MI6 can reveal the weapon that will threaten the world in "Die Another Day" - a space based weapon called "Icarus".

Icarus - Second Sun
2nd September 2002

Although "Die Another Day" is primarily about Bond's journey to discover who he can trust and who has betrayed him, a space based satellite weapon called "Icarus" is the underlying McGuffin device - a term created by Alfred Hitchcock: "A device or plot element that catches the viewer’s attention or drives the plot. It is generally something that every character is concerned with".

While Colonel Moon lurks in the Ice palace plotting to reunite North and South Korea before waging war on Japan and America, Gustav Graves builds a cache of quality diamonds from his lucrative mining corporation. In a nod to "Diamonds Are Forever", Graves controls a space based satellite that uses powerful diamond based lasers to create a "second sun" which can be targeted on the earth below.

The satellite is controlled by a unique device - a complete cyber body suit that allows the wearer to interact with Icarus. Director Lee Tamahori said, "It started off as a big glove and I said, a big glove isn't that exciting." "And they said, why don't we add a hundred thousand volts, give it defensive capabilities, taser light killing abilities, track ball control - so he (Graves) could wear it as a fighting combat unit as well".

Above: The legend of Daedalus and Icarus inspired the name of the weapon.

Space based weapons are not new to the Bond series. GoldenEye took a real-life technology that was rumoured in the cold war and turned it into Bond reality. The writers are keen to stick to science fact rather than science fiction, as Tamahori explains: "It's a real Russian program that exited then failed through want of money. It's now become our off-the-shelf villainous Star Wars project that could become a reality".

After Bond and Graves (donning the cyber suit) have an athletic showdown in the control suite, the Icarus weapon is turned on the Ice Palace, which melts and crumbles spectacularly while Bond escapes in the Vanquish with Zao hot in his tail in the Jaguar XKR.