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Fact and Fiction Behind Bond's Gadgets 323

Posted by michael from the movie-promotion-entirely-coincidental dept.
bubblegoose writes "With the new 007 movie coming out soon MSNBC is running a story about some of the fact and fiction behind the Bond gadgets."
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Fact and Fiction Behind Bond's Gadgets More

Fact and Fiction Behind Bond's Gadgets

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  • My name is.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by grub ( 11606 ) <slashdot@grub.net> on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @03:11PM (#4709515) Homepage Journal

    Troll... James Troll.

  • YAWN! (Score:5, Funny)

    by jmoriarty ( 179788 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @03:15PM (#4709573)
    That's nice. Someone please wake me for the article on the Fact and Fiction Behind Bond's Women. (Especially the Fiction!)

    • Then I guess you must have missed... (Score:5, Informative)

      by IPFreely ( 47576 ) <mark@mwiley.org> on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @04:11PM (#4710032) Homepage Journal
      ... the special on cable TV (What channel was that anyway?) called "Bond Girls". It was reviews and interviews with most of the women who have played Bond girls over the years.

      It was hosted by Maryam d'Abo [imdb.com] of The Living Daylights. She went around searching for and interviewing women from Ursula Andress (of Dr. No) through Hally Berry.

      It's probably not the show you were looking for (no pr0n here), but it was a good show.

      • ...do Bond women have to say? Especially in the more recent movies, when they're reduced to saying "Oh James!"

        Nothing against the actresses personally -- but the women used to be more interesting, more sexy, more dangerous (don't the two go hand in hand). It seems like the franchise has taken an already vapid role and made it ... vapider? When the Bond girl is tough at the outset, she pretty much melts once Bond shows up, which is OK, but stays melted. Boooooring.

        OK, Ian Fleming wrote the books, it's his world. But didn't they run out of books a while ago?

        I wouldn't want to cross Domino, though. Does she count as a Bond girl?

        Who was the best Bond girl (woman) as pinup? As adversary?

        • Re:What the hell... (Score:5, Informative)

          by Enry ( 630 ) <enry@@@wayga...net> on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @06:09PM (#4711006) Journal
          Go read "The Spy Who Loved Me". It's a drastic departure for what you expect from Bond. For one thing, it takes place in upstate NY (Lake George area). For another, it is written from the perspective of a Canadian woman who was educated in England and was driving from Canada to Florida and got stuck...in Lake George.

          For those of you that think Fleming wrote most of the movies, it WAS true for a little while. Dr. No, From Russia With Love, and most of Goldfinger were true to the novels. Even Thunderball and On Her Majesty's Secret Service. But most of the rest were either very different from the books, or were short enough to be reduced to the opening sequence (The Living Daylights). Go spend the time to hunt through E-Bay or your local used bookstore to find them. It's worth it.

          • Re:What the hell... (Score:5, Informative)

            by Robotech_Master ( 14247 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @06:34PM (#4711190) Homepage Journal
            Just be sure you don't end up with a book I picked up in a used bookstore a while ago because it looked amusing: the novelization of The Spy Who Loved Me, written by Maibaum's co-script-writer for that movie. Apparently the filmmakers were uncomfortable about the movie being so different from the book, so they wanted to put something on store shelves that people would at least recognize as similar. Quite bizarre.

            Many people don't realize this, but the fact is, Fleming never intended to write the James Bond books just for the sake of writing them. From the very beginning, he had his eye on lucrative TV/movie adaptations. The very first adaptation was of Casino Royale in 1959, on an otherwise forgettable CBS anthology TV series. It made James Bond American and put him in the CIA. (I saw a tape of that episode in Best Buy years ago, before I knew what it was, and I'm still kicking myself for not buying it.) The rights issues surrounding this early sale led to the subsequent Casino Royale Woody Allen parody.

            When interest arose in making movies from his books (largely because President Kennedy was seen reading Dr. No), Fleming told the Broccolis, in effect, "If you can use the plot, use it. If you can just use the title, use it. I don't care, as long as you pay me."

