Daniel Craig makes his final appearance as 007 James Bond in “No Time to Die” this Friday.
WTOP’s Dave Preston is ranking the Best of Bond in a different category every day this week.
Today, we’re ranking the Best Bond Villains.
Let the countdown begin!
5. Sophie Marceau as Elektra King in 鈥淭he World is Not Enough鈥�
The scheme seems standard: detonate a nuke to increase her business interests. Except Elektra King and James Bond聽share a certain chemistry that initially blinds 007 to her deviousness. The fact that she鈥檚 partnered with the man who kidnapped her years before can鈥檛 lend any stability to the situation.
4. Louis Jourdan as Kamal Khan in 鈥淥ctopussy鈥�
After classics like “Letter from an Unknown Woman” (1948) and “Gigi” (1958), Louis Jourdan brings a suaveness to the part that rivals 007鈥檚 charm, plus a certain sinister focus that keeps you on edge. He also eats stuffed sheep鈥檚 head 鈥� without needing ground pepper.
3. Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva in 鈥淪kyfall鈥�
The fallen MI6 agent isn鈥檛 shy about showing off his new jaw, nor getting uncomfortably frisky with 007. Hellbent on revenge, Silva is one step ahead of Bond for most of the film 鈥� and actually is successful in his plan to bring down M.
2. Telly Savalas as Ernst Stavro Blofeld in 鈥淥n Her Majesty鈥檚 Secret Service鈥�
Donald Pleasance鈥檚 version of Blofeld slides into an impatient teenager still needing his teddy bear, while Charles Gray鈥檚 take is more of a foppish dandy. Savalas plays SPECTRE鈥檚 鈥渘umber one鈥� as somebody with enough brains (designing a biological warfare scheme) and brawn (he chases 007 on skis) to rival聽Bond.
1. Gert Frobe as Auric Goldfinger in “Goldfinger”
He loves gold. Only gold. Obsessiveness is a necessary quality in a supervillain.聽 He鈥檒l cheat at cards and at golf 鈥� while using his Rolls-Royce to smuggle gold in the most ingenious way. And Bond is squarely in the way of his crime de la cr猫me, Operation Grandslam. Do you expect him to talk? No, he expects you to die!
Click聽here聽to reach聽the table of contents for all of our Bond rankings.
