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Dr. No Rocket launch sequence.


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#1 triviachamp

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Posted 30 May 2014 - 02:39 AM

Funny thing I noticed about this sequence. There is a bank of 4 TV sets broadcasting the rocket launch at the end of Dr. No and the one in the upper-left is all fuzzy. I assume the TV footage was matted-in in post-production? Was this some error that they had no money to fix it so it stayed? After all supposedly Maurice Binder missed Syd Cain's credit and Cubby gave Cain a gold pen instead of having to pay Binder to redo a portion of the opening titles.

 

Also I wondered about the footage itself and the announcers. According to the imdb the footage is initially of a Vanguard Rocket and then of a Titan. I didn't noticed the vanguard but I can see the Titan.

 

And I always was interested in the audio portion of the rocket launch. It does sound like an actual recording of a rocket launch and the imdb goofs section says that mention is made of MA-7 which would mean Scott Carpenter's mission on May 24, 1962 and Mission control does mention an astronaut on board. And what is up with the reporter? Mission Control is obviously a recording of an actual NASA employee but the reporter is rather flowery. Is this from a radio broadcast? Or did TV reporters really say those things on TV?

 

Oh and does any know what Doctor No says in his final lines? The only thing I understand is "Shut-Down."



#2 Guy Haines

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Posted 30 May 2014 - 06:27 AM

Out of curiosity I've just compared the scene from Dr No with the actual Mercury MA7 launch. Firstly, the film of the rocket launch used in Bond doesn't look like the launch of Scott Carpenter - different rocket for a start (Atlas), whereas it does look like shots of a Titan or a Vanguard launch were used in Dr No. Secondly, the commentary - I'm not sure if it was a real commentary of not. The video I found on YouTube of the Carpenter launch has the exchanges between the astronaut and the capsule communicator, which sounds like astronaut Gus Grissom.

 

So it looks like the footage used in Dr No is a mish-mash of film and commentary to me. Wouldn't be the only time either. Remember the "Russian spacecraft" launch scene in You Only Live Twice? It is quite clearly stock footage of a Gemini/Titan II launch from Cape Kennedy, right down to the palm trees in the foreground.



#3 triviachamp

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Posted 30 May 2014 - 07:55 AM

Likely it was a radio or TV broadcast of the launch rather than using the actual mission control recordings. Mission Control has the sort of Southern accent I don't think a Brit can or would fake and his commentary is quite long (it plays through the entire scene!) and technical. Does the script say anything?