Of course I later caught up with the ones I skipped as a kid, but it's been a nice long while since I've watched any of the Bond films so when Collider asked me to rank every entry in the franchise, I figured it was high time to revisit them all, starting with Dr. No and going all the way to Spectre. That's a whole lot of vodka martinis and Q-supplied gadgets.
Below you'll find my rankings, from worst to best, of all 25 Bond movies. Yes, 25. I'm including the kinda unofficial Sean Connery vehicle from 1983 called Never Say Never Again. He plays James Bond, so even though it's not recognized as an official entry into the Eon Films cannon I figured it'd be criminal to leave it out of this ranking.
One film I didn't include was 1967's Casino Royale, in which Bond is played by a variety of weird actors, like Woody Allen, Peter Sellers and David Niven. It's more a spoof of the James Bond franchise instead of a real adaptation of Ian Fleming's character, so I felt like including it with the rest would be a little like throwing in Airplane! in a ranking of the Airport movies.
007 means different things to different people. For some the campy ones are the best. Others may they like the more dangerous and brutal version of the character. Some value the stunts over the story or the villains over the gadgets.
The below list is my own ranking, which shifted a little bit as I marathoned this series over the last couple of weeks. There might be a few surprising placements (I reaaaallly like Live and Let Die). I can't tell you what your list would look like, but I sure can tell you what mine is.
Without any further ado, here's how I rank all the James Bond films from Worst to Best:
25) Die Another Day (2002)
There's a lot of leeway in the 007 franchise. You can make up for quite a bit with a good villain, some cool gadgets, a crazy stunt sequence, an iconic Bond girl or some plain old charismatic British spy swagger. There are some boring movies in this series (mostly in the Roger Moore years), but none so ill-conceived and half-assed as Die Another Day.
Pierce Brosnan is a great Bond, but he delivers the worst leading performance in any 007 movie here. I can't blame him, though. He's clearly failed by director Lee Tamahori who lets down not only his leading man, but also his leading lady (it's hard to stress just how terrible Halle Berry is in this movie as an assassin named Jinx) and us, the audience. With the exception of a car chase on a frozen lake just about every action scene is greenscreened to death, taking all the thrill out of one of the core foundations of this franchise: the epic stunt. That's unforgiveable in my book.
The only upside to this film is that it was so bad it forced a reboot that gave us one of the very best Bond movies ever made.
24) Octopussy (1983)
This movie has one interesting angle: the title character, a smuggler and cult leader played by Maud Adams, who should be the villain, but ends up being a Bond Girl instead. Sadly that's about the only interesting idea in this low key and dull flick that's not about much more than tedious jewel smuggling and forgeries. You'd think a Bond movie that starts with a circus clown being chased by knife-throwing gypsy twins would be more entertaining, but you'd be wrong.
23) Moonraker (1979)
Moonraker has one of the best posters in the James Bond franchise and yet is one of the worst movies. It's just boring and if you're going to go with James Bond In Space the one thing you better not be is boring. The movie has some moments (recurring metal-mouthed henchman Jaws falling in love is pretty great), but with the production value more Star Tours than Star Wars, the least threatening villain of the series (Michael Lonsdale's Hugo Drax who acts like he's on Xanax the entire movie) and a 126 minute runtime that feels more like 226 minutes Moonraker earns its place at the top of the heap of worst Bond movies. At least it has a fun last 20 minutes, unlike Octopussy.
22) The World Is Not Enough (1999)
Actually not an awful Bond film until Denise Richards shows up playing a nuclear