            If you're wondering how I know this, I took an intersession course in James Bond a couple years ago at my local college (Southwest Missouri State University)'s media department. It was most informative.

            (Did you know that Ian Fleming also did the concept development work for The Man From U.N.C.L.E.? Or that all three leads from the Bond-copycat series The Avengers ended up with roles in James Bond movies?)

  • See through glasses.... (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Those x-ray (re: see through clothes) glasses from the last Bond movie were really cool...

  • Poll (Score:2, Insightful)

    by selderrr ( 523988 )
    now there's a poll for which you can't have enough options...

    Seriously, apart from rocket shooting cars, I've found most Bond accesoires rather dumb. A laser wristwatch strong enough to burn your way into a steel safe ? Com'on, we're geeks, but even those don't believe everything !

    • Re:Poll (Score:2, Funny)

      by Ralph Wiggam ( 22354 )
      I'm with you on that one. Not only are the gadgets themselves pretty dumb, but the applications of the gadgets are insanely limited. Yet, stragely enough, Bond finds himself in the exact situation where that gadget can come into play.

      The BMW that you can drive from a little control pad? For all those times you need to hide in the back seat and control the car, duh. Why are you able to get into the back seat but not the front seat? Ummm...hhmmmm...

      -B

  • gadget realness (Score:4, Funny)

    by Sensitive_Clod ( 625347 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @03:19PM (#4709602)
    "CIA-types and geeks love to bicker over that one." i always thought it was the dmca.

  • Quote from the article: (Score:5, Funny)

    by Indras ( 515472 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @03:19PM (#4709603)
    "The world of James Bond is fiction. Bond wouldn't last 4 minutes as a real spy."

    Spoken like a true jealous wannabe.

  • BMW by gamepad (Score:5, Funny)

    by unfortunateson ( 527551 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @03:19PM (#4709604) Journal
    I'm not a huge fan of Brosnan as Bond, but one of the few high notes of his 007 career is the glee on his face while operating the BMW from the rear seat using his phone as a controller. Too bad there's probably too much concrete in that garage to get a decent cell signal. Could be Bluetooth in addition to cell, neh? I don't recommend that as an option in newer cars: I've seen how my kids drive on the PlayStation.

  • Screw James Bonde's Gadgets (Score:4, Insightful)

    by garoush ( 111257 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @03:20PM (#4709610) Homepage
    While Bonde may have the coolest gadgets of them all, the best are those used in the movie: "The Sum of All Fears" where our hero's c-phone and PDA just keeps on working fine in the middle of a radioactive explosion. Can Bonde beat that? I think not -- he is British not an American. Go figure.
  • If they could only come up with a gadget to make the IRS lose my tax records.
  • With a car like Bond's I could get layed and be a /. junkie.

  • Minus minus makes plus, errhh... (Score:4, Funny)

    by infolib ( 618234 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @03:22PM (#4709630)
    Now if you're the type who can't help un-suspending your disbelief

    I am not able to flatly deny that I couldn't be the type of person that isn't completely excluded from that set of people. Are you?

  • Not in my world (Score:5, Funny)

    by joebagodonuts ( 561066 ) <`moc.liamg' `ta' `lnrkmc'> on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @03:23PM (#4709639) Homepage Journal
    "The girls, you could argue, are just a distraction in James Bond films."

  • The interviewee doesn't get it (Score:5, Insightful)

    by DougJohnson ( 595893 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @03:24PM (#4709657)
    A big part of this article is how the movie "Just doesn't get it" which is of course the biggest load.

    Of course the movie gets it. What the commenter doesn't get is that the movie is about fantasy. It's not trying to be a realistic portrayal of life as a spy, it's about selling copies, giving kids a fantastical role model, and being down right entertaining. everyone (well, men) want to be Bond at some point of Bonds career or another, loads of people mimic Bond's speach. I'd say that Hollywood gets it

    • What the commenter doesn't get is that the movie is about fantasy. It's not trying to be a realistic portrayal of life as a spy, it's about selling copies, giving kids a fantastical role model, and being down right entertaining.

