Celebrating 60 years of 007: Ranking every James Bond film from worst to best
James Bond’s Tom Ford suit is getting crinkled, his hair ever-wispier and his Walther PPK ever more outdated as he celebrates his 60th anniversary. But, fear not, Britain’s greatest spy has no intention of hanging up his title anytime soon, as whilst the character is old in history, he is still young at heart, with the ability to de-age and regenerate Doctor-Who style from one fresh-faced actor to the next.
Premiering 60 years ago on October 5th 2022, Dr.No would kick off a series of films, adapted from the novels of Ian Fleming, that would quickly become a British establishment in and of itself. Ever since then, five actors have (officially) taken up the 007 mantle, with Connery being followed by George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and, most recently, Daniel Craig.
Rumours remain swirling as to who might take over from Craig, who recently departed from the franchise in dramatic fashion as he became the first Bond ever to be killed off (spoilers, sorry). This has wiped the James Bond slate clean, in many ways rewriting the history of the franchise, which is rich in strong iconography, from the polished cars to the bombastic gadgets, the glamorous Bond girls and the shaken Martinis.
So, as we enter a new chapter of James Bond history, we thought we’d celebrate the character’s past and rank each and every one of the official 007 movies. Sorry, Casino Royale and Never Say Never Again.
Every James Bond movie ranked
25. Quantum of Solace (Marc Forster, 2008)
For our money, the troubled production of Marc Forster’s Quantum of Solace makes for the worst James Bond movie of all time. Why? Well, replace Daniel Craig’s Bond with any other generic action star, and the film would be exactly the same. This isn’t a classic 007 tale, it’s a dull genre movie that fails to establish itself with any character or memorable moments. At least other bad entries in the franchise can say otherwise.
Craig recognises that the movie isn’t great too, telling Time Out London, “On Quantum, we were fucked…We had the bare bones of a script and then there was a writers’ strike and there was nothing we could do. We couldn’t employ a writer to finish it. I say to myself, ‘Never again,’ but who knows? There was me trying to rewrite scenes – and a writer I am not”.
24. Die Another Day (Lee Tamahori, 2002)
Lee Tamahori’s Die Another Day is a car crash of such spectacular enormity that the result of its debris is strangely beautiful. Curious and stupid in every way, Pierce Brosnan’s last outing as the character saw him investigate the connection between a North Korean terrorist and a diamond mogul, with his adventures taking him to ice caves, invisible vehicles and a really stupid surfing scene.
To make matters worse, Madonna stars in an oddly sexual cameo role and also performs definitively the worst James Bond theme of all time.
23. Spectre (Sam Mendes, 2015)
Daniel Craig’s stint as James Bond is often praised as being one of the very best of the character’s life-span, but many of his films are among the worst of the franchise. His fourth film as 007, Spectre, is merely a hodge-podge of several different ideas that don’t gel at all, making for a boring and strangely confusing ride that you’ll never want to return to.
Offering very little, Mendes tries to make Spectre a revolutionary Bond flick but just gets in a tangle, with Christoph Waltz putting together a limp performance as Ernst Stavro Blofeld and Dave Bautista doing little to etch his henchman into the history books of Bond.
22. A View to a Kill (John Glen, 1985)
How old is too old to play James Bond? Well, we got our answer in A View to a Kill, Roger Moore’s seventh and final appearance as 007. While Bond is meant to be grisled, experienced, and purposefully old-school as a character, Moore had noticeably aged in the time between Octopussy and A View to a Kill, making any attempt at stunts or romance completely unbelievable.
If you happen to like your Bond films with a good dose of absurdity, then A View to a Kill could make a pretty great casual watch. Grace Jones and Christopher Walken are certainly on board with the more ridiculous elements, but everyone else is horribly out of their depth, from an irritating Tanya Roberts to an asleep-at-the-wheel Moore.
21. Moonraker (Lewis Gilbert, 1979)
For better or worse, James Bond was always a canny reflection of the times. Through shifts in genre and style, each new 007 adventure sought to present Britain’s premiere secret agent through whatever was going on in world politics, contemporary aesthetics, and pop culture. So when Star Wars was the biggest phenomenon on the planet, it was decided to send James Bond to space.
