There are certain key words and phrases that make Britain’s deadliest spy pop up in your head: Bond girls, vodka martini shaken not stirred and gadgets. Q Branch never fails to send James Bond into the field equipped with some of the coolest gadgets, accessories and vehicles. Here’s a short rundown of the ones that I loved.
Aston Martin DB5
It feels like his transportation should be a list of its own. But what better way to open up this list with his first issued custom car: the Aston Martin DB5 from Goldfinger.
Lotus Esprit S1
Roger Moore’s James Bond existed when Star Wars and sci-fi was all the rage in Hollywood resulting in some outlandish gadgets and premises (I’m looking at you, Moonraker!) but his reign brought us the car that transforms into a submarine in The Spy Who Loved Me so I’d say we all win there...
Mobile Phone and BMW 750
Enter the remote control BMW in Tomorrow Never Dies. The control itself is a mobile phone that a stun gun and fingerprint scanner. I love when something has multiple purposes, like a coffeemaker with a clock.
The Key Ring
Alright, enough of the vehicles already! Bond did more than just drive in pimped out rides. One of my favourite gadgets was the key ring in The Living Daylights. It released a stun gas when you whistle the first bars of Rule Britannia. (Honourable mention goes out to the sofa that eats people).
The Ballpoint Pen
The Bond film franchise took a six year break and came back with a new Bond in GoldenEye (Pierce Brosnan) and updated gadgets and cars (including a new BMW). The following clip runs through all of them but the one I love was the ballpoint pen that contained a class-four grenade that, when clicked three time, would arm it.
The Acrostar Mini Jet
Not the most ridiculous (or favourite) but definitely worth mentioning is the Acrostar Mini Jet in Octopussy that had folded up wings and, oh yeah, was hidden in a horse trailer under a fake horse’s ass.
But that’s probably not as silly looking as the fake crocodile in the same movie.
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“And, remember, 007, if it hadn't been for Q Branch, you'd have been dead long ago.” – Q (License to Kill)