      But that's the point. In a case of perfect timing, I've just got back to the office having come from seeing "Die another day", and here I find a Slashdot article about it. My biggest complaint about the film is that the gadgets (and the stunts) are just *too* unrealistic, and yes, that does spoil the entertainment factor of the whole film. Sure, I enjoyed it, but I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't been sitting there imagining some clueless creative type saying "it would be really cool if Bond did this, or had that gadget". I can suspend belief for a film as much as anyone, but they're just pushing it too far nowadays. Oh, and the theme tune was a big let down, too. Definitely not in the same category as Bond films of yesteryear. Don't get me wrong, it's a decent film, and worth seeing, but I just think it could have been much better with a little more attention to detail, and a little less sensationalism.

      • Oh, and the theme tune was a big let down, too. Definitely not in the same category as Bond films of yesteryear. Don't get me wrong, it's a decent film, and worth seeing

        Have you seen many Bond films in the theatre in the past? a BUNCH of them left me with that 'eh, it was okay entertainment' aftertaste. Bond is the perfect 70% demographic franchise. Since it doesn't aleniate by being too intelligent, nor too stupid, it makes a ton of money.

        That said, I want his car...

        ...any of 'em.

    • I half agree with the artical. While I like the gadgets. Some of the gadgets that only have a very particular use can be a bit silly. And the special effects do seem to be taking away part of the Macgiver (don't hassle my spelling please) appeal of the movies (than being the use of a bit of intelligence as entertainment, rather than things blowing up).
    • It's not trying to be a realistic portrayal of life as a spy

      Well, in fact Bond was never meant to be a spy. He was a secret agent, which is a completely different profession, licence to kill et al.

      In fact Bond only performed proper espionage on one occasion, where he had to obtain a file (can't for the life of me remember which one).

  • I don't think he gets it.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by 95_gst_al ( 601102 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @03:25PM (#4709661) Homepage
    "The movies just don't get it," Melton says. "A spy wants the fewest gadgets possible. Because being caught with a gadget is a death warrant. ... There is no real-world counterpart to a car that shoots with machine guns." Real spies carry as little technology as possible, and draw as little attention to themselves as possible -- hardly 007's style. "The world of James Bond is fiction. Bond wouldn't last 4 minutes as a real spy."
    Like I want to watch a guy running around with microcamera and a pen copying machine stealing important documents and taking photos for 1.5 hours.

  • Art Imitating Life (Score:5, Interesting)

    by pennsol ( 317791 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @03:26PM (#4709678) Homepage
    "In that sense, the problem facing Bond filmmakers is similar to the problem faced by software companies, cell phone carriers, and other high-tech firms, who seem to only offer barely noticeable incremental improvements to technologies their consumers already have, rather than radical new products. In this sense, art is imitating life -- or at least the Nasdaq." At This point, And it's been said here on /. many times.. What is left for the younger generations to invent.. it seems that the more the tech sector grows..the less the "real" or "radical" inventions come to be a reality.. or it could just be me...
    • What is left for the younger generations to invent

      Oh, I don't know.....

      Maybe the tech sector can invent the self drying jacket used in Back to the Future II. I'm going to need it in about an hour when I go out to my car, in the rain, for which I forgot to bring my umbrella today.
    • The best part of the future is that it is unknown. You don't know what is left to invent because it hasn't happened yet. Who knew that the transistor would be invented? How about the generation and use of electricity? (A nod of the head must be given to Tesla here for AC power. Thank you.) And way back when, the generation and use of fire was just as revolutionary.

      One can always hope that the next thing invented will be something revolutionary rather than evolutionary; It does happen now and then, usually by accident or semi-accident. After all, you can't step in the pile of shit and find the ring unless your bare feet are dancing 'midst the cow-pies.


  • The girls, you could argue, are just a distraction in James Bond films. The gadgets are the real stars, and time and time again, they save Bond's skin.

    Obviously written by a Nerd.

