Die Another Day location: The entrance to ‘Vauxhall Cross’: Westminster Bridge, London SW1
Lee Tamahori
brings a touch of grittiness and – almost – realism to the early scenes (could you imagine
Roger Moore
’s Bond going shaggily unshaven?) , but is let down by some cheesy effects and downright silly gimmicks (invisible cars!).
The opening surfing scene features what are claimed to be the biggest waves in the world at a
Peahi Beach
, called ‘Jaws’, on the north coast of
Maui
,
Hawaii
.
Bond comes ashore, however, at
Holywell Bay
, near
Newquay
in
Cornwall
. ‘North Korea’ is largely the backlot at
Pinewood Studios
in
England
, though airborne scenes filed at the army base in
Aldershot
in
Hampshire
.
‘Hong Kong’ was also faked on sets, and the US blockade of Cuba meant that the real ‘Havana’ was out of the question.
Cadiz
, on the Atlantic coast of
Spain
(where it rained constantly), stood in for the Cuban capital, but the interior of the cigar factory, where Bond drops the magic name Universal Exports in his search for Zao, is
Simpson House, 92 Stoke Newington Road
, north
London
.
And how times change. Remember
Sean Connery
’s Bond dissing that shocking threat to civilised society, the Fab Four, in
Goldfinger
(“like listening to the Beatles without earplugs”)? The arrival of
Brosnan
’s Bond in the capital is heralded by a burst of The Clash.
The entrance to the (fictitious) ‘Vauxhall Cross’ tube station is a security booth at the southern end of
Westminster Bridge
, by the old
County Hall
. The guys who work there are supposedly getting a bit pissed off with Bondites banging on their door, wanting to see the mysterious lost station. But you’re not that dumb, are you? It's a movie, for God’s sake, the interior is a set. Duh!
On the Thames-side walkway alongside – but seemingly a world away – is the spot where
Alfred Hitchcock
put in his cameo appearance in his 1972 thriller
Frenzy
.
The station set is based on the old, unused Aldwych Station, on the Strand, which itself has been used in loads of films, including
An American Werewolf in London
,
Sliding Doors
,
Prick Up Your Ears
,
The Krays
and the supremely creepy
Death Line
(where it stood in for Russell Square Station).
Further west, on the South Bank of the Thames, alongside
Vauxhall Bridge
, stands the genuine
Vauxhall Cross
(albeit without a station), the fancy new HQ of the real MI6, and seen at the start of the boat chase in
The World Is Not Enough
.
Gustav Graves (
Toby Stephens
) makes a spectacular entrance, parachuting down in front of
Buckingham Palace
at the top of the
Mall
.
Die Another Day location: The duel in ‘Blades’: The Reform Club, Pall Mall, London SW1
Gentleman’s club ‘Blades’ is mainly a set, as you can tell from the way the surroundings are treated, but the central section of the fencing duel and the lobby, where Bond receives the mysterious key, are the
Reform Club, 104 Pall Mall
, seen in
Guy Ritchie
’s revamp of
Sherlock Holmes
, the 2001 remake of
The Four Feathers
with
Heath Ledger
, the 1998 big screen version of
The Avengers
,
Lindsay Anderson
’s anarchic
O Lucky Man!
and
Roger Donaldson
’s
The Bounty
. Although the
Reform
was the starting point for Phileas Fogg's journey in Jules Verne’s
Around the World in Eighty Days
, a different London club was used for the 1956 epic film. In the 22nd Bond film,
Quantum of Solace
, the
Reform
becomes the government office to which M is summoned to answer for 007’s behaviour.
Graves’s ice palace is in
Iceland
, where the ice chase filmed on the frozen
Lake Jokulsarlon
, near
Hofn
. The biodome interior is based on the
Eden
Project
,
Bodelva
, a complex of three geodesic domes, four miles east of
St Austell
in
Cornwall
. It’s an ambitious biosphere project designed to promote the relationship between plants, people and resources.
The real
Eden
Project
, is briefly glimpsed as Jinx (a stunt double, not
Halle Berry
) rappels down.
The exotic beach-house, where Bond and Jinx finally get it together among the diamonds, is
Penbryn
, between Aberystwyth and Cardigan,
Wales
. The ‘love nest’ took a team of eight several days to construct, though it appears on screen for seconds, and neither
Pierce Brosnan
nor
Halle Berry
appeared at the location.