Surprising choices feature in the best ever 007 gadget technology list

17-Jan-2003 • Bond News

An MSN special has listed their favourite top six pieces of 007 technology from the last 40 years of films.

Bond may rescue the girl, but the gadgetry, masterminded by the memorable character Q, always saves the man. From the 1960s to the 21st century, here`s a look at the more everyday 007 doohickeys - some of which have come to pass, and others that remain sci-fi.

Click here to cast your vote for the best Q-Branch technology in the MI6 Poll.

MSN rated the technology:

1. Briefcase
Bond`s attache case, which teargases anyone who opens it without turning the clasps a mandatory 90 degrees, is the first gadget of note to star in the series. 007 extricates a concealed knife from it to stab the villain strangling him in "From Russia With Love" (1963). The trusty briefcase also provides Bond with a foldable AR-7 sniper rifle. He assembles the weapon to take out a chopper pilot in the film`s final act.

2. Communications
You can easily obtain two other Q inventions showcased in "From Russia With Love" - the humble pager and the car phone. Incredible for 1963! By the time of "Tomorrow Never Dies" (1997), Bond is packing an Ericsson mobile phone that boasts a fingerprint scanner and a 20,000-volt electric stun gun. Best yet, the phone can drive Bond`s BMW 750i when flipped open.

3. Jetpack
Bond straps this device on like a backpack in the opening scene of "Thunderball" (1965) and is rocket-propelled over a high wall. He tosses the pack into the trunk of his waiting car - a classic Aston Martin DB5 - and makes his getaway. (An underwater jetpack with spear guns appears in a later fight scene, too.)

4. Watches
Seiko and Omega watches that contain explosives, dispense messages, and activate steel-cutting lasers have entertained audiences throughout the James Bond movie series. (007 is presented with his twentieth watch in "Die Another Day.") "Live and Let Die" (1973) features one of the most intriguing - a Rolex that evolves into a super electro-magnet that attracts and repels objects. Additionally, the watch contains a saw that Bond activates to cut himself free himself as he`s lowered into a pool of sharks in the final scenes of this `70s flick.

5. Cameras
The 007 miniature camera made its debut in the only Bond picture to incorporate outer space - "Moonraker" (1979). Just four inches long, it`s the perfect spy gizmo when Bond needs to photograph plans stored in the safe of the villain, Hugo Drax. In "A View to a Kill" (1985), Bond`s secret lens is diminished further - it`s disguised in a ring he dons to discretely snap shots of suspects at bad guy Max Zorin`s estate.

6. Glasses
Anti-tint sunglasses that Bond can adjust to peer through tinted windows or one-way glass allow him to spy on Zorin in "A View To A Kill." In "The World is Not Enough" (1999), Q concocts a new pair of blue X-ray glasses, so 007 can scan a casino for concealed weapons, and do what he does best - check out beautiful women.

Thanks to Andy for the alert.