Location Flashback: Verzasca Dam, Gordola, Ticino, Switzerland

The Contra Dam, commonly known as the Verzasca Dam and the Locarno Dam, is an arch dam onthe Verzasca River in the Val Verzasca of Ticino, Switzerland. The dam creates Lago di Vogorno 2 kilometers upstream of Lake Maggiore. It supports the 105 MW Verzasca hydro-electric power station.

In this scene, James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) does a full swandive as he bungee jumps into a secret Soviet chemical weapons facility where fellow “00” M16 Agent, Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean) is waiting so they can blow up the place.

The film was released after a six-year hiatus in the series caused by legal disputes, during which Timothy Dalton’s contract for the role of James Bond expired and he was replaced by Brosnan. M was also recast, with actress Judi Dench becoming the first woman to portray the character, replacing Robert Brown.

The film accumulated a worldwide gross of over US$350 million, considerably better than Dalton’s films, without taking inflation into account.It received positive reviews, with crit-ics viewing Brosnan as a definite improvement over his predecessor. It also received award nominations for Best Special Visual Effects and Best Sound from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.