RSS Feeds
Gadgets
Get Smart's Swiss Army Knife Has Working Crossbow, Flamethrower and Blowgun
Posted by Wilson Rothman at 12:00 AM on June 14, 2008
We were surprised to learn that one of the stars of Steve Carell's Get Smart is actually a Swiss Army knife, albeit one whose talents are slightly more impressive than your own trusty multi-tool. It's got your scissors, saw, magnifying glass and can opener, but how about a flame thrower that shoots six feet? Or a crossbow with stow-away bolts? Or a blowgun with its own fold-out sight? The crazy part is, even though this thing is a movie prop, the producers had to make it really work. We scored exclusive schematics of the knife itself, and caught up with prop-meister Tim Wiles to learn how the thing was made fully operational for the cameras.
In Hollywood, the same rule that applies to babies and cars applies to key props: There has to be more than one. In the shooting of Get Smart, there were a total of seven functional Swiss Army knives, three with working crossbows, and two each with working flamethrowers and blowguns. There were also a dozen or so rubber versions for shots where the knife flies through the air or takes some other kind of a beating.
Wiles—whose prop mastery has been seen in everything from Magnolia to You Don't Mess With the Zohan, and whose inventory includes USPS-friendly sex dolls, magic remote controls, a diver stuck in a tree and a "crazy hair stimulator" for Jack Nicholson—was naturally excited to be on the Get Smart gig. As you'd expect, the script called for numerous gadgets:
• Dental floss detonator, explosive floss
• Tooth transmitters ("We got fake teeth from a dental supply company, embedded microchips and hollowed them out to make them look like toothcaps," says Wiles.)
• Bracelet receiver made from an existing Marc Jacobs watch, with a slide-out antenna and compartment for wireless bugs
• Smoking compacts
• Glowing coin transmitter
• Piano bomb with countdown timer
• Violin tuning peg laser for cutting holes in walls
• And of course, the Cone of Silence
But it was the knife that was the centre of Wiles' attention. He got clearance from the companies who own the Swiss Army licence (Wenger and Victorinox) to feature a souped-up version in the movie. "Then we bought 50 or 60 big fat Swiss Army knives and gutted them—took them apart and built frames to house the mechanisms to do what we needed it to do."
As you can see in the sketches above, the crossbow concept requires a little "suitcase" for the bolts, while the flamethrower makes sense only when the knife has its own propane tank, so Wiles had to add both, on either side.
When it came time to deploy the functional units for scenes, some trickery was still required. For instance, the flamethrower did manage to shoot a jet of fire four to six feet, says Wiles, but it was assisted by a line to an actual propane tank that was hiding just off-camera and controlled by "the effects guy."
The crossbow totally worked, but its bolts were rubber tipped. Even though Carell appears in the stills below punctured with bolts, Wiles and the crew assumed the real ones probably wouldn't have done too much damage. Nevertheless, on the day of shooting, the crossbow turned out to be all too powerful, and they had to "back off the tension" before someone lost an eye.
"Even though they were rubber harpoons, they still hurt if you got hit by them. In that confined space [an aeroplane bathroom], while we were shooting, they ricochet all over the place," says Wiles.
It's great to know that Hollywood isn't all CGI these days, and that actors are willing to put their lives (or at least their eyes) on the line for a solid visual gag. Below, you can see the knife featured in its various configurations—and hopefully in the movie, which opens on Friday, June 20, we'll get to see the knife (or knives) fully in action. Now, if they could just install an electric screwdriver, I'd be sold. [Get Smart]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Lazarus511
Posted 1:03 AM 14/6/08
I don't go anywhere with out my swiss army knife.
Lazarus511
Sunlokyee
Posted 12:59 AM 14/6/08
where to buy?
Sunlokyee
Git Em SteveDave wants to go Tranny watching w/Lindsay
Posted 12:53 AM 14/6/08
@ltcmurray: Is survivorman the real guy, or the I sleep in hotels rather than this camel guy?
Git Em SteveDave wants to go Tranny watching w/Lindsay
92BuickLeSabre
Posted 12:45 AM 14/6/08
@Hiphopopotamus: I'm sorry what? After we threw those 200 layers over your house, I can't hear you anymore. (Oh, and you look like an orangutan.)
92BuickLeSabre
OneMHz
Posted 12:45 AM 14/6/08
Where could someone pick one of these up for, say, my birthday?
OneMHz
jayhawk11
Posted 12:43 AM 14/6/08
@Hiphopopotamus: While you're waiting for that paperwork to go through, I'd like to talk to you about a bridge I have for sale in Brooklyn...
jayhawk11
bosskev
Posted 12:42 AM 14/6/08
The story's lead photo of Carrell holding the crossbow in his mouth? I don't know but there's something very, um, stimulating about it.
bosskev
ApostolicFire
Posted 12:41 AM 14/6/08
@Hiphopopotamus:
I have just the cable for you, after you submit this loan application.
ApostolicFire
Hiphopopotamus
Posted 12:37 AM 14/6/08
I'm having trouble reading this article - My ethernet cable is vibrating too much. If only there were some product that could help me with that.