Moonraker has a lot going against, particularly the languid pacing of the film and the unneeded comedic turn from Jaws. It’s one of the cheesier and more outrageous Bond films, but it also has phenomenal set design and an all-time great villain in Hugo Drax. This might also be perfectly mid-tier Roger Moore: not too old and goofy yet, but certainly not his best outing.
20. The World Is Not Enough (Michael Apted, 1999)
Rehashing is always going to be a major draw for Bong films. To have the same Bond, the same M, or the same Q from one movie to the next creates a nice bit of continuity and familiarity when going through the Bond films. But was anybody dying to see M’s staff or Robbie Coltrane’s Valentin Zukovsky return?
The World Is Not Enough suffers from pure Bond idea exhaustion. What if the main Bond girl is actually the villain? What if we try to flood the world again, but this time focus on nuclear meltdown? If you just stick with Pierce Brosnan and ride the rollercoaster, then The World is Not Enough can be a hell of a lot of fun. But once you start pulling threads, the movie unravels rather quickly.
19. Tomorrow Never Dies (Roger Spottiswoode, 1997)
If you like your Bond films with a hefty dose of action, then I would point you to Tomorrow Never Dies as your first go-to option. Michelle Yeoh is a perfect co-star to bring the most ass-kicking Bond film to the screen, and even though her romance with Pierce Brosnan falls flat, their strange chemistry actually works quite well in the more heart-racing sequences.
Unfortunately, Tomorrow Never Dies focuses too much on the late-’90s need for explosions and machine guns over story and plot. It’s Brosnan’s least-confident outing as Bond and one of the more nonsensical narratives in the entire franchise, but if you’re looking for pure visual splendour in your Bond films, you can do a lot worse than Tomorrow Never Dies.
18. The Living Daylights (John Glen, 1987)
Timothy Dalton got the short end of the James Bond stick. With just two films to his name, Dalton attempted to radically re-adapt the character into something far more serious and nervy than his predecessor, Roger Moore. But in his first 007 outing, The Living Daylights, nobody really knew how to strike that balance between gritty realism and Bondian silliness.
Dalton is asked to do too many gags as the crew behind him, including returning figures like director John Glen and writer Richard Maibaum, all initially conceived The Living Daylights with Moore as the lead. As perhaps the most formulaic film in the series, The Living Daylights hits all the beats that you want from a Bond adventure, even if they could have done more with a brand new leading man.
17. No Time to Die (Cary Joji Fukunaga, 2021)
The general consensus on No Time to Die, the most recent James Bond film, is still up for debate. For longtime fans and major Daniel Craig devotees, No Time to Die was a rewarding and satisfying end to a character that forever changed the way that Bond films are made. For more casual fans, however, No Time to Die certainly had its flaws.
The plodding pace and reliance on the previous Craig films cripple No Time to Die from the start, and the handling of Christoph Waltz’s Blofeld is egregiously bad. But for audiences who had come to see Craig as perhaps the new definitive James Bond, No Time to Die was an emotional farewell to a character who guided Bond into the 21st century.
16. For Your Eyes Only (John Glen, 1981)
Apparently, James Bond isn’t one for revenge. That’s what For Your Eyes Only would have you believe, even if Bond goes rogue on a revenge trip just eight years later in Licence to Kill. That’s the real issue with For Your Eyes Only: there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of character continuity or forward-thinking ideas. It’s just another Bond film that focuses on hitting all its marks.
It does hit all those marks, to be fair. Moore is certainly at his best, producing both light quips and a surprisingly potent bit of emotion. The surrounding cast is solid, and one of the best car chases in the entire series unfurls about halfway through the film. All told, For Your Eyes Only is nothing more than your standard Bond fair, but that can be quite captivating and enjoyable if it catches you in the right mood.
15. The Man with the Golden Gun (Guy Hamilton, 1974)
Time has been kind to the 1974 Roger Moore flick The Man with the Golden Gun, with the camp classic containing many pieces of iconic Bond iconography. Co-starring Christopher Lee as the eccentric villain Scaramanga, the film benefits from his magnificent performance, showing off one of the series’ most curious and flamboyant villains yet. By his side, his henchman Nick Nack (Hervé Villechaize) also makes a significant impression.
The film itself plays off as something of a Saturday morning cartoon, following the adventures of Bond as he is targeted by the world’s most expensive assassin. It all ends at a wonderfully surreal funhouse on the villain’s island.
