The James Bond franchise has seen many quality actors portray the iconic MI6 spy, but there’s one actor’s version of 007, and one movie, that sees the character rack up the highest kill count. Based on the post-war spy novels by British writer Ian Fleming, the James Bond franchise follows its titular spy through various periods in history as he charms and fights his way through evil forces intent on taking over the world. While the novels tend to focus more on anti-war themes, many of the James Bond movies emphasize action-adventure elements more than their source material, thus leading to higher kill counts.
While the James Bond movies aren’t particularly violent, some entries in the franchise beefed up the killing for entertainment and metaphorical purposes. Moreover, some movies in the James Bond franchise have prided themselves on making 007 more trigger-happy than other iterations, further fleshing out James Bond’s character. Although there are many things James Bond fans can’t agree on, the consensus regarding the violence in the movies is that it helps distinguish the series from other popular spy franchises like Mission: Impossible and Jack Ryan. However, there’s one James Bond movie with the most kills and one actor whose 007 was the deadliest.
GoldenEye Is The James Bond Movie Where 007 Kills the Most People
007 kills 47 people in GoldenEye.
GoldenEye centers around James Bond’s mission to stop a Russian crime syndicate from using a powerful satellite system to become the nation’s greatest superpower. Grossing over $350 million on a $60 million budget, and receiving generally favorable reviews, GoldenEye was praised for bringing the character and franchise into a modern context with thrilling action sequences and suspense. While previous Bonds in the franchise have utilized lethal means to dispatch enemy forces, Pierce Brosnan’s version of James Bond elevated things to new heights with a kill count of 47 in his debut film, and this was done to firmly establish the character’s new direction.
GoldenEye is also Pierce Brosnan’s best James Bond movie because of its unique take on many of the common tropes that have made the character iconic. It’s also appreciated for its take on James Bond as a more active combatant. Although great, previous iterations of James Bond often saw him utilizing his gadgets more than his combat skills to solve issues, thus leaning much more heavily into the character’s spy characteristics than his supposed military background. GoldenEye distinguished itself from its predecessors by crafting compelling action scenes around James Bond’s suave and charismatic personality, thus resulting in Brosnan’s 007 accruing the highest kill count.
Why You Only Live Twice Is James Bond’s Deadliest Movie
This Sean Connery James Bond movie’s climactic shootout sees hundreds of characters die.
You Only Live Twice sees James Bond and the Japanese Secret Service work together to discover who’s behind a series of space hijackings before nuclear war is provoked between the U.S. and the Soviet Union Released during the height of the Cold War, You Only Live Twice‘s strong anti-war themes influenced the movie’s plot and violence, thus resulting in a kill count of 196. You Only Live Twice‘s tone was darker than most entries in the franchise, and its climax reinforced its darker themes by showing Bond and Japanese soldiers fighting Blofeld’s men, resulting in hundreds of characters getting shot or blown up.
Pierce Brosnan’s Version of James Bond Has The Highest Kill Count
Across four films, Brosnan’s Bond has killed 135 people.
Across all of Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond movies, he racked up a kill count of 135, with the second-highest 007 kill count being Roger Moore’s at roughly 90 kills. Brosnan’s version of James Bond has killed the most and this is the result of the timing for which Brosnan’s James Bond movies were released over any story or character-related reasons. GoldenEye hit theaters in the mid-’90s, a period in cinema where violence was depicted differently than it was in previous James Bond movies, thus allowing the character to rack up more kills without upsetting the censors. Additionally, the tone was darker in Brosnan’s movies, thus justifying his high kill count.
While the character was still as charming and charismatic as ever, Brosnan’s Bond spared no expense when saving the world from global terrorist threats. Although the Daniel Craig James Bond movies contain plenty of action and kills, and each movie before GoldenEye features some of the most creative kills in the franchise, Brosnan’s Bond reigns supreme when it comes to kills. You Only Live Twice features the greatest number of overall kills in a James Bond movie, but Brosnan’s Bond is the deadliest, as his version of the MI6 agent used a wide variety of guns, explosives, and gadgets to kill his enemies.
