The best James Bond movies ranked in any order would make little difference to the millions of die-heart fans of the franchise. After all, the James Bond franchise has produced 25 movies — each of which holds a special place in the hearts of fans around the world for its cocktail of action, charm, cars, locales and villains.
Created by Ian Fleming, the character is undoubtedly one of the world’s most famous spies in fiction. But Bond became a cultural icon thanks entirely to the mega cinematic franchise that began with Dr. No (1962).
Agent 007, as the codename of the MI6 agent goes, has been played by six actors to date — Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig. A seventh James Bond actor is yet to be announced as the blockbuster franchise prepares to enter a new era with a new face. We hope this new actor is revealed soon, though there are strong rumours it’s Aaron Taylor Johnson.
Irrespective of who played Bond, the character has always displayed his skill as a secret agent who has the ‘licence to kill.’ His attraction towards the opposite sex, preference for vodka martini “shaken, not stirred,” love of fast cars (especially Aston Martin), and his gentlemanly fashion sense remain constant characteristic features throughout the franchise.
Yet Bond films have also displayed clear differences in the portrayal of the British agent depending on the actors who took on the role. Thus, while Sean Connery brought sophistication to the character and Roger Moore turned him a tad more comical, Daniel Craig gave Bond his grittiest appearance to date.
The makers, Eon Productions, also kept Bond movies up-to-date with the changing cinematic preferences, political worldviews and societal developments. It is this consistency and commitment to the franchise that has kept James Bond relevant to this date. As the movies evolved, fans have also noted an increased depth in the portrayal of the character and story, with themes such as loyalty and Bond’s inner struggles taking centre stage.
Thus, while all 25 James Bond movies are ranked among the best in the spy genre and should be on the watchlist of action film lovers, some stand apart for a variety of reasons, including, of course, the portrayal of James Bond as the ultimate super spy.
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The best James Bond movies, ranked:
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Directed by: Martin Campbell
Cast: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright
Runtime: 2 hrs 24 mins
Box office gross: USD 606 million
IMDb rating: 8
Synopsis: James Bond (Craig) goes up against a genius private banker named Le Chiffre (Mikkelsen), who is suspected of financing terrorist groups including SPECTRE. Bond must engage Le Chiffre in a poker game at Casino Royale in Montenegro to trap him.
Why among the best: Daniel Craig’s debut as James Bond is credited with changing the fate of the franchise, which was uncertain due to the poor reception of the previous film, Die Another Day (2002), starring Pierce Brosnan in his final outing as 007.
Casino Royale took a completely different trajectory from all previous Bond movies. For instance, regular Bond characters such as Q and Moneypenny do not feature. There are no gadgets to play with and Bond is more like on his first-ever mission. In fact, its first few minutes reveal how Bond got his double-0 rating as well as the actual incident which gave birth to the famous gun barrel sequence seen in the opening of almost every Bond movie.
Unlike several other Bond films, Casino Royale stays true to its source material, which is Ian Fleming’s 1953 novel of the same name. Apart from the visual aesthetics, stunts, and a more serious-looking Bond than anyone before, the film is loved by fans for Eva Green’s terrific turn as Bond’s first-ever true love, Vesper Lynd. It is also the movie which made Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen an international star.
Directed by: Sam Mendes
Cast: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Judi Dench
Runtime: 2 hrs 23 mins
Box office gross: USD 1.1 billion
IMDb rating: 7.8
Synopsis: MI6 is attacked and British undercover agents around the world become the target of a dangerous criminal when their identities are exposed due to the failure of James Bond (Craig). Unable to trust anyone else, M (Dench) reimposes her faith in Bond and tasks him with a mission that would expose her past as well as make 007 pay a personal price.
Why among the best: Skyfall is the highest-grossing movie in the franchise and is the only one in the franchise to have earned a worldwide total of over USD 1 billion. It won two Oscars – for Best Original Song and Best Sound Editing – becoming the only Bond film to do so to date and the first to win an Academy Award after Goldfinger.
It is particularly hailed for its performances and story, through which a part of 007’s ancestry was revealed for the first time.
