Bond Villians Rule - Classic Moments
bigzilcho
Toronto, ONPosts: 245MI6 Agent
Greetings, everyone.
The topic? Bond villians.
In my opinion, the finest collection of badguys (and ladies)under one roof.
Proof?
With your indulgence, a list:
DN- "One million dollars, Mr. Bond."
Millions of words have been written describing the immortal intros of James Bond and Honey Ryder but when it comes to Dr.No...nowhere near enough praise IMO.
Consider how tricky and delicate a Bond viillian's performance must be and how the wrong interpretation of Dr.No would not only have sunk the film but the series as well.
Joseph Wiseman RULES as the good doctor from the first moment with his ice-cold demeanor and the robot-like glide as he crosses the room to meet Bond.
There is something...strange...about the man. Its as if he's from another planet.
A tip of the hat to Wiseman for laying down the foundation of all Bond villiany.
FRWL- Rosa Klebb, with brass knuckles, says hello to Red Grant.
"He seems fit enough. Have him report to me in Instabul in 24 hours."
Exit Rosa Klebb.
A gloriously funny moment which sums up the totality of the relationship between a Bond main villian and henchman in less than 10 seconds.
GF- "Except CRIME!!!"
Need I say more?
TB- At SPECTRE HQ in Paris, Blofeld fries no.11 in his seat.
Cut to Largo nonchalantly apprasing the moment as if he's bored...just another day at SPECTRE.
A wonderful touch by Adolfo Celi.
YOLT-"I look forward to personally exterminating you, Mr. Bond."
Donald Pleasance...with venom.
Any man who builds a gigantic volcano rocket base has more than earned the right to pull the trigger on the spy who brought it all down.
OHMSS- Blofeld picks up phone. Bond has escaped! Blofeld leaps up and throws his beloved white cat away.
A throwaway moment but one that sums up what Blofeld should have been in all 3 films. Agile and dangerous...even the white cat should keep out of its owners way when trouble comes.
DAF- Bond vs. Bambi and Thumper.
Bond is having his clock cleaned by these lovely ladies.
When Bambi wraps her legs around Bond's neck Thumper takes her sweet time in launching her next attack, loving every second that Bond struggles.
Cruelty must ALWAYS be a part of any Bond villian. (And it should be a part of Bond as well, come to think of it).
LALD- Bond meets Tee-Hee who graciously reshapes Bond's gun into a pretzel and hands it back to him, chuckling and having a whale of a time all the way.
A glorious moment for Julius Harris who reminds all future henchmen how happy one can (and should) be in their work.
TMWTGG- Christopher Lee.
'Nuff said.
TSWLM- Jaws at the Pyramids.
Say what you will about Jaws...there are moments in both films where Jaws has an unearthly presence...a figure of death thats truly chilling. His execution of Fakesh is like a cat toying with a mouse.
Extra points for the way he vanishes in the darkness when confronted by Bond. Very cool.
MR- Bond, M and Grey, in gas-masks, find Drax is no fool.
A wonderful moment for Bond-villians everywhere. Sure, being super-rich means you could conceivably go for world domination but the real pleasure to be found is being able to embarass your main adversary in front of his bosses.
Now THAT'S fun!
Perfectly played by Michael Lonsdale, drier than the Sahara desert has ever been.
End Of Part One.
Every film has countless moments to choose from and I would like to hear your opinions.
"Any cost. Any. Bond must die."
The topic? Bond villians.
In my opinion, the finest collection of badguys (and ladies)under one roof.
Proof?
With your indulgence, a list:
DN- "One million dollars, Mr. Bond."
Millions of words have been written describing the immortal intros of James Bond and Honey Ryder but when it comes to Dr.No...nowhere near enough praise IMO.
Consider how tricky and delicate a Bond viillian's performance must be and how the wrong interpretation of Dr.No would not only have sunk the film but the series as well.
Joseph Wiseman RULES as the good doctor from the first moment with his ice-cold demeanor and the robot-like glide as he crosses the room to meet Bond.
