Music Video
The music video was directed by Traktor, a Swedish directing team, and filmed from August 22–27, 2002 at Hollywood Center Studios in Hollywood, California. The video features references to Honey Ryder (from 1962's Dr No), Rosa Klebb and Blofeld's white Persian cat (from 1963's From Russia With Love), Oddjob and Jill Masterson (from 1964's Goldfinger), Tee Hee's metal arm from the 1973 Live and Let Die, Francisco Scaramanga's golden gun from 1974's The Man With The Golden Gun, as well as a spacesuit, a fencing battle in a Venetian glass factory, and a Jaws-like man with metal teeth, all referencing 1979's Moonraker, and even contains a reference to Luke Skywalker's lightsaber battle with Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back. And from the film of the same name, the opening titles torture scene with General Moon, a portrait of the then-Bond Pierce Brosnan from a fight scene with Gustav Graves, and the dual role (in black and white fencing costumes) played by double agent Miranda Frost, herself a protege of Verity, played in the film by Madonna herself. The very end of the video has sparked some discussion as Madonna appears to escape Houdini-like from the electric chair, leaving behind only a smouldering chair with a Hebrew expression לאו, a phrase that can be interpreted as "great escape" or "freedom," one of the "72 Names of God," used in the Kabbalah. The video ends with the gun barrel sequence, as Madonna throws open the doors of the torture facility in her escape. The total production costs for the video were over $6,000,000, making it the second most expensive music video ever made, after "Scream" by Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson.
- Director: Traktor (Mats Lindberg, Pontus Löwenhielm, Ole Sanders)
- Producer: Jim Bouvet
- Director of Photography: Harris Savides
- Editor: Rick Russell
- Production Company: Traktor Films
Read more about this topic: Die Another Day (song)
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