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Fact and Fiction Behind Bond's Gadgets
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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Troll... James Troll.
Trolling is a art,
is a device that looks like an ordinary pen, but allows you to get the first post in any thread.
Does anyone know who has replaced Q? Can this actor actually play the part well?
-- AcquaCow
up 12 days, 22:30, 2 users, load averages: 993.20, 994.21, 994.56
*makes note to limit user processes...
The best gadget in the bond movie is the REV!
I think we would all want a Bond girl...
although...Bond gadgets could go well with Bond girls...
-- AcquaCow
up 12 days, 22:30, 2 users, load averages: 993.20, 994.21, 994.56
*makes note to limit user processes...
That's nice. Someone please wake me for the article on the Fact and Fiction Behind Bond's Women. (Especially the Fiction!)
Those x-ray (re: see through clothes) glasses from the last Bond movie were really cool...
Wait a second, just what is hogwash exactly?
Ford owns Astin Martin, and that's nice, but doesn't anyone agree that the Thunderbird looks horribly disfigured? Definitely one of the ugliest cars I've ever seen.
:)
And as far as gadgets go, I'll never be rich, I'll just have lots and lots of toys.
Everyone on slashdot has a journal.
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 !
When will I end this grieving ? When will my future begin ?
1. Make gadgets
2. Sell them to 007
3. Profit!
"CIA-types and geeks love to bicker over that one." i always thought it was the dmca.
Surrender YR pattent!
"The world of James Bond is fiction. Bond wouldn't last 4 minutes as a real spy."
Spoken like a true jealous wannabe.
The speed of time is one second per second.
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.
Design for Use, not Construction!
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.
Karma stuck at 50? Add 2-5 inches.. err.. 2-5x Karmas Count to your pen1es.. err.. Karma all naturally and private
I wonder how much does companies like Nokia, Rolex or BMW pays to be the official modified gadget for Spy Agents. Must be a great money to sell, in a single movie, and being a great shuttle for the new models/equipments.
CCV.
If they could only come up with a gadget to make the IRS lose my tax records.
Mine has to be the remote control car he has in Tomorrow Never Dies.
That and the exploding pen in Goldeneye.
Julie Moult is an idiot.
With a car like Bond's I could get layed and be a /. junkie.
those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do. -isaac asimov
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?
Any sufficiently advanced libertarian utopia is indistinguishable from government.
The car in the article's photo looks more like a DeLorean. Is this a shot from Back to the Future IV: After The Polar Ice Caps Melt?
"The girls, you could argue, are just a distraction in James Bond films."
"Give a woman two glasses of wine and some pad thai, and they'll agree to just about anything." the Sports Guy
Bond Is Fiction.
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
When all else fails, piss on it. At least you will feel better in some kind of way.
"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...
Just Limin' Mon
Obviously written by a Nerd.
Forget the whales - save the babies.
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.
Slashdotter are stupid and biased.
"But because (Bond's) technology actually worked it helped us to the point where we all had cell phones and PDAs."
And may God damn him for it.
Everyone on slashdot has a journal.
mmmm Aston Martin.
I'm so glad they got rid of the BMWs
This quote cracked me up:
The article's here.
Triv
... 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."
I only look human.
My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
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.
...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!
eMelody Web Directory add your site today!
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.
If you're going to have an issue with the Bond movies, how about having an issue with the ever increasing commercialization of the series. With this latest one, it looks like you won't go 5 minutes between seeing features product placements... I know this is something that has been going on for a few years with Bond now, but it is almost getting to be like that "Wayne's World" skit on product placement at this point.
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
Don't piss off The Angry Economist
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.
"Nuprin- little, yellow, different."
If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
I'd like one that would either: A) Emit some sort of sleeping gas to put that bitch to sleep when I am done or B) turn in to a DVD of some new release so I can watch a movie afterwards.
"The point isn't to make some super-accurate spy film"=Star Trek
"it's to show off some fancy gadgets"=Phasers,Enterprise,Tricorders.
"sleep with as many hot women as possible"=James T Kirk.
"whack some bad guys"=Romulans,Tholians,Klingons.
"A very simple, entertaining, and successful formula. "=TOS,TNG,DS9,VG,Movies galore.
I'd say someone got it.
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
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, 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."
Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
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.
There is nothing so silly as other peoples traditions, and nothing so sacred as our own.
It was hosted by Maryam d'Abo 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.
There is nothing so silly as other peoples traditions, and nothing so sacred as our own.
...the Stealth Condom. Go in deep and get out alive without being detected.
Bond has nothing on Steve McGarret...
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.
sulli
RTFJ.
I believe that the only reason this stupid subject would make it on slashdot as a real article is that Slashdot is getting paid to showcase the movie.
