Alex Carson
Bond fans are most assuredly familiar with one of the stand-out features of the iconic franchises – that being of course the voluptuous vixens known as the Bond girls. The female-folk of the 007 films have become cultural icons just as beloved and memorable as their heroic male counterpart.
Honey Ryder set the Bond girl phenomenon in motion back in 1962 in Dr. No. Ever since, each Bond film has come equipped with femme Fatales, ill-fated lovers, and sultry seductresses that have stolen the screen, led James into disaster, and occasionally have even collaborated with the enemy behind his back.
Bond’s love interests have taken on a driving role in the films and it’s not unlikely that one of these beguiling beauties might have even graced your wall in poster-form at some point in the last half-century.
Of course, some of these flirtatious foxy ladies’ names have come under criticism by modern audiences. Some see the not-so-subtly veiled double entendre names of Pussy Galore and Holly Goodhead as dripping in sexist misogyny. It’s impossible to ignore the fact that these women play an integral role in the trope-laden Bond universe.
The Bond girls exude what’s famous as the four S’s – style, strength, sexiness, and sophistication. So, brushing aside the cringe-worthy rhetoric of the past, we’re going to have a look at the top 10 Bond girls of all time. Fans of the franchise are surely going to argue with the ranking so we’re not going to list these ladies in any particular order. So without further ado, let’s get down to business.
Pussy Galore – Goldfinger
Honor Blackman was a truly unique Bond girl when she played Pussy Galore. Not only did she have an insanely provocative name that jostled the moralists of the era but she was also the first Bond girl that started off playing for the bad guy’s team but ended up switching sides after sampling what Bond had to offer.
When Bond and Galore first meet, she was working as Goldfinger’s pilot. Her team is about to help Aurie pull off a heist at Fort Knox as Operation Grand Slam. Galore. a trained martial arts master is thoroughly capable of putting Bond in his place when they first make each other’s acquaintance.
Bond tries to lay the moves on her and she is less than enthusiastic about his advances – throwing him across the room – although, in a manner that would likely draw the criticism of the me-too movement today, Bond pressures her to change her mind. After bedding the former bad girl, Pussy helps Bond take down Goldfinger once and for all.
Kara Milovy – The Living Daylights
Bond rarely spends a lot of time with his ladies socializing and getting to know them. Outside of the bedroom, their interactions tend to be more trivial = the exception to this rule being Kara Milvoy who Bond genuinely seemed to enjoy spending quality time with.
Granted, He had ulterior motives. His goal was to find out why her lover Koskov convinced her to stage a faux assassination attempt when he defected. Even with his agenda, Bond and Kara hit it off and seemed to form an authentic connection,
Can you blame the guy? Maryam D’Abo gushed with feminine charm and allure as Kara. It is almost impossible for anyone to not be drawn in by her attractiveness.
The film garnered a lot of attention back in its day. Typically Bond is quite promiscuous, but Kara is the only woman in the film that Bond seduces. Perhaps that move was intentional as the world was coming to terms with the burgeoning AIDS crisis at the time. Although it notes, that the first film to see Bond sleeping with only one woman was Diamonds Are Forever in 1971 – so maybe it wasn’t as calculated of a move as some would think.
Jinx – Die Another Day
Die Another Day marked the 20th anniversary of the Bond series. When we first lay eyes on Halle Berry as Jinx she is rising out of the ocean wearing a skimpy little bikini. The scene is an obvious homage to Honey in Doctor No – but we’ll get to her in a second, so bear with us.
When Bond and Jinx meet, he’s at one of his lowest points in the franchise. He’s suffering from PTSD after enduring torture. He accuses of going rogue and selling out some of his M16 brethren.
But after Bind and Jinx hook up, he all smiles once again. As it turns out, Jinx is also an agent working for the NSA investigating a different string of the same case that he assigns to. The two join forces and since they both like living on the edge, taking death-defying risks, and fighting the forces of evil. they form a bond – no pun intended – like no other.
Fiona Volpe – Thunderball
Following in the footsteps of Pussy Galore, Fiona Volpe is yet another Bond girl that has an evil past. But unlike Galore, Volpe never strays from her path or changes allegiances. She’s the first thoroughly bad Bond girl in the franchise and boy is she a captivating character.
She uses her sex appeal as a weapon in a similar way that James does and when she kills her targets she has no mercy. She pulls the trigger with a smile on her face.
Bond says that she makes love so intensely that she’ll be put into a cage at a zoo but even with their wild raucous time in bed she isn’t swayed by Bond’s love. She even mocks him for thinking that he can change a woman just by sleeping with them.
