Gustav Graves' Plane, also known as the Gustav Graves' Antonov, is a aircraft owned by villain Gustav Graves, which also features as a major location in the 2002 James Bond movie Die Another Day, where the final conflict takes place. It is a modified Antonov An-124-100 Ruslan, which acts as Gustav Graves' personal transport, as well as the observation aircraft for his use of the Icarus orbital solar weapon against South Korea.
It is also featured in the Bond video game 007 Legends, recreating the scenes from the movie Die Another Day.
History[]
Gustav Graves' Antonov in North Korea.
Gustav Graves' Antonov first appears in Iceland, after he has used the Icarus to try kill James Bond escaping in Graves' Ice Dragster. Gustav and his associates begin boarding the Antonov while Bond, in his Aston Martin Vanquish, ends up fighting Zao and his Jaguar XKR. Once Graves is aboard, he has Vlad load out the Icarus controls again. Gustav proceeds to use Icarus to melt his Ice Palace, where he has Jinx imprisoned at. After decimating the Ice Palace, Gustav and co. leave, with them believing that they have killed Bond and Jinx. However, Bond and Jinx survive, with the two seeing the Antonov fly away.
The plane lands in North Korea, to pick up some possessions of Gustav Graves, as well as his father, General Moon. However, this ends up allowing Bond and Jinx the opportunity to get aboard the plane.
At the command center, Graves in his Exoskeleton, meets with his father. Meanwhile, Bond and Jinx get inside the cargo bay, which has Graves' cars that weren't destroyed in the opening (The yellow Ferrari F355 and the red Lamborghini Diablo), as well as an MD600N helicopter loaded with diamonds. Jinx goes to the plane's cockpit, while Bond goes to find Graves in the command room.
Meanwhile at the command room, Graves activates the Icarus and proceeds to use it to pave a path through the minefield between the two Koreas. Graves' father orders him to stop at gunpoint, which forces Graves to kill him. Subsequently, Bond reaches the command room and caught by a sentry who tries to draw a gun on him, but ends up accidentally shooting a window which depressurizes the deck. Vlad and the remaining North Korean officers are sucked into the void, while Bond and Graves engage in a fist-fight to the death -- all the while Jinx tries to keep the plane steady and the Icarus' solar ray still active.
Suddenly, Miranda Frost appears behind Jinx, with a rapier drawn at Jinx's cheek. Jinx directs the Antonov towards the solar beam, hoping it will serve as a distraction later. Bond and Graves keep fighting when the plane flies at close proximity of the solar beam, significantly damaging the plane. Frost and Jinx are at the arsenal room when the beam skirts, allowing Jinx to get out of grip of Frost and gets herself a weapon to fight off Miranda.
Icarus-scorched Antonov
Jinx succeeds killing Miranda in duel, while Graves has gotten the upper hand on Bond and plans to escape via parachute. However, Bond reaches Graves' parachute cord, which causes him to get sucked outside, with the former having to grab onto a door frame to avoid getting sucked into the turbines. Bond sets off the electrocution function of Graves' suit, which causes Graves to get shocked and lose grip, getting sucked in the turbine. Thus Graves' exoskeleton is destroyed and the Icarus beam ceases.
With the derelict plane starting to disintegrate, Bond and Jinx deem they need to get out. They go back to the cargo hold and deject the cars in order to get out with the MD600N Helicopter. Bond and Jinx get out just before the Antonov explodes.
Filming[]
Gustav Graves' Plane is actually two different Antonov-124 planes, a real one with register "UR-82007" and a CGI one. The CGI Antonov actually has the "bombardier's window" for Gustav Graves' observation room - where the final fight takes place - while the real one does not. The CGI double is mainly used during the final sequence, where it is damaged by the Icarus' solar ray.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- At the time when Die Another Day was being made (i.e. circa 2002), the Antonov An-124 Ruslan was the largest mass-production aircraft in the world. It was surpassed by the Boeing 747-8 in 2008/2010.
- The register on Gustav's Antonov has a little easter egg, in that its "UR-82007".