I'm your huckleberry
....is Pussy Galore!
The bomb was stored inside a soda machine at the Super Bowl.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
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
That link to the movie Stripes should be this one. Obviously, "http://slashdot.org/Militarydes...mover." is not a valid URL.
:(
"Use the Preview Button! Check those URLs! Don't forget the http://!"
1 out of 3 kinda sucks. Mod parent as "-1, Preview-Impaired"
Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
"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.
that the one line I want to hear in a Bond movie is
/. (Sorry, but what kind of post would expect from a guy with craw as his id.)
"Excuse Mr. Bond, but is your shoe ringing?"
BTW, This is the second lamest story I have every seen on
This reminds me of the true story of the British commissioner of patents in the late 19th century who advised the government that the Patent Office should be soon closed because just about everything that could be invented already had been.
h at .shtml
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/done_t
Since nothing was invested this past century, I absolutely agree with you.;-)
All this week, Daily Planet, on Discovery Channel Canada, will be featuring little segements of James Bond tech & science.
Watch last night's segment here (caution -- ASF formatted clip).
"Yeah, well, Dracula called and he's coming over tonight for you and I said okay."
I agree with this post. I bet the giver probably killed himself after getting no respect. Meanwhile the reciever just keeps on trucking. It's a cruel, cruel world. Rest in peace, giver.
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
A titanium based hair gel of course! :O Search this page for "titanium".
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
We do not live in the 21st century. We live in the 20 second century.
...do Bond women have to say? Especially in the more recent movies, when they're reduced to saying "Oh James!"
... 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.
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
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?
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.
Also of note is that the many of gadgets in this movie have b(r)ought the film to a record for product placement.
:p
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.
Remember "Bring 'em on"? *sigh
I think they actually had Pierce Brosnan on for that show, so it was even one of the real Bonds. ;-)
Not that you really wanted to know, but that episode of SNL stars Garth Brooks (with musical guest Chris Gains) and Chris Parnell plays Bond in that sketch.
The transcript is available here:
...so the story goes...
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.
Here is a reference on when the copyrights will run out, and various other FAQ-like materials.
You're right, I should look at the books again. It's been a while. I don't generally assume the movie tracks the book very faithfully -- Harry Potter I was a first!
I wanted the 'Stang from the Golden Gun movie.
ac
And with a dictionary, you might know how to spell 'laid' - oh and for the matter, 'car'
How come a Pontiac could be a sophisticated spy's car??? HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A PONTIAC AZTEC??
I don't want to troll or something but, American cars, even though good machines, have terribly awful designs that will never catch up with an Aston Martin...
First off, it was a 1967 Pontiac GTO, an old muscle car, not a new one GM was trying to promote.
And second, Aston Martin technically is an American company , as they are owned by Ford.
NO SIR ... But we are willing to learn
Aggressive product placements -- such as Ericsson's hip new cell phone, which doubled as a lock pick and laser gun -- were featured in the 1997 film. Ericsson says sales of the unit doubled after the movie.
ah, so they sold another one. Bravo...
I make these: http://beatseqr.com
But who really cares how unrealistic the gadgets are? It's a movie for $DEITY's sake. I like watching movies with wierd little technogadgets, Bond & XXX had both, even if XXX was a major disappointment.
who is awkward but at times plays the pivotal role in some scene (because the bad guy has convientently forgotten about her)
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
Shaking, not stirring.
I browsed through the trivia section of the movie, and found the following disturbing information:
The frozen lake in Iceland that is the location for some car chases, does not freeze very often naturally. This is due to its closeness to the sea and its high salt content. To rectify this situation the river that links the lake to the sea was damned and within two days the entire lake was frozen to a depth of over 2 meters.
Which priest did they hire for that - father Merrin? Maybe hell finally froze over...
Why is that in SOAF that anyone can be reached anywhere in the world through regular cellphones, and why is it that they NEVER have to recharge their cell phones. I guess they must be using Protoculture batter cells or coldfusion cells?!
Thanks for the compliment.
.sig will probably be "Any sufficiently advanced Perl script is indistinguishable from magic. - Larry C. Clarke". .sig, but may be more appropriate for slashdot.)
You're the first person who has mentioned it.
I was thinking that it's about time to change it, but I'll hold off for a little while, now that you've puffed up my ego probably more than it deserves.
(My next
It's slightly geekier than my current
Those who sacrifice security to condemn liberty deserve to repeat history or something. - Benjamin Santayana
I BET WHAT HAPPENED was they discovered fire and invented the wheel on
the same day. Then that night, they burned the wheel.
-- Jack Handley, The New Mexican, 1988.
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