Bond references in Spectre - part 3

In Spectre, almost all the previous Bond films are referenced in more or less conspicuous ways. The references to the first sixteen films have been covered in two previous posts, here and here, and below I list the references to the last seven films in the series, GoldenEye trough Skyfall.

GoldenEye

Pevsner Commerzbank, GmbH

In Spectre, Q is staying at a hotel called 'The Pevsner' in the Austrian alps. Bond and Dr Swan are meeting Q in room 12. The reference to Pevsner was previously made in GoldenEye when a bank called Pevsner Commerzbank was seen on one of Alec Trevelyan's computers. Pevsner is a name that is well connected to the Bond series. Tom Pevsner worked as an associate and then executive producer on every James Bond film from For Your Eyes Only to GoldenEye. He died in 2014.

Q is staying at The Pevsner, room 12

Further, in GoldenEye, Bond changes the timer from six minutes to three during the pre-title sequence when 006 is captured by the Russians. As a favor later in the film, Alec gives Bond three minutes to escape from the missile train before it explodes.

Just as in GoldenEye, Blofeld gives Bond three minutes in Spectre to find Dr Swan and escape from Mi6 before it explodes.

Tomorrow Never Dies 

I have not yet found any obvious references to Tomorrow in Spectre, other than the fact that Monica Belluci originally was considered for the role of Paris Carver, but was turned down by the producers, called "those fools", by Brosnan.

The World is Not Enough 

The Worlds is Not Enough is referenced on several occasions in Spectre, I list two below. 

When Bond is trying to kill Renard he is protected by bullet proof glass in the elevator in The World is Not Enough.  

In the same way, Bond is trying to shoot Blofeld but the bullet is stopped as Blofeld is hiding behind bullet proof glass.

A boat chase on the Thames, past the Houses of Parliament, is not something new to the Bond series either. Already in 1999, in The World is Not Enough, we saw Bond riding down the Thames in Q's boat in pursuit of the Cigar girl, similar to the scene in Spectre. 

Bond chasing the 'Cigar girl' in The World is Not Enough

Die Another Day

There are no obvious references to Die Another Day in Spectre other than the fact that Die Another Day, as the 40th anniversary film, also referenced the previous Bond films. 

Casino Royale 

Obviously, all the Craig Bond films are more or less referenced as Spectre shows that Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, and Skyfall are threaded more closely together than suspected. Images of familiar faces like Vepser Lynd, Silva and Le Chiffre pop up at Mi6. However, a few conspicuous references can also be spotted. 

In the pre-title sequence of Casino Royale Bond is waiting for the section chief in Prague, Dryden, to assassinate him as part of becoming a 00 agent. When Dryden tries to shoot Bond first, Bond has removed the clip from the gun. 

The bullet-removal bluff is repeated in Spectre when M is facing C. 

Another reference is the smart blood injected by Q in Bond's arm. This scene in Spectre is practically identical to the scene in Casino Royale where M has a microchip implanted in Bond's arm.

Quantum of Solace

Just as in Quantum of Solace, we find Bond in yet another boat chase in Spectre, this time also involving the leading lady who also is given the wheel. 

Skyfall

M's death in Skyfall is referenced in Spectre with her making a cameo from the grave, in a prerecorded message to Bond, giving him one final assignment - to kill Sciarra. Jack the bulldog, M's desk ornament which ultimately is left to Bond in M's will, also make a reappearance in Spectre when it is seen in Bond's living room on the table. This reference was known already before the release of the film as the first teaser picture released by the filmmakers was a picture of Jack and a movie clapper stating the shooting of the very first take in the film.

Christmas in Turkey - Seven Hills Hotel

In The World is Not Enough 1999, Bond and Christmas Jones take a well deserved break after saving Istanbul from being destroyed in a nuclear meltdown. In one of the last scenes they are celebrating what appears to be new years eve on a rooftop in Istanbul overlooking the Bosporus. Later that evening they retire to Bond's hotel suite. This has probably been one of the least known locations in Istanbul until now.

As Bond and Christmas literally go undercover in Bond's hotel suite, Mi6 tracks down Bond with one of their satellites. The satellite pans over Istanbul in search of 007. The Hagia Sophia and the small park between the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque can be seen on the wall screen at Mi6 as it searches for Bond. The satellite finds Bond's car and zooms in on a house nearby.

M and the staff soon realises, thanks to the satellite's thermal image, that Bond has gotten to bed with Dr Jones and Q loyally shuts off the computer, claiming it must be a premature form of the millennium bug before M can get anymore details. The house where Mi6 finds Bond is actually a hotel in the oldest part of Istanbul.

"-It picks up body heat so humans come out orange.
           -It's getting redder..."

