Filming Near Trafalgar Square For Blades Club Scenes

Mister Kiss Kiss Bang Bang! has updated with a report of filming for Die Another Day that took place on Sunday, near Trafalgar Square.

The filming was for filming of the 'gentlmens club' that will feature in Die Another Day. In reality the first unit filmed shots throughtout the Reform Club in Pall Mall. However, in the film, the rooms of the Reform Club will feature as the Blades Club.

Along with the first unit other key members of the production were present including Pierce Brosnan, Rosamund Pike, Toby Stephens, Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. Peter Lamont was also reportedly on-hand to ensure that existing interior decorations weren't damanged during the filming.

Don't forget to check out MKKBB for the full report. If you'd like to discuss it you can do so in this thread of the Die Another Day Forums.

'GoldenEye' Teaser Trailer Music Online

The ever-popular James Bond music from the GoldenEye teaser trailer is now online at the website of it's creators, ParodiFair.

The 57 second theme has also appeared, in some form, in the teaser trailers for Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day.

Visitors can also download the full GoldenEye teaser trailer from the ParodiFair website.

Below The Surface: James Bond Finds Himself

Good films have subtext. In the last part of this series on the subtext of various James Bond films, we took a look at the subtext 1963's From Russia With Love and before that we took a look at 1967's You Only Live Twice.

In the third part of this series we'll take a look at the subtext of 1995's GoldenEye.

James Bond Finds Himself
The Subtext Of GoldenEye
By John Cox

If GoldenEye had not been a huge success when it was released in the fall of 1995, the James Bond series would have ended then and there. After the disappointment of License to Kill and a six-year hiatus, the question facing MGM and the Bond empire was "Is James Bond still relevant?" Cleverly enough, the filmmakers decided to make a James Bond film that was specifically ABOUT James Bond's struggle to find his place in the modern world. Not since YOLT was a Bond film so blatantly symbolic and so psychologically interesting.

As if to erase the Dalton years, GoldenEye starts in 1986 (a year before The Living Daylights) and then jumps "Nine Years Later," presumably to 1995, as a Bond film always takes place "today." This time passage device (the only time it has been used in a Bond film) tells us right off the bat that this is a movie which puts character ahead of plot. In other words, it's ABOUT James Bond and not the global repercussions of some event that we see in the pre-titles sequence or opening scene. And what's 007 doing when we meet him nine years later? He's TURNING A CORNER. But the old Bond is still very much in evidence. He seduces a girl, wears a tux, drives the Aston Martin DB5, gambles in a casino, orders a martini "shaken not stirred," and smokes out a crime syndicate — all this in the opening two scenes! He's also back in the personage of Pierce Brosnan, whom the public has associated with James Bond from the time he lost the role in 1986. (Hey, there's that year again.)

But after this nostalgic romp, Bond fails in his mission to stop the robbery of the Tiger helicopter, and we FADE OUT. Fade out? Is this the end of the movie? In a way, it is because now we begin the first postmodern James Bond film, a film in which James Bond is not the master of his universe. For the next hour, 007 is ridiculed for being a "sexist misogynist dinosaur," out of touch and irrelevant in the post Cold War world. Everyone Bond encounters in this film slams him in a similar way. Valentin asks him if he's "decided to join the 21st Century," Jack Wade makes fun of his "secret codes and passwords," Trevelyan suggests his martini intake is a means of escape, sexual harassment is even suggested in his treatment of Miss Moneypenny! In this modern world, M is more than just a woman, she's a mother! ("If I wanted sarcasm, I'd talk to my children," she tells Tanner.) Up to this point in the 33 year history of the James Bond series, the concept of motherhood has been as nonexistent as, well, children. As a rule, Bond conquers the girl, and we roll credits, fast. Any relationship beyond that short circuits the fantasy. How does Bond respond to all this? He doesn't.

