Scientists Research Into Bond's Martini

Ananova have reported that scientists are trying to find out how to make the perfect martini as enjoyed by James Bond. Specifically, they are researching why martinis which are shaken not stirred are colder and have a different taste.

Dr Francis Scanlan from Quest Internatioanal has said about the experiment, "The version that Mr Bond particularly appreciates is where the ice is shaken in the mixer, then poured. Our experiments show that it is colder. The surface area of the ice in contact with the alcohol is much greater.

"Chemically it is the same drink as one that has been stirred. But it gives an entirely different sensation in the mouth."

Sounds to me that scientists are just looking for an excuse to savour the finer things in life!

Author William Boyd Examines Fleming's Life And Death

Times Online has published an article by author William Boyd (Any Human Heart, Stars and Bars, An Ice-cream War) on the life and final days of James Bond creator Ian Fleming. In the article Boyd examines Fleming's daemons and wish to hurry his inevitable death.

Fleming described himself thus: “I’ve always had one foot not wanting to leave the cradle, and the other in a hurry to get to the grave. It makes rather painful splits of one’s life.” And, one might add, provides a field day for the amateur psychologist.

Boyd compares Ian Fleming, the man, to his creation, calling James Bond, 'a kind of hopelessly remote role model'.

The article also reveals that Ian Fleming himself appears as a minor character in Boyd's latest novel, Any Human Heart.

William Boyd's article entitled Kedgeree, shaken not stirred was published on Times Online 17 April 2002.

CBn Forums Get A Facelift

Thanks to Evan Willnow (known in the forums as Mister Asterix) the CommanderBond.net Forums have recently had a face lift!

The face lift has changed the great functionality of the forums, what's new are some great graphics! But you'll have to visit the forums to see them!

The face-lift comes two days after the forums reached a membership on 600 people! However, in those two days that membership has grown to 612!

So the question still remains, are you a member of the Internets most successful James Bond discussion boards? If not click here to see what you're missing.

Spy Report: Filming At Heatrow

Our source Mr Potato Head has just checked in with some details on filming for Die Another Day that took place at Heathrow Airport in Britain. The filming took only one day and was conducted before by the First Unit before they travelled to Spain.

Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read)

The First Unit used non-public areas of Heathrow Airport to film scenes from Die Another Day, hence, there was no media coverage of the event. Despite this, thanks to Mr Potato Head we’ve learnt details on one scene that was filmed.

The scene involved Pierce Brosnan dropping from the undercarriage of an aircraft onto the runway.

While we don’t have further details on the scene we are free to speculate. I personally believe this scene could be related to two sets that were constructed at Pinewood.

The first set will be shown as being in North Korea. It is the nose of an aircraft and was on the same stage as the helicopter Bond will jump from near Colonel Moon’s base.

The other set is the inside of an aircraft, we learnt of its existance from a photo of a Pinewood stage.

The news article for both of these sets can be found here.

As to the connection between the sets, we’re as yet unsure.

When we have more details you can be sure you'll read about it at CommanderBond.Net!

Until then please discuss this news in this thread of the Die Another Day Forums!

Vic Armstrong Details Major DAD Stunts To Empire Online

In an interview on Empire Online stunt coordinator Vic Armstrong talks about the stunts of Die Another Day including details of both the ice lake chase and the pre-title hovercraft sequence. Among other things, Vic reveals that Pierce was not available for the ice chase filmed in Iceland but that Rick Yune (Zao) was on hand for the chase.

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Pierce was going to come up but they got behind here [at Pinewood Studios] a little bit and couldn't get away. When it came time to go home, they wanted to send Pierce up but the ice would have melted. The day we left it just started melting, you couldn't even walk on it, so it was unfortunate. I shot plates so we can do Pierce back here which is not so bad for him because he's in the covered car whereas the other guy's in the open car. It's more important to Zao really because you see much more of the background when he's chasing around.

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Vic also clarifies details of both Halle Berry's and Pierce Brosnan's injuries. Halle's eye injury was very minor according to Vic, but she did sustain an injury to her shoulder that was just a bit more serious. Pierce's knee problem apparently stemmed from previous problems that Pierce had with his knee.

To Bond fans, the saddest part of Vic's interview has to be when he speaks of the accidental destruction of an Aston Martin Vanquish.

Empire Online also has short story summarizing the stunts revealed that can be found at this link. The entire Vic Armstrong interview can be found at this link. WARNING: Both articles contain some spoilers. Big thanks to 'john007' for pointing out the story.

Discuss this story on the CBN's Die Another Day forums in this thread.

The Entrance To The Underground Revealed

It seems that the entrance to the MI6 Underground Station has been revealed. Earlier today, thanks to our source Mr Potato Head, we learnt that Bond Mild Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read) would be seen entering the station from a public landmark. However, Mr Potato Head was vague as to what this landmark actually was.

I did some research into the area of the Piccadilly Line and the abandoned Down Street Station and I came up with three possible landmarks which are in the close vicinity; Wellington Arch, Apsley House and St. James' Palace.

The Wellington Arch

Taking an educated guess I'm going to theorise that the Wellington Arch is our landmark, this is most notably because it is the closest of the three to Down Street as this map shows.