The film marks the final performance of Judi Dench as M, the head of MI6 and Bond’s superior. Dench has played the role since GoldenEye (1995) and remains the first and only female M in the Bond franchise. Ralph Fiennes took over the role in the closing moments of the film, through which fans also got to learn that M has a name — Gareth Mallory. Fan-favourite characters such as Moneypenny and a new Q, played by Naomie Harris and Ben Whishaw, respectively, are introduced for the first time in Craig’s Bond series.
Add to all of that the performance of Javier Bardem as the manipulative villain Raoul Silva, who inflicts damage to 007 unlike anyone else, and Skyfall sits as one of the greatest Bond movies ever made.
Directed by: Guy Hamilton
Cast: Sean Connery, Honor Blackman, Gert Fröbe, Shirley Eaton
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Box office gross: USD 125 million
IMDb rating: 7.7
Synopsis: Auric Goldfinger (Fröbe), a devious gold tycoon, hatches a dangerous plan of irradiating the US gold reserve at Fort Knox and profiting from the resulting instability in the market. Bond must prevent him, but he soon finds himself at Goldfinger’s mercy.
Why among the best: With a rating of 99 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, Goldfinger is widely hailed by critics as the best James Bond movie of all time.
There are many reasons behind its incredible popularity. One of them is certainly Auric Goldfinger, played by German acting icon Gert Fröbe with such élan that he outshines all other Bond villains to this day, including everyone who played SPECTRE head Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
Goldfinger’s cunning is matched equally by the brute ruthlessness of his Korean henchman Oddjob. Played by Harold Sakata, Oddjob is widely hailed as one of the greatest screen henchmen of all time. And who can forget Honor Blackman’s Pussy Galore, Goldfinger’s loyalist aviator who Bond successfully turns to his side?
Other reasons were the film’s elaborate plot, action sequences, gadgets, and some of the most famous lines in 007 films, including Bond’s “A martini – shaken, not stirred” and Auric Goldfinger’s “No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!” To motor car enthusiasts, however, Goldfinger is remembered for the first appearance of Bond’s favourite car, the Aston Martin DB5.
Goldfinger was a major box office success of its time. It earned USD 125 million on a budget of only USD 3 million. It also has the distinction of being the first Bond film to be nominated for and win an Oscar, which was awarded to Norman Wanstall in the Best Sound Effects category.
Directed by: Cary Joji Fukunaga
Cast: Daniel Craig, Léa Seydoux, Jeffrey Wright, Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes, Jeffrey Wright, Rami Malek, Lashana Lynch, Ana de Armas
Runtime: 2 hrs 43 mins
Box office gross: USD 774 million
IMDb rating: 7.3
Synopsis: James Bond (Craig) is forced to come out of retirement when CIA agent Felix Leiter (Wright) seeks his help to kidnap a scientist. That leads Bond to a mysterious villain who has acquired a technology that can quickly end all humanity.
Why among the best: No Time to Die was one of the most anticipated films of the pandemic era. It marks the fifth and final portrayal of Daniel Craig as Bond. It is also noted for presenting the first female 007 in the form of the character Nomi, played by Lashana Lynch.
The film is known for ramping up the emotional quotient, not seen in most Bond films. Some fan-favourite characters in the franchise meet their end and an entirely new chapter in Bond’s personal life is presented. It is for the first time ever in the Bond franchise that the superspy is genuinely given a reason to live — and die for.
Despite its 2 hour and 43 minutes runtime – the longest in the James Bond franchise – several critics have said that it marks the most satisfying ending to Daniel Craig’s outing as 007.
Directed by: Terence Young
Cast: Sean Connery, Pedro Armendáriz, Lotte Lenya, Robert Shaw, Bernard Lee, Daniela Bianchi
Runtime: 1 hr 55 mins
Box office gross: USD 78.9 million
IMDb rating: 7.3
Synopsis: The criminal organisation SPECTRE uses the beautiful Soviet agent Tatiana (Bianchi) to lure Bond (Connery) into a trap by offering him a Soviet encryption device known as Lektor. The objective is to disgrace and eliminate Bond in retaliation for killing Dr. No.
