Fictional secret agent James Bond has gotten into his fair share of scrapes and close calls, but broadly speaking, the high-profile actors who have played him on screen have been pretty safe stepping into the character's expensive shoes. The Bond films have become famous for their jaw-dropping and boundary-pushing stunts, but those moments are the result of teams of people who design and choreograph everything to be as safe as possible for both the stars and their stunt doubles. The James Bond franchise is one of the most lucrative and longest-running film series of all time, but in its very first movie, we nearly lost its first lead actor in a gruesome death that would have robbed movie lovers of some legendary performances and ripped away the franchise's potential before it even got started.

In 1962's "Dr. No," Sean Connery's Bond notices he's being tailed by three assassins while driving up a mountain road.