Action and investigation works, whether movies or books, often use a resource for their plots: poisons. However, the action of these drugs in movies and books does not always follow scientific knowledge about them. With this in mind, expert Kathryn Harkup analyzes the poisons present in the James Bond series.
In the 1979 film “007 against the Rocket of Death”, the villain Hugo Drax has a very definite purpose: to eliminate almost all of humanity using an orchid. The black flower, according to the plot, would produce a toxin that would be modified by Drax’s scientists. The villain would then take shelter in his secret space space, with a select group of people, and drop poisonous toxin bombs on the planet.
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Although the part of the secret space base is unlikely to say the least, plant-derived poisons are quite common. Ricin, for example, is a toxin explored in the series “Breaking Bad” that is synthesized from certain species of castor bean.
As Harkup argues, the governments of the United States, France and the United Kingdom have already used ricin in chemical weapons development projects. The UK even created inhalable poison bombs.
Blades poisoned in shoes
“Moscow vs. 007” from 1963 depicts at one point Russian agents using poisoned retractable blades in their shoes. Although the poisons are not evidenced in the work, the technique is quite old, but not necessarily with shoes.
In this sense, several indigenous tribes use poisons collected from animals and plants (such as poisonous frogs) to soak arrows, spears and blades in general. Even during the 20th century, intelligence services tried to develop poisons capable of sticking to rifle and revolver bullets.
For the case of blades, however, the proposal is quite plausible. Tetrodotoxin is one of the most known poisons by specialists, present even in the body of puffer fish. A blade with the poison could therefore kill a person in a few minutes.
Poisons in drinks, classic move
In 2006, Russian journalist and former agent Alexander Litvinenko died suddenly, victim of polonium-210 poisoning. A 2015 inquiry showed that Litvinenko was likely murdered by Russian forces infiltrating British territory.
Coincidentally, in the same month of the journalist’s death, the film “007 – Casino Royale” hits theaters, reporting an event of poisoning in a James Bond drink. However, in this case the villains use the digitalis poison, for which there is an antidote, unlike polonium-210, which kills by radiation.
Cyanide capsules
Perhaps one of the most bizarre historical bases, the 1962 film “007 Against the Satanic Dr. No” tells of an agent using a cyanide capsule in a cigarette to commit suicide, before Bond can get any information.
In “007 – Operation Skyfall”, the character Raoul Silva tells how he had his face deformed by a cyanide capsule, moreover.
The fact is that, during World War II, agents from several countries were actually given glass pills containing cyanide, in case they were captured. Cyanide acts directly on cell respiration, on the cytochrome oxidase enzyme, causing cell death. The consequences are searing headaches, vomiting and seizures in just a few minutes.
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