There is something...strange...about the man. Its as if he's from another planet.
A tip of the hat to Wiseman for laying down the foundation of all Bond villiany.
FRWL- Rosa Klebb, with brass knuckles, says hello to Red Grant.
"He seems fit enough. Have him report to me in Instabul in 24 hours."
Exit Rosa Klebb.
A gloriously funny moment which sums up the totality of the relationship between a Bond main villian and henchman in less than 10 seconds.
GF- "Except CRIME!!!"
Need I say more?
TB- At SPECTRE HQ in Paris, Blofeld fries no.11 in his seat.
Cut to Largo nonchalantly apprasing the moment as if he's bored...just another day at SPECTRE.
A wonderful touch by Adolfo Celi.
YOLT-"I look forward to personally exterminating you, Mr. Bond."
Donald Pleasance...with venom.
Any man who builds a gigantic volcano rocket base has more than earned the right to pull the trigger on the spy who brought it all down.
OHMSS- Blofeld picks up phone. Bond has escaped! Blofeld leaps up and throws his beloved white cat away.
A throwaway moment but one that sums up what Blofeld should have been in all 3 films. Agile and dangerous...even the white cat should keep out of its owners way when trouble comes.
DAF- Bond vs. Bambi and Thumper.
Bond is having his clock cleaned by these lovely ladies.
When Bambi wraps her legs around Bond's neck Thumper takes her sweet time in launching her next attack, loving every second that Bond struggles.
Cruelty must ALWAYS be a part of any Bond villian. (And it should be a part of Bond as well, come to think of it).
LALD- Bond meets Tee-Hee who graciously reshapes Bond's gun into a pretzel and hands it back to him, chuckling and having a whale of a time all the way.
A glorious moment for Julius Harris who reminds all future henchmen how happy one can (and should) be in their work.
TMWTGG- Christopher Lee.
'Nuff said.
TSWLM- Jaws at the Pyramids.
Say what you will about Jaws...there are moments in both films where Jaws has an unearthly presence...a figure of death thats truly chilling. His execution of Fakesh is like a cat toying with a mouse.
Extra points for the way he vanishes in the darkness when confronted by Bond. Very cool.
MR- Bond, M and Grey, in gas-masks, find Drax is no fool.
A wonderful moment for Bond-villians everywhere. Sure, being super-rich means you could conceivably go for world domination but the real pleasure to be found is being able to embarass your main adversary in front of his bosses.
Now THAT'S fun!
Perfectly played by Michael Lonsdale, drier than the Sahara desert has ever been.
End Of Part One.
Every film has countless moments to choose from and I would like to hear your opinions.
"Any cost. Any. Bond must die."
Comments
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FYEO- Kristatos takes pleasure from the finer things in life, such as watching Bond and Melina being dragged through the coral reef. Enjoying himself thoroughly, he seems disappointed when the sport ends too quickly.
OP- "Spend the money quickly, Mr. Bond."
"I intend to, Kamal Khan."
Bond and Khan give each other the death-stare before rising from the backgammon table. One of the best confrontations in the series.
Old pro Louis Jourdan could give lessons to future Bond baddies on how one look can drip with absolute malice.
AVTAK- The great Christopher Walken as Zorin is having a wonderful time shooting his own men...pure madness at its finest. Extra bad-guy points for checking his watch:"Good, right on schedule."
TLD- Necros, as a milkman, makes a mockery of British Intelligence security.
A reminder of the old Red Grant days where one silent blond henchman could cause serious major damage and look cool doing it.
LTK- Without question, Robert Davi as Sanchez is one of the all-time great Bond baddies. Check out that first meeting with Bond where, for a split-second, Bond and Sanchez share a laugh and become mirror reflections of each other.
Is it any surprise that John Glen points out Davi was quite good as Bond during some screen-tests?