  • I want to know what he uses in his hair. (Score:4, Funny)

    by Prince_Ali ( 614163 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @03:27PM (#4709683) Journal
    What does he use to keep his hair so tidy? He can be shot at roughly 40 times, jump on a bike, and jump onto a train without messing up his hair the slightest bit.

  • At least he's driving a British car again. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by m.lemur ( 618095 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @03:30PM (#4709709)
    mmmm Aston Martin.

    I'm so glad they got rid of the BMWs

  • As cute as this article is... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Triv ( 181010 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @03:32PM (#4709722) Journal
    it's sister-article is much more interesting. It's on how much product placement is featured in the new bond movie, and how some are worried that the franchise is sliding downhill into 2-hour ads.

    This quote cracked me up:

    Norelco's senior vice president of marketing Nina Riley won't reveal how the new Spectra shaver is used in the film except to say it's in a "very pivotal scene."


    The article's here [msnbc.com].

    Triv
    • The movie is being referred to as... Buy Another Day.
    • Nina Riley won't reveal how the new Spectra shaver is used in the film except to say it's in a "very pivotal scene."

      Well that was a complete waste of money for them, then. I've just seen the film, and I didn't notice any particular branding on the shaver -- it was just a shaver!

    • it's sister-article is much more interesting. It's on how much product placement is featured in the new bond movie,

      Do they talk about how much product placement is featured on the front page of MSN, too? Or are we to assume Norelco paid the movie producers to put their product in the movie, but the movie producers did not pay MSN to put their movie on the front page?
    • for exactly that reason. If I wanted to watch 2 hours of ads I'd turn on QVC. Ever since "Tomorrow Never Dies" James Bond has meant product placement.

  • What gadget keeps him from getting VD's from (Score:4, Funny)

    by Dareth ( 47614 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @03:34PM (#4709743)
    ... all those women he sleeps with?

    Oh yeah... a simple condom I presume.

    "Need a condom?" "No thanks man, I got the lucky condom my dad gave me. He swears it always worked for him."

    • Re:What gadget keeps him from getting VD's from (Score:5, Funny)

      by Jerf ( 17166 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @04:11PM (#4710031) Journal
      Comedy Central recently re-ran a Sat. Night Live skit on that theme. "Mr. Bond, you have 127 venereal disease, including 18 we haven't identified yet. We've named them after you: Bond 1, Bond 2, Bond 3, etc." **beep beep beep** "Excuse me Mr. Bond, I have to go. Good god, Bond 17 has broken out of its beaker!"

      One of the better such things I've seen, and I'm not generally a Comedy Central fan. I think they actually had Pierce Brosnan on for that show, so it was even one of the real Bonds. ;-)

  • Neat! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @03:34PM (#4709745)
    In other words, CIA agents rarely carry pellets which allow them to breath under water for extended periods, Earnest said.

    But they do carry them on occasion? That's the coolest thing I have ever heard of.

  • I Submit... (Score:4, Funny)

    by milesbparty ( 527555 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @03:36PM (#4709760)
    ...that Inspector Gadget was a MUCH better crime fighter than 007. Ejector seats??? Bah! Once bond gets a hat that doubles as a helicopter, then I'll be impressed!

  • Product Placement (Score:5, Insightful)

    by zuhl ( 202285 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @03:37PM (#4709763) Homepage
    I used to enjoy the Bond flicks. They were fun. Connery was witty and all the Bonds are sleek and the women are certainly easy on the eyes.

    But the last few movies seem to have been nothing more than extended commercials for huge corporations. Ericsson, BMW. etc. Convergence with a vengence. Now there never really was much of a plot or meaning in Bond films, but now they border on the ridiculous. Even the action scenes are completely subsumed by the products they are hyping. James Bond remote controling his super-neat-o BMW with his tricked out Ericsson phone.

    I will see the movie and probably drool over Halle Berry, but I will never, ever buy anything that they are "advertising" in the film. Branding a product or company is fine, but I have a problem with it completely subverting a movie. And the Bond francise seems to be ONLY about pushing specific products/gadgets down our collective throats.

