As a kid, I loved watching movies where the heroes used all sorts of gadgets to save the day. These gadget heroes were part of the inspiration which drove me to create this website. Here’s my list of the top 10 gadget movie heroes.
1. Maxwell Smart: Maxwell Smart is on the top of my list because of one gadget that he regularly used to communicate with Control headquarters – the Shoe-Phone. This epitomized the ultimate in spy gadgetry at the time. Besides the fantastic gadgets he would employ, Smart was known for his bumbling antics as Control Agent 86 who was followed around by the lovely Agent 99. How accident-prone Agent 86 was considered to be an elite agent baffles me to this day. Maybe it was because of his kung-fu moves? The show “Get Smart” actually won 7 Emmy Awards and 2 Golden Globe Awards.
2. Batman: Although not having any super-powers, this cape crusader was able to use brains and gadgets to get himself out of sticky situations. Most gizmos were found on his yellow utility belt which is arguably the most characteristic part of Batman’s costume. Some of the neat gadgets readily available to him were: Batarang, Bat-cuffs, smoke pellets, master-key and even a cache of cash. Another gadget hero known for leet martial art skills too.
3. Inspector Gadget: If you’ve ever wondered why Maxwell Smart and Inspector Gadget sound similar, it’s because the same actor – Don Adams is both! Interestingly, Inspector Gadget’s character is also overly clumsy who somehow manages (with the aid of his niece Penny and Brain the dog) to save the day. I would actually classify him as a gadget himself with all the weird and wonderful widgets tucked underneath his sleuth hat and classic-detective trenchcoat. He’s famous for gadgets like: extending arms, in-built propellers and magnifying-glass. He of course is famous for coining terms such as “Go go gadget arms!”.
4. MacGyver: The thing that differentiates MacGyver from the three gadgeteers above is that he was famous for making gadgets out of normal everyday household items. For example, who else could diffuse an advanced nuclear bomb with a paper clip, cause a traffic jam with a credit card or create a bomb out of a fire extinguisher? These incredible and many times laughable feats were augmented by the acting skills of Richard Dean Anderson (aka RDA). I loved his cool, calm and collected approach to life.
