| # | Movie | Year | Best? | Why | |---|-------|------|-------|-----| | 8 | Live and Let Die | 1973 | ★ (Fun entry) | Voodoo, crocodile farms, and a great theme song. | | 9 | The Man with the Golden Gun | 1974 | | Christopher Lee is a great villain; film is uneven. | | 10 | The Spy Who Loved Me | 1977 | | Peak Moore. Jaws, Lotus submarine, epic score. | | 11 | Moonraker | 1979 | | Bond in space. Ridiculous but beloved. | | 12 | For Your Eyes Only | 1981 | Best | A return to earth. More grounded, revenge plot. | | 13 | Octopussy | 1983 | | Clown disguises and a nuclear bomb. Odd. | | 14 | A View to a Kill | 1985 | | Moore too old, but Christopher Walken and Grace Jones rule. |
Notable for its 40th-anniversary spectacle (and invisible car). The Daniel Craig Era (The Character-Driven Era)
For nearly six decades, the question of who is the best James Bond has been a staple of barroom debates. But before you can crown a champion, you need to survey the battlefield. With 25 official Eon Productions films (plus a couple of outliers), the 007 franchise is a cinematic Mount Rushmore. To watch all James Bond movies in order is to witness the history of action cinema itself.
It's official: the new James Bond movie is titled No Time to Die. And even as someone who writes about James Bond fairly often, if... No Time to Die all james bond movies in order best
Skip? (But short) Written during a writer's strike. The director insists on fast cuts. It feels like a 106-minute car commercial. It is a direct sequel to Casino Royale , but it’s the only Craig film you can skip.
You cannot talk about "best" without starting with Connery. He defined the swagger, the brutality, and the cool. His films have aged in terms of social politics, but their style is timeless.
A fitting, albeit unexpected, ending for Daniel Craig. The film is sprawling, emotional, and offers some of the best action set pieces in the entire franchise. Summary Checklist for a 007 Marathon From Russia with Love, Casino Royale Best Spectacle: Goldfinger, The Spy Who Loved Me, Skyfall | # | Movie | Year | Best
Craig's swan song is an operatic, emotional epic. It runs long, and the villain is weak, but the film takes huge risks (including a shocking ending). For fans who grew up with Craig, this is a beautiful goodbye.
Essential (Top 3) Moore’s Goldfinger . It has the best pre-title sequence (ski jump off a cliff), the best henchman (Jaws), and the best submarine car. This is the peak of the "big" 70s Bond.
Pierce Brosnan's final film went too far with the gadgets and CGI, featuring an invisible car and a ludicrous plot about gene therapy and space lasers. Its over-the-top style led directly to the series' gritty reboot. While it's often ranked as one of the worst, it remains an oddly fascinating entry in the franchise. | | 10 | The Spy Who Loved Me | 1977 | | Peak Moore
Craig's Bond has a beginning, middle, and end. Best watched in release order for full arc.
Moore played Bond as a raised eyebrow and a pun. The violence vanished; the innuendo doubled. Moore is the most consistent, but his lows are low .
Timothy Dalton’s debut brought the franchise crashing back down to reality after the hyper-campy conclusion of the Roger Moore era. The Living Daylights is a smart, complex Cold War thriller involving defecting Soviet generals, diamond smuggling, and Mujahideen fighters in Afghanistan. It strikes an excellent balance between classic espionage tension and spectacular practical action. 13. For Your Eyes Only (1981) Director: John Glen Bond: Roger Moore