    • Re:Product Placement (Score:5, Funny)

      by sczimme ( 603413 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @03:47PM (#4709846)
      Convergence with a vengence.

      Convengence?

      (Yes, I know vengeance was misspelled.)
    • James Bond remote controling his super-neat-o BMW with his tricked out Ericsson phone.

      How about looking past the BMW/Lotus/fancy-other-stuff etc and going with the entertainment/fantasy? As in "James Bond remote controlling his cool gadget filled car with an even cooler gadget filled cell phone like any kid (size doesn't matter) would dream about having." Afterall, marketing happens everywhere nowadays - just look at your average webpage.

    • Just 2 points:

      1 - I'm happy to see marketing departments that are actually trying to entertain me. Seems for a long time they were simply bent on insulting me... like that ad where the company tries to fix all it's web problems with a song. I can imagine an Ericsson ad where some soccer mom is desperately searching for her lost child (The Beatles "Help" plays in the background) when AHA, she remembers her little munchkin carries a CELL PHONE!
      I'll take Bond over that any day.

      2 - If the movie does entertain me, I don't care how many product placements are in it. As long as their irrelevant to the enjoyment of the movie. Silly example comes to mind... Superman II wouldn't have been any better or worse had Superman crashed into a Cola sign instead of a Coke sign.
    • but I will never, ever buy anything that they are "advertising" in the film.

      As soon as I have enough money I'll be buying a Bond car with rockets and mines. Lets see what happens when those 4x4 driving Mums cut me up now. Oh yes, vengeance will be mine! And when I get stopped by the police, I can just revolve my number plates and say, I didn't do it! ;)
    • Amen! You won't see ME buying an Aston Martin Vanquish either! Take THAT MGM!

  • XXX (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Russ Nelson ( 33911 ) <slashdot@russnelson.com> on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @03:40PM (#4709792) Homepage
    You could argue that XXX is today's version of James Bond. They even have a version of Q. I love how he modified the Pontiac with all sorts of gadgets, which were so far from self-explanatory that it needed a user's manual. So he's driving along at whatever speed while she's trying to figure out how to use the car's gadgets.
    -russ

    • Re:XXX (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Robotech_Master ( 14247 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @06:44PM (#4711277) Homepage Journal
      I think that in some ways, XXX was a parody of James Bond. Just look at the opening sequence where the tuxedo-clad agent meets his end.

      And the scene where XXX and the girl are racing along the highway, and she's trying to figure out the instruction manual seems to me to be an inverse reference back to The Spy Who Loved Me where the female KGB agent was able to use the weapons in the car as expertly as if she'd been trained on them, because she'd stolen the plans for the car the year before.

      That female agent's code name? Triple-X.

  • Does anybody ever feel sorry for Q? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by CaffeineAddict2001 ( 518485 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @03:42PM (#4709807)
    He makes all these awesome gadgets and James uses them in some unintended way and they always break.

    If I were Q, I'd keep the laser\toothbrush and replace it with a real toothbrush.

    James would probably save the day anyway.

  • Waynes World (Score:5, Funny)

    by Shadow Wrought ( 586631 ) <.moc.liamg. .ta. .thguorw.wodahs.> on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @03:42PM (#4709817) Homepage Journal
    I think my favorite product placement happened in Waynes World when Wayne went through about a handful of products saying their slogans.

    "Nuprin- little, yellow, different."

    • I hate to be a the one to point this out... but what the hell does Waynes World or Nuprin have to do with James Bond or Gadgets?
      • It has to do with people's opinion that Bond films lately are turning into massive product placement vehicles. WW was an example of humorous and blatant placement, that's all.

  • A little more story wouldn't hurt (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Sabalon ( 1684 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @03:49PM (#4709857)
    I don't mind the gadgets getting a bit out of hand, but the crash/fx stuff is getting ridiculous.

    They need to have a little more of Bond using his wits and physical skills to survive a situation, not some gadget and car.

    On Her Majesty's Secret Service and For Your Eyes Only stand out in my mind as some good examples - as does much of The Living Daylights.

