50 Greatest James Bond Moments Of All Time
48. Licence To Kill: The Fate Of Felix And Della
Early on in Licence to Kill, Bond's (Timothy Dalton) best friend Felix Leiter (David Hedison) is married to Della (Priscilla Barnes) and Bond is the best man. But then, after their day of bliss, Felix and Della are attacked by the film's villains. Leiter is partly fed to a shark and only just survives, while his new wife is found raped and murdered.
Licence to Kill is the darkest film the franchise has ever delivered and this early event very much sets that up. It's an absolutely haunting sequence and the scene in which Bond finds the pair allows viewers to see a broken, emotionally devastated Bond which was rarely seen prior to the Craig films.
The horrible fate that befell Felix and Della hangs over the entire film and that's why it's so satisfying and such a huge relief when Bond finally gets revenge on the people who attacked them.