Hey! How about a nice James Bond punch?

A couple of weeks ago, we received a note from reader Katina Solomon, who works with the Zen College Life website. She was alerting us to an article they had just published, of interest to film buffs in general, and (she suggested,) James Bond movie fans in particular: 10 Best On-Screen Punches.

By way of a thesis, the article begins:

The on-screen “fight scene” has been an important part of movies since they first began. For the actor, delivering a punch or getting punched means no bruised knuckles, no bloody nose, and no searching for lost teeth. He or she gets to look tough while the audience vicariously enjoys the completely staged donnybrook.

Interesting stuff indeed. We highly recommend your taking the time to read it. Sadly — and weirdly enough — there are no mentions of any James Bond moments in this top 10 list. Okay, fair enough… but it got us to thinking.

The James Bond film series is justifiably famous for its numerous mano-a-mano fight scenes. 007’s battle with Red Grant aboard The Orient Express; his Fort Knox beatdown with Odd Job; the fisticuffs in the

Something like this, from Thunderball

Alpine bell shed; his bareknuckled showdown with former 006 Alec Trevalyan; the brutal mêlée in the Casino Royale’s staircase; etc., etc., etc. But what about individual punches? The haymaker? The left hook? The right jab? The one-shot-take-’em-out wallop? The POW! … The BIFF! … The BAM! …?

What are Bond’s best?

We don’t know. (Although HMSS co-publisher Tom Zielinski suggested the gut punch 007 delivered to Felix Leiter in Thunderball, but we think that’s mostly due to Tom just wanting to see Bond hit Felix.) So we thought we’d enlist our readers to compile a list. Put your nominations in the Comments section below, and let’s see how many we all can come up with.

One caveat: Roger Moore’s Bond hitting Jaws in his steel kisser — for the second or third time! — does not count as a “best” punch. Sorry… our rules. Outside of that, have at it!