The Wellington Arch and Down Street highlighted in Blue

Located at Hyde Park Corner, Wellington Arch (known also as Constitution Arch or Green Park Arch), was built in 1826 as the entrance to Buckingham Palace. A statue of the Duke of Wellington was located on top of the arch until 1882 when it was relocated to Aldershot. In 1912 a statue by Captain Adrian Jones, known as 'Peace Descending on the Quadriga of War', was placed on the top. The arch was opened to the public in 2001 having undergone restoration work by the English Heritage.

So if the Wellington Arch is the mentioned public landmark, then how exactly is it a homage to a past Bond film? Well let me begin by saying that it is a homage to the first Bond film, Dr No. If you watch the scenes in Dr No's lair you'll notice a very large painting on one of his walls. This painting is actually a reproduction of the original painting, as the original was actually stolen in 1960 and to this day has never been recovered! According to Bond-lore Dr No was responsible for the theft! But that still doesn't explain the homage does it? Well yes, it does. The painting is actually of the Duke Of Wellington, who the Wellington Arch is named after!

If you'd like to discuss the homage please visit this thread of the Die Another Day Forums and if you'd like to discuss the underground scene please visit this thread!

Places To Buy 'The Man With The Red Tattoo'

I've just received word that Raymond Benson's latest James Bond adventure The Man With The Red Tattoo is already stocked in 'Books Etc…' which is in Trafford Centre near Manchester. (Thanks to Tel for letting me know!) For those of us who don't live near Manchester our best bet is getting the book online. So with the help of 'Zencat' and 'John007' I've put together this small list of outlets which should allow you to get the best price.

The UK Edition of The Man With The Red Tattoo is not due for release till May 2 and for the US Edition you'll have to wait till June.

You can be sure that CommanderBond.net will have reviews for the forthcoming novel very soon!

UK Edition

Amazon (UK) – 1st UK Edition. Price: £18.99

Amazon (Germany) – 1st UK Edition. Price: EUR 33,24

Bol.Com (UK) – 1st UK Edition. Price: £17.09

Chapters (US/CA) – 1st UK Edition. Price: $34.95

The James Bond International Fan Club (UK) – 1st UK Edition. Price: £18.99 / $26.21 – First 30 sold will be signed by Raymond Benson

Mad About Books – 1st UK Edition. Price: £18.99

Post Mortem Books (Sussex, UK) – 1st UK Edition. Price: £19.00

US Edition

Amazon (US) – 1st US Edition. Price: $16.77

Amazon (Germany) – 1st US Edition. Price: EUR 29,44

Barnes And Nobels (US) – 1st US Edition. Price: $19.16

Barnes And Nobels (US) – 1st US Edition. Price: $19.16

Buy.Com (US) – 1st US Edition. Price: $17.00

Another Homage To Fleming Discovered In DAD

The CommanderBond.Net Forum users have done it again!

Pierce Brosnan recently revealed that Die Another Day has several "winks" to past Bond adventures. One of the most obvious is the recently revealed bikini that Halle Berry's character Jinx will be wearing, however, the forum users have recently discovered another in this picture which was recently revealed by CommanderBond.Net.

So what is the wink? It's the cigarette advert on the tunnel wall. The poster is of the Players Cigarette Boy, and he is mentioned by Domino in the chapter 'Cardboard Hero' in the novel Thunderball by Ian Fleming.

"I would like a packet of Players… I need my Hero" Domino tells Bond. Bond asks her what she means by 'Hero' and she explains, "My one true love! The man of my dreams. The sailor on the front of the packet of Players. You have never thought about him as I have… You don't understand the romance of this wonderful picture – one of the great masterpieces of this world. This man was the first I ever sinned with. I took him into the woods, I loved him in the dormatory. I spent nearly all my pocket money on him. In exchange…" And so Domino continues, for another page to be precise.

The Players Cigarette Boy plays quite a role in the character development of Domino, and here he is, in a homage in the 20th James Bond film.

To whomever working on the productions decided to include this image in Die Another Day, I tip my hat to you.

I also tip my hat to 'Mr. Solo' and 'al' who first noticed the relevance of the poster in this thread of the Die Another Day Forums.

Spy Report: Accessing The Underground

Over the past few days CommanderBond.Net has managed to uncover some great details on the MI6 Secret Underground Station. Well one of our sources, Mr Potato Head, has just checked in with some details on how staff of MI6 can gain entrance to the station, however, Mr Potato Head is being quite elusive so we may need your help!

There is no major plot information in the following spy report so I'm sure most people will read it, however, for those who are completely spoiler conscious we've hidden the text.

Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read)

While I don’t believe we’ll see how M or Q will enter the underground station Mr Potato Head tells us that we will see Bond enter the station.

Originally the script called for Bond to enter the area from another London Underground Station, an operational one. However, this concept was changed to have Bond enter the station in a more Bond-ish way. Bond will enter the station from a well known “public landmark / structure”.

So what is the structure?

Hopefully someone will be able to help us figure it out. If you think you know, or would like to discuss any of the news, please visit this thread in the Die Another Day Forums!

When we find out the structure, you can be sure that we'll let you know!

Finally, thanks to Mr Potato Head for sending in that information!

Douglas James & The Steam Train…

As most people are now aware Douglas James, the Pierce Brosnan look-alike, has filmed a spoof Die Another Day TV commercial. DouglasJames.co.uk has now published these three pictures (which are copyrighted and not to be hosted anywhere else), which shows pictures from three commercials that James has recently filmed; all Bond related.

The first picture is from the recent Steam Train commercial.