Roger Moore took on a tremendously difficult task when he stepped in to take the role of James Bond. Sean Connery’s performance was already beloved, and audiences were so distasteful when George Lazenby replaced him in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service that Connery returned for 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever. However, Moore succeeded in showing a different side of Bond who was more comedic. Every generation has their own idea of what 007 should act like, and for young viewers in the 1970s and 1980s, Moore embodied everything that Ian Fleming’s iconic character could be.
Moore’s films as Bond were certainly campier, but they were aware of the corniness of the jokes and the implausibility of the stunts. The ridiculous nature of Moore’s films has had a massive effect on action cinema, as franchises like Austin Powers and Kingsman have paid tribute to them in various ways. Viewers who are used to the dark, brooding nature of Daniel Craig’s Bond films might be surprised by how radically different Moore’s films are, but the versatility within the 007 series is one of its greatest qualities. To skip the Moore era would cut out some of the best villains, musical numbers, and action sequences in the entire franchise. Here is every Roger Moore James Bond movie, ranked worst to best.
7 For Your Eyes Only
For Your Eyes Only was an attempt to slightly adjust the direction of the franchise after Moonraker took the series in a much more comedic direction. While Moore had done more serious work in his first three films as Bond, For Your Eyes Only proved to be a little too grim for him to handle. Part of Moore’s appeal was his sense of humor, and without it his performance just felt stale. Outside of a terrific ski chase, the film does very little to differentiate itself.
The story, which revolves around a covert missile command center, feels like a repetition of similar storylines in Thunderball and You Only Live Twice. It’s no wonder that the narrative is so thin, because the film takes its title from a Fleming short story of the same name, and not a full-length novel. Additionally, Bond’s relationship with the young figure skating prodigy Bibi Dahl (Lynn-Holly Johnson) felt slightly creepy due to the significant age gap between the two.
6 The Man With The Golden Gun
The Man With The Golden Gun features Christopher Lee as the ruthless hitman Francisco Scarmanaga, a trained killer who makes it his singular purpose to execute Bond. Lee is easily one of the best villains in the entire franchise, adding a level of menace that none of Moore’s other antagonists had. Unfortunately, he’s just about the only thing memorable in The Man With The Golden Gun.
Scaramanga actually shares very few scenes with Moore, as he spends a majority of the film on his private island with his henchman Nick Nack (Hervé Villechaize). Their oddly comedic interactions feel out-of-place in a film that is attempting to be grittier. The supporting characters are generally weak. Bond’s assistant Mary Goodnight (Britt Ekland) adds some of the worst romantic scenes to the series, and the inclusion of Clifton James as the Louisiana Sheriff J.W. Pepper adds more comedic relief. On an aesthetic level, The Man With The Golden Gun is far less sophisticated than its predecessor Live and Let Die, as the depictions of Beirut and Bangkok feel like parodies.
5 Octopussy
After the somewhat more serious approach of For Your Eyes Only, the franchise went in an incredibly campy direction with 1983’s Octopussy. Outside of a propulsive opening scene where Bond flies within a tiny Bede-Acrostar plane to destroy a military hangar, there are few moments that have any suspense. However, Octopussy does seem to embrace its campiness and balances its tone better than some of Moore’s other efforts.
Q (Desmond Llewelyn) gets to take part in the action for the first time when he aids Bond in India, and their chemistry adds some of the funniest one-liners of the series. Moore dresses up as a clown, wears a gorilla costume, and gets into fights on a circus train; these moments are actually pretty hilarious and acknowledge that the series wasn’t worried about being serious. However, there’s a limit to the film’s capacity for jokes, and at 131 minutes it's one of the most overlong entries in the series.
4 A View to a Kill
A View to a Kill was Moore’s last film as Bond, and it somehow managed to be even goofier than Octopussy. The ridiculous story revolves around the insane industrialist Max Zorin (Christopher Walken), who plans to use his flying blimp to destroy Silicon Valley. Walken gives a performance that feels lifted out of a Saturday Night Live sketch, but he’s easily one of the most memorable villains in the saga.
Like Octopussy, A View to a Kill is far too long, and the California setting adds very little. While it’s mostly dull up until the climax, the battle outside the Golden Gate Bridge was a great way to close out Moore’s contributions to the series.
3 Moonraker
Oddly enough, Fleming’s original novel Moonraker is one of the best, most tightly crafted books in the series. However, science fiction films were incredibly popular in the wake of Star Wars’ success, and Moonraker was transformed into the most overtly sci-fi installment in the Bond series.
Moonraker was criticized by many Bond fans for the shift in genres; Quentin Tarantino even ranted about his hatred for it on his podcast The Video Archives. However, the inclusion of the For Your Eyes Only villain Jaws (Richard Kiel) in a more sympathetic role added the perfect amount of heart and humor.
2 Live and Let Die
Moore’s first entry in the series was Live and Let Die, a film that felt totally unique with its Louisiana setting and the incorporation of voodoo. Few Bond films have nailed their locations as well as Live and Let Die, and Paul McCartney’s iconic theme song is among the franchise’s best.
The Man With The Golden Gun drew heavy inspiration from blacksploitation films, and added the franchise’s first black villain with Yaphet Kotto as Mr. Big. However, modern review outlets such as The Mary Sue have criticized it for the problematic characterization of people-of-color.
1 The Spy Who Loved Me
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The Spy Who Loved Me is one of the few Bond films that works as a genuine romance. Bond teams up with the Russian secret agent XXX (Barbara Bach) in an adventure that forces both of them to question their decision to work as killers.
With its epic submarine finale, The Spy Who Love Me is never boring and often quite moving. Moore retains his sense-of-humor, but his frank discussions about the nature of his profession showed that he had a darker side as well.