14. Dr. No (Terence Young, 1962)
The very first James Bond movie remains sharp and stylish even 60 years after its premiere. Introducing Sean Connery to the role of Bond, whom many believe to be the best actor to take on the part, Dr. No was an immediate triumph. Straight and simple by today’s standards of the character, the first Bond flick follows 007 as he seeks answers to a case involving the disappearance of a colleague and the strange disruption of the American space programme.
With memorable performances from Bond girl Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder and Joseph Wiseman as the titular villain, Terence Young’s introduction to Bond is smart and slick.
13. Octopussy (John Glen, 1983)
Mock the name all you want (it’s undeniably funny), but the Roger Moore Bond flick Octopussy is an absolute riot that lives up to the playful nature of the action franchise. Well-balancing the scales of silliness, the story follows an international jewel-smuggling operation headed by the mysterious Octopussy, who is being used to disguise a nuclear attack. It really is as silly as it sounds.
But Roger Moore makes the film his own in a way only he can, bringing a camp energy to the film that allows it to be far more entertaining than it has the right to be. Props to Maud Adams for playing the titular temptress.
12. You Only Live Twice (Lewis Gilbert, 1967)
Sticking with Connery but going on a wildly different path, his 1967 adventure of You Only Live Twice is a rollicking rollercoaster of Bond madness that would establish many of the series’ cliches. The film follows the spy’s collaboration with the Japanese Secret Service, who must try to stop whoever is hijacking private spacecraft, provoking a war between Russia and the United States in the process.
Undeniably dated, the film still manages to be one of the most enjoyable Bond adventures of the series, featuring a fun-filled finale at Blofeld’s volcano lair and a thrilling sequence with the cute helicopter Little Nellie.
11. From Russia with Love (Terence Young, 1963)
The second James Bond movie ever made established the character’s elegant sophistication better than any other film in the franchise, taking Bond to Russia, where he falls into an assassination plot in order to retrieve a Soviet encryption device stolen by the evil S.P.E.C.T.R.E organisation. The film balances its espionage narrative with playful comedy by featuring arguably the best villains of the entire series in Red Grant (Robert Shaw) and Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya).
The film remains one of Connery’s most beloved adventures, largely for its loyalty to the character’s origins, telling the story of a secret spy sent to infiltrate a scheming Russian organisation.
10. Live and Let Die (Guy Hamilton, 1973)
Guy Hamilton’s Live and Die should feel happy at number ten on our list, even if its Paul McCartney soundtrack deserves all the praise in the world. In one of Bond’s most eccentric adventures, Live and Let Die, the maverick British spy is sent to stop a heroin magnate armed with a mysterious organisation and disturbingly accurate tarot card reader.
Bursting with ideas, no matter how wild, Live and Let Die is one of Bond’s most well-rounded adventures, pulling together an exciting story, compelling villains and a load of bizarre set pieces.
9. Diamonds Are Forever (Guy Hamilton, 1971)
Sean Connery’s final official outing as James Bond got a bit of a bad rap upon its release in 1971, and, whilst it is self-evident that the lead actor was far too old to take on the role, the film remains utterly joyous. It helps that Diamonds are Forever has one of the coolest titles of the entire series, as well as two of the silliest and most evil villains in Mr. Wint (Bruce Glover) and Mr. Kidd (Putter Smith).
Strange and seductive, the story follows a diamond smuggling investigation that takes him to Las Vegas, where he uncovers an evil plot. Where it lacks narrative gravity, it makes up for in pure originality.
8. The Spy Who Loved Me (Lewis Gilbert, 1977)
Roger Moore can only reach number eight on our coveted list of the greatest James Bond movies of all time, with the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me being our favourite of his. Managing to reign in the campiness, Moore’s third outing as Bond was a little more serious than its predecessors and a lot more romantic, following 007 as he investigates the hijacking of British and Russian submarines carrying nuclear warheads.
When we say ‘serious’ we don’t mean deadpan either, we just mean that Moore and director Lewis Gilbert made more time to explore the complexity of the character rather than have him smirk quick quips.
