The interplay between science and imagination is at the heart of the James Bond series. Inspired by cutting-edge technology or the pure imagination of the filmmakers, gadgets range from customized vehicles (Aston Martin DB5, Lotus Esprit submarine) and costumes (a Sky Jacket that transforms into a Zorb), to secret weapons (explosive pens) and pure spy technology (X-ray sunglasses). Whatever form they take, these gadgets, the brainchild of Q Department (also known as Q Branch), always provide invaluable assistance to 007 in the field.
Bond (Sean Connery), who was issued a Walther PPK in Dr. No, receives his first real gadget in Russia with Love when Q (Desmond Llewelyn) gifts 007 with a briefcase literarily packed with gadgets: an AR-7 folding sniper rifle with infrared telescopic sight, ammunition, a flat throwing knife, and some banknotes (50 sovereigns) hidden in a hidden compartment accessible from the outside of the case.
However, the case’s secret weapon is a safety device that explodes tear gas cartridges (disguised as talcum powder) if accidentally opened, which comes in handy when Bond’s captor, Red Grant (Robert Shaw), sets a trap on board the Orient Express.
In Goldfinger (1964), Q’s underground laboratory beneath MI6 is featured in the series, and Bond, expecting a Bentley, is presented with an iconic Aston Martin DB5 and given details of its special features by an increasingly annoyed quartermaster: “I don’t joke in my job, 007.”
“I remember my contribution was the spinning number plate. I was getting a lot of parking tickets at the time and I thought it would be great if if you got a parking ticket you could just deal with the number plate and drive off without a worry,” Guy Hamilton, director of four James Bond films, said of Aston Martin. “For the smoke, we simply put a smoke tube in the car and we had a brilliant little prop man hiding in the boot with a little radio that would tell us when to let out the smoke.”
Before he encounters the famous car, Bond passes a parking meter that shoots tear gas, a raincoat that can withstand a machine gun and a flask full of grenades. This is where the key elements of the Q Lab scene begin. The Q Lab provides a series of imaginative props that are not used by 007 but add a fun splash of colour and laughs to the briefing scenes. The most innocuous items come to life as killing machines, such as the tea tray guillotine and water pipe gun in The Spy Who Loved Me, the exploding bolas and sleeping man’s gun turret in Moonraker, the plaster rocket launcher and phone booth trap in GoldenEye, and bagpipes that transform into machine guns and flamethrowers in The World Is Not Enough.
“To me, Q is like Merlin,” Pierce Brosnan said, “the last person Bond sees before he goes on a mission, who says, ‘Pay close attention, Bond, here’s your move.'”
And the cast also got a surprise on set: “We have an ejection seat in our film workshop,” Desmond Llewellyn said of filming in GoldenEye’s Q Lab. “This girl was sitting at a desk and all of a sudden she was thrown out of the ejection seat. Of course, no one told us anything about this so it was a massive shock. We were trying to remember our lines and then all of a sudden we heard a whoosh and she disappeared from the scene.”
2002’s Die Another Day contains Easter eggs that reference many of 007’s most memorable gadgets, including the Duck-Disguise wetsuit (Goldfinger), the Bell jetpack (Thunderball), the Little Nellie gyrocopter (You Only Live Twice) and the crocodile submarine (Octopussy).
“Because it was the 20th Bond film and the 40th anniversary, we sourced some little items from the EON archives from previous films, like the briefcase from From Russia With Love and Rosa Klebb’s shoes,” Die Another Day director Lee Tamahori revealed. “Fans will be able to find all of these and love them. We wanted to add a bit of nostalgia and history.”
While the series has become more grounded in realism under Daniel Craig (“One of the running jokes in the movie is that Q gives Bond very few gadgets because the old technology is so outdated,” Ben Whishaw said of Skyfall), science still plays a major role, from the exploding keychains in Casino Royale to a modified Aston Martin DB10 equipped with flamethrowers and ejection seats with parachutes in Spectre.
Drawing from the rich history of 007 hardware, we comb through Q’s workshop to bring you the cool gadgets used by each Bond.
Gadget: Miniature Rebreather
Movie: Thunderball
Bond: Sean Connery
Q (Desmond Llewellyn) gifts Bond with a miniature rebreather capable of providing up to four minutes of emergency air, which he uses to swim through a pool of sharks to infiltrate Emilio Largo’s (Adolfo Ceri) hideout. In On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Bond picks up the rebreather, along with Red Grant’s noose watch (From Russia with Love), as he clears out his desk after resigning. An improved version of the rebreather appears in Die Another Day, when 007 infiltrates Gustav Graves’ (Toby Stephens) Icelandic headquarters.
Gadget: Safecracker
Movie: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Bond: George Lazenby
Needing to crack the safe of Swiss lawyer Gebrüder Gambold (James Bree), Bond uses a small device with a hook at the end of a flexible cable that can be attached to the combination lock. The machine tests the lock, works out the combination and opens the safe. A true Q-Department masterpiece, the safecracking device also functions as a copying machine, allowing 007 to capture secret communications proving Blofeld’s connection to the College of Arms.
Gadgets: Wet bike
Movie: The Spy Who Loved Me
Bond: Roger Moore
The Wetbike is a high-speed water vehicle that 007 receives aboard the USS Wayne. It arrives in parts and, after assembly, Bond rides it to Atlantis, the hideout of Karl Stromberg (Kurt Jurgens), who is holding Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach) hostage. The vehicle was the precursor to the jet ski.
Gadget: Dentonite toothpaste
Movie: Licence to Kill
Bond: Timothy Dalton
When Q (Llewellyn) hands Bond a tube of plastic explosive disguised as a tube of Dentonite toothpaste, he warns him to use it “sparingly”. The toothpaste comes in handy as Bond prepares to assassinate Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi). Bond sneaks up to the ledge outside Sanchez’s office window and spreads the toothpaste on the bulletproof glass. Bond takes up position in the building opposite and detonates the bomb using a receiver hidden in a cigarette packet.
Gadget: Ericsson JB988
Movie: Tomorrow Never Dies
Bond: Pierce Brosnan
The Ericsson JB988 mobile phone is a Q Division special, a small device with multiple functions: a fingerprint scanner, an antenna that functions as a lockpick, and the ability to remotely control Bond’s BMW 750IL via its LCD display and trackpad, which it uses to outwit Elliot Carver’s (Jonathan Pryce) henchman in the Atlantic Hotel car park. It is also a weapon capable of delivering 20,000 volts of electric shock. Captured by Carver’s top lieutenant, Dr. Kaufman (Vincent Schiavelli), Bond gives the mobile phone to the assassin, who then uses it to get the upper hand in the fight and tricks him into shooting himself with a taser.
Gadget: Omega Seamaster Explosive Watch
Movie: Spectre
Bond: Daniel Craig
“What good is it for?” Bond asks Q (Ben Whishaw) as he is given an Omega Seamaster watch. “It tells the time,” Q replies. “It might help you with your lack of punctuality.” Q also warns 007 that the alarm is “rather loud,” alluding to the watch’s special function: a time bomb. The gadget’s true value comes when Bond and Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux) are held captive by Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), and Bond has Madeleine throw the watch on the floor, setting a timer that will blow Blofeld out of his chair. “Time flies,” Bond says.
The first-ever exhibition focusing on the technology from 007’s 25 adventures, “007 Science: Inventions from the World of James Bond,” is now open at Chicago’s Griffin Museum of Science and Industry. Find out more here.
