5. Michael Lonsdale As Hugo Drax - Moonraker (1979)
Moonraker should have been an epic film, with Hugo Drax rising to claim a place in Bond history. But it didn't. Once again an iconic actor with a record of beautiful roles was cast as Bond's nemesis. And once again he was handed a script with no where to go. As plots in the franchise go, this wasn't the most engaging either. It could have been, yet it ended up being one of the most boring Bond films. Then talk about recycling plot lines. I believe the Nazi angle was already done. Oh yeah, "The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)." The Bond film before this one. It was just under water not in space. Drax is losing from the get go. When you promise a James Bond in space movie the bar is exceptionally high to begin with. Then you add in a plot almost exactly like the film that preceded it. And instead of a captivating character for Lonsdale to play they give him this dry impersonal guy that you can't connect with even to hate him. How is anyone supposed to make this work? Moonraker has some of the best action sequences in the franchise. Yet due to a foe you can't really get into rooting against it falls short. Then they bring back Jaw as his henchman, but turn him into a clown. They add this love story to the Jaws plot line that removes any feeling of peril from his character. This in turn takes away from the already non existent peril you feel from Drax and you get a boring film with a couple good fight sequences.
This could have been better and it should have started by giving the actor a villain worthy of a Bond film.