Bond at 50: The Villains

 Now for my favourite Bond main villains. The films series has been blessed by some truly memorable performances by great actors down the years of the main villains from the novels, here are my top 5. This was tough as Le Chiffre, Max Zorin, Karl Stromberg and even Franz Sanchez were all considered too.

5. Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean, Goldeneye)
 Ally turned foe, the former 006 betrays Bond and the Mi6 in order to avenge his parents treatment after the war. During the electric opening of Goldeneye Trevelyan fakes his own execution at which point Bond blows up a chemical warfare factory and escapes. It's not until 9 years later that Bond realises the betrayal. Bean is a great casting choice and he fits the role perfectly, as he attempts to destroy London and steal millions of pounds. The best of the modern Bond villains.





4. Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya, From Russia With Love)
 By far the fiercest of the female villains of the series, she serves as one of Blofeld's main member's of SPECTRE. She is extremely cunning and seems to exert a lot of power in the film as she directs the equally brilliant Red Grant to steal a decoding device and kill Bond. Her final confrontation with Bond is also very enjoyable, as it seems very pure and doesn't have to be bogged down by political correctness or smart gimmicks. Even though Rosa Klebb does more for Women's Lib than Halle Berry ever could (Klebb is even a pun on a Russian female liberation movement).


3. Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee, The Man With The Golden Gun)
 Played by the hammy Christopher Lee, a Bond villain was probably the perfect role for him. Despite this entry being one of the more maligned films' in the series, almost all agree that Lee's Scaramanga is the best thing about it. He's an assassin who charges $1m per kill, and uses the eponymous golden gun to make his kills. He is probably the Bond villain given the biggest backstory in the films, as well as one who establishes possibly the deepest relationship with Bond, as he reveals his abusive upbringing. The dueling personalities and confrontations are the best thing about an otherwise unremarkable film, and the final duel is a good way to end the conflict.




2. Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe, Goldfinger)

 This was the first of Ian Fleming's villains that Frobe would play on film, the second being Baron Bomburst in the film adaptation of Chitty, Chitty, Bang! Bang!. Again, like Lee, another hammy actor that fits into the villain type role like a glove. Here he plays a notorious gold smuggler, whose grand scheme is to break into Fort Knox and contaminate the US's gold reserves with a nuclear device, thus increasing the value of his own gold haul. He simply has to be on the list, for his great dialogue exchanges between Bond, including the most famous of the franchise "Do you expect me talk?", "No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die.". He also has an army of lesbian personnel who help neutralise Fort Knox's security with nerve-gas. Probably the most charismatic of all the Bond villains.


1. Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Donald Pleasance, You Only Live Twice)
 Undoubtedly the quintessential Bond villain, and without question the best. Portrayed a number of times, across a substantial proportion of the movies. It is Pleasance who probably gives the most recognisable Blofeld performance (though Telly Savalas is my favourite). He is the head of the main enemy organisation of the Bond series, SPECTRE, which just further justifies Blofeld position as enemy number 1. He also murders James Bond's wife Tracy (On Her Majesty's Secret Service), not to mention trying to kill Bond himself at least a dozen time. The scarred face, grey suit, and white cat are his synonymous trademark, and the thing which has helped formulate similar type villains in other films, books and tv shows over the last 50 years.