My favorite villain is a tossup between either Goldfinger, as you already mentioned–or Trevalyn from Goldeneye. The dude was just so…villainous!
My favorite henchman is Jaws. The dude just won’t stay dead!
The black dude in “Live and Let Die” was Mr. Big, played by Yaphet Kotto. I also loved the redneck sheriff in that movie. “Secret agent?! On whose side?”
That’s right “Mr. Big” I love the line he said to Bond when Bond gave him his name thing he said “names are for tombstones baby take this honky out and waste him”. Finally a bad guy that believed in just shooting him. Too funny.
I (and most other journalists, I think) have a soft spot in my heart for Eliot Carver and Stamper from Tomorrow Never Dies. Someday, when I’m an evil multimedia magnate, I hope to be able to live up to their examples.
My -least- favorite villain was Reynard. From The World is Not Enough. That guy had so much -potential- to be a really evil bad-ass, but instead every other scene was him whining about how he was already dead. It was the screenwriter’s fault!
“Boo-hoo! Boo-hoo! My life sucks! Waah!”
What do you think?
-Ashley
I liked Blofeld, by far Bond’s greatest nemisis (although it did get stupid in Diamonds Are Forever). I also liked the scene at the beginning of For Your Eyes Only when Bond finally killed Blofeld, partly cuz they let the character just die already and because it’s one of the few times after On Her Majesty’s Secret Service that they reminded the audience that Bond was a widower.
But does anyone remember Robert Shaw’s character’s name in From Russia With Love? I loved the fight scene on the train, and Shaw looked like he could really kick Bond’s ass.
Agreed, Ashtar. Stamper was a hottie. In original drafts of the script, his weird villan quirk was going to be that the pleasure and pain centers of his brain were reversed, so he would enjoy the fact that Bond was kicking the crap out of him. Oh, the possiblities! I was less than impressed when I heard some interviews with the actor, though. His English was very good and everything, but he struck me as being dumb as a post IRL. ::sigh::
I also agree with you on Renard. The “no pain” thing had great potential, but it was never really utilized. Sure, he held the hot rock and put his hand through the pretty little table in the tower, but it could have been exploited during a fight scene or something. Bad bad bad.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…I identify with Scaramanga, The Man with the Golden Gun, on account o’ 'tween the two of us, we got six nipples…
Favorite villain: Scaramanga. A hitman is so refreshingly different than the usual “take-over-the-world” schemes that most of the other villains had.
Henchman: Jaws. That guy is just so wonderfully vicious.
Henchchicks: Bambi and Thumper from Diamonds Are Forever. They looked good, jumped around good, and were fairly easy to subdue.
Henchmen: Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd from Diamonds Are Forever. They were just SO bizarre. “If at first you don’t succeed, Mr. Wint…” “…Try, try, again, Mr. Kidd.”
For Villain, I’ve always been kind of fond of Doctor No, even if they didn’t have things down pat in the first movie, because I think it’s the best of the novels. I also like saying “Doctor No.”
How about ‘Fatima’? Shit, what is the actresses name? She had Sean Connery right where she wanted him, and he blew her up with his pen. Excellent villian, she was completely obsessed with herself.
Jaws was definitely the best. What I liked most was that all he cared about (until the end of Moonraker, anyway) was killing Bond! No gloating, no speeches, no delegating responsibility, and no “so the British Secret Service thinks it can stop me.” And nothing could stop him.