Carl the Critic's 6 Best Bond Girls
Introduction
At this point we all know that every James Bond film is the same. James Bond has lot's of gadgets, there's a lot of over the top villain's who want to take over the world, there are interesting henchmen, lot's of action, the opening title sequences, and (of course) the women. Not just any women, GORGEOUS WOMEN, from all over the world.
Here's my list of the "6 Best Bond Girls". Why 6? Because I couldn't think of more than 6 Bond girls that I thought were good, the rest of them were either very forgettable, or not as great as you thought they might be, or were just down right scary. But enough banter, let's begin!
6.) Honey Ryder
Here is a very special Bond girl who deserves special mentioning mostly because she was the first of the many Bond girls. Not only that, but also because her introduction has become one of the most iconic introductions of the James Bond series.
There films like Austin Powers that use this introduction. Although Honey Ryder isn't the most memorable Bond Woman, we are just only at the bottom of the list.
5.) Octopussy
Arguably one of the best Roger Moore films, "Octopussy" was played by Swedish Actress Maud Adams. She also appeared in "The Man with The Golden Gun" with Britt Ekland (another beautiful Swedish Actress who I'm sad to say could not make it on the top 6 list). Octopussy might not be my favorite, but she does deserve some mentioning because she is introduced is mysterious, and makes you want to know who she is. Is she a villain? Is she a friend? Who is she?
Octopussy is not only beautiful, but powerful, strong, intelligent, and a perfect match for Bond.
4.) Wai Lin
Another Bond girl who is not only beautiful, but powerful, strong, intelligent, and a perfect match for Bond. But unlike Octopussy, Wai Lin is a badass! Played by actress Michelle Yeoh, Wai Lin in "Tomorrow Never Dies" starts off as being very strong and capable of handling everything by herself. THEN Bond crosses her path, and though at first she still is capable, she then transitions into needing Bond. I'm not sure if I really like such a transition, but it does give Bond and Wai Lin an excuse to team up which it good enough for me.
3.) Pussy Galore
Although I said before that Honey Ryder's introduction is one of the most iconic, this Bond girl's introduction is by far the best!
James Bond: "Who are you?"
Pussy Galore: "My Name is Pussy Galore!"
James Bond: "I must be dreaming!"
Best introduction to a Bond girl ever! But originally, did you know that the dialogue use to be like this?
James Bond: "Who are you?"
Pussy Galore: "I'm Pussy Galore"
James Bond: "I know you are, but what's your name?"
Still the greatest introduction to a Bond girl ever. But this was deemed too suggestive... Naming a character "Pussy Galore" on the other hand, isn't suggestive at all.
Again, this is another Bond girl who was beautiful, powerful, strong, intelligent, a perfect match for Bond, and a badass. But unlike the previous girls, Miss Galore is more complex. This gives her character a sense of depth that arguably some of the previous girls did not have.
Here's some useless trivia, in the novels Pussy Galore was a lesbian, which is why in the films she said "you can turn off the charm, I'm immune!"
2.) Tracy Di Vicenzo [Caution: Contains Plot Spoilers]
Tracy Di Vicenzo, from "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" was played by British actress Diana Rigg (many remember her from the hit British T.V. show "The Avengers", and some Americans know her as Lady Holiday from "The Great Muppet Caper".) This is also another Bond girl who needs mentioning, because (SPOILER ALERT) she actually marries James Bond! That's very memorable, and Bond fans that read this list usually have mixed feeling about me mentioning her. On one hand, yes she does marry James Bond, and the film did a relatively good job establishing a strong relationship between Bond and Tracy, but on the other hand, (again SPOILER ALERT) after 5 minutes of marriage, Ernst Stavro Blofeld and his henchmen drive past Bond and Tracy's car, and shoots at them... KILLING TRACY!!! This is also the only time we see James Bond cry. Tracy might not be as badass as some of the other Bond girls on this list, but as you can see Tracy did have an impact on James Bond, and so even if some fans like myself were a little disappointed that the majority of this film was building up a relationship and ended in a brutal killing, the fact is Tracy really meant a lot to James so no one can argue with him.
Now when I was making this list, I knew right away that this woman was going to be #1. This Bond Girl stands out among the rest, by always being there for James when he needed her (and sometimes when he didn't) and for not giving in to his advances (even though she semi-secretly wants him). But out of all the Bond Girls, out of all the Funny Names, ONLY ONE STANDS OUT AS MY FAVORITE!
1.) Miss Moneypenny
Some of you right now are saying, "What the hell is wrong with you Carl? Moneypenny was the most pointless Bond Girl in the franchise!"
Yes she is pretty pointless, for both the films and novels (she's barely mentioned in the novels, though Ian Fleming wrote a series called "The Moneypenny Diaries" which I have never read). But she is still my favorite Bond Girl, why? Because she is the only one who doesn't have sex with him. Every other Bond Girl is seen getting it on with Bond except for her. It shows that she is a strong willed woman, not just another Bond Girl.
Watching these movies as a child, I would often wonder what Moneypenny was probably doing while James Bond is out increasing his chances of catching gonorrhea. Usually it would be something along the lines of her working in the office and then on her way home she gets kidnapped and held for ransom, and then she escapes giving her kidnappers what for (...I was kind of a strange kid).
She has her funny moments, like at the end of "Die Another Day" that I found to be funny (and I'm still not going to spoil what happens because that would really ruin it for those who haven't seen the film), but I think since she was usually on screen for an average of 3 minutes in each film, she is pretty forgettable.
Canadian actress, Lois Maxwell, is my favorite Moneypenny by far, because she was very classy, and so much fun. The same way how I feel that Sean Connery was the best James Bond, Lois was the original Moneypenny.
After she left, she was replaced with a British actress Caroline Bliss. I guess she was okay but considering that her screen time was less than a minute, and she only appeared in two Bond films (both staring Timothy Dalton) I can't really say if she was any good because she is on screen less than Moneypenny already is.
When Pierce Brosnan came into the picture, a new Moneypenny did as well, Samantha Bond (... Oh my God, it was like she was meant to be a part of this franchise, how ironic is it that a person named Bond in real life gets to be in a Bond movie? And playing a Bond Girl!). Samantha was great, and it's a shame that she's not in a lot of other films, but she does do a lot of television from what I understand... It's a shame that none of those shows are seen in the U.S. because I would really like to know if she is as good in those shows, as she was in the Bond films. Despite being really good, she really just did the same stuff that Lois Maxwell did, so she wasn't better, but she was still good.
But alas, when Daniel Craig came into the picture, Moneypenny left. I guess I understand why, because Moneypenny barley does anything, except flirt with James, but I'm still going to miss her.
You might think that Tracy, Pussy Galore, Wai Lin, Octopussy, Honey Ryder, or some other Bond Girl was even better, and they are all really great, but no one ever thinks about Moneypenny. Granted she's usually skimmed over because she's never fully developed, and everyone usually likes the hot, kick ass Bond Girls but for me, Moneypenny will always be the Best Bond Girl.
Feel Free to comment down below about how wrong I am!
UPDATE
Well I see we do have a new Moneypenny, in the Skyfall film, Naomie Harris. The same Naomie Harris who played this...
She's actually pretty good in the film and it's a good film over all, so if you haven't seen it... Go see it NOW! Carl the Critic demands you!
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Carl the Critic © 2012 HubPages.com