(Photo by United Artists)

All Sean Connery Movies Ranked

Footballer. Bodybuilder. Navy soldier. Milkman. No, these aren’t the declassified origins of MI6 agent James Bond, but of the actor who would embody him: Sean Connery. An appropriately colorful past for a strappng Scot, Connery saved the best career change for his mid-20s when he turned down a sports contract to pursue theater and acting in the 1950s. Bit parts came quick, leading into 1959 when the very Scottish actor was cast in the very Irish movie, Darby O’Gill and the Little People, which still sticks out in his filmography as one of the rare times Connery has sung on-camera, and his only solo.

Another movie where Connery sings? You know its name: Dr. No, the first James Bond film ever adapted from the espionage books by Ian Fleming, in which Connery has a very brief duet with Ursula Andress. A tremendous financial success back then (and Certified Fresh now), it not only launched the 007 series but a whole international spy genre that would dominate the ’60s, and hang ripe for parody and resurrection for decades to come. Sequels like From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, and You Only Live Twice came in rapid annual fashion.

After being freed from MI6 service and starting in the ’70s, fans never had to wait long for a new on-screen appearance from Connery, who put out two or three movies a year through the late-’90s. The Man Who Would Be King, Murder on the Orient Express, A Bridge Too Far, and Zardoz were among the most notable (and in the last’s case, peculiar) of the ’70s. And the ’80s would see him in Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits, 007 swan song Never Say Never Again, action classic Highlander, and The Untouchables – the only time he’s ever been nominated for an acting Oscar.

He closed the decade with fan-favorite Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade as Indy’s dad, and started the ’90s with The Hunt for Red October. He then began to settle more into older statesman and mentor roles – First Knight, Entrapment, Finding Forrester — which probably seemed less appealing as the reviews came in worse and worse. The Avengers was a widely-publicized box office bomb, while The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen became but another embarrassing bullet point on Alan Moore’s list of why he hates Hollywood. But Connery was always a forceful presence, no matter the film he found himself in. The actor retired from acting after League, with only a vocal performance in homegrown Scottish animated movie Sir Billi to tide audiences over in the last 15 years, and in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, we sadly lost Sir Sean Connery at the age of 90.

Now, we celebrate a life in film as we rank all Sean Connery movies by Tomatometer! —Alex Vo