Instead Bond embarks on a mission to defeat the cold warrior inside himself by going to the source: Russia, a former enemy now crippled (like Valentin Zukovsky). Here, the traditional Bond girls are split (as is everything in this film) into opposing halves. Natalya is a beauty with brains, and Xenia is pure danger with a kink for killing that's worthy of From Russia with Love. (For the first and only time in a Bond film, we get to see a woman achieve an orgasm. You've come a long way, baby.)

But it's in the graveyard of discarded Soviet statues (heavy symbolism, but, hey, it works) that Bond finally encounters the REAL enemy — his shadow. Like Bond, Alec Trevelyan, agent 006, is trapped in a time warp. Like Bond, he's become both a myth (Janus) and a real man. But Trevelyan's problem is he still clings to the hatred and suspicion that created the Cold War while Bond just clings to the sex appeal. Their struggle makes up the last half of the film, and the shadow nature of their relationship is so obvious that there's hardly any need for metaphor. "James and I shared everything," says Trevelyan. The most telling moment comes in the end of the film when Bond kills Trevelyan, not "for England" but "for me." The cold warrior is dead. Mission accomplished. Welcome to the 21st Century, Mr. Bond.

Rachel Grant finally confirmed!

Two weeks ago, CommanderBond.Netannounced that two new actresses can be added to the cast list of Die Another Day: Helena Tepper and Rachel Grant.
It was reported that her work was trimmed down to two scenes, leaving her six minutes of screen time.

Until now we didn't have an official confirmation for this.

Now, Rachel Grant's official web site says, "Rachel has recently worked on the new James Bond film, 'Die Another Day'". So CBn was once more the first James Bond Website to report an exclusive and true news regarding Die Another Day!

If you'd like to discuss the news, please visit this thread of the Die Another Day Forums.

Spy Report: Some Filming That's Been Happening At Pinewood

'Uther Pendragon' has written in to us today to let us know of some filming that has been occuring at Pinewood over the past few weeks. The news is a spoiler so as always, you'll have to highlight it to read.

Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read)

Vic Armstrong has desribed the car chase in Iceland as an Ice Ballet and over the past few weeks scenes from this ballet have been filmed at Pinewood Studio’s.

While external shots were filmed on location in Iceland, internal shots have been filming at Pinewood Studio’s on the 007 Stage. The scenes has Bond’s Aston Martin Vanquish being chased through the inside of the Ice Palace by Zao’s Jaguar XKR.

A great little piece of information there! Thanks to 'Uther Pendragon' for sending it in.

Car In Pinewood Spy Photo Found

In a spy report yesterday we posted the picture below, commenting on the '58 Ford on the right hand side of the photo.

Thanks to 'Mourning Becomes Electra' and Markus from Bondklub Deutschland (BKD)" we've managed to confirm that the car will be featured in Cuban scenes in Die Another Day. 'Mourning Becomes Electra' managed to find this photo of the car, with Pierce Brosnan during filming in Spain, at http://pro.corbis.com.

So there you have it! Thanks to both 'Mourning Becomes Electra' and Markus for their help!

New 'DAD' action sequence uncovered!

German James Bond Webseite 'all time high' has uncovored a new, smaller action sequence, which will take place in Die Another Day.

According to the website, the 2nd unit will head to Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read)Hong Kong later this year, to film some views of the famous Peninsula Hotel. A set in Pinewood doubled for the interior of the hotel, and a chase sequence with animals was shot already.

That's the first time we hear of this sequence, so you can add your ideas to this thread in the Die Another Day Forums!

Official Site Updates With Peter Lamont Interview

The official James Bond site, http://www.jamesbond.com, has today updated with an interview with Die Another Day Production Designer Peter Lamont.

And that has to be one of the better images on the official site. What are all those objects in the background? There is obviously the Omega Seamaster, and it appears that the watches gadgets are detailed underneath. Next to the watch there also appears to be a soldier, who looks strikingly similair to the surfboard soliders scene in the pre-title sequence. There are plenty of other objects, if you'd like to discuss them, please do so in this thread of the Die Another Day Forums.

