These are the big guys. The masterminds. The ones who seek world domination who can only be thwarted by 007. So who are the best of the worst, the most evil of the evil?
Based on his performance as one of the most frightening killers ever on film in No Country for Old Men, I have no doubt that Javier Bardem will be among the best villains ever in any James Bond movie. But pending release of Skyfall, here is my list of the top Bond arch-villains.
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| Of course Number 1 is #1 on the list. Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the mysterious sinister head of Specter. Only his cat is seen in From Russia With Love and Thunderball. Blofeld's name and face were revealed in You Only Live Twice, but he was better as a villain when his identity was hidden. |
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| Anthony Dawson played the unseen Blofeld |
1. Ernst Stavro Blofeld -"?" From Russia With Love, Thunderball. Camera angles or curtains hid his face from view, as Blofeld delicately stroke his white cat. This early Blofeld was ruthless, cunning, and mysterious. When he was revealed in You Only Live Twice (played by Donald Pleasance), it was a terrible disappointment, both in terms of casting and makeup. But for those two movies where the mystery was maintained, it was brilliantly sinister. In the credits, Blofeld is listed as being played by "?" In reality, the role was performed by British actor Anthony Dawson, who appeared on camera in Dr. No as Professor Dent, pictured above ("You've had your six"). The voice of Blofeld, however, was dubbed by Eric Pohlmann, a native of Vienna who escaped to England just before WWII.
2. Auric Goldfinger - Gert Frobe (voice dubbed by English actor Michael Collins due to Frobe's heavy accent). Goldfinger. Frobe was perfectly cast as the gold-loving meglamaniac who drives a gold Rolls Royce and plans to "knock off Fort Knox." Note: When the Goldfinger was released in Germany, Frobe redubbed the part so that his own voice was used.
3. LeChiffre - Mads Mikkelsen Casino Royale. Benzene sniffing, blood weeping from his eye, LeChiffre was not only cruel and sinister, but also was the most believable Bond villain ever. He was drawn almost exactly from the pages of Ian Fleming's first Bond novel, published nearly 60 years ago.
4. Emilio Largo - Adolfo Celi. Thunderball. Super cool with a patch over his eye, kissing his own ring, Largo was the most cool and stylish of Bond's adversaries.
5. Ernst Stavro Blofeld - Telly Sevalas. On Her Majesty's Secret Service. This was the best portrayal of Blofeld in any of the Bond movies. It's too bad producers did not chose Savalas to play Blofeld in all of the Bond movies in which the character appeared. Fortunately Savalas was not hampered by the horrid makeup job that Donald Pleasance had to deal with in You Only Live Twice.
6. Alex Travelyen / Janus - Sean Bean. Goldeneye. Bond must fight one of his own, a former comrade (006) and friend who turned traitor. He plots with a Russian general and steals Russia's Goldeneye satellite weapons system. Bond ultimately battles Travelyen, who is equally trained, high above a satellite dish. It is one of the few times when Bond has emotions other than survival as he fights the villain.
7. Dr. No - Joseph Wiseman. Dr. No. The mysterious Dr. No is kept that way for much of the movie. We hear much about him, but only see him in 2 major scenes near the movie's conclusion. But unlike the disappointment of finally seeing Blofeld, Wiseman's Dr. No lives up to all our expectation. He is mysterious, grandiose, and so calmly in control. Alas, Velcro had not yet been invented for his metal hands or the story might have ended differently. Best line: "Unfortunately I misjudged you. You are just a stupid police man"
8. Scaramanga - Christopher Lee. Man With The Golden Gun. The tri-nipple killer gets a million dollars a hit. He's cool - nearly as cool as Largo - as he plots with his new laser weapon amid the exotic islands off the China coast. A worthy adversary.
9. Max Zorin - Christopher Walken. View To A Kill. Walken is a perfect mad man, laughing as he kills and willing to leave his girlfriend behind to a certain death. He just needed a better plot.
10. Franz Sanchez - Robert Davi. License to Kill. This is maybe the darkest Bond movie. Sanchez is an exception to the general rule that the principal villain has henchmen who do the actual killing. Sanchez is himself a killer. The movie opens with Bond's friend, CIA Agent Felix Lieter getting married. But Sanchez exacts cruel revenge on Lieter by killing his new bride and critically wounding Lieter. Bond sets out on a course of revenge which ends in fiery retribution.
11. Electra King - Sophie Marceau. The World Is Not Enough. Only woman on the list. But then again, when you kill your father to take over his oil company, plan to set off a nuclear bomb in Istanbul in order to drive up the value of your oil reserves, and kidnap M, you've earned your way on to the list.
12. Elliot Carver - Jonathan Pryce. Tomorrow Never Dies. Clearly inspired by media tycoon Rupert Murdock. More than a decade later, the Daily Globe scandal that rocked the Murdock empire seemed like life, imitating art, imitating life.
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