In the end, Volpe, played by Italian actress Luciana Paluzzi meets a grim demise at the end of a barrel of a gun.
Honey Rider – Dr. No
Rider wasn’t actually the first lady that Bond took a liking to in Dr. No, but she by far was the most mesmerizing. When she emerged from the sea in her bikini she helped define the gold standard of sex appeal that became an essnetial component of the Bond franchise.
Honey at first seems to be innocent as can be. She doesn’t make any indication that she has had any lovers in recent years. It reveals that she assaults sexually several years prior. She seems to be oblivious to her own attractiveness and when she suggests killing her abuser she seems to be torn whether that would be an ethical thing to do.
Regrettably, her role in the movie is to be protected by Bond and to reward him when he’s accomplished his mission. She might not be the most engaging Bond girl but she was the first and for that, she deserves a place on this list.
Quick side note — if you’re enjoying this video so far, make sure you hit the like button and subscribe to our channel. And yeah, we said that this list isn’t in any particular order but you’re going to want to stick around to see which Bond girls have made it to our top 5. The best are still to come.
Anya Amasova – The Spy Who Loved Me
Barbara Bach’s portrayal of Anya Amasova is superb. She’s the perfect counterpart for Bond. At the beginning of the film Bond leaves the bed of his latest love interest and reports to M while Amasova simultaneously reports to Gogol – the Soviet vis-a-vis of M.
Both Bond and Anya are assigned to the same mission – that is, uncover who’s behind the recent theft of several nuclear-armed subs.
When Anya and Bond cross paths, it seems they have met their match. Once they discover that they have a common enemy they decide to join forces to tackle their mission. In the process, they become lovers – because why wouldn’t they?
Asanova was by far the most self-sufficient Bond girl in the franchise – but she still needs saving by 007. In many ways, she eclipsed the film’s villain which was stood out as a major break from form for the series.
Xenia Onatopp – Goldeneye
Famke Janssen played one of the baddest Bond girls in the entire series. Onatopp is a straight-up psychopath. Her many loves include flashy cars, fine cigars, and murder.
When she kills, she does so with a twisted grin and she seems to take great pleasure in crushing her enemies. Her favorite way to snuff out her adversaries is by breaking their backs while making love, but she also holds her own in fistfights and skirmishes. She can take a beating just as well as she is able to deliver one.
Just like Fiona Volpe, she laughs at the idea of changing her ways. She is evil through and through and that ends up being her downfall.
Tiffany Case – Diamonds Are Forever
Jill St. John was one of the hottest sex symbols of her generation. And as Tiffany Case, she was one of the most memorable Bond girls. In addition to being eye candy and the object of Bond’s attration, she also had her own agenda to carry out. She had dreams of working alongside a diamond-smuggling ring and raking in the cash. Not quite the noblest of goals, but we’re not here to judge
Even though she has her own greedy motivations, in the end, she chooses Bond over the villainous Blofeld who is orchestrating a scheme involving a satellite in orbit full of stolen diamonds. Granted at the conclusion of the film she still has plans of obtaining those precious heisted gems eventually. So yeah, there’s that.
Wai Lin – Tomorrow Never Dies
Michelle Yeoh’s Wai Lin makes our list because of her intense chemistry with 007 and her incredible martial arts moves. Just like Anya Amasova, she initially is working for another agency when she crosses paths with Bond but once they realize that they have a common enemy it only makes sense for the two to join forces.
In Tomorrow Never Dies, mogul Elliott Carver has plans to overthrow the government in China and instigate a regime change to achieve his own nefarious goals. Both Bond and Wai lin object to his plan with equal vigor.
Yeoh is one heck of an actress and her fight scenes are some of the coolest in the entire Bond series. Her battles are beautifully choreographed and for the most part, Yeoh did her own stunts. And yes, she and bond find their way to the bedroom where they also find themselves quite compatible.
Tracy Draco – On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
The beautiful and immensely talented Diana Rigg Played Tracy Draco. When she and Bond first meet, she’s on the verge of suicide following the death of her only child. Her dad is convinced that Bond can save her from herself.
But Bond insists on maintaining his independence. He doesn’t want to be tied down by a woman. But as the film progresses he finds himself increasingly reliant upon her. After an epic fight with Blofeld, Bond retires from the service and gets married to her.
The final scene of the film though throws us a curveball when Blofeld executes a drive-by shooting of Bond’s new wife. And just like that, one of the greatest Bond girls of all time was no more.
Well, there you have it. What do you think about our list? Do you agree with our 10 or do you think we left someone crucial out? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
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