14 Jul 2012

Miami international / Prague Ruzyne airport

American cars creating the image of the United State
In Casino Royale Bond follows Carlos, the terrorist from the Body Worlds exhibition, to Miami International airport. Like most of the action in Miami, the airport scenes were filmed in the Czech Republic. Prague International airport, Ruzyne, doubled for Miami airport.
The best thing about visiting locations from Royale is that next to nothing has changed since 2006. Airports are normally subject to changes and extensive renovations due to increasing traffic and it is therefore almost impossible to find an airport from the earlier films (e.g. Las Vegas, Istanbul) that is still recognizable.  But this is not the case at Ruzyne. Very little has changed since the shooting of the film and even the real traffic signs were used. 




The departure entrance were this scene was filmed is actually on the second floor of the airport, with another departure terminal below and a big ramp for the traffic. This becomes evident when you see the walking bridge in the pictures below. Bond is entering the airport from the third entrance. The interior scenes, apart from Bond's entry, were filmed at Nassau International Airport in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. 
The walking bridges connects the parking with the departure/arrivals hall. Carlos is coming up from the escalator, which is a factual error since both Carlos and Bond are entering from the same level. The rest of the action taking place at Miami airport (for instance Bond jumping on the petrol truck) was filmed on location at Ruzyne and the Dunsfold Park Aerodrome in Surrey, England. The Skyfleet S-570 is actually a rebuilt Boeing 747 that was bought by a company specializing in supplying aircraft for television and film work and it can still be found at the Aerodrome today. The plane has also been visible in various episodes of Top Gear since parts of this program is filmed at Dunsfold Aerodrome. 
The interior of Ruzyne in 2010

Another thing that reveals the location to be set in Prague is the 'Travel Service' airplane. On the side of the plane you can read - Unimex Group. This is one of the largest private companies in the Czech Republic, involved in housing, tourism, hotel development and travel. Unimex Group is also mentioned at the end credits.


1 comment:

  1. Interesting, answered all mine and my sons questions as we watched it again tonight.....

    ReplyDelete