Why among the best: From Russia with Love is a direct sequel to Dr. No as Bond continues to go up against the secret organisation SPECTRE. As the second film in the franchise, it succeeded in building the legacy of Bond in cinema and firmly established the character as a franchise staple.
The makers introduced more espionage elements in this film than in Dr. No. There was also the first introduction of advanced gadgets — one of the most defining features in most James Bond movies. This is the film where the character of Major Boothroyd – famously known as Q – makes his first appearance. Q was played by Desmond Llewelyn, who would go on to play the role in 16 more Bond films till his death in 1999.
The highlight of this film is the final confrontation between Bond and Robert Shaw’s Russian agent Red Grant, depicted as a colder and crueller version of 007. Above all, it was this film which introduced Ernst Stavro Blofeld — Bond’s arch nemesis. Though his face is never shown on the screen and he is addressed as “Number 1” due to him being the head of SPECTRE, franchise fans get to see him stroking his white cat — a distinguishing feature of the character in almost all films where he appears.
Directed by: Martin Campbell
Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean, Izabella Scorupco, Famke Janssen, Joe Don Baker
Runtime: 2 hrs 10 mins
Box office gross: USD 356 million
IMDb rating: 7.2
Synopsis: James Bond (Brosnan) is tasked with preventing a Russian crime organisation from using GoldenEye, a space-based weapon. But during his attempt, Bond realises that the weapon has a connection to his friend, agent 006 Alec Trevelyan (Bean), whom he lost during an earlier mission.
Why among the best: Widely hailed as one of the greatest Bond films in history, GoldenEye is credited with waking the franchise up from its long slumber of six years after the unimpressive two-film Timothy Dalton era. Anticipation around this movie was particularly high at the time and the future of the franchise depended on its success.
Thankfully, everyone – not just fans of Ian Fleming’s creation – fell in love with the dashing Pierce Brosnan when he made his first appearance as James Bond in the film. The centrepiece of the film was the thrill of watching 007 go up against the rogue 006 — the first and only encounter between two 00 agents in the Bond franchise.
The fast-paced story of Golden Eye was not based on any of Fleming’s books. But Brosnan’s screen presence and thrilling action scenes, such as Bond’s leap from over a dam and the climax fight on a massive satellite dish, easily established a new template for the franchise through the 1990s.
Directed by: Terence Young
Cast: Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Bernard Lee
Runtime: 1 hrs 50 mins
Box office gross: USD 16 million
IMDb rating: 7.2
Synopsis: James Bond (Connery) is sent to Jamaica to investigate the connection between the death of an MI6 agent and the multiple disruptions of a space programme on nearby Cape Canaveral. During his investigation, Bond explores an island where a mysterious figure named Dr. No (Lee) runs a dangerous organisation.
Why among the best: Dr. No is the first James Bond film by order of release. That fact alone would make it a must-watch. But what is more remarkable (at least for fans of today) is that this film is grounded in terms of storytelling, direction and action than any other James Bond movies that followed. There are hardly any gadgets, let alone the over-the-top pieces seen in Roger Moore’s Bond era, or slick action sequences, as was during Pierce Brosnan’s age.
Of course, it had a budget of just over USD 1 million, which was low even by the standards of the time. Yet it introduced almost all of the stylistic elements that have defined the franchise ever since, including the famous gun barrel sequence, in which Bond shoots through the barrel of a gun aimed at him, and the theme song composed by Monty Norman.
Above all, its most famous moment is Ursula Andress’ emergence from the sea in her role of Honey Ryder. The popularity her character received established the timeless image of Bond girl for the next six decades. No wonder the film earned 60 times its budget.
Directed by: Lewis Gilbert
Cast: Roger Moore, Barbara Bach, Curd Jürgens, Richard Kiel
Runtime: 2 hrs 5 mins
Box office gross: USD 46.8 million
IMDb rating: 7
Synopsis: Two submarines, one belonging to the Royal Navy and the other a Soviet, armed with nuclear missiles go missing in the deep sea. On his mission to investigate the mysterious disappearance, James Bond (Moore) joins forces with KGB agent Anya Amasova (Bach) while unaware that he killed her lover.
