Most of the death scenes in the No Time to Die, Bond himself – is killed off in heartbreaking fashion.
From Felix Leiter drowning in a sinking ship to Vesper Lynd drowning in a sinking building, Bond fans have been emotionally devastated by certain character deaths over the years.
Jill Masterson In Goldfinger
Jill Masterson’s death in the third ever Bond movie, Goldfinger, is still one of the most shocking “Bond girl” deaths in the whole franchise. Auric Goldfinger dispatches his top henchman Oddjob to assassinate Jill and 007 is heartbroken when he finds her corpse painted gold.
It’s unclear how Oddjob killed Jill. Either he murdered her first and then painted her gold or he asphyxiated her with the gold paint. Whatever happened, the aftermath is a truly unsettling sight that fans never get used to.
Sévérine In Skyfall
One of the “Bond girls” in Skyfall, Sévérine, betrays her boss Raoul Silva to help with Bond’s investigation in the hopes of freeing herself. After capturing her, Silva places a shot glass full of Scotch whiskey on her head and challenges 007 to a game of William Tell.
Bond, still reeling from his near-death experience, misses the target. Silva, cheating at the game, shoots Sévérine in the head. Her death is made all the more heartbreaking by Bond’s callous response: “A waste of good Scotch.”
Paris Carver In Tomorrow Never Dies
The villain in the Bond franchise’s prescient satire of fake news, Tomorrow Never Dies, is media mogul Elliot Carver, whose wife Paris Carver happens to be an old flame of Bond’s. Out of jealous rage, Carver sends his henchman Kaufman to kill both his wife and 007, with the intention of staging it as a murder-suicide.
Kaufman manages to kill Paris, but Bond gets the best of him and delivers a bullet to his head. For the rest of the movie, Bond is driven by his desire to avenge Paris’ death.
Felix Leiter In No Time To Die
Jeffrey Wright reprised his role as Felix Leiter for the last time in No Time to Die. Director Cary Joji Fukunaga braces audiences for the loss of Bond himself at the end of the movie with the tragic loss of a fan-favorite ing player in the second act.
By the time Bond realizes Leiter’s new CIA partner Logan Ash is a double agent, it’s too late. Ash leaves Bond and Leiter trapped in a sinking ship. Bond manages to make it out alive, of course, but Leiter isn’t so lucky. Bond does everything he can to save his American friend, but he doesn’t make it.
Timothy & Iona Havelock In For Your Eyes Only
After the far-fetched intergalactic adventure of Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only brought the Bond franchise back down to Earth with a grounded revenge thriller. Early on in the movie, Timothy Havelock and his wife Iona are mercilessly gunned down on their yacht by Cuban hitman Hector Gonzalez.
The real tragedy of their assassination is that their daughter Melina witnesses the whole thing. She promptly becomes hellbent on exacting revenge for the hit. Her drive for vengeance surprises even 007.
Vesper Lynd In Casino Royale
007 goes on an emotional rollercoaster throughout the plot of Casino Royale. He falls in love with fellow operative Vesper Lynd, quits active duty to go on vacation with her, gets his heart broken, and learns that she only betrayed him to save his life. And to top it all off, he fails to save her life in the climactic set-piece.
As a building sinks into the watery streets of Venice, Bond desperately tries to free Vesper from an elevator. But she ultimately drowns before he can save her. Not only does Casino Royale explain the origins of Bond’s 00 status and license to kill; it also explains the inception of his cold-hearted emotional detachment.
Della Churchill In License To Kill
Timothy Dalton’s second Bond film, License to Kill, which ultimately ended up being his last, is widely regarded to be the darkest and most violent entry in the whole franchise. It kicks off with ruthless drug lord Franz Sanchez maiming Felix Leiter and murdering his bride Della Churchill.
007 is so enraged by the killing that he abandons his official MI6 mission to pursue a blood-soaked vendetta against Sanchez and his cronies.
Tracy Bond In On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
George Lazenby only starred in one Bond film, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, but it was universally praised as one of the most masterfully crafted installments in the franchise from a cinematic perspective – and one of the most emotionally engaging.
For the first time, Bond falls in love and gets married. But his marital bliss with Tracy is short-lived. Right after the ceremony, Tracy is gunned down in a drive-by shooting by the villainous Irma Bunt. The movie ends on the emotional breakdown that follows.
M In Skyfall
Throughout Daniel Craig’s tenure as 007, Judi Dench’s M developed a sort of maternal relationship with the gentleman spy. This was explored in the most depth in Craig’s third Bond film, Skyfall, in which the villainous Raoul Silva pursued a personal vendetta against M. Bond can only protect M from Silva for so long.
In the heartbreaking finale, Bond arrives seconds too late to prevent Silva from fulfilling his plot to kill M. Dench nails the gut-wrenching emotions of M’s final moments as she dies in Bond’s arms.
James Bond In No Time To Die
The saddest death in the Bond franchise is arguably that of Bond himself in No Time to Die. Craig’s final film as 007 was the first to have a true sense of finality. Bond makes the ultimate sacrifice to go back and open the silo doors on Safin’s island lair so that the HMS Dragon’s missile strike will take out any trace of the Heracles virus.
On rewatches, what really hits Bond fans is how quickly 007 realizes he’s not going to make it off that island. He says a heartfelt farewell to Madeleine and his daughter Mathilde before solemnly waiting for the nukes to hit.
