A drive in the country

"Go backwards forwards quickly!"

After escaping Gonzales' guards, Bond hitch a ride with Melina in her rented Citroën 2CV and the car chase around the "Spanish countryside" begins. Gonzales' men are chasing them in two black Peugeot 504.

"I'm afraid we're being out horse-powered!"
                       -Bond to Melina-

The car chase was filmed on the surrounding roads of Pagi, the small village in the north-western part of Corfu. After Melina flips the car over at the low road, filmed in Pagi, Bond takes over the wheel and they drive around the olive fields, trying to loose Gonzales' guards. 

The cars come down from the left...

The roads that surround Pagi are a sheer pleasure to drive around, and you should definitely play tracks like "Gonzales takes a drive" and "a drive in the country" in the car. These roads are some of the most memorable roads I have ever driven and, combined with the right music, this has been one of my best driving experiences so far. The road from Nice to Monte Carlo is another one. 

... and continue down the curve.

The olive fields can be extremely steep in some places and it is not unthinkable that a car could end up in a tree. So the baddies Peugeot ending up on top of an olive tree is actually quite feasible.

After all the science fiction chaos in Moonraker, the producers wanted Bond to come back down to earth in For Your Eyes Only. They wanted him to rely more on his own abilities rather than Q's gadgets and that is the reason why they have his Lotus blown up before the car chase starts. Bond is left with Melina's indestructible Citroën.

The chase was filmed over a two week period in Corfu and was arranged by stunt driver Rémy Julienne, a former French motor-cross champion. He had started his career in film already in the 60's and was hired by the Bond team for the first time in 1981. Julienne, who was the driver of the Citroën, would remain with the Bond series for another 14 years, doing all the stunt driving up to GoldenEye. Rémy Julienne, with more than 400 film and television productions behind him, is considered to be the "daredevil of French cinema".

Of the one-time-only composers, I believe that Bill Conti did the best job delivering a timeless and yet appropriate soundtrack. It is not on the same level as the best soundtracks composed by the gentlemen Arnold and Barry, but I do believe that it is better than the less inspiring work of John Barry, for instance Moonraker and Octopussy. Despite being written in the 80's, the soundtrack of For Your Eyes Only is relatively timeless and the instrumental version of For Your Eyes Only is among the highlights on the album. Bill Conti is also known for the soundtrack of The Thomas Crown Affair, with Pierce Brosnan.