Film Feature: Bond, James Bond – Ranking the Bond Movies Worst to First, Including ‘Spectre’

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Average: 3.7 (3 votes)

10. Dr. No

The first film in the legendary series, and Sean Connery’s first James Bond turn finds him, and the character, still figuring themselves out. There’s plenty here that would lay the groundwork for the films to come, but there’s also a lot more slow patches than you might remember as well.

9. Live and Let Die

Roger Moore’s first time as Bond has him ‘do do that voodoo that you do so well,’ chasing Jamaican bad guys. There’s an amusingly long speedboat chase that was only a sign of the stunts to come, and Moore’s considerable charms and droll humor seemed to indicate he was enjoying himself just as much as the audience.

8. GoldenEye

Pierce Brosnan provided just what Bond needed, when he needed it most. This stunt heavy extravaganza introduced Judi Dench as M, and had Bond fighting a turncoat agent and the Russians in a reignited Cold War. Brosnan’s first go-around as Bond proved to be his best.

7. From Russia with Love

Sean Connery at his grittiest 007. There are a few gadgets, but this Bond is more about the close quarters hand-to-hand combat here – his fight with Robert Shaw is a particular highlight.

George Lazenby
George Lazenby is James Bond in ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’
Photo credit: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

6. Thunderball

James Bond was still riding high from the heights of ‘Goldfinger,” with this entry which took Bond underwater and gave him all sorts of cool new toys to play with. While it’s a sign the series would be heading to new and more ridiculous heights, it’s still pretty entertaining.

5. The Spy Who Loved Me

Roger Moore’s best film as James Bond, hands down. It has his coolest gadgets, his best Bond girl, and one of the series best evil henchmen ever, Richard Kiel’s Jaws.

4. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

While George Lazenby is no one’s idea of a great Bond, he was fortunate enough to get one of the series strongest stories, and the best Bond girl ever in Diana Rigg. This is the film that made Bond more human, and proved he was more than just a tuxedo with a license to kill. Telly Savalas ain’t too bad a bad guy either, as a gnarly Blofeld.

Sean Connery
So It Begins: Sean Connery is James Bond in ‘Dr. No’
Photo credit: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

3. Casino Royale

Daniel Craig gave us a James Bond like we’d truly never seen him before, in a reboot which took the world’s most famous spy in a new and grittier direction, and helped a whole new generation “Bond” with 007 all over again.

2. Skyfall

Great stunts, a terrific villain and exotic locales, plus a meaty, engaging and even half way believable story make this one not to miss. It also might be one of the most cinematic entries in the whole series, with one of the all-time best theme songs.

1. Goldfinger

How can anyone argue with Goldfinger? The perfect mix of gadgets, great villains and a top notch story. This is the James Bond movie that set the mold for decades to come.

Article edited by Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com. “Spectre” is in theaters everywhere now. Featuring Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes, Monica Belluci and Ben Whishaw. Screenplay by John Logan, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Jez Butterworth. Directed by Sam Mendes. Rated “PG-13”

HollywoodChicago.com contributor Spike Walters

By SPIKE WALTERS
Contributor
HollywoodChicago.com
spike@hollywoodchicago.com

© 2015 Spike Walters, HollywoodChicago.com

Bruce Crawford's picture

Wrong film for picture and my take on Spectre being horrible.

The picture with Timothy Dalton is actually from The Living Daylights. I very much agree with Skyfall and Casino Royale being up in the list. I just really disliked the new Spectre film. A lot of superhero films tend to focus in the future sequels. Well, this film tended to focus a lot in the past. I don’t mind there being a mention of the past films, but not to where the film itself being Spectre would mess up the stories that happened before in Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, and Skyfall. Very disappointing sequel. I don’t care for Daniel Craig to humor up Bond. His performance from the past three films were excellent, and I don’t see why he needed to change it for this film. If he returns as James Bond, I really hope that they find good screen writers and a good director like Christopher Nolan to direct it. I thought that Sam Mendes was going to be great in returning to the director’s chair for Spectre and perhaps after, but he should of just stuck to his guns and done Skyfall only. That’s all I’ll say. Thank you for your time.

Bunny Deana's picture

Crowned by James Bond

I am thrilled to be able to say that I shared a glass of champagne with James Bond! When I was “Bunny Deana” at the London Playboy Club, more than 40 years ago now, I was privileged to have been crowned Playboy Bunny of The Year by George Lazenby (Bond in ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’) and I shall treasure the memory forever. The very precious (to me at least) photo of George performing the crowning, immaculately dressed in his beautiful Bond-style suit, is a proud part of my unique, personal “Bunny Deana’s Playboy Photo Album”, available to view online.

Anthony Thompson's picture

The best Bond list I've seen

Everyone has their own favorites and ‘turkeys’ but this list gets it mostly right in my opinion and provides reasonable explanations for the rankings. However, the gratuitous slap at Lazenby is unnecessary. He was an outstanding Bond and it would have been wonderful to see what he would have done with the role in further films. He showed more personality in one film than Brosnan and Dalton did in three each.

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