11 Greatest Movie Gadgets
How often have you seen some gadget or piece of technology in a film, that you really wish existed in real life? Think of the endless possibilities of teleportation, or time travel. What were the gadgets that allowed these possibilities on the silver screen?
As with all of the lists. There has to be rules.
The first rule of this list, is don’t talk about this list. No, sorry it’s…
1. These have to be imaginary gadgets that we really want, but don’t actually exist. We are talking about the realms of fantasy here.
2. Cool points are awarded for how much you want these gadgets. There are loads of cool gadgets in films, but people would far rather have a lightsabre than a Batarang. The Batarang would be cool, but it is basically a boomerang in the shape of a bat. I don’t want one that badly.
3. Cool “people” gadgets don’t count. R2 D2 was great, but he was a character, more than a gadgets. A Terminator/Bishop in Alien/ED-209 is technically a gadget, but it is also a character.
The Hoverboard in Back to the Future II
Back to the Future II was full of great gadgets- personalised, self lacing Nike basketball shoes, self drying clothes, TV’s that you can watch several channels at once (wait, that one exists) and incredible growing pizzas. Undoubtably the best of all was the Hoverboard, the futuristic take on the skateboard. I tortured my brother by convincing him that these existed, partly because I wanted to believe it myself.
eXistenZ in eXistenZ
Although the actual version of the eXistenZ game is flawed to the point it is dangerous (we will over look this small problem), the idea of a completely immersive computer game where players create and take part in immersive new realities, through their subconscious, is hugely appealing. And probably not that far off.
The Lightsabre in Star Wars
A weapon from a more elegant time. Not only is the lightsabre the greatest weapon in the history of cinema, it is one of the most versatile; able to cope with attack or defence, able to cut through doors, boomerang around a room and light a room with a creepy ambience. For extra gadget points, it sounds amazing, looks amazing, and each Jedi customises their own.
ESPER Enhancer in Blade Runner
Imagine that you could scan a photo, and not just zoom in and out of it (photoshop didn’t exist in 1982), but rotate it to find a different view from a different angle. Your holiday photos would certainly be more interesting.
Information Upload in The Matrix
How good would it be if you could upload skills to use in real life? Forget about spending decades learning martial arts, or how to fly a helicopter, you could just load it up into your head and be an expert. Think of the fun you could have? I could learn to skateboard without having to waste time hurting myself, or looking like a fool.
The Telephone Box in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
Arguably even cooler than the Delorean in Back to the Future. Not only can you travel back through time and space to any point in history to round up the great minds for your history project, you can retrospectively go back in time to leave yourself the keys to the local jail, to use now (if that makes sense). You can even go forward in time to a futuristic Utopia where the air is cleaner, mini golf scores are way down, and the world is ruled by Clarence from the E Street Band…
The Proton Pack in Ghostbusters
Just don’t cross the streams. The result? In Egon’s words, “Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light”. However, crossing the streams is useful if you have to close a portal to Gozer’s dimension. Useful to know. Extra gadget points for making a great power up noise.
The Transporter in Star Trek
Not only is the Transporter a very cool gadget, but it is the ultimate in transport. Several people can go from A to B in seconds, without adverse effects (unless you do so wearing a red jumper).
The Babelfish in The Hitchikers Guide To The Galaxy
Although not actually a gadget, but a live fish who feeds on brainwaves, the Babelfish must be amongst the most useful items to have on your travels around the galaxy (arguably second only to a towel). When inserted into the ear, the Babelfish can transform unconscious brain frequencies and allow the host to understand any language. It was also responsible (in the book) for proving, and thus disproving, the existence of God. The film version of HHGTTG might not have been quite as good as the book was, but it retained enough of it’s quirky qualities to make it a worthwhile attempt.
Kaneda’s Bike in Akira
Kaneda’s bike (a Honda in the comics, a BMW in the film) not only looks amazing, but it has built in obstacle radars, and the ability to navigate without human interference. But the main reason it is on this list is because it looks soooooooo cool.
Lacuna Memory Erasing in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Although one of the morals of the story is that Joel is better with his memories of Clementine than without them, there would definitely be a use for selective memory loss, so I am going to deliberately miss the point. Similar to the Rekall “imaginary holidays” in Paul Verhoeven’s Total Recall, the Lacuna Memory Erasing allows people to forget their painful memories and move on. Maybe not a great gadget to play around with on a Friday night, but it could be an amazing tool for helping people if it was real.
Anything we have missed out? Let us know.