Why among the best: Roger Moore appeared in seven Bond films in his career, but only a handful can be counted among the best. This was one of them and, according to critics, the finest of all Moore-era Bond movies.
A major reason behind the popularity of this film was its plot line, which, at the height of the Cold War, was certainly remarkable. Bond working with the Soviets to take out a common enemy? That was a first for Bond fans.
The film is also noted for the introduction of two of the most famous icons in the James Bond franchise. One was the character named Jaws. The tall, steel-jawed henchman immortalised on the screen by Richard Kiel, became so popular that the actor reprised the role in the next Bond film, Moonraker (1979).
The other was the Bond car, a 1976 Lotus Esprit S1. Widely recognised as the best James Bond car of all time, the car is modified by Q in the movie into an armed submersible. The success of the film and the popularity of the car earned it the nickname ‘Wet Nellie.’ The car was bought by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, one of the top 10 billionaires in the world, at an auction in 2013.
Directed by: Guy Hamilton
Cast: Roger Moore, Yaphet Kotto, Jane Seymour
Runtime: 2 hrs 1 min
Box office gross: USD 161 million
IMDb rating: 6.7
Synopsis: James Bond (Moore) is trapped in a world of gangsters in a Caribbean country ruled by a dictator named Kananga (Kotto) while investigating a drug syndicate run by the mysterious Mr. Big. He must do everything to protect himself and reach the bottom of the conspiracy with the help of a psychic tarot card reader named Solitaire (Seymour), whom Kananga trusts.
Why among the best: Live and Let Die, Roger Moore’s first outing as James Bond, is considered to be one of the best Bond films ever made, especially because the fate of the film franchise was banking on its success. This was because the previous two films, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and Diamonds Are Forever, the second of which brought Sean Connery back, did not live up to the expectations of fans at the time.
Its theme song, by Paul and Linda McCartney with their band Wings, was a massive success, earning an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. It is also the first film to feature an African-American Bond girl, Rosie Carver, played by Gloria Hendry.
The film also departed from earlier Bond films with its focus more on drug trafficking than villains trying to blow up the world. Yet at the same time, Live and Let Die is remembered for delivering not one but two of the greatest Bond villains of all time — Yaphet Kotto’s Kananga and his henchman Baron Samedi, essayed by Geoffrey Holder.
Moore also introduced an element of slapstick humour, bordering on parody, to the franchise with this film, thus placing his seven movies in a different bracket than the more suave Sean Connery era.
Directed by: Peter R. Hunt
Cast: George Lazenby, Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas, Bernard Lee, Gabriele Ferzetti, Ilse Steppat
Runtime: 2 hrs 22 mins
Box office gross: USD 82 million
IMDb rating: 6.7
Synopsis: SPECTRE head Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Savalas) threatens to destroy all of the world’s food supply unless he is paid a ransom. Bond (Lazenby) must head to the SPECTRE hideout in the Swiss Alps with the help of the adventurous Tracy Di Vicenzo (Rigg) to stop Blofeld.
Why among the best: James Bond has romanced numerous girls in the movies, but this film is the only time ever when Agent 007 decides to settle down. Bond marries Diana Rigg’s character, Tracy di Vincenzo. As such, Tracy is the only Bond girl in cinematic history to have the distinction of becoming the British secret agent’s wife. Of course, Bond fans know how tragic her own fate would turn out to be.
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service didn’t do well at the box office, with critics particularly showing a dislike for George Lazenby — who had to fill the difficult shoes of Sean Connery. But over the decades, this film has been praised for being the most complete Bond movie of all time. It has all the elements that a true Bond lover would want to see — scenic locations, heartstopping thrill, slick action sequences, and a sense of intrigue. Above all, it shows a depth in Bond’s romantic side, and — as a rarity in the Bond franchise — his greatest tragedy.
Today, many are of the opinion that, in his lone outing as 007, the Australian actor unintentionally fits the image of a Bond who is vulnerable and not some kind of a superhero. After all, who can forget that crushing look on his face in the final scene of the movie which establishes the sad fact that Bond is cursed to never have a normal life?
Hero image: IMDb; Featured image: James Bond/@007/Twitter
This story first appeared on Lifestyle Asia Singapore