Hiphopopotamus
hakubak
Posted 12:31 AM 14/6/08
For a neutral country, Switzerland sure makes some kick@$$ weapons.
hakubak
strider_mt2k
Posted 12:30 AM 14/6/08
@ltcmurray: Damn right.
strider_mt2k
MagnoliaBoy
Posted 12:17 AM 14/6/08
Epic WANT. Now I can finally show up that uppity MacGyver, and take care of Murdock once and for all.
MagnoliaBoy
trendspotter
Posted 12:12 AM 14/6/08
Love that! I used to collect Swiss Army knives, I had one with 130 functions, it was almost as wide as it was tall. I'm holding out for WiFi, now.
trendspotter
ltcmurray
Posted 12:12 AM 14/6/08
Leatherman FTW
If it's good enough for survivorman, it's good enough for me.
ltcmurray
Veeber
Posted 12:06 AM 14/6/08
How'd he get that past our crackpot TSA?
Veeber
jayhawk11
Posted 12:05 AM 14/6/08
This really would be a sweet "Will It Blend?" experiment. Especially if its got propane.
jayhawk11
DisposableInterloper
Posted 1:59 AM 14/6/08
Oh, I really hope these go up on auction when the filming is done. It'll probably be too expensive for me, but it would at least give me some hope of owning one in my lifetime.
DisposableInterloper
cruddy skull
Posted 1:45 AM 14/6/08
if u want, you can already see one of the scenes where he uses it. Its available on iTunes. Its a free 7 minute clip from the movie.
[phobos.apple.com]
cruddy skull
Camaro02
Posted 1:41 AM 14/6/08
I am not impressed. It seems bulky. Much Unlike Derrek Flint's 82-function-Super-Zippo Lighter. (83 functions if you count actually lighting a cigar.) circa 1966, 'Our Man Flint'.
Camaro02
Chromeo
Posted 1:41 AM 14/6/08
@Killjoy:
In any case, they're both more badass than me...
Chromeo
MastaFalse
Posted 1:40 AM 14/6/08
They have a swiss army with 300+ functions. Totally r-tarded, but I want one ... so that if a Puma came at me, I could kill it!
MastaFalse
Killjoy
Posted 1:23 AM 14/6/08
@Git Em SteveDave wants to go Tranny watching w/Lindsay: Bear Grylls, aka "I was not born with this name" (my sis-in-law dubbed him "Sizzlechest" because of his constant shirtlessness) is the one you're thinking of. He's supposed to be ex-SAS, and SAS are supposed to be TEH MOST HARDEST.
It's worth watching the show to see him torture animals - one episode on a desert island showed him ripping the claws off hermit crabs for food, then tossing the maimed critters back into the sand. At the end of said episode he builds a raft to get to safety, and it becomes pretty clear that it's going to sink after a few hours. Fortunately for him he's "rescued by a passing boat," or in layman's terms, picked up by his camera crew.
Killjoy
Chromeo
Posted 1:19 AM 14/6/08
@Git Em SteveDave wants to go Tranny watching w/Lindsay:
Surivorman is real guy; Man VS Wild is sleep in hotels guy.
Chromeo
Vinni_Fits
Posted 1:19 AM 14/6/08
mmmm anne hathaway
Vinni_Fits
bms
Posted 1:13 AM 14/6/08
Seriously?
bms
Torley
Posted 2:30 AM 14/6/08
... but, does it also function as a portable USB drive? ;)
Torley
adamator
Posted 2:19 AM 14/6/08
How did he get that thing on an airplane?!?!?!
adamator
ps61318
Posted 2:11 AM 14/6/08
@bosskev: oh beHAVE!
...remember, it's "crossbow, not "cross beaux".
@hakubak: I still envision them on the battlefield, watching as an invading army descends toward them, saying "Where is the knife blade? Where is the knife blade? Scheiss!"
ps61318
FiveLiters
Posted 6:09 AM 14/6/08
@bosskev: I was wondering about that pic too...and was he all teeth about it,or what?
Will see the movie Monday night and let ya know!
FiveLiters
king_of_fools
Posted 6:18 AM 14/6/08
I'll take 3 ... I love swiss army knives, they are the classic geek gadget, have a Swiss Memory key chain right now and its fantastic.
king_of_fools
pharago
Posted 7:11 AM 14/6/08
this is the kind of stuff jigsaw would use to prove a point methinks
pharago
mcknn
Posted 12:47 PM 14/6/08
I wish my Swiss Army Knife had those functions.
mcknn
Git Em SteveDave wants to go Tranny watching w/Lindsay
Posted 10:55 PM 14/6/08
@Chromeo: @Killjoy: Thank you for clearing that up.
Git Em SteveDave wants to go Tranny watching w/Lindsay
eediebax
Posted 1:31 AM 15/6/08
Timmy Wiles is one of the most fun people you could ever hope to work with in Holywood. Don't stand too close to him when the cameras are rolling, because he'll do something or say something that will crack you up, and you'll ruin the take.
He really belongs in front of the camera.
eediebax
gadgetplay
Posted 4:39 AM 15/6/08
@adamator: "How did he get that thing on an airplane?!?!?!"
The TSA has not yet added miniature crossbows and flamethrowers to it's banned list. This movie will undoubtedly change that. Powered armor was still OK until Iron Man came out.
gadgetplay
Pyao lyang shen
Posted 5:26 PM 15/6/08
HAHAH...
Pyao lyang shen