10. Professor Dent (Dr No)
Dr No's demise, boiled alive in radioactive water, might be more memorable, but it's the treacherous Professor Dent's exit that stands out as the best death in Bond's cinematic debut. Having arrived at Miss Taro's house following her invitation and surviving an attempt on his life in the process, Bond is well aware that more assassins will show up there to finish the job. So after sending her away in a police car he calculatingly arranges the rooms to make it appear as though the romantic rendezvous has continued long into the night, and then settles down to wait, even going so far as playing a hand of solitaire with himself. Dent eventually shows and fires repeatedly at what he believes is Bond's body under the bedsheets. Once he enters the room to inspect the results Bond springs his trap, forcing his would-be murderer to drop his gun. He proceeds to interrogate the professor all too calmly, putting his own gun down and lighting a cigarette, and apparently not noticing Dent slowly reaching for his dropped weapon with his foot. Believing himself once again to have the upper hand, Dent suddenly grabs the pistol and fires on Bond, only to hear the deflating click of an empty chamber. Totally unperturbed, Bond confirms the make of weapon and how he had already emptied its magazine whilst shooting at the bed, whereupon he lifts his own firearm and drops the villain with two shots. Cold, composed, and classy, this was precisely how Bond the spy was meant to be portrayed onscreen and you would have been hard-pressed to find a better introduction.