Ranking Every James Bond Opening Scene From Worst To Best

James Bond attends the funeral of Colonel Bouvar, a SPECTRE operative that killed two of his colleagues. When the funeral ends, Bond visits the operative's widow, but instead of offering his condolences, 007 delivers the widow a swift punch in the face. The widow is actually Colonel Bouvar in disguise, and he and Bond fight to the death.

If you are capable of putting aside the ridiculousness of this cross-dressing secret agent and the Austin Powers flashbacks it causes, you'll find that this opening is very enjoyable thanks to its great fight.

The hand to hand combat is brutal and realistic, and the use of the surroundings shelves and chairs as weapons is both clever and believable. The fight is tense throughout, and it culminates in a delightful Bond moment in which the agent throws a bouquet of flowers on the newly deceased Colonel.

With henchman hot on his trail, 007 makes a daring escape on a...jetpack. I'm sure audiences were completely awed by the jetpack when Thunderbolt originally released in 1965, but fifty years later this stunt does not hold up. Like the cross-dresser, Bond's jetpack is goofy, but despite these two flaws this opening is solid because of its fantastic fight scene.