LOCATION: Prague
FILM: Casino Royale

This latest Bond Film was a towering success and has been hailed as the greatest Bond movie ever with Daniel Craig being tagged as the best Bond. I personally don’t agree with this. Casino Royale was a great movie, but was it a true Bond Movie? I say this because I didn’t really recognise Daniel Craig as James Bond. Gone were the gadgets and the quips were replaced with hardened exchanges that stomped on the Bond tradition. “Shaken or Stirred?” “Do I look like I give a damn?” was not something you would have got from Connery! He wasn’t even smooth and he LOST at poker?!?!

 

For me Dalton will always be the best James Bond but despite all this I thought that Casino Royale was a great movie (just not a Bond movie) and Craig was a great lead (just not James Bond) but that’s enough of my moaning.

 

I actually saw this one when I was reading the Times (No, I don’t buy the Times but I do pick it up if it has been left on the train because it makes me look wind swept and interesting!) and decided to take the trip.

 

Casino Royal was filmed in a number of different cities but the main city (even stepping in for Miami at one point) is Prague, this is where some of the most memorable scenes take place.

 

Miami Airport Chase: Now I know that this isn’t that interesting scene wise but its worth checking out when you land. The Miami Airport is in fact Prague International Airport – just don’t chase people onto the runway!

 

British House of Commons: Anyone who thought that this was England is once again mistaken! Prague handily steps in and the scene is actually filmed in the 800-year-old library of Strahov Monastery!

 

Grand Venetian Hotel: Anywhere that you can take (and impress) someone like lady Vespa is worth making a note of. Unfortunately the recepeption and staircase used in the movie is actually the neo-Renaissance National Museum in Wenceslas Square. So no nookie allowed in there then!!

 

Outside of Prague in a small town called Karlvy Vary you will find a couple of even more impressive Bond locations.

 

Hotel Splendide: The world-famous Grand Hotel Pupp can be found here and this is used as the location for where Bond stays during the poker tournament. Now that’s something for a romantic weekend away – those of you that have them  grrrr!

 

Casino Royale Exterior: Unfortunately this is just a front used for filming but if you are interested the nearby Lazne Spa -an imposing though disused turn-of-the-century spa- doubles as the entrance and public room of the Casino Royale.

 

I’m done bring me a martini – “Three measures of Gordon’s; one of vodka; half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it over ice, and add a thin slice of lemon peel” – Now that’s cool.

Filed under: Prague