Top 5 Villains' Lairs
5. The space station - Moonraker
OK, so Bond has no business going into space, but Drax's orbiting space station is certainly a spectacular set, heavily inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey. It really sums up the no-expense-spared approach that Cubby Broccoli took for Bond's most outlandish adventure.
4. St. Cyril's Monastery - For Your Eyes Only
For Your Eyes Only divides opinions, but for me it's always been a highlight of the Moore era. This is one reason why. The sequence in which Bond scales the sheer cliff face brings the sort of realistic suspense to the franchise that hadn't been seen for over a decade.
3. The supertanker - The Spy Who Loved Me
Although not really the villain's lair in the film - that would be Stromberg's underwater city, Atlantis - it is his base of operations, and deserves to be included here for its sheer scale. No stage existed in the world big enough to house it, so they built one.
2. Piz Gloria - On Her Majesty's Secret Service
This beautiful mountaintop retreat actually exists, sitting atop the Schilthorn in Switzerland. Indeed, both the exteriors and many of the interiors were shot on location; they weren't sets. But it seems made to be in a Bond film, and provides the opportunity for an awesome climactic helicopter assault.
1. Hollowed-out volcano - You Only Live Twice
There could only be one winner here. Blofeld's volcanic hideaway is such a brilliant concept, wonderfully executed. It sums up You Only Live Twice's comic book approach, which doesn't work entirely, but it does allow for this mindblowing set. This may be my first memory of a Bond film, and at the time I thought it was the coolest thing ever.
Disagree with a ranking? Have I forgotten something? Post in the comments!
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