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Big Mi6 James Bond henchperson ranking game - NUMBER 25

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  • Mathis1Mathis1
    edited February 20 Posts: 7,806
    Rubbish villain! I prefer Elvis 😂
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,508
    I think he is very fitting for this kind of movie. He has an ok fight with Bond at the clinic (apart from the slow motion stuff) and a car chase with some nice tricks and he has at least a good death scene.
    I like his appeaerance in the PTS and the moment they are exchanged on the bridge. For me, he has more to offer than half of the rest, which is why I ranked him at #15. Yes, I'm the crazy one who ranked him the highest...
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,508
    Zoa is the only henchman with his own "plot", at least in the sense that Bond spends a good third of the film looking for him. If we call him a henchman, he's at least unique in that regard.
  • OtisFairplayOtisFairplay
    Posts: 57
    To me, Zao belongs to a category of fanciful henchpersons who never quite seem to transcend their respective gimmick. I agree he’s not the worst part of Die Another Day.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,364
    I have been looking for days now for this guy's lobby card, and while there is one with him bang in the middle it's always part of bigger collections. I can't find it as a standalone image, so I decided enough is enough and to just go for the image below.

    Oh yes, we're talking about our #27:

    ERICH KRIEGLER
    by John Wyman
    in For Your Eyes Only

    ForYourEyesOnly_quad_UK_BrianBysouth-12.jpg

    The "East German champion" managed to crack one top 10, a respectable 7th place. One 12th place was also obtained to secure an additional top 15 spot.

    Having said that, everything else ended up 16th or lower, including six bottom 5's, of which three were penultimate places and one was a bottom finish.

    Erich Kriegler collected a total of 55 points.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,508
    I had him at number 12. He's a menacing character, silent but deadly. I love his motorcycle chase.
  • R1s1ngs0nR1s1ngs0n France
    Posts: 2,190
    28th for me. Not nearly as memorable as his illustrious big, blonde brethren, despite his best efforts to look mean.
  • OtisFairplayOtisFairplay
    Posts: 57
    In this competition I find Erich Kriegler the most straightforward henchman since Red Grant, suffering enormously in any comparision. It would be more fair to judge him against his Big, Blonde and Evil successors Necros and Stamper but I think he falls short there as well (though in the latter’s case, just barely). Finishing last in that not terribly exciting category - coupled with a personality perhaps better suited to biathlon than memorable henchpersonship - was enough for me to put Erich at number 30, but glad to see others finding him more enjoyable.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,364
    Number 22 for me.

    He does what he needs to do, but a bit unmemorable for me.
    He passes the henchman test, excelling in chases in wintery circumstances, that's about it though.
  • BennyBenny Shaken not stirredAdministrator, Moderator
    Posts: 15,301
    18th spot for me. There are more memorable and better henchmen. But at least he’s a real physical threat to Bond.
  • 007HallY007HallY
    Posts: 4,699
    I suppose in the scheme of ‘strong blonde haired henchmen’ he’s on the lower end. Not as memorable as a Red Grant or Necros.
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,163
    I put him on No. 22 just like @GoldenGun, but everyone below No. 20 on my list is really part of a hardly distinguishable crowd of non-descript, generic henchpersons without any redeeming value for the story that is told.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,364
    Moving onwards, rounding out the bottom 5, with our #26:

    PATRICE
    by Ola Rapace
    in Skyfall

    tumblr_n52gymxbk81qkcj94o1_r1_1280.jpg

    Given the first three Craig entries did not rely as much on clearly defined 'Bond film characters', at least not in the same way as many of the original timeline's films, my guess is that the henchman section was never intended to be their strongest suit.

    SF's closest definition to a named henchman, assassin-for-hire Patrice, is the last one of that era to fall off. He managed to collect two top 10's: one 9th and one 10th spot. After that there's a huge gap since his 3rd highest ranking is one 18th place.

    Nine bottom 5's were counted though, with one last place as Patrice's lowest finish. With only fifteen participants, nine bottom 5's is tricky to bounce back from, which definitely explains the low finish here.

    In total Patrice received 60 points.
  • R1s1ngs0nR1s1ngs0n France
    Posts: 2,190
    And another almost-bullseye.
    26th for me. With the exception of Hinx, all the Craig era henchmen were forgettable at best.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,508
    I had him at 21. Not bad, but I wanted more. Patrice is cool, and obviously a worthy opponent, but after the dramatic conclusion of the PTS, he became little more than a connection between bigger dots.
  • Mathis1Mathis1
    edited February 27 Posts: 7,806
    Well , when I think of Patrice, I think of that stupid opening to SF ,when he was waiting for Bond and Moneypenny to chase him! What was he doing while Bond was snooping and trying to save Ronson?,, was he doing a bit of shopping in the bazaar?
  • zebrafishzebrafish <°)))< in Octopussy's garden in the shade
    edited February 27 Posts: 4,374
    I had him in the bottom 5 (actually, bang on 26th place). Maybe that was unfair, because he gives Bond two good fights, on the train and in Shanghai. But strangely he remains very 2-dimensional.
  • SeanoSeano Minnesota. No, it's not always cold.
    Posts: 47
    I'm the one who had Patrice at #9, largely because I felt he represented one of the more credible threats to Bond compared to others, but certainly his character was not particularly memorable. (I think that was one of the real challenges of this list, comparing characters who were more atmospheric versus actually threatening).
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,364
    I gave him last place, I guess he wasn't henchman enough for me. It's a bit like Sévérine in the same film. Closest you get to a henchman / main Bond girl, though in the end it's still a bit of a stretch.
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,508
    Apart from Zao, the ranking so far is similar to mine. I have Kriegler at #28 and Patrice at #27. Interestingly, they have similar deaths...

