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Riddle Marine, Inc. is a small, family owned business in
Lewiston, Idaho where some of the country’s
best white water rivers flow. Doug
Riddle established Riddle Marine in 1992,
but has been custom building aluminum jet
boats for over thirty years.
In the fall of 1999,
Riddle was contacted, through local boat
manufacturers, by a company interested in
his small sprint boat model (14ft model
built for competitive jet boat racing).
This group, unknown to Riddle at the time,
was from the stunt department for the James
Bond film The World is Not Enough.
Riddle was asked to build fifteen high
performance jet boats that would be able to
handle high speeds and eventually an above
water barrel roll. Doug was excited
about the opportunity to be involved with
the film, and traveled to London where he
aided in stunt coordination and doctored the
damaged boats.
“It was something I would
have never thought I would be involved
with,” said Riddle about working on the
James Bond film. “And I never thought for a
minute that I would get the opportunity to
do it again.” However, come mid November,
Riddle will again be watching his boats
light up the big screen in theatres all
across the United States—this time in James
Bond’s Quantum of Solace.
Riddle was contacted in the fall of 2007, as
the stunt department was again considering
his services, and by January of 2008, the
department confirmed their need for four
stunt boats and two crew boats to be built
and shipped to Panama—with a deadline of
just eight weeks. Riddle was asked to build
an aluminum jet boat resembling a local or
indigenous boat in Haiti (although, the
movie was filmed in Panama). “The
model we constructed was a simple aluminum
hull, but after the special effects crew
dressed it up with wood, rust, and paint,
the indigenous idea really took shape.”
“I was heavily involved
with all the stunt projects,” added Riddle
when asked about his experience in Panama.
“I worked closely with the stunt and special
effects departments to make sure the boats
were running properly and to their full
ability. I modified the boats for
special stunts, and had a lot of interaction
with the process of the stunts, as well as
with the actors doing them.” On working with
the big stars, Riddle commented that the
personalities of Pierce Brosnan and Daniel
Craig are quite different, but that both are
great guys and great boat drivers.
Despite the excitement
and grandeur of being a part of blockbuster
films, Riddle explains that it is still
business as usual at Riddle Marine. “I’ve
gained some clients by my achievements with
both films, but business is practically the
same as before we were involved. There
is a high demand for jet boats in the
Lewis-Clark Valley, so that keeps me busy.”
Besides his two
experiences with the Bond films, Riddle
appeared on TLC’s Junkyard Wars in 2001, as
a jet boating expert, and had his RMX jet
boats appear on last season’s Amazing Race
on CBS.
Look for Riddle’s high speed, indigenous
boats in the upcoming film Quantum of Solace
in movie theatres November 14th. |
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