James Bond Gadgets: Every Famous Gadget, Film by Film

Bond's gadgets fall into three families: vehicles that do more than drive, ordinary objects that turn out to be weapons, and devices that track or identify people. One of the earliest pieces of hidden hardware in the series is a villain's gadget, Rosa Klebb's shoe blade in From Russia with Love (1963).

The man who usually supplies the hardware is Q, played by Desmond Llewelyn in 17 Bond appearances. The gadgets of the 25 EON films make up the official series; Q's appearance in the unofficial, non EON Never Say Never Again (1983) sits outside it.

Rosa Klebb's poisoned shoe blade is a concealed weapon, a knife built into the toe of her shoe and tipped with poison. It appears in From Russia with Love (1963), directed by Terence Young, where Lotte Lenya plays Rosa Klebb. The UK premiere was reported as October 10, 1963 at the Odeon Leicester Square, and the US release is reported as April 8, 1964.

In the Venice finale Rosa Klebb is disguised as a hotel maid and goes after Bond with the blade. Tatiana Romanova shoots her just as she is about to kill him. The design works because nobody looks at a maid's feet, and it is an early example of a rule the series keeps: the most dangerous gadget in a Bond film is often the one nobody has announced.

The Aston Martin DB5 is the gadget car Bond is given in Goldfinger (1964), directed by Guy Hamilton, and it is the vehicle most people mean when they search for Bond's cars and gadgets. In Britain he receives an Aston Martin fitted with gadgets, then plays golf against Auric Goldfinger and tails him to Switzerland. The UK release is reported as September 20, 1964, and the US release was December 22, 1964 (confirmed). The film grossed about $124.9 million worldwide on a $3 million budget.

The car returns at the end of Spectre (2015), directed by Sam Mendes, when Q hands Bond a restored Aston Martin DB5 and Bond drives away with Madeleine Swann. Earlier in that film he escapes in an Aston Martin DB10 from a Rome chase, with the assassin Mr. Hinx behind him. For Spectre, the UK release is reported as October 26, 2015, and the US release is reported as November 6, 2015. For the full garage, see James Bond cars.

The Disco Volante hydrofoil yacht and the underwater battle around it are the gadget hardware of Thunderball (1965), directed by Terence Young. Emilio Largo's men sail the stolen atomic bombs aboard the yacht, and a large force of divers attacks it. The UK release is reported as December 28, 1965. The US release is reported as December 21, 1965; one source lists December 29. Desmond Llewelyn is credited as Q in the cast.

The effects work won the Oscar for Special Visual Effects, given to John Stears, at the 38th Academy Awards on April 18, 1966. In the finale Bond boards the yacht and fights Emilio Largo, Domino Derval kills him and the yacht is wrecked. Read more on Thunderball.

Little Nellie is the armed mini autogyro that Bond flies in You Only Live Twice (1967), directed by Lewis Gilbert. The UK release is reported as June 13, 1967, and the US release was June 13, 1967 (confirmed).

Bond flies it over a volcanic island and fights off attacking helicopters, which confirms that the hidden base of Ernst Stavro Blofeld is there. The gadget is also the film's turning point, because the aircraft is how the plot learns where the villain lives. The film grossed about $111.6 million worldwide on a $9.5 million budget. See You Only Live Twice for the rest of the story.

The AMC Hornet X astro spiral is the car jump stunt in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), directed by Guy Hamilton. The UK release is reported as December 19, 1974, and the US release is reported as December 18, 1974.

Guinness World Records lists it as the first astro spiral stunt on film, and the car is preserved at Beaulieu. Elsewhere in the film Francisco Scaramanga escapes in a car with wings, and Mary Goodnight puts a tracker on his car. The plot also turns on the Solex Agitator, a device that can harness solar power: Scaramanga's henchman Nick Nack steals it after Scaramanga kills the scientist Gibson, and Bond recovers it just before the solar plant is destroyed.

