The new James Bond ride at London's Trocadero is the type of ride that mixes bone-shaking simulators with action movies. But is it as sharp as a dry martini or should it be for someone else eyes only? We paid a visit to the top secret test site.As you enter, you are greeted by a series of stern characters under the delusion that they work for MI6. You wait for 'security clearance' before being allowed into a garage-type room containing the Lotus Esprit submarine-car from the Spy Who Loved Me and the jet from Octopussy. These are the actual life-sized props used in the films and I couldn't help thinking they looked a little flat and plastic in the flesh, but that's the magic of the movies for you.
From there, there's another security door to get through before the naff MI6 pretence begins to make sense. Judi Dench and Desmond Llewelyn, the real-life M and Q (real in the sense that they play them in the films) star in a video briefing outlining you top secret mission. The wry-script is straight from a Bond film (and the pen of a Bond scriptwriter). Your mission, they tell you, is to rescue scientish Kallie Reeves from the evil Gunther Thorne who wants to - you guessed it - take over the world.
It's all designed to built excitement for the main event, the simulator ride. On the day we went, the site had just opened and was still in some disarray, so it is hard to say how slick and effective they will be at getting the public salivating at the mouth for a taste of 00 action.
The ride itself follows a classic Bond chase sequence over land, sea and air and uses many of the touches seen in the films. Unlike the films, however, the ride takes place from a 'Bond-eye' view. Hands appear in front of the lens, and the camera shakes in time with the simulator. Anyone who is even slightly sensitive in the abdominal region will find this particularly jarring.
Overall, its all a bit quick and shallow. Perhaps the hydraulics still need some work because the whole feel of the ride felt slightly out of sink and a bit too severe.
What cannot change is the essence of the ride which is really a glorified fairground rollercoaster. Judged on that basis, the only issue is whether is really does leave you shaken and stirred. It does, but it cannot be described as the ride of your life.
007 Licence to Thrill, London Trocadero. Open daily between 10.30am - 11.00pm from August 17 (Previews until August 16). Adults £5.95, Children £3.95. Calll 0207 434 1007 for more information.