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The most recent installments of James Bond (ones featuring Daniel Craig) have fewer gadgets but more raw action (like the chase sequences in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace). Is it because of plot related changes to the MI:6 or have the movies been altered to suit the audiences?

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i have no evidence, but I guess the Bourne series had a lot to do with it. – Codemwnci Dec 2 '11 at 14:22
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And they also changed the initial animation of bond firing at the screen, a tradition followed for the last couple of decades. – Vimal Raj Dec 2 '11 at 15:58
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I personally miss all the gadgets... they were a key part of the classic "Bond" film for me. – scunliffe Dec 13 '11 at 18:37
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Shouldn't the question be something like "Why are the Daniel Craig Bond films less gadget-oriented than the earlier ones the series?" As it is worded now, the question implies that James Bond himself is not tech savvy, which is a completely different question (and inaccurate, I think). – stevvve Dec 5 '12 at 16:13

6 Answers

up vote 22 down vote accepted

I don't think it had any plot driven change. The Bond franchise was feeling threatened by newer spy movies (such as the Bourne series) which have more action, (slightly) more plausible plots (compared to ray-gun satellites etc), and have less comedic elements.

A reboot with a new younger actor and a deliberate step away from some of the conventions of the franchise (gadgets & moneypenny for example) were their answer.

They tried to take it this direction before - a Licence to Kill was a deliberate attempt with a drug-smuggling and revenge plot-line, but wasn't well done. They then decided to switch back to more 'classic' Bond approaches with Brosnan.

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I myself find "License to Kill" (and generally Dalton as Bond) one of the best, but this is surely subjective. – Christian Rau Dec 2 '11 at 15:58
I too liked Dalton, but don't remember License to Kill with much fondness. Perhaps I was expecting too many Bond cliche's which did not happen. I should watch it again. – iandotkelly♦ Dec 2 '11 at 16:03
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@ChristianRau - looking at the numbers License to Kill at the time was the worst performing Bond Movie when looking at Worldwide gross takings vs Budget (3.7-times). They had a gap of 6 years before the Brosnan era began. Whether critically good or not I can't really remember, but commercially it was not as successful. Interestingly Quantum of Solace whilst it has almost the highest gross of any Bond, its cost was so huge it only just made over twice what it cost - far worse than License to Kill by that measure. – iandotkelly♦ Dec 6 '11 at 18:31
up vote 5 down vote

After seeing the preview to the new movie Skyfall, I think there might be another possible explanation. In the preview, they introduce Q for the first time in the reboot. They also seem to imply that Q is going to "revitalize" MI6, maybe with more emphasis on tech support instead of purely physical methods of getting information (as Daniel Craig has done in the earlier movies). Perhaps there are not as many gadgets because this reboot emphasizes the beginning of 007 and is before Q is there to create the gadgets.

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I don't think Bond is less "tech savvy" in the new Bond films. It is a definite move away from the Moore/Brosnan era. The new approach to the character is less tech driven and moves more toward the literary character. Although the Bourne films can be credited for the more gritty fight scenes and slick editing, you only have to look back at From Russia with Love and On Her Majesty's Secret Service for early examples of this style of Bond. Both of these Bond films were credited to be nearer the literary character than any other and were also very low tech in comparison to other movies. It would seem that the Daniel Craig Bond is a step in this direction which (for me) is a very good thing.

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up vote 0 down vote

Parkour was Hot at that time The director (GoldenEye and Zorro fame) is fond of stunts

source

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Do you have any references of interviews or the such that explain this? – TylerShads♦ Apr 18 '12 at 16:49
Explain what, @TylerShads? It is a fact! Read Wikipedia's entry for Parkour; CR was the first mainstream English movie featuring it. not to mention its French undertone (as opposed to earlier Russian, German, Swiss locations)... and to speak of Martin Campbell's action flicks! – pop stack Apr 19 '12 at 9:34
Right, but none of those 'facts' are backed up by references to prove them so. I can spout all day that It is fact that the sun is purple But if I have no references to back up this fact then it is purely opinion. – TylerShads♦ Apr 19 '12 at 12:27
up vote 19 down vote

Love the other answers already given but one extra contributory factor may be that, and you may not remember this, there was a huge backlash against 'Die Another Day's over-use of frankly bullshit technology and the makers commented at the time that they knew they'd gone too far. In particular the invisible car was just laughed at when I saw it theatrically, as was the huge laser that could destroy land targets but seemed to only warm up the plane gradually, plus the ice-hotel, the VR headset and a number of other items that not only didn't add anything but actually made the filme laughable.

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There was an Ice Hotel in the movie (I didn't see it)? That's real: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hotel – Mnementh Dec 13 '11 at 11:45
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I know there is a real one but the one on the movie had was huge, had multiple floors, could be driven around/through and wasn't destroyed by a huge space laser that could blow up land. – Chopper3 Dec 13 '11 at 11:56
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You beat me to it (granted, by a few days, but still) - this would have been my answer to this question as well. – Barry Hammer Dec 19 '11 at 9:09
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@Chopper3 Wasn't the laser blowing up mines on the land, not the land itself? Not defending this, agree with your answer about too much silly tech. – AidanO Mar 21 '12 at 11:43
In the new Bond documentary, "Everything or Nothing", Pierce Brosnan starts to crack up talking about the whole iceberg/avalanche/wind-surfing scenes, how ridiculous they are but how audiences seemed to dig it. – Nicholas Jan 2 at 22:04
up vote 14 down vote

The new movies starring Daniel Craig were intended as a reboot of the series. As part of that reboot it seems that they have moved away from having so many gadgets and are focusing more on the character's own abilities.

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Bond is now more Superman than Batman, you might say. – Abby T. Miller♦ Dec 2 '11 at 15:38
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@AbbyT.Miller He seems much more "Kickass" than "Superman" ;) – Christian Rau Dec 2 '11 at 16:00

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