When I first got into James Bond as a kid there was one particular scene in each film that I really looked forward to. It wasn’t the scenes of the cars, it wasn’t the Bond girls, it wasn’t the over-ambitious plots, not the things we love about them as adults – I loved the gadgets. The scenes with Q were the best, that character was the highlight of each movie in my opinion and seeing his tiny rockets, guns, and grenades was like seeing a real life ACME store. It didn’t take long for these scenes to become the chief section of comedic relief in the films, but they remain some of the best scenes of even the worst Bond films. But the chief reason that Bond’s gadgets are still so cool is because they look like regular items. A typical-looking shoe has a knife hidden inside it, a jacket with an inflatable protection bubble, or a camera that shoots lasers. Now with the international release of Skyfall already underway, I thought I’d make a list of my favorite Bond gadgets.
#1 THE CELL PHONE
Tomorrow Never Dies in comparison to all the other Bond films is only a mediocre effort, but the gadgets in the film are some of the best out of the entire series. He’s got the BMW 7540iL, but even better than that is his brand new cell phone. Compared to modern day cell phones, this looks like a total laughing stock–it doesn’t even hold a candle to the free cell phones they give out at service providers–but what it lacks in looks it makes up for in features. My iPhone might be able to stream movies, order things directly from Amazon or eBay and give me directions, but it’s got nothing on this. Bond’s new phone, which resembles the brick Nokias that everyone loves to joke about, has the ability to scan someone’s finger prints and then use them. The phone also has a 20,000 volt taser installed, along with an electronic lock pick built into the detachable antenna. But the real kicker is how it opens up in the middle and has a touch pad control system for the BMW that can control its movements and gadgets. I’m sure it won’t be long before someone has this kind of technology in development.