    Kriegler is part of good scenes, especially the ski chase. But he is just there. No interesting characteristics. Blonde and strong...nothing else. It's not him sticking in my mind, it's only the stuntman doing the great stuff. I like the moment when Kriegler is angrily throwing the motorbike. It reminds me of Jaws standing there with the stone over his head when Bond and Anya are driving off.

    Patrice is already a bit more interesting due to the way he is staring...and he has a talent: We see him doing his job properly (apart from not realising that Bond is tailing him...

  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,364
    Our #25:

    STAMPER
    by Götz Otto
    in Tomorrow Never Dies

    carte-james-bond-007-tomorrow-never-dies-original-royaume-uni-1997.jpg

    Herr Stamper's highest rankings were one 11th and two 13th places.

    At the other end of the spectrum there were four bottom 5's, with a single last place being his worst placement.

    It seems overall most people rate him in the middle, but with no top 10's and a few rankings near the bottom too many, he ended up where he did.

    A total of 63 points was awarded to Stamper.

    On a sidenote, everyone so far collected at least one bottom finish and we've also covered 14 out of the 15 last places. The final one, though, is much higher up and we won't see it for a while.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,508
    Herr Stamper is my number 26.

    Look, I get it. Tall, blonde, German bloke, loyal to the sinister Dr. Kaufman, 12 years after a monocle-wearing evil Nazi doctor. Cultural shorthand and all that. ;-)

    Still, I'm a bit annoyed by Stamper. He works, and yet he doesn't. He's the muscled tool, so far so good, but he comes with the promise of Kaufman-esque torture talents. And yet, neither Kaufman nor Stamper ever gets to demonstrate these skills onscreen. Götz's acting is a bit bland as well. His line, "I owe you a very unpleasant death, Mister Bond", is almost embarrassing.
  • zebrafishzebrafish <°)))< in Octopussy's garden in the shade
    edited 9:47am Posts: 4,374
    I agree, he is not too effective as a henchman and somehow unbelievable as a torturer. Had him on 20.

    And what careless choice of a name: As a surname it is very uncommon in Germany, so I guess "Mr. Stamper" is a nickname given by Carver, a guy that puts his stamp on others.
  • R1s1ngs0nR1s1ngs0n France
    Posts: 2,190
    Got him at #19
    Again, serviceable and quite possibly the most physically imposing among the Blond baddies.
    But to his detriment, he relies heavily on minions to do his and Carver’s dirty work, whereas Grant and Necros are both perfect examples of the lone, highly efficient and cunning operative.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,364
    R1s1ngs0n wrote: »
    Got him at #19
    Again, serviceable and quite possibly the most physically imposing among the Blond baddies.
    But to his detriment, he relies heavily on minions to do his and Carver’s dirty work, whereas Grant and Necros are both perfect examples of the lone, highly efficient and cunning operative.

    True! I'd agree with this assessment. I also had him at #19.
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,163
    zebrafish wrote: »
    I agree, he is not too effective as a henchman and somehow unbelievable as a torturer. Had him on 20.

    And what careless choice of a name: As a surname it is very uncommon in Germany, so I guess "Mr. Stamper" is a nickname given by Carver, a guy that puts his stamp on others.

    Fully agree, except that I have him on 23. Götz Otto famously applied for the role by saying something like, "I'm big, blond and German", and that's about it and it shows. And if his role name is really supposed to have been German, it should have been pronounced "shtumper". But then there is practically nobody in Germany who bears that surname.
  • 007HallY007HallY
    Posts: 4,699
    I actually like Stamper. Ok, he’s another Red Grant spin off, but I find him much more threatening than Kriegler or what his name from YOLT. I really like the final fight between him and Bond.

    I think there’s perhaps something missing from his character. I know they were originally going to give him Renard’s lack of pain and you can see remnants of that at the end with his strength and Bond’s punches/stabs doing nothing. To be fair though I feel the Stamper fight is what the TWINE one should have looked like in that sense. Still, Stamper has his cold moments (love when he guns down the helpless survivors and tells Bond he’s going to enjoy torturing him).

    He’s not quite on the level of Dr. Kaufman (don’t think he’s in this ranking is he? A very outrageous but comically dark henchman, and likely a bit polarising but a favourite of mine). But I find Stamper works.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    edited 12:43pm Posts: 7,364
    The name Stamper is indeed not very German, like @zebrafish and @j_w_pepper already pointed out.

    Which makes me wonder, why didn't Götz Otto just tell them: "Hey. Being German, I can tell you my character's name isn't very German. Why don't you call me Heinrich? Or Hartmann? Or ....?"

    (In the same way, and totally off-topic, I always wondered why Sciarra's name is mispronounced in SP, despite there being more than enough Italians around to correct it?)
  • 007HallY007HallY
    edited 1:38pm Posts: 4,699
    To be fair ‘Stamper’ is a much better name than most German accurate ones I can think of and perfectly encapsulates the character. Maybe it could have been specified it’s a nickname…

    His first name being Richard is more odd to me frankly.
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    edited 1:38pm Posts: 14,871
    'Richard' Stamper. Not very German indeed.

    Unless: 'The name Richard comes from Old High German and is made up of the words ric and hard. It means "brave ruler" or "strong king".'
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