10 Most Shocking James Bond Movie Moments

When the Bond franchise was rebooted for Daniel Craig in 2006, it was obvious from the opening scene that this was going to be a harsher, more brutal sort of Bond movie than had been seen during the Pierce Brosnan years. But it was a certain scene, played almost exactly as it was in the novel upon which the film was based, that really drove home the extent to which things had been darkened for the reboot.

In a part of the movie that must have made almost very male audience member squirm in his seat, Bond, having been captured by Le Chiffre, is tortured in a way far worse than anything he’d endured in the twenty original series movies. Naked, Bond is tied to a chair from which the seat has been cut out. Le Chiffre then whips Bond’s genitals from underneath. 

Bond’s facial expressions and howls of agony show 007 experiencing more pain that had ever before been portrayed in a Bond movie. It is only the sudden appearance of another villain, Mr. White, who kills Le Chiffre, which saves Bond from permanent damage.

Any illusion that the rebooted Bond was still the same nearly-invincible semi-superman he'd been in the past was quickly blown away by this scene.