007 Elements review: UNMISSABLE immersive new experience for James Bond fans in Austria

The James Bond film franchise has managed to hold its grip on British popular culture for over half a century, showing no sign of stopping.

Daniel Craig is stepping up for a fifth and final outing as 007 for Bond 25 next, and where the series will go after that is anyone’s guest.

But for the fans there can be quite the wait between the movies these days, but luckily there’s often an official exhibition going on somewhere around the world.

One of the most prominent ones is Bond in Motion at the London Film Museum in Covent Garden, which houses over 100 original vehicles and artefacts from all 24 movies – but now something entirely different has opened in 007 Elements.

High up at the summit of the Gaislachkogl Mountain in Sölden, Austria is the restaurant ice Q, which mocked up as Hoffler Klinik in Spectre where Bond located Madeleine Swann.

And since the film’s release in 2015, 007 Elements has been built inside the top of mountain as a brand new James Bond experience.

Described as a Cinematic Installation, what exactly the attraction is might not be initially clear to fans.

Luckily Neal Callow, the Art Director on all five Craig Bond films and Creative Director of 007 Elements, was on hand to explain.

Giving a guided tour of the Cinematic Installation, Callow explained 007 Elements was the first of it’s kind.

It’s not quite a museum, it’s not quite an art gallery. He calls it “an emotive experience.”

Think of it like this. When a new Bond movie opens people want to copy the iconic MI6 agent when it comes to his clothes and his cars.

He’s the first to sport them and similarly the hope is 007 Elements will be the inspiration for other Cinematic Installations.

Once you step into the attraction itself though, you really do get a feel for what they mean.

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Callow explained how we’d be walking through a number of galleries, each giving a taste of the “signature elements” of a Bond film, also noting the whole structure is kept at one degree Celsius throughout due to the location.

It would be all to easy to go through all the different rooms describing them in much detail, but that wouldn’t do 007 Elements justice. If anything you have to experience it for yourself and part of that is the surprise of what comes next as you enter each new room.

What is worth mentioning though is the minimalist approach and how the whole of 007 Elements is very much a “museum” of for the 21st century – losing the duller aspects of such a place – and one that Bond himself would be pleased to visit himself.

What you do experience is the style of the world of Bond, with all the galleries being artfully constructed like walking through dark and narrow the Barrel of the Gun from the opening of the films into the white, bring openness of the Plaza, overlooking the beauty of the Austrian alps.

Meanwhile a room like the Tech Lab features a number of gadgetry including a motion sensor in the air that lets you strip back scenes from Spectre to see how the visual effects were created.

This area also includes some specially selected props from the Bond archive including Scaramanga’s Golden Gun, the exploding pen from Goldeneye and a number of Bond’s Omega watches.

There’s also a couple of galleries that give you the feel of agent 007 entering a Bond villain’s domain, complete with a history of the series introduced by Skyfall and Spectre director Sam Mendes.

It’s certainly true that 007 Elements’ main focus is the latest film, Spectre, but Callow confirmed the Cinematic Installation was designed with update in mind – especially as Bond 25 is only 18 months away.

In fact the Action Hall, which houses part of the plane wreckage from the film, has a special hatch for moving future exhibits inside.

And it’s not just 007 Elements that houses every Bond in the area, with a view of the roads used for Spectre easily spottable far below and a couple vechiles located nearby and halfway up on the gondola.

Speaking of the journey up and down, visitors are able to a trip in the specially designed golden “Bondola” which plays music from the films are you travel to the summit through the mist. How Bond is that?

All in all, 007 Elements is an unmissable experience for fans giving a totally new and immersive experience of the world of James Bond beyond a standard exhibition.

And even if you’re just a casual fan who’ve visiting the area for skiing, it’s still definitely worth a visit as such a exquisite creation.

Opened by Miss Moneypenny actress Naomie Harris earlier this week, 007 Elements is now up and running.

Admission is €22 for adults, while a combined ticket to include the gondola ride is €54. Group rates and children’s prices are also available.

Tickets for 007 Elements can be purchased here.