20 James Bond References You Might Have Missed In Die Another Day
8. Miranda Frost's Demeanour
Die Another Day features one of Rosamund Pike's earliest film roles and, even before she became an international star, her performance as Miranda Frost does not disappoint.
Miranda is introduced as being a career-driven Bond Girl who might later become the leading lady. This was an approach that the series had taken several times before.
For instance, in Goldfinger, Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman) was apparently "immune" to the charms of Sean Connery's Double-0 Seven, whilst Diana Rigg's Tracy di Vicenzo was scathing towards George Lazenby's James Bond before she finally fell for and married him in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). Even Roger Moore had to work at it sometimes, finally melting the steely resolve of Barbara Bach's Major Anya Amasova in The Spy Who Loved Me and of Lois Chiles's CIA agent, Dr. Holly Goodhead in Moonraker (1979).
Even though Pike's Frost gives Brosnan's Bond the cold shoulder so many times in Die Another Day, she could still have become the film's main Bond Girl. As she is an undercover MI6 agent, both Double-0 Seven and the audience believe that she should have Bond's back, especially after they have slept together. Nevertheless, she proves to be Gustav Graves's willing lieutenant, if not his equal.
Miranda's refusal to return "to the side of right and virtue" is also a reference to Luciana Paluzzi's Fiona Volpe in Thunderball, who stayed loyal to SPECTRE, only bedding Sean Connery's Bond to lull him into a false sense of security.