Toyota vs. Land Rover: Art Imitates Life in New Bond Trailer
In the latest No Time to Die trailer, Land Rovers turn to junk, while an old Toyota soldiers on.
The latest trailer for No Time to Die, the next James Bond flick, dropped this morning, and it’s unsurprisingly awesome. Like the first trailer, which was released last year, there’s a metric ton of awesome in every shot.
And while it might sound like heretical to old guard fans of the series, we think Daniel Craig rivals Sean Connery as the best version of Ian Fleming’s iconic secret agent. And if, by virtue of being first, you take Sir Sean out of the equation? Craig is the best. Timothy Dalton, who pioneered the “gritty Bond” concept which was resurrected with Casino Royale, follows in second. Seriously, watch The Living Daylights again and see if you don’t agree.
Now that we’ve established that, we can turn to the new trailer, and how there’s at least one element of it which seems quite realistic. Namely, a Toyota makes a cameo, and while high-end Land Rovers rapidly turn to junk all around it, the little Toyota just keeps on trucking. For anyone who has paid attention to the reliability ratings of Britain’s flagship off-roader, this will seem perfectly accurate, if somewhat exaggerated.
Because while Land Rover touts its product as being bulletproof, go-anywhere rigs which can both coddle their occupants in luxury and tackle the frozen tundra, in the real world, they literally set the floor for reliable vehicles in the modern era.
That’s why last week, we made a joke about Land Rover not being tapped to build any kind of lunar vehicle. Seriously, it’d be straight-up terrifying to be reliant on British electronics when you’re 240,000 mile from home. Just the though of it makes us shiver. And for the record? Even the brand’s homegrown press agrees.
Toyota, on the other hand, continues to enjoy a reputation for reliability which scores somewhere between a mother’s love and the sunrise. According to our friends over at Jalopnik, the Toyota in the No Time to Die trailer is a 1990s-era Land Cruiser Prado, and given the simple, robust nature of Toyota vehicles from the period? We’re certain it’s in use somewhere, probably off fetching lunch for another film crew. Killing it would be just too damn hard.
Fortunately, we’ve never had to escape a band of baddies with guns. But if we had to, and we got a choice between a Land Rover and a Toyota? That would be no choice at all — just like it would be if we were going to the moon.
Sure, the Land Rover might look cooler, but we’re going to jump in the Toyota without so much as a second thought. How much Land Rover paid to have its products showcased in the new James Bond film isn’t clear, but it’s beyond hilarious that Toyota got an even better plug for free.
While we don’t think there’s an official release date as of yet, at this point, it sounds like we’ll be able to catch No Time to Die in theaters sometime in November. As mega Bond fans, we’re going as close to opening night as we can reasonably manage. Cross your fingers we don’t see another delay…
Photos: YouTube