20 Things You Didn't Know About Die Another Day

3. “I See You Don’t Chase Dreams, You Live Them.”

Die Another Day
MGM/20th Century Fox

Gustav Graves’s Icelandic ice palace took Peter Lamont and his team nearly six months to build.

It comprised both the bottom third of the exterior of the palace, constructed in the same location on the backlot of Pinewood Studios as the exterior of Fort Knox in Goldfinger (1964) and a fully-realised interior on the Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage, not to mention a miniature of the entire site.

Initially, it was constructed purely as a hotel to house James Bond, Jinx, and Graves’s guests, as well as Jinx’s near-death experience in Miranda Frost’s flooding bedroom whilst the Icarus satellite melts the palace.

However, after shooting had started, Lee Tamahori felt that it would be a shame to waste such a magnificent set and therefore asked Lamont if they could stage the car chase between Bond’s Aston Martin V12 Vanquish and Zao’s Jaguar XKR inside the ice palace as well. The production designer confirmed that they could if the set was rebuilt with structural steel; the additional time and budget were authorised, leading to a new and exciting action sequence.

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I started writing for WhatCulture in July 2020. I have always enjoyed reading and writing. I have contributed to several short story competitions and I have occasionally been fortunate enough to have my work published. During the COVID-19 lockdown, I also started reviewing films on my Facebook page. Numerous friends and contacts suggested that I should start my own website for reviewing films, but I wanted something a bit more diverse - and so here I am! My interests focus on film and television mainly, but I also occasionally produce articles that venture into other areas as well. In particular, I am a fan of the under appreciated sequel (of which there are many), but I also like the classics and the mainstream too.