The gadget of Tomorrow Never Dies is a mobile phone that doubles as the remote control for a car. The Ericsson GF 788 is the model most closely tied to the film in our research, though we cannot confirm it is the exact phone on screen. It was a small flip phone, the first of its kind, and a neat object in its own right, still found second-hand.
In the film
In Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), Pierce Brosnan’s Bond uses an Ericsson phone as a remote control for his BMW. The GF 788 is linked to the film through a Samsonite promotional briefcase made for the premiere, which held a calculator shaped like an Ericsson GF 788 phone, and through a 1997 Ericsson advertisement headed “Ericsson Made | Bond Approved”. We have not seen anything that proves the on-screen phone is this exact model.
The details
A first. The GF 788 was a GSM phone announced in February 1997. It was the first phone with a flip cover, then seen as very compact, and it won the 1997 iF Design Award. It was also the first with a ringtone composer.
Size and colours. It measures 105 x 49 x 24mm and weighs 135g, with a removable 550mAh NiMH battery. Colours were dark grey, dark blue, dark green and Bordeaux red. A later GF 788e used a different antenna after complaints about reception of the original.
Owning it now
It is a collector’s piece now, not a phone to rely on. It is out of production, so you will find it second-hand; a listing we found was offered for parts only, so read the condition notes carefully and look for working examples with a battery. The promotional calculator in the shape of the phone is a separate, rarer collectable, and is found the same way.
It looks best as a desk object beside a period Bond item or two, on a shelf, with its flip cover open.
In the same spirit
If you want a small phone with a similar spirit, our catalogue has the Nokia 3310, which is a different phone and a different film; it is an alternative, not the Ericsson.
Specifications
| Model | Ericsson GF 788 (GF 788e later in 1997) |
|---|---|
| Type | GSM flip-cover mobile phone, announced February 1997 |
| Size | 105 x 49 x 24mm, 135g |
| Battery | Removable NiMH, 550mAh |
| Colours | Dark grey, dark blue, dark green, Bordeaux red |
| Availability | Out of production; second-hand |
Questions
Is the Ericsson GF 788 the phone in Tomorrow Never Dies?
It is the Ericsson most closely tied to the film in our research, but we cannot confirm the exact model on screen.
Is the GF 788 still made?
No. It is found second-hand.
For more from the film, see Tomorrow Never Dies, or browse more gadgets and electronics.
