Geeks can’t help raving about them. Diehard fans are drooling over them. Moviegoers are awestruck by their sleek bodies. Before you get other ideas, let me lay it down straight: James Bond gadgets are the most amazing artistic creation that ever graced the silver screen aside from James Bond himself.
Half a century of BONDage has brought a hefty clutch of cool gadgets which are more than what meets the eye. In the hands of a professional spy like Bond, anything ordinary becomes lethal. A common-looking watch becomes a tracking device, and a harmless pen can literally turn into something mightier than the sword.
To satisfy your burning curiosity, I’ve listed the top ten James Bond gadgets that made us see all 22 movies of 007’s conquest to save the world.
10. Garrote Watch
There’s nothing like a timepiece that tells you the time and also serves as a way to annihilate an enemy. The garrote watch from the 007 franchise, From Russia with Love definitely proves that lethal weapons come in small packages. A thin wire can be drawn from this wristwatch truly making handy when James Bond needed to annihilate a nemesis named Red Grant.
9. Electro-Magnetic RPM Controller (Diamonds are Forever)
This is one of those gadgets you would truly wish to have existed. It is a ring that, when used, ascertains a jackpot at the slot machine. You might not be able to protect yourself from enemies by this, but you’ll definitely protect yourself from being broke anytime.
8. Pen Gun (Never Say Never)
Now, this gadget is the motherload of trickery and danger. Concealed in the form of a fountain pen with a printed image of the Union Flag of UK, it can fire an explosive charge on an enemy. In the movie, Bond used his pen gun to foil Fatimah Bush, but before he finally did, the gadget took some time to fire. Despite that, this one clever gadget can save you at the last minute.
7. Safe-cracking Device (Moonraker)
There are times when Bond has to play the bad guy to save the world like stealing weapons and what-not from enemies. Using the safe-cracking device with the technology to render an x-ray of the safe to be cracked, the device is concealed in a harmless looking cigarette case. No wonder, Bond was able to steal a considerable lot because of this device.
6. Polarizing Gadgets (A View to Kill)
Through this gadget, Bond becomes an omnipotent killing machine that can be stealth enough to know what’s behind closed doors. It allows the ability to see clearly through tinted glass.
5. Door Decoder (A View to Kill)
In a career in spying, one needs to learn how to crack the most complex codes and open the most guarded doors. Through this door decoder, a technology developed by Q Branch, Bond can crack any door open no matter how strict the security may be. It can fit into any keypad locked electronic door, finds the correct combination and flashes it on screen. Getting into tightly-secured rooms is never difficult when you have this gadget.
4. Aston Martin DBS V12 (Casino Royale)
This is the personification of classic and beauty in four wheels mode. The Aston Martin DBS V12 might not have the hoots and whistles like an adaptive camouflage or anything as fancy as that, but its features are just enough to stop the villain from hoarding more money and eventually causing more worldly troubles. Aston comes with items such as a defibrillator and anti-poison/chemical combi-pens. These add-ons truly made Bond’s life easier in his conquest to save the world.
3. BMW 750il (Tomorrow Never Dies)
BMW is the car of the elites, but through the magic and genius of Branch Q, this baby has been transformed from luxurious to deadly. It contains a surprising number of modifications including bullet-proof windows and body, tear gas features emitted from the sides of the car, mini-missiles coming out of its sunroof, metal spike dispensers in the rear, re-inflatable tires, and lethal grenades (whew). Being a true James Bond vehicle, the BMW 750il can be accessed only by Bond himself through his high-end mobile phone. If anyone else dares to lay a finger on its door handles, this BMW can deliver strong electric shocks enough to make anyone pass out. This is one touchy car.
2. BMW Z8 (The World is Not Enough)
We first caught sight of this pimped James Bond vehicle in The World is Not Enough. This remote-controlled car is equipped with missiles and a set of weaponry that become really handy when James Bond had to destroy one of the helicopters in the film. The BMW Z8 is absolutely a mammoth of a vehicle.
We’ve seen Bond steer, ride and strut these high tech vehicles. With the release of his next flick, Quantum of Solace, more James Bond vehicles are sure to grace the screen. After all, a James Bond film is not complete without some roaring machines.
1. Aston Martin V12 Vanquish (Die Another Day)
This car doesn’t only bridge the gap between the road and tracks. Staying true to its signature innovativeness and sleek design, this Aston plays tricks on your eyes with its awesome additional option, Adaptive Camouflage (the what?). In simpler and less complicated English, it just means that this beauty can literally disappear before your very eyes. Without magic or frills, the Aston Martin V12 Vanquish uses “tiny cameras on all sides to project the image they see onto a light emitting polymer skin on the opposite side”. Once again, in plain and less complicated English, the technology of the car makes it invisible to the naked eye.
It’s beautiful and dandy, but the car also has deadly tricks behind its front-grille. Armed with a bevy of other cool James Bond gadgets, the Aston Martin V12 Vanquish also boasts of missiles, machine guns, spiked tires, and target-seeking shotguns. When all these are not enough to send to destroy the enemies, James Bond could always use the car’s customary ejector seat. Real sleek, isn’t it?
David
