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I really memorable character more than a henchman perhaps, but Geoffrey Holder still added at lot of exciting presence to the role. Of course, later on I knew him mostly for ……
:))
He talks the talk, but that's about it. The final confrontation between Bond and the Baron is quite weak, albeit rather memorable. I guess in the end, I'd say he's...memorable.
These days, I find the quirky henchmen by far the most compelling thing about Guy Hamilton’s 70’s films and most of them hang around in the upper tier of my ranking. But none of them outweirds the glorious Baron Samedi. Granted, I would be curious to read his job description. Jester? Fancy doorman to Kanangas underground lair? Croupier? Graveyard dwelling flutist? Tourist trap? He largely seems to be operating somewhat independently not only within Kanangas organisation but in the film as well, mysteriously wandering in and out of the proceedings, breaking the occasional fourth wall along the way. And while I normally would find these considerable drawbacks, in Live and let Die they actually seem like a positive boon.
Of course, finally faced with traditional henchmanly tasks Baron Samedi doesn’t seem terribly good at his job. But as long as you are the man who can not die, who needs to be?
NECROS
by Andreas Wisniewski
in The Living Daylights
It took us until we arrived at the top 10 for the first Dalton era reveal, which means all his villain sidekicks managed to end up in our top 10. Admittedly, with only two entries that's easier to achieve than with seven, but still another strong showing for Tim's double bill nonetheless.
As far as Necros is concerned, he's clearly our second favourite big bad blondie after FRWL's original by Robert Shaw.
Coming with his very own Pretenders tune and with agile fighting skills (apparently Wisniewski used to be a dancer before he became an actor) Necros secured seven top 10's, of which one 4th and one 5th place were the highest scores.
With four more top 15's and another three top 20's, only one member voted him outside the top 20, which was his lowest score at 24th.
In total Necros collected 94 points.
Having two underwhelming main villains (no disrespect to the late, great Joe Don Baker) featured beside him, also greatly benefits him.
Deadly, cunning and gets to do his dirty deeds while listening to his own theme song.
A great villain, who was a great contrast between Korsakov and Whitaker. His cold blooded menace really helped him to define his spot in the villains gallery of TLD.
He’s also a real physical threat to Bond as displayed in the climatic cargo net fight.
The sliding door murder is still mostly unbelievable to me, but Timothy's earnestness about it saves the scene.
Great henchman and match for Bond. Other than the blond hair and being in one of the best fights of the series, another comparison to Grant is that Necros had the disguised-as-something-else gadget weapon which no doubt was inspired by the theme song music video from the previous film.
Because we know what Necros is capable of it makes the showdown with Bond all the more thrilling and exciting.
I guess it did, good point!
My slight issue with Stamper vs Necros is purely looks-based: Necros is clearly a super-fit guy who can do beautiful high kicks etc.(!) - Wisniewski was a dancer I think? Whereas Stamper is supposed to be big and intimidating, but he doesn't really look it to me. They even stick him in a very tight T shirt and it does him no favours. And I think looks are quite important in these roles.
Fair enough. I think for me what stands out about Stamper is the impression the character gives off. Gotz Otto's not a bad looking guy or anything, but there's something about his facial expressions in that film which make him look mad and a bit ghoulish at times (especially when he's fighting Bond at the end). In many ways it reminds me more of Red Grant towards the end of FRWL when he's smirking sadistically at Bond - you can tell this character is genuinely nuts and dangerous.
Necros is a much more stone cold, emotionless killer by contrast. That's threatening in its own way and it works, although I find it doesn't give the character as much personality. It's an issue I have with most of the 'blonde, tall and muscular' henchmen in Bond though.
Perhaps my tolerance for Grant-esque henchmen in Bond isn't that great then, haha. I find them a wee bit boring, and I find there's more about Stamper that stands out (not a perfect henchman by any means, but I genuinely find him more interesting than Necros).
Perhaps a controversial opinion too, but I also prefer the final fight between Bond and Stamper to the Necros/Bond one in TLD (although both are great!) But then again I'm a bigger TND fan than a TLD one in general really.