    Yeah...the stories are a bit over the top - so what...that's the idea...an over the top agent for an over the top situation...but give us at least some espionage, etc...

    Hell...even A View To A Kill had a) bond undercover, b) surviving by sucking the air out of the tire on the Rolls, c) making a getaway on a fire truck (this I would call part of the using his wits).

    Now adays he'd walk into the horse stables shouting "I'm James Bond...try to stop me...I work for MI6", have a minisub in the trunk of the rolls, and make a getaway in a Harrier while blowing up 30 cars.

    BTW - can't wait for Die Another Day to open :)
    • <quote> Now adays he'd walk into the horse stables shouting "I'm James Bond...try to stop me...I work for MI6", have a minisub in the trunk of the rolls, and make a getaway in a Harrier while blowing up 30 cars. </quote>

      Oops, how did you get Arnold's next movie plot summary?!?

    • Now adays he'd walk into the horse stables shouting "I'm James Bond...try to stop me...I work for MI6"

      You know, I always wondered why he immediatly came out and gave his name. "Bond, James Bond" Duh, if you're this famous spy, why tell everyone your real name? It's the classic case of stupid bad guys who should just shoot him once he tells them who he is.

      Can't wait for the movie though.
      • Are you kidding? If you're seriously asking this, then you've missed a pivotal aspect of Bond's character. He's all about the bluster and confidence to just march right in and announce himself. James Bond does not skulk -- it's not nearly suave enough. It's a macho thing -- Bond has to look his enemy in the eye, man to man etc.

        On a related note, many people protest that you do not shake a martini unless you want to "bruise the gin." Bond knows this -- he asks for it shaken because he's an iconoclast.

    • They need to have a little more of Bond using his wits and physical skills to survive a situation, not some gadget and car.

      If you listen to the commentaries on the Bond DVDs, you'll find out that the people making the films are aware of this. There seems to be a cycle where the gadgets start to get out of hand, then a new director steps in and decides he's going to take Bond back to the basics. That lasts for a while, but then the gadgets come back....

      The recent movies haven't been, in my mind, quite so gadgetful. For example, I don't think Bond got to use his car hardly at all in the last film.

  • It wasn't 007 who came up with... (Score:3, Funny)

    by RobertB-DC ( 622190 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @03:51PM (#4709870) Homepage Journal
    From the article: Military designers watched Bond films for inspiration, he said, and the films gadgetry helped inspired a prototype called the SmartTruck, a technology-loaded, anti-terrorism personal mover.

    I thought that the idea came from the Combat Ready Recreational Vehicle in the movie Stripes [slashdot.org], didn't it?

    John Winger (Bill Murray): "It's not the speed that's important, I just wish I hadn't drunk all that cough syrup this morning."

  • The Tank (Score:5, Insightful)

    by IPFreely ( 47576 ) <mark@mwiley.org> on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @03:58PM (#4709923) Homepage Journal
    Of all the gadgets I've seen in all the Bond movies, the only one that really grabbed me and made me say "I want THAT!" was the soviet tank he drove through the streets of Moscow. All the rest was tripe or too unbelieveable to even illicit interest.
    • They did a level like this in one of the recent Bond games. I think it was Agent Under Fire. I only played a little of the single player, but the tank level was great. It felt a lot like that scene in the movie.

      -prator
    • Of all the gadgets I've seen in all the Bond movies, the only one that really grabbed me and made me say "I want THAT!" was the soviet tank he drove through the streets of Moscow. All the rest was tripe or too unbelieveable to even illicit interest.

      I think Illicit Interest would be a good name for a bond film
    • YES! This became one of my all-time favorite, ah, car chase scenes. There was tremendous hype about the chase in Bourne Identity, but, frankly, Bond's tank chase was hands-down better.

      This, to reflect another poster's assertion, was using available materials -- ie, his wits -- to best advantage. Mr. Broccoli, et al, more intrigue and plot please; less action-hero stuff.

  • 9 out of 10 people know his name.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Guppy06 ( 410832 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @04:14PM (#4710055)
    He must be a pretty lousy spy, then.


