Bond's darkest moments (pre - Craig)

MilleniumForce

CR is widely regarded as the start of the gritty and dark Bond, but are there moments before that are just as dark, or even darker, than the stuff in Craig's films? Here are some of the darkest moments pre 2006 that I can think of.


- Fiona's death - Whilst the idea - Bond using a woman as a shield - wasn't surprising for Connery, what makes this pretty dark is the fact it's played for laughs - Bond's line and his slight chuckle is pretty dark and cold.

- Andrea's death - It's not too dark - we don't even see her get killed - but it's pretty creepy to see her sitting there as Bond talks, before its revealed that she is dead. Especially as Scaramanga revealing that she is dead is simply thrown away - it's a pretty grim death, especially without actually seeing the kill.

- Woman eaten by shark - Ok, I can't for the life of me think of her name, but the woman eaten by sharks at the start of TSWLM is made dark with the addition of the traditional music, really setting up Stromberg as quite an OTT villain (which he really didn't live up to).

- Corine's death - Despite being in what is ultimately the silliest film in the series until DAD, this moment is easily the darkest Bond ever got before LTK.

- Car kick - An unusual one, as this wouldn't have been seen as too dark for a Bond villain. But the fact it's Bond himself really makes this moment more character defining, and turns Moore into Fleming's Bond for a few seconds.

- Vijay's death - We don't even see this one either, but it really creates a dark atmosphere even without anything graphic.

- Sir Godfery's death - There's a lot of build up for this death. But it still packs a punch when he dies - especially considering he's one of the most likeable characters in the series.

- Every death in LTK - basically every death in LTK is pretty grim. And it's great - not only does it provide darkness that Bond needed, but it also sets up Sanchez as a dangerous villain. Despite what people say, this is the darkest Bond has ever got, even darker than anything in the Craig films.

hehadlotsofguts

One of the darkest moments in a pre- Craig Bond film is when it's heavilly implied in OHMSS, that Bond beats a Piz Gloria guard to death. We see him knock out the guard and drag him into the ski room. We then see Bond walk away from the guard and the guard's face is bloodied.

Matt S

AVTAK also has the dark moment of the death of the KGB agent. That's really on the same level of LTK deaths.

I have to agree about Corinne's death being the darkest in Bond before LTK. She's a character you get to know, and being a very innocent person the frightening death makes it even worse. The laboratory death in MR is also quite frightening, especially because Bond unintentionally caused it, just like he's the reason Corinne was terminated. Even Jill's death in GF is quite dark, in comparison to the rest of the film due to the way it's directed along with John Barry's music. The gassed gangsters, by comparison, have an emotionally neutral death.

MilleniumForce

Oh, and I completely forgot - "He had lots of guts!" from OHMSS.

MarcAngeDraco

Bond killing Kaufman, Elektra and Davidov.

walther p99

Immediately thought of LTK, I think that's the closest the films have ever gotten to the violence of the novels.

chrisisall

walther p99 wrote:

Immediately thought of LTK, I think that's the closest the films have ever gotten to the violence of the novels.

Agreed. Other films had great dark moments, but LTK was filled with them. -{

CoolHandBond

When DN and FRWL were released they created a storm of protest from all corners including The Vatican. The killing of Strangway's secretary and the cold blooded murder of Dent in DN was very graphic for those days and the train fight in FRWL was vicious (it even stands up today as being a violent fight) and was edited out almost in it's entirety in Australia. GF lightened the mood noticeably as Bond became mainstream.

Thunderpussy

Agreed, for the early 60s and compared to other films of that time. Dr No and FRWL
Must have seemed like early Tarantino movies.

Dracolis

I don't understand when some say prof Dent's death is dark. The guy tried to shoot Bond dead 6 times in his bed.

Sir Miles

Dracolis wrote:

I don't understand when some say prof Dent's death is dark. The guy tried to shoot Bond dead 6 times in his bed.

Because Bond knew Dent had no bullets left - therefore he was no longer a threat to Bond, but he killed him anyway and even shot him in the back.

Chriscoop

Dents death is one of bonds true cold blooded kills, Bond simply terminated him very nonchalantly wonderful stuff.

chrisisall

Chriscoop wrote:

Dents death is one of bonds true cold blooded kills, Bond simply terminated him very nonchalantly wonderful stuff.

I liked that Bond had a mildly disgusted look after he shot Dent, brief though it was.

Chriscoop

Probably because it interrupted his enjoyment of his morlands balkan and Turkish mix

Colonel Shatner

When Mr. Henderson got suddenly stabbed from behind - it was very unnerving when he permanently halted mid speech and his face suddenly froze in a pained, confused expression. And it goes without saying that Aki's death by poisoned thread was incredibly sad as it was incredibly creepy (made worse with her pleading, fearful, and bewildered expression in her eyes when dying).

OHMSS had some of the more disturbing mook deaths in the franchise and fitted into Lazenby's smirking psycho Bond when he smashed a henchmen off a cliff top and another goon got chewed up in a snow clearing machine.

Moore Bond's most ruthless actions was flicking his tie a struggling henchman was desperately clinging on to avoid plunging five stories and casually kicking a hitman trapped in a car off a cliff.

heartbroken_mr_drax

MarcAngeDraco wrote:

Davidov.

Good point.

Gassy Man

Aki's death in YOLT, Tracy's demise, of course, in OHMSS, Corinne's being fed to the dogs in MR. The rest, while grim certainly, were not played all that darkly, but shocking or brutal.

