To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the EON Productions series, homages were paid to all the James Bond adventures that went before...

Die Another Day Homages

28th March 2010

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the EON Productions series, homages were paid to all the 19 James Bond adventures that went before. In the most blatant nod to fans, Q mentions in his laboratory as he hands Bond his new watch: "This is your twentieth, I believe," referencing that this was the twentieth film.

Dr. No (1962)
Jinx walking out of the sea in a bikini, wearing a white belt and a diving knife, is an obvious homage to the iconic Ursula Andress moment. The pistol Jinx uses is a Beretta. In "Dr. No", the Armorer remarks to 007 that the Beretta made a good woman's pistol. The gun was used on a teaser poster for "Die Another Day". During the "Kiss Of Life" scene, David Arnold's film score includes samples of the same electronic sounds heard in the gun barrel sequence of "Dr. No." In that film, Bond asks if the government house sent him a car; he uses the name "Universal Exports" in order to be patched through. In this movie, Bond claims he is from Universal Exports asking about the Delectados (cigars) in order to gain access to the contact in Cuba.

From Russia with Love (1963)
The shoe with the poison-tipped blade is seen in Q's station laboratory. There is a knife concealed in a briefcase. In the ice palace sequence, there is a game board (the chess match). Enemy spies are behind a one-way mirror in a hotel room with cameras. When they first meet, Jinx tells James her name, and adds, "My friends call me Jinx." Bond replies, "Mine call me James Bond." In "From Russia with Love", Tatiana Romanova introduces herself and adds, "My friends call me Tania," and Bond gives the same reply.

Goldfinger (1964)
Jinx is nearly cut with a laser in Mr. Kil's laboratory. Bond once again drives a gadget-laden Aston Martin, specifically with a passenger ejector seat. The new Q comments that, as he learned from his predecessor, "I never joke about my work, 007." The scene where Bond and Graves fence for money, only to see Bond up the stakes for one of Graves' diamonds, is suggestive of the golf match between Bond and Auric Goldfinger. The golf match had originally been for money, until Bond throws down a gold brick to "up the stakes". In the pre-title sequence, Bond removes a wetsuit to reveal ordinary clothes underneath.

Thunderball (1965)
The jet-pack is in Q's workshop. Bond uses the underwater rebreather system again. After Bond comes through the window of the medical facility in Cuba, he grabs a few grapes as he did before making his exit from a room in the medical center in "Thunderball".

You Only Live Twice (1967)
The name of the ship Bond is on is HMS Tenby, the same ship that was used to fake his burial at sea.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
"OHMSS" can be seen written on a CD on Moneypenny's desk as she types a report at the end of the film. Bond escapes from another huge avalanche. During the ice field car chase, the score references the opening to this movie's theme.

Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
While fencing with Bond, Graves says, "Well, diamonds are for everyone." Much of the plot includes diamonds. A large satellite is uncovered in space and has the power to harness the sun's rays and project them as a fine laser to destroy any given target. In the "High Life" magazine article for Gustav Graves' diamond company, the caption at the bottom says, "Diamonds are forever, but life isn't" A villain changes his appearance. One character calls another "Bitch!" in a single line - this was, famously, the first strong curse word used in a Bond film.

Live and Let Die (1973)
The laser causes row upon row of explosions across a vegetated area, in this case detonating thousands of land mines, and is reminiscent of the extermination of Kananga's poppy fields. Bond uses the same revolver used on the island of St. Monique.

The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
The Field office of MI6 is on a ship in the Hong Kong harbor. Bond retrieves a diamond from Jinx's navel (bullet in the belly-dancer's navel). There is a solar-powered superweapon.

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Graves uses a Union Jack parachute. When Madonna's character Verity is introduced, a few bars of "Nobody Does it Better" is heard.

Moonraker (1979)
Moon's hovercraft falls down by a large waterfall in a manner similar to Jaws' boat going over the Iguaçu Falls. Bond surfaces in a bubbling pool of water surrounded by much interior vegetation, similar to the scene with the water python in Drax's headquarters. Both movies have spies named Chang. Bond and a villain fight over a parachute.

For Your Eyes Only (1981)
The scene as Bond hangs onto the ice cliff (before it collapses) resembles the climax near the monastery, especially as the rope slips and Bond drops some distance further down the cliff, although this time it was all performed from a vehicle. The yellow diving helmet in Q's lab.

Octopussy (1983)
Both the crocodile submarine and the AcroStar MiniJet are visible in the background in Q's station laboratory. Upping the stakes on a bet with the villain (see also Goldfinger). Jinx's backward fall to escape echoes Magda's exit from Bond's suite. Q's coil of "magic rope" being kept on the lowest shelf in the Q lab, along with a lot of the five-pointed knife.

A View to a Kill (1985)
Graves watches over the destruction that he wreaks from the front windows of his aircraft in the same way that Zorin watched Silicon Valley from his aircraft before it flooded. The electronic snooper is in Q's lab. Bond's cover is blown by his picture being taken and run through a facial recognition program.

The Living Daylights (1987)
Cars exit the rear cargo hold of the plane. Bond's Aston Martin had retractable spikes in the tires controlled by a switch labeled traction. When Bond is driving Graves' rocket car, he drives through a patch of trees and bits are shorn off, just as the skis on the Aston Martin are removed by trees in The Living Daylights.

Licence to Kill (1989)
The plot idea of Bond going renegade, although this time it is less through choice. M rescinds Bond's licence to kill. Bond uses a rifle as a sniper. When Bond disarms the Chinese "masseuse", she has her weapon concealed in exactly the same fashion as Pam Bouvier. A projectile misses Bond's car when it passes underneath. The hanging yellow laser controller in Kil's lab is the same one that operates the trap door over the shark tank in Krest's warehouse. Bond puts the Alvarez Clinic ticket inside his right jacket pocket, and later pulls it out of the left one. In "Licence to Kill", Bond puts his airplane ticket first into his inner left jacket pocket, only to inexplicably remove it later on from his inner right jacket pocket.

GoldenEye (1995)
Bond's watch contains a laser, which he uses to cut through a section of ice, reminiscent of his escape from the train by cutting through the floor. Jinx sets the timer for the bomb at the gene therapy lab in Cuba to three minutes, the same three minutes that Bond set the timers for in the chemical weapons lab and later Trevelyan set the timers for on the bullet train. Bond is betrayed by a fellow agent. Bond says to Jinx that "the cold must have kept you alive" - In "Goldeneye" Bond tells Natalya Simonova that being cold is what keeps him alive. The opening title sequences feature a gold eye that opens.

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) Remote control car. Jinx descends on grappling lines, reminiscent of Wai-Lin's entrance/escape. Bond escapes by being tethered and running down a wall similar to Wai-Lin's escape. There is a fake headline on Moneypenny's computer. In the pre-credits sequence in Korea, Bond jumps onto a hovercraft and spins round firing missiles, much like the pre-credits sequence of "Tomorrow Never Dies" where Bond spins a military jet and uses its guns and missiles. A Chinese character called Chang. The footage showing a ship launching the anti-satellite missile, is exactly the same footage used in the pre-titles scene of TND, where the ship launches a cruise missile against the terrorist camp. Bond's car "speaks" with the same voice in both films. The World Is Not Enough (1999) Bond dives over Graves as they fence to do a forward roll as he lands, in a manner similar to the shoot-out between Renard's men and himself where he dives through a closing door and rolls the other side. As Bond dives to safety from Moon's flamethrower on the hovercraft, the shot of his dive from in front is almost identical to another scene where Bond is diving from an exploding bomb with Christmas. The use of a geodesic dome.

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