goodhead wore a Givenchy jumpsuit.
*Click for full article on James Bond girl outfits
There is an interesting article on the most Iconic Bond Girl Outfits of all Time which includes a rather fabulous graphic from BigGroup (whoooo?) in a Daily Mail article that you can read here.
