casino royale - the drinks, the gadgets, the girls

So after last weekend's movie, Babel (an excellent movie, but heavy), it was time for some mindless fun. We'd already seen Borat, so it had to be Casino Royale, with the new 007, Daniel Craig. The movie theatre was packed, I think because most people were curious to see how well the new 007 fared. He was, in fact, pretty good. More of an action-hero type than previous 007s, but he still had that cutting edge arrogance and wit, that seems to go with the part, and was constantly in the company of beautiful women. The hype when this movie was being made was that there were no gadgets for this 007, but there were still a few, and the drinks and women were a constant.

1. The Drinks
I actually don't remember all these drinks being ordered in Casino Royale, but according to the book which was first published in the United States as "You Asked For It" in 1953, these are the drinks 007 goes through in Casino Royale.

The Vesper (007's own invention and named by him)
3 measures of Gordon's Gin
1 measure of vodka (preferably a Russian grain vodka)
1/2 measure of Lillet Blanc (a key ingredient of the Vesper, giving it its bitterness)

In a martini shaker, shake very well until ice-cold. Pour in a deep champagne goblet, and add a large thin slice of lemon peel.

Americano (in the bar at the Hermitage Hotel)
1 oz Campari
1 oz Cinzano Rosso
Perrier (as 007 believes that expensive soda water is the cheapest way to improve a poor drink)
Ice

Put ice in an old-fashioned glass. Add the Campari and Cinzano, then pour a splash of soda water. Add a slice of lemon peel.

Apart from the above, he orders Bacardi for Vesper, plus scotch, vodka, martini and many bottles of Champagne (in the book the champagne of choice is Tattinger and Veuve Cliquot, but in the movie, 007 is drinking Bollinger) - and after dinner, Bond drinks a brandy.

2. The Gadgets
I guess these were not really gadgets in the true sense of the word, but regular products, apart from his glove compartment equipped with complete emergency room life saving equipment, just in case.

Anything Sony it seems.... Sony Vaio laptop, digital camera and flash drive.

Phones: Sony Ericsson phones k800 and k790 used by 007.
The M600 smartphone is seen used by Vesper and also 007. The Nokia 8800 Aston Martin Edition phone was originally planned for the movie, but I am not sure whether we actually saw this in the movie or not. It's worth looking at the website though.

Cars: Bond was seen behind the wheel of an Aston Martin, a Ford-owned brand. He was seen driving the new DBS sports car, and also the company's classic DB5 which was seen in Goldfinger and Thunderball. The villain, LeChiffre, drives a Range Rover Sport, and in total Ford supplied 125 cars worldwide to the making of this movie, including their Mondeo sedan, Explorer SUV, F150 trucks, and Jaguar XJ sedans.

The watch of choice for 007 was an Omega Seamaster which Vesper admires at dinner.

3. The Girls
Eva Green as Vesper Lynd
Judi Dench as M
Ivana Milicevic as Valenka
Caterina Murino as Solange