Quantum Of Solace, the 22nd James Bond movie and the second to feature Daniel Craig, following his highly-acclaimed turn as 007 in 2006’s Casino Royale, opens in the UK on October 31, 2008, and the USA a week later.
Casino Royale distinguished itself in many ways from previous films in the Bond canon, being far more faithful to author Ian Fleming’s description of Bond (hair colour aside), certainly when it came to issues of character and, unlikely many previous instalments the series (certainly the Pierce Brosnan and Roger Moore films), disregarding special effects and comedy in favour of credibility and a gritty realism. James Bond – at least, the Bond in Flemings’ original texts – is not a very nice person. As Craig’s Bond says in Casino Royale when asked why killing people does not bother him, “Well I wouldn’t be very good at my job if it did.”
One thing that was also notably absent from Casino Royale was gadgets. Many fans of the films took this as a good thing – myself included. Die Another Day, in particular, was widely criticised for being overly reliant on pretty silly gadgetry (don’t get me started on the camouflage car), but it’s been an ongoing issue in many of the Bond films, really since Sean Connery left the role. What has always been especially daft is how whatever gadget Bond is given by Q in the beginning of the film always plays a major role near the end of it. I mean, how lucky is that? ;)
While Q and the much-loved Miss Moneypenny will not feature in Quantum Of Solace – again, both wise decisions in my opinion – the producers have promised ‘some gadgets’, which automatically means more than in Casino Royale, which pretty much limited itself to Sony and Nokia mobile phones (also known as product placement). So what do they mean exactly? Producer Michael G. Wilson has said, “We’ve just used realistic things within the world,” while Daniel Craig added, “We live in a gadget world, and unfortunately that means the stuff we use is applied technology that maybe Secret Services are using. The Aston Martin is still the best gadget around.”
All very hush-hush stuff, as you’d maybe expect from a film about the world’s greatest secret agent (well, besides Dangermouse). And that’s the problem with the really, really big films nowadays – Quantum Of Solace‘s budget is some $225 million – everybody is so tightly bound to secrecy that the very mention of something in the plot can almost get you killed.
So what do we know? Well – wait for it – M (Judi Dench) has a glass wall in her office which can be made opaque if she requires privacy. Really? Yes, really. Wow! They must have spent at least half of that mighty budget on that.
Nothing else, as of yet, has been leaked, although according to the production notes no less than six Aston Martins were destroyed during filming, so that explains where some of the money went.
Meantime, fans of the series can snap up some other Quantum-related merchandise, including:
Sony James Bond Spy Gear Bundle
($2,499.99)
Sony Vaio TT Series Notebook PC (James Bond 007 Edition)
($2,399.99)
Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600m
($ very expensive)
Sony C902 Mobile Phone
($450)
Scalextric set
(£180)
Sony USB Drives
($30+)
Playing Cards
(£4)
A video game of the film is also being developed. Expect all of these goodies to come out right around the time the movie opens.
I’m sure one or two of you are putting your orders in for some of this stuff as we speak. A lot of it is cool, definitely, but the 007 logo certainly adds a few dollars to the price!
So, Bond fans – do you long to see more gadgets in Quantum Of Solace or was the more realistic, modern stance taken by Casino Royale the way they should go from now on? What’s your favourite Bond gadget of all time? And will you be buying any of the merchandise above?
Tags: 007, Gadgets, James Bond, Quantum Of Solace