Jarvio

Howe's death in AVTAK

Colonel Shatner

Jarvio wrote:

Howe's death in AVTAK

I was more weirder out and disgusted when the Walken Uzi'd down scores of employees.

hehadlotsofguts

Colonel Shatner wrote:

Jarvio wrote:

Howe's death in AVTAK

I was more weirder out and disgusted when the Walken Uzi'd down scores of employees.

AVTAK has a lot of dark moments;

Tibbett's death

Mine massacre

KGB agent death at the oil well.

Aubergine's death

A surprisingly dark film, given it's Roger as Bond. Think he's said that this is his least favourite film, because of its dark tone.

Silhouette Man

Yes, AVTAK really ushered in the more violent Dalton era. Moore particularly objected to the Zorin mine massacre in an interview given in 1996.

Jamesbondjr

It's been mentioned before but the killing of Corrine in Moonraker could have been a scene from The Omen, it's easily the darkest moment of Moore's reign and one of the nastiest (in a good way) scenes in the series.

Diabolik

Jamesbondjr wrote:

It's been mentioned before but the killing of Corrine in Moonraker could have been a scene from The Omen, it's easily the darkest moment of Moore's reign and one of the nastiest (in a good way) scenes in the series.

Yeah it was dark, especially with the music. The track is called "Corrine Put Down" if I'm not mistaken; a great track from one of my favorite Barry scores.

I wonder what ever happened to those evil hounds...

Charmed & Dangerous

Diabolik wrote:

Jamesbondjr wrote:

It's been mentioned before but the killing of Corrine in Moonraker could have been a scene from The Omen, it's easily the darkest moment of Moore's reign and one of the nastiest (in a good way) scenes in the series.

Yeah it was dark, especially with the music. The track is called "Corrine Put Down" if I'm not mistaken; a great track from one of my favorite Barry scores.

I wonder what ever happened to those evil hounds...

Higgins is looking after them for us:

chrisisall

Charmed & Dangerous wrote:

Diabolik wrote:

Jamesbondjr wrote:

It's been mentioned before but the killing of Corrine in Moonraker could have been a scene from The Omen, it's easily the darkest moment of Moore's reign and one of the nastiest (in a good way) scenes in the series.

Yeah it was dark, especially with the music. The track is called "Corrine Put Down" if I'm not mistaken; a great track from one of my favorite Barry scores.

I wonder what ever happened to those evil hounds...

Higgins is looking after them for us:

) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

hehadlotsofguts

Diabolik wrote:

Jamesbondjr wrote:

It's been mentioned before but the killing of Corrine in Moonraker could have been a scene from The Omen, it's easily the darkest moment of Moore's reign and one of the nastiest (in a good way) scenes in the series.

Yeah it was dark, especially with the music. The track is called "Corrine Put Down" if I'm not mistaken; a great track from one of my favorite Barry scores.

I wonder what ever happened to those evil hounds...

There's probably an agency for evil villains to hire bloodthirsty guard dogs.

Wadsy

hehadlotsofguts wrote:

Colonel Shatner wrote:

Jarvio wrote:

Howe's death in AVTAK

I was more weirder out and disgusted when the Walken Uzi'd down scores of employees.

AVTAK has a lot of dark moments;

Tibbett's death

Mine massacre

KGB agent death at the oil well.

Aubergine's death

A surprisingly dark film, given it's Roger as Bond. Think he's said that this is his least favourite film, because of its dark tone.

^ That right there is why I think it is one of the best Bond films. It is for sure a dark film, preparing us for the Dalton era straight after. The death of the KGB agent at Zorin's oil station was always tough to watch. It is incredibly dark, and this may be disagreed on but I found that scene more dark than Krest's death in LTK.

heartbroken_mr_drax

The killing of the agent (forget the name) in the hotel in Port au Prince in QoS. While it isn't an innocent person (like Corrine in MR) it still makes me recoil. I remember hearing a few gasps in the audience at the movies.

Many other deaths fit within the context of what's going on, or made light of - "What a helpful chap".

Wadsy

heartbroken_mr_drax wrote:

The killing of the agent (forget the name) in the hotel in Port au Prince in QoS. While it isn't an innocent person (like Corrine in MR) it still makes me recoil. I remember hearing a few gasps in the audience at the movies.

Many other deaths fit within the context of what's going on, or made light of - "What a helpful chap".

The one you mentioned in QOS just made Daniel Craig out to be a ruthless killer for no particular reason. Whereas with Timothy Dalton in LTK, he doesn't actually kill someone physically really, and lets the villain take care of that.

hehadlotsofguts

Wadsy wrote:

hehadlotsofguts wrote:

Colonel Shatner wrote:

I was more weirder out and disgusted when the Walken Uzi'd down scores of employees.

AVTAK has a lot of dark moments;

Tibbett's death

Mine massacre

KGB agent death at the oil well.

Aubergine's death

A surprisingly dark film, given it's Roger as Bond. Think he's said that this is his least favourite film, because of its dark tone.

^ That right there is why I think it is one of the best Bond films. It is for sure a dark film, preparing us for the Dalton era straight after. The death of the KGB agent at Zorin's oil station was always tough to watch. It is incredibly dark, and this may be disagreed on but I found that scene more dark than Krest's death in LTK.

I found the KGB agent's death at the oil well easier to watch than Krest's death. The KGB agent's death was over in a flash, whereas Krest's death was drawn out.

Wadsy

Fair enough. Still can't help but get a little disturbed by that scene, just shows how deranged Zorin is.