In the gap between “Quantum of Solace” and “Skyfall,” much had to be changed to get the character back on track and it seems Mendes took this requirement seriously. In the director’s commentary for the film, he recounts how he and his team “talked a lot about the gadgets in Bond” and confirms his love for the classic 007 tech. But when it came time to design the tools Daniel Craig’s super-spy would use, the director explains that he was doing so in a much more advanced world than that of the early Bond movies:
“We had to face the fact that most gadgets are available to you now in the Apple Store or similar shops and there’s barely anything you can imagine that doesn’t really exist unless it’s something to do with weaponry.”
As a result, Mendes decided to “go back to basics,” focusing on Bond’s weaponry and playing upon the themes of his film by mixing the “old and the new.” By providing 007 with his traditional Walther PPK but adding the “twist” of the palm print scanner, the director was able to accomplish his mission. He did so, according to his commentary, by working with Walther to redesign the handle of the gun to include the new tech, which, he remarks, “seems to give it a little bit of a personality.”