The interview revolves mainly around Lamont's, and his teams, process for designing objects to be seen on screen. For instance, there's an interesting point as to why the Jaguar XKR is green and not another colour.

The interview concludes with the promise from Yarborough that we may soon see some official pictures from inside the Ice Palace. Can't wait!

And again, if you'd like to discuss any part of this report please do so in this thread of the Die Another Day Forums. See you there!

Great Pictures From Around Pinewood Studios

'Uther Pendragon' has been nice enough to send in these photos to CommanderBond.Net which they've taken over the past few weeks around Pinewood Studio's.

The first two pictures are of the main car workshop at Pinewood Studios, where Bond's Aston Martin V12 Vanquish (several of them to be precise) is maintained and modified for the required scenes. On the right of the workshop are several Vanquish's lined up (including one with it's chasis completely removed). And on the left you'll notice the green Jaguar XKR, and also a jeep in the very dark part of the left of the photo. It's quite possible, however, that this jeep actually isn't a part of the production. In the second photo you can see all four Vanquish's and down the far end of the workshop there are two Jaguar XKR's, both covered.

The next photo is of a model of a Russan Antanov Cargo plane. The model, which is obviously incomplete, will be seen towards the end of the film. Of course, in the film it will appear as a real plane as opposed to a model you're now viewing. If you look in the background you'll notice another model in an earlier stage of construction.

If you're trying to work out the size of the model you can get a rough estimate by looking at the objects around it, perhaps the aerosol can directly underneath the plans tail. Frankly, the model is huge.

The next image is of another car workshop at Pinewood Studio's. This one is housing the cars less featured in Die Another Day. Notice the two centre cars are the red and yellow sports cars we're continually seeing onset. To the left is also a green Porchse and I'm not sure what the car underneath it is.

What seems more interesting is the car on the right appears to be a Ford Thunderbird. That said, I'm not a car expert. It is known that Jinx will drive a 2002 Ford Thunderbird, but this is obviously an older model. If anyone would like to clarify which car that is please drop me a line at [email protected] and I'll update this article.

The next and final image was taken at the water tank at the back of Pinewood Studio's. You'll notice the boat on it is a Sunseeker (a similair model to the boat used in The World Is Not Enough). The main point of interest is that the person on it is Jinx, we can tell that from the bikini. Obviously this shot will appear in the Cuban scenes. However, 'Uther Pendragon' points out that the person getting in to the water is not Halle Berry but actually her body double.

That's all the images we have for you right now. If you'd like to discuss them please do so in this thread of the Die Another Day Forums. See you there!

Update
Someone has been nice enough (and damn quick) to send in details of what the cars in the fourth picture are.

To begin with, under the green Porsche is a 2002 Ford Thunderbird, the car Jinx will be seen with in Iceland.

Now to the right, the car I originally thought was an older Ford Thunderbird is actually a 58 Ford. One can speculate that this car might appear in Cuban scenes. After Fidel Castro took over Castro no new car models were imported. Hence, most American cars that appear in Cuba are actually of a vintage era.

Thanks to the person who sent that in, you know who you are!

Title Song Confirmed As 'Can't You See My Mind'

In a follow up to yesterdays news that the title track of Die Another Day will be called Can't You See My Mind another reference to the songs title has been found on the Internet.

In yesterdays report we mentioned that French composer-arranger Michel Colombier would arrange the song. If you visit Michel's official site in his What's Current section it says, Select songs from Madonna's new album, including 'Can't you see my mind?', title song of the soon-to-be-released James Bond movie, have had string arrangements written by Michel.

It seems that the song will also appear on Madonna's album.

If you'd like to discuss Madonna's title track please visit this thread of the Die Another Day Forums.

Finally a big thanks to 'Robster006' for pointing out the news!