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I remember watching the PTS for the first time at the cinema and being really excited about Daltons 007.
So, my vote goes to OHMSS, with CR '06 as a strong contender.
With TLD, however, it's perfect. There's some clever subversion with the fact that the other 00 agents being killed off look kind of 'Bond-like', and you have that wonderful reveal of Dalton's Bond with him turning/the camera moving towards him. It was different, but distinctive.
Here are the academy votes tallied!
Lets stay on the Bondie side of things and award best cold hearted death by Bond. I was reminded in a recent podcast of some brutal deaths in LTK some that Bond did while not holding a license to kill!
Bond sometimes has to off his man in the heat of the moment, but sometimes he seems to take a small delight in sending a heavy to their death. Is Bond a sadist? Who knows but these kills show a more brutal side to our favourite spy!
The nominees are:
There you have it, a list of nominees and a brand new award. What do the esteemed members of the Mi6 academy think? which kill by Bond is particularly cold blooded?
If you have a write in candidate please let us know! Interesting that two Moore kills make it to the list.
For me, it's LTK. I can believe Bond would coldly kill a man out of revenge and anger, and the film sets up this premise believably and effectively.
I love how Dalton spits the line out at Killifer, but I'll have to go with Dent. May be a bit of a jump from the Book Bond, but brilliant cinema.
Perhaps it's just my general hatred of FYEO... I do find it somewhat amusing that Bond spends a chunk of the film wagging his finger and tutting at Melina about the pitfalls of revenge and then proceeds to do that later in the film.
I suppose one of the things I find most annoying about FYEO is that the material had so much potential to explore some pretty interesting ideas. Revenge is a pretty big theme in the film, and not only is it seen with Melina, it's also there in the feud between Columbo and Kristatos and even the PTS with Bond killing 'Blofeld'. I'm not saying that the film, or indeed any Bond film, should be a cautionary tale about revenge, but I think it should at least be consistent with what it's trying to explore.
I just don't buy that Bond, even Moore's Bond, would ever wax lyrical and quote Chinese Proverbs. As you said he's a trained killer. He doesn't need to be abstract about what can happen when you pursue revenge and get involved with dangerous people, he knows. Would he not be more likely to try and dissuade Melina from getting involved with such logic? Ie. "You don't want to get involved with these kinds of people. Trust me, you have a life ahead of you, just forget about this and let me handle it" etc. I personally think seeing Moore's Bond take this line with Melina would have been more impactful as he wouldn't have been taking the high ground (it simply doesn't work when before and after he's seen killing out of revenge without consequence).
Yes, I do wonder if the writers were aware of the irony of it at the time given the rest of the film. Perhaps they were but simply didn't care because it's a Bond film...
I said it many times already and I’ll say it again: the man was ruthless cool personified. The way he toyed with Dent who foolishly thought he could get the drop on him and then putting that extra bullet into Dent’s body, which could also be seen as a personal statement in response to Strangeways’ murder.
Flawless scene.
I'm going with Connery killing Dent, because after 60 years, this scene holds up beautifuly... A couple years ago, I did a marathon with my eldest son-- he would have been 19... When he saw Dent eating bullets, he was wowed by the scene, and incredulous at the same time.
But, the winner here has to be Connery's killing of Dent in Dr. No, it's classic but that's scene was the perfect meaning of Coldness.
And that line " That's Smith and Wesson, and you've had your six" with a cigarette on Bond's mouth, it's very professional and relaxed.
Anyway, where's Bond's killing of Elektra in TWINE? That's the coldest scene that Brosnan's Bond could do.
The advertising in 1962/63 established this is a character with a licence to kill; he ain't John Wayne. This is why the Dent scene was so important. People may forget that this was film Bond's first direct kill; the others were caused by other circumstances.
The scene and Terence Young's direction are perfection. People sometimes complain the Bond films aren't glamorous enough, but this establishes why having the OO status isn't all fun and quips. Bond sits alone playing solitaire and you know he probably had to be fighting some nerves. But the cool Bond shows is as important.
The cigarette in his mouth is a nice touch. I'm sure numerous people over the years probably wondered why Bond didn't just arrest and interrogate Dent. Given how Mr. Jones ended up, it's understandable and to, again, establish the ugly side of Bond's profession. His blowing off the smoke of the silencer and the fade out are perfect. No unnecessary quip. The scene speaks for itself.
Not to put down another scene, but I often see the TWINE execution of Elektra getting a lot of praise, but the "I never miss" line was so unnecessary by comparison. First thing I think is, well, from that range I hope you wouldn't and the line just doesn't work in any context. It's why the silence in DN after the Dent execution speaks volumes. It's still effective 60 years later. I can't imagine how shocked an audience member in 1962/63 reacted to that.
There is a great interview with Maibaum in an early 80's Starlog magazine. In it he revealed that some of the lines added to the story were not what him and Wilson had written. Which makes me believe that either Moore or Glen decided to insert some lines to the script. One of the passages was the very Chinese proverb that you have mentioned.