The Lotus Esprit submarine car is a sports car that converts into a submarine, and Bond uses it in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), directed by Lewis Gilbert. The UK release date is not confirmed because sources conflict, and the US release is reported as July 13, 1977.

In the film, henchmen of Karl Stromberg chase Bond and Major Anya Amasova, and the Lotus turns into a submarine so they can escape underwater. The prop later sold at auction in 2013 for $989,000, and the buyer was Elon Musk, according to CNBC. The film cost $14 million to make.

Q's Fabergé egg tracker in Octopussy (1983) and the face matching device in For Your Eyes Only (1981) are Bond's best-known tracking and identification gadgets, and both come from the John Glen films. In For Your Eyes Only, Bond and Q use the face matching device in London to name the man who paid the hitman Hector Gonzales as Emile Leopold Locque. The UK premiere was reported as June 24, 1981 at the Odeon Leicester Square, and the US release was June 26, 1981 (confirmed).

In Octopussy, Q's tracking device in the Fabergé egg shows that Kamal Khan is working with the rogue Soviet general Orlov. The UK release is reported as June 5, 1983 and the US release is reported as June 10, 1983. Neither gadget has an explosion attached, but both move the story across a map, and both give Q a job beyond handing over a car key.

The grenade pen in GoldenEye (1995), the remote controlled BMW in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) and the invisible Aston Martin Vanquish in Die Another Day (2002) are the main Brosnan-era gadgets. In GoldenEye, directed by Martin Campbell, a grenade pen sets off an explosion that lets Bond break free. The UK release is reported as November 23, 1995 and the US release was November 17, 1995 (confirmed).

Tomorrow Never Dies, directed by Roger Spottiswoode, features the Walther P99 and the remote controlled BMW, and Elliot Carver's plot rests on a stolen navigation signal device. The UK release is reported as December 11, 1997, and the US release was December 19, 1997 (confirmed).

In Die Another Day, directed by Lee Tamahori, John Cleese plays Q and supplies the invisible Aston Martin Vanquish. Gustav Graves wears an armored suit, and Bond turns it against him by pulling him into a plane engine. The UK release is reported as November 17, 2002 and the US release is reported as November 22, 2002.

Q stands for quartermaster, the supply officer role, and the films credit the character only as Q. Desmond Llewelyn played him in 17 Bond appearances, including Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and The World Is Not Enough (1999), his last. He died in a car crash on December 19, 1999, aged 85.

John Cleese appears as R in The World Is Not Enough (1999) and then as Q in Die Another Day (2002). Ben Whishaw plays Q in Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015) and No Time to Die (2021). Alec McCowen plays Q, billed as Algy, in Never Say Never Again (1983), an unofficial, non EON film. Q Branch is the department around the character that produces the equipment.

The best Bond gadget is the Aston Martin DB5 in Goldfinger (1964), followed by Little Nellie, the Lotus Esprit submarine car, Rosa Klebb's poisoned shoe blade and the Fabergé egg tracking device.

1. Aston Martin DB5 in Goldfinger (1964). It returns restored in Spectre (2015), so it has stayed recognizable across more than fifty years of films. A gadget that lasts that long has earned the top spot.

2. Little Nellie in You Only Live Twice (1967). The autogyro does a job the plot needs, locating Ernst Stavro Blofeld's base, and it does it in a set piece over a volcanic island. It is the better pure action gadget.

3. Lotus Esprit submarine car in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). The transformation is the entire joke and the entire escape, and the $989,000 auction sale shows the prop still has pull. It loses ground only because the film around it is bigger than the car.

4. Rosa Klebb's poisoned shoe blade in From Russia with Love (1963). It is small, cheap and effective, and it gives the Venice finale its threat. Its weakness is that it belongs to the villain.

5. Fabergé egg tracking device in Octopussy (1983). It is less showy, but it is the one gadget on the list that solves a plot problem without anyone shooting at it. If you are new to Bond, start with Goldfinger, then watch You Only Live Twice for Little Nellie.