Bond's hotel can namely be found at the intersection of Tevfikhane Sokak and Utangaç Sokak. This is the Seven Hills Hotel, a high class, four star hotel in the middle of the Sulthanamet district, close by the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque located at Tevfikhane Sokak No 8. The distinctive shape of the building is easily recognizable.

Which room Bond is staying in, will probably be possible to determine if you would stay at the hotel. Until then, we have to settle for the fact that it probably is on a high floor.

Bosporus view

The hotel has a rooftop restaurant that probably modeled for the place where Bond and Dr Jones have their champagne, as seen in the top picture in this post, even though that scene in all likelihood were shot somewhere in studio, probably not even in Istanbul. If Bond and Christmas had been on the real rooftop of the Seven Hills Restaurant, the director Michael Apted could have chosen to picture the magnificent Hagia Sophia instead. From the rooftop you actually see both the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia.

You find the hotel's website at www.sevenhillshotel.com.
If you do not intend to stay at the hotel, at least to have dinner at the restaurant is highly recommended.

Maiden's Tower, Istanbul - Part 1

Elektra's hideaway for the finale of The World is not Enough is located in the Bosporus strait of Istanbul, namely the famous Maiden's Tower. Elektra captures M and holds her hostage in the tower, and later, both Bond and Christmas are brought to the island in Elektra's boat. For the finale, Bond kills Elektra in her bedroom and goes after the submarine by diving from the top of the tower.

The first time the exterior of Elektra's lair is filmed is when Renard arrives with the plutonium (top picture). He docks at a small quay and one of the mosques on the European side is visible in the background. Later in the film, Zukovsky would dock at the same quay when he comes to Bond's rescue in the end.

There are a few establishing shots over Maiden's Tower in The World is not Enough, but it is also visible several times in the background during Bond's boat ride in From Russia With Love. Unlike today, the house and the tower were all white in 1963, as seen behind Connery.

Connery observes Maiden's Tower. Knowing that Bond would return? 

Construction of the tower dates back to 12th century. The island has been used for many different purposes over the centuries, such as tax collecting station, defense tower (holding a Byzantine garrison in 1453), a quarantine hospital during the cholera epidemic as well as a lighthouse. After the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the Turks pulled down the original tower and constructed a wooden tower in its place, which unfortunately, was destroyed by fire in the early 1720's. After that it was rebuilt from stone once again.

In The World is not Enough, we get the impression that the island is located quite far from land, somewhere in the middle of the Bosporus, but it is actually close to the Asian side, some 150-200 meters off the shore of the Salacak district in Üsküdar.

Today, the Maiden's Tower is a major tourist attraction with boats bringing people out to the small island every 15 minutes. The price is around 20 Lira (€8). There is a restaurant on the first floor and a small cafe/bar at the top of the tower. The interior scenes in the film were shot in studio and when you are on location it is hard to see how a submarine even would fit on the island. Do not be disappointed if you do not find the magnificent water basin on the island...

Villa Baku - Küçüksu Kasri, Istanbul

After celebrating new years in Istanbul, I am starting off 2015 with one of the more beautiful locations from the city. In The World is not Enough, Bond goes to Azerbaijan to see Elektra in the hunt for Renard. Bond visits her house on a few occasions in the film and spends the night after an evening at the Casino. Elektra's villa is supposedly located on the shores of the Caspian Sea in Baku. However, the small palace can be found on the shores of the Bosporus, in the outskirts of Istanbul.

The house is called Küçüksu Kasri and is situated in the Küçüksu neighborhood of Beykoz district on the Asian shore of the Bosporus. The palace, built in neo-baroque style was completed in 1857 and was used by Ottoman sultans for short stays during country excursions and hunting.

Not far from the palace you can find Anadoluhisarı, a 14th century fortress that was built in preparations of the second Ottoman siege of Constantinople. This fortress is probably a more well known tourist attraction than Elektra's villa, which is fortunate since it leaves this Bond location fairly undisturbed.

The bridge visible in the background is the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge

Both floors have four corner rooms surrounding a central hall. The interior decoration was made by the state designer at the Vienna State Opera. For some years during the beginning of the Attatürk period, the palace was used as a state guesthouse but in the 1940's it underwent a thorough renovation and has since then been a museum open to the public.

Right next to the villa is a café that has a nice view over the house and the river. Here you should stop and fully enjoy this beautiful location over a lunch or a coffee. It is possible to take a boat to of from this location, but a taxi ride across the Bosporus bridge and along the waterfront is not a bad idea either. A taxi from Şişli to the palace should cost around 50 Lira. Be sure to ask the driver for an estimate first. If you have plenty of time, a boat ride along the Bosporus should not be more than 10 Lira per person.