James Bonds Best Gadgets
With the release of Spectre – which stars Daniel Craig as James Bond for a fourth time – just a week away we at intotheblue have begun thinking about all of the gadgets 007 has used to squeeze out of tight situations. Top technology is synonymous with Bond’s slick style, and there are plenty of contenders that could make it onto our list of best gadgets – but then we would be here all day! So, we’ve selected six of our favourites to make things a bit more manageable.
1. Laser Watch
When Pierce Brosnan first graced our screens as Bond in 1995, the MI6 hero had been on hiatus for 6 years. Just as well, then, he returned with a whole load of new Gadgets in Golden Eye – not least an impressive new watch. However, this piece of Swiss silver wasn’t just a fashion statement; it also had a metal munching laser beam for those everyday situations that require it. For example, when Bond is trapped inside the soon to explode train he uses the beam from his trusty time-keeper to create an escape hatch and live to die another day.
2. Underwater Car
Before Marty Mcfly and Back to the Future gave us Hover-boards, James Bond and his gadget guru Q gave us the underwater car. It first made an appearance in the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me, the 10th in the franchise and the 3rd to star Roger Moore as bond. The iconic car was in fact a fully operational Lotus Esprit S1, and sold for £500,000 at auction in 2013. ‘Wet Nellie’, reportedly cost the production company close to £100,000 at the time to convert into a working submarine – taking inflation into account that’s close to £600,000 in today’s money.
3. Remote Controlled BMW
Over the years, lots of Bonds gadgets have been inside, fired from or attached to his car. In 1997, however, this changed. With the new film came a new auto-mobile – the BWM 750iL, but with an added benefit. His Ericsson mobile phone was linked, in what one can only presume was a very early version of icloud, to the controls of the car and folded out to reveal a pad that controlled speed and direction; with the LCD screen capturing the action. This feature was accompanied by Siri’s French auntie, who very kindly navigates bond out of a car park while he’s being shot at by baddies, allowing him to relax on the back seat as this clip shows:
4. Glass Shattering Ring
Watches, as it happens, aren’t the only jewellery gadgets that Bond has used on-screen. In Die Another Day (2002) he is given a silver sonic ring that has the ability to shatter glass, which comes in handy when James finds himself trapped behind bullet proof windowpane. Let’s just hope he takes the stairs if he ever visits Willy Wonka!
5. Rocket Propelled Cigarette
In the 1967 film You Only Live Twice, Sean Connery’s fifth stint in the franchise, Bond is given a cigarette – but this isn’t to calm his nerves. The smoking stick is in fact a weapon, which fires a projectile over 25 yards. Perhaps that is why Bond has stuck to cigars over the years!
6. Jetpack
Perhaps one the most iconic scenes from the 1965 Bond flick Thunderball is his escape in the first scenes on a jet pack. The device used for this scene is actually what’s known as a Rock Belt, which at the time ‘was fully functional’. The flying device was originally developed for the use by the Army ‘but was rejected because of its flight time’ which only lasted around 20 seconds.
Of course, the life of a secret agent isn’t for everyone. But, if the imminent release of Spectre has you fancying yourself to be the next James Bond, you could try our spy day. Alternatively, if the new film has completely put you off, we also have a spa days that could see you relaxing on a sun-lounger with a Vodka Martini – shaken, not stirred.