7. GoldenEye (Martin Campbell, 1995)
The best film of Pierce Brosnan’s tenure as James Bond also happens to be one of the sharpest 007 outings of the entire series. Often overlooked due to Brosnan’s middling time with the character, GoldenEye stripped back the classic legacy of Bond and took the character to the modern era, telling the story of deceit and revenge amid a high-stakes story about a space-based weapons programme named Goldeneye.
Sean Bean helps to make this film truly memorable, playing the villain Alec Trevelyan in a film that took Bond more seriously, laying the groundwork for the films of Daniel Craig to come.
6. Skyfall (Sam Mendes, 2012)
Celebrated by fans and critics across the world upon its release, Sam Mendes’ Skyfall marked the 50th anniversary of James Bond with aplomb. Bridging the gap between classic Bond with his new contemporary identity, Mendes managed to create an intricate action drama that felt like the grand crescendo of half a century.
It helped that Craig brought his A-game and that he was joined by one of the series’ greatest villains in Javier Bardem’s Silva, as well as some of the most impressive action set pieces the franchise has ever seen. Oh, and we can’t leave without giving a salute to Adele.
5. Thunderball (Terence Young, 1965)
The first run of James Bond films was quite extraordinary, with Thunderball being released after the success of Dr. No, From Russia with Love and Goldfinger. Continuing the form of the franchise, the fourth Bond tale sees the character head to the Bahamas to recover two nuclear warheads stolen by S.P.E.C.T.R.E. It could be a worse location to travel to, and Terence Young makes the most of the water and sunny shores with several impressive action scenes.
The most memorable sequence happens underwater, where Bond is armed with a harpoon gun, making for an impressive sequence of clumsy bloodshed.
4. Licence to Kill (John Glen, 1989)
Timothy Dalton may have only had two chances to take on the role of James Bond, and whilst he didn’t make the first time count, he certainly did with 1989s Licence to Kill. Dark and edgy whilst managing to retain the light 007 tone, the late film takes a vengeful version of Bond to take down a drug lord who murdered his new wife, it’s a wild ride and one that remains criminally underrated in the franchise.
Truthfully, whilst Dalton does an excellent job in the lead role, it is the villains who truly rule this movie, with Robert Davi’s Franz Sanchez and Benicio Del Toro’s Dario making for two nasty pieces of work. Thankfully they meet a grisly demise.
3. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (Peter R. Hunt, 1969)
The Australian actor George Lazenby is the only Bond star to have only taken on one film, with reports pointing to the fact that he was a bit of a diva as sufficient evidence of his departure. Despite this, the actor puts in a remarkable shift and does a great job in switching the tone of the character, delivering a performance that makes us question the character’s fragility for the very first time.
Taking place in the Swiss Alps, the film also gives Bond one of his most unique locations as well as one of its best set pieces, taking part in an intense ski chase to the tune of a classic soundtrack.
2. Goldfinger (Guy Hamilton, 1964)
Without a doubt, the most iconic James Bond movie of all time, Guy Hamilton’s Goldfinger, is a smart and sophisticated action drama that tells you everything you need to know about James Bond, Britain’s best, strangest and most maverick spy. In this adventure, he is paired against Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe), a gold magnate obsessed with the shiny stuff and planning to steal as much as possible from Fort Knox.
With a number of iconic scenes and chunks of iconography, like Goldfinger’s hat-flinging henchman Oddjob and the gun-blasting heroics of Bond’s silver Aston Martin DB5, make no mistake, Connery’s third Bond outing is a classic.
1. Casino Royale (Martin Campbell, 2006)
There are several reasons why Martin Campbell’s Casino Royale can squeak past the majesty of Goldfinger to take the number one spot, with Daniel Craig’s Bond taking the character to an entirely new level never seen before in the series. Before his tenure, 007 was an invincible action hero, not unlike Rambo or John McClane, escaping each and every situation he found himself in without a scar or scratch.
Craig’s Casino Royale would change all this, giving the character depth beyond his quick quips and smart suits, making him a fragile figure with a troubled past and snappy temper. Intelligent, suave and revolutionary, Campbell re-energised Bond for the pace of 21st-century filmmaking and made a classic contemporary action movie that transcends its mere 007 identity.
Complete with a rousing score by Chris Cornell and a terrific villainous performance from Mads Mikkelsen’s Le Chiffre, Casino Royale is a celebration of Bond in each and every way.