  • Never seen in the story lines, but it must be in there somewhere at Q Branch.

    Boinking all those loose spy babes and Bond NEVER GETS THE CLAP!

    We are befuddled.

    • "Bond films were the first to embrace technology," [Brandon Cork] said. "At the time, there were films like "Metropolis" or "The Day the Earth Stood Still," the nuclear paranoia films, about how technology torments us."

    Urm... Yeah. "Metropolis" (1927) and "The Day The Earth Stood Still" (1951) are certainly contemporaries of "Thunderball" (1965).

    And Bond using gadgets to kill people are excellent examples of "technology in a fresh, positive light."

    Yes indeed, an excellent article. Perfect for Slashdot.

    - Where's my clever sig?

  • The best Bonds don't have stupid gadgets (Score:4, Informative)

    by Rand Race ( 110288 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @04:49PM (#4710409) Homepage
    Dr. No: Walther PPK (in 1961 it was a gadget) and a geiger counter

    From Russia With Love: Attache case, garotte watch, pager and car phone

    Goldfinger: Aston Martin...


    And by Goldfinger it had started to get simply silly, it went downhill from there... gadget-wise at least. The Masterson sisters on the other hand...

  • The only Bond "Gadget" I want..... (Score:3, Funny)

    by _ph1ux_ ( 216706 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @04:51PM (#4710429)
    ....is Pussy Galore!
  • Quoting the article:

    "There is no real-world counterpart to a car that shoots with machine guns."

    Didn't some country over in the middle-east build a car that could shoot a machine gun or a missile or something? I know they have one (in the middle-east) that had flame throwers that would fire if someone tried to carjack you.
  • So what he's saying is that the Bond films have to become more like Star Trek. In order to get out of those tight jams, if they want to be AHEAD of the times, instead of using fake things like pellets to breathe underwater, they have to start using teleporters to beam out.

    Heh, that should keep the movies ahead of technology for the next century or so :)
  • "Today's audiences are much more sophisticated, and require bigger and bigger magic tricks to be impressed"

    Apparently he hasn't been to many movies lately.

  • All this week, Daily Planet [www.exn.ca], on Discovery Channel Canada, will be featuring little segements of James Bond tech & science.

    Watch last night's segment here [www.exn.ca] (caution -- ASF formatted clip).

  • Ian Flemming's books (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Taos ( 12343 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @05:23PM (#4710667) Homepage
    After reading three of the original Bond books (Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger) this past summer, I have come to realize that Bond really was an action character from the beginning. So, those talking about how Connery's Bond was thoughtful and dealt with more espionage, read the books.

    M was constantly telling Bond to try and be more inconspicuous, but he got into too much trouble anyways. I think instead, the pacing of the original Bond films comes from the style of film making during the 60's. They used much more dramatic pacing, where as Flemming raced through much of the slower points of his books by skimming details. Whereas, when the action was going, he described every little pore on Bonds body.

    I do have to note, however, I much prefer the thoughtful pacing of that era of movies instead of the non stop action of today's movies. Another example outside of the Bond area is the movie "The Day of the Jackal" and it's horrid remake "the Jackal". The original was extremely slow, but kept you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.

    Taos

  • Our man Flint recently passed away...

    As we were talking about spy things, I thought that we would take a moment to think about him.

  • Buy Another Day (Score:3, Funny)

    by Decimal ( 154606 ) on Tuesday November 19, 2002 @05:46PM (#4710851) Homepage Journal
    Also of note is that the many of gadgets in this movie have b(r)ought the film to a record for product placement.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2488151.stm

    So unless a friend tells me that Bond gets rejected by Halle Barry at the end of the movie, I'm not going to pay to see it. :p
  • Out of all the bond gadgets I prefer the Lotus' alarm system. There is a sticker on the window that says "this vehicle is protected by a security system." This cannonfodder in an arab getup, just laughs and procedes to break the window with the butt of his gun. The car promptly explodes. Q is angry reprimands Bond, and reassembles the car.

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