20 James Bond References You Might Have Missed In Die Another Day
18. The Icarus Satellite
Every Bond villain worthy of the title should have a diabolical plot worthy of respect.
In Die Another Day, Gustav Graves ingratiates himself with the West, constructing a satellite named Icarus without the authorities realising that he is actually developing a space-based superweapon. Ostensibly, Graves has developed the satellite as a means of ensuring that crops can be grown year-round, bringing an end to starvation, but the truth is far more sinister: the purpose of the satellite is to provide North Korea with the clout to become a superpower, if not to actually dominate the world.
The satellite itself is clearly a recreation of Ernst Stavro Blofeld's orbiting diamond-encrusted laser weapon from Diamonds Are Forever.
However, Graves and his scheme are loosely adapted from Ian Fleming's 1955 James Bond novel, Moonraker. In that novel, Sir Hugo Drax is actually a disfigured Nazi named Graf Hugo von der Drache, who has stolen the identity of a British soldier, discovered a rare metal known as columbite (which is strong enough to be used in rocket engines), and develops a type of V-2 rocket to protect Britain from the threat posed by Soviet Russia.
In truth, however, Drax plans to fire the missile on London as retribution for the fall of Nazi Germany and to avenge the Soviets for Britain's past exploits against them. It is only through the ingenuity and endurance of James Bond and Special Branch officer, Gala Brand (the original name for Miranda Frost in Die Another Day) that disaster is averted; although the Moonraker rocket is fired, it lands in the North Sea, killing Drax and his men as they attempt to flee aboard a submarine.