Listverse ranks top 15 007 film deaths

Listverse, a Web site of, well, various lists, on March 28 published a list of the top 15 James Bond film deaths. 007 villains and allies were included. And there’s at least one surprise.

That surprise? Coming in as the second-best Bond death was the demise of Francisco Scaramanga, the title character of 1974’s The Man With The Golden Gun. It occurs after Bond (Roger Moore) and Scaramanga (Christopher Lee) stalk each other in the villain’s “fun house,” which he uses as a way to keep his skills sharp. Here’s part of how Listverse describes it:

The death of Scaramanga is one of the most tense, but fun, deaths in the Bond films…Classic moment in an otherwise mediocre film.

It went something like this:

Almost half of the list (seven to be precise) come from Bond films before 1970, including Tracy in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, two from Goldfinger (Goldfinger and Jill Masterson), two from Dr. No (Dr. No and Professor Dent) and Aki from You Only Live Twice. The most recent 007 film death cited, at No. 12, was the unnamed man Daniel Craig’s Bond kills in a rest room fight at the start of 2006’s Casino Royale.

There are a few flaws. At No. 14 are Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd in Diamonds Are Forever. Listverse incorrectly says Bond (Sean Connery) threw kid overboard from the deck of a luxury liner after setting the killer on fire. Kidd actually jumped off on his own, desperately trying to douse the flames in time. And No. 8, Baron Samedi from Live And Let Die, has this description:

Later on in the film, he appears to die when Bond (Sean Connery) throws him into a chest full of venomous snakes and shuts the lid. However, the end of the film delivers the biggest twist in Bond History. On the back of the train in which Bond and Solitaire are travelling, Samedi is seen sitting, laughing at the audience. At that point the film ends.

Live And Let Die, of course, was Roger Moore’s first 007 film.

The top Bond film death? Not really a surprise: Red Grant (Robert Shaw) in a vicious fight aboard the Orient Express in From Russia With Love:

You can read the entire list and Listverse comments BY CLICKING HERE. One things lists tend to is stir discussion. So let the debate begin.