GE- A superb performance by Sean Bean as 006. Moments? How about the final slug-fest between Bond and 006? Arguably the best single fight between Bond and the main villian in the entire series. Like Davi, Bean would have made a credible 007.
TND- Fans will never give Carver his proper due as a Bond baddie. Too lightweight, not enough menace. All that is true, but IMO Jonathan Pryce, a world-class actor, attempted something unique in Bond bad-guy annals...he played Carver as an emotional adolescent. Example?
When Paris tells him misfortune happens to everyone, Carver recoils violently:"Not to me!"
A performance that will be more appreciated in time.
TWINE- Renard runs his hand along Elektra's body, marvelling at how soft she is.
"How would you know?" snips a bored Elektra.
There are plently of TWIME nay-sayers in the crowd who dismiss any notion that Elektra is one the greats...to each his own.
Sophie Marceau triumphs in the trickiest female role in the series.
Thats right... TRIUMPHS!
A femme fatale from the old-school. Her rush up the stairs, taunting Bond that he cannot kill her is melodrama at its finest. Bette Davis would be proud.
And no matter how many times you see the movie...its still a shock when Bond kills her. All quibbles aside, this will go down, in the long run, as one of the pivotal scenes in the series.
DAD- The first encounter between Bond and Graves is a fascinating look at the instant animosity between Bond and a villian.
The differences in age, class, style, temperment are there on the surface, if you look. Graves is the kind of rich guy that Bond has ALWAYS despised. You can see him just itching to take this snotty punk down a notch.
Despite many problems with DAD, Toby Stephens is not one of them.
In fact,he would have made a superb villian had it not been for that ice-palace nonsense.
CR- Bond at the poker table, takes a sip of his drink...and realizes...he has been poisoned! He looks up and sees LeChiffre glaring at him with what can only be described as the death stare of a lizard. Chilling.
I will finish by pointing out a moment in Die Hard which, for me, perfectly summarizes what Bond villians represent.
Alan Rickman as Hans (why, oh why can't Rickman be a Bond villian?) is accused of being a common thief.
Rickman's reaction is priceless: he rushes to within an inch of his accuser's face and hisses:"I'm an exceptional thief, Mrs.Maclean!"
THAT is what Bond villians are all about. They are EXCEPTIONAL. Two-bit punks need not apply. Not in Bond's universe. Fleming understood this on a sub-atomic level.
"Who is Bond? Compared with Kronsteen?"
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby
Hear hear {[]. He should be shouting at his henchman for neglecting to kill Bond, rather than sneering at Harry Potter for neglecting his homework.
{[] You know, if you ever want to get on my good side, all you have to do is quote from Die Hard.
One of my biggest regrets is that Rickman has never appeared in a Bond film.
EDIT: I replaced the word was with is as Barbel pointed out that he may still play a Bond villain in the future, although it was never my intention to imply that Rickman's time is past. ;% I guess I forgot that when one reaches the age of Barbel, one becomes particularly sensitive to the usage of past tense when referring to someone's age. :v
Was? Was? He's only in his early sixties (and doesn't even look that) which is ok for a Bond villain (Louis Jourdan, for example). There's still time!
As for Toby Stephens, a clarification.
Yes, I think he COULD have been a terrific villian if not for the atrocity that is the final third of DAD.
I have always enjoyed DAD, and believe its a solid Bond thriller... until the trip to Iceland which IMO begins the single worst passage in the history of the series.
Toby Stephens has the misfortune of being stuck in that final third and so his very good work at the fencing club is nullified.That smug arrogance, with those sharp features of his (the kind of face that EVERYONE wants to punch)make him a memorable villian. Too bad he had to wear that ugly electro-suit! (Fire the genius who came up with THAT idea).
Sidenote- I just read where Stephens will be playing Bond in a radio play of Dr.No. Thats sounds interesting.
"World domination. Same old dream."
As for Toby Stephens, I thought he overplayed his role, coming off rather spoiled and smarmy.
Your ability to identify small subtle actions or looks in a scene is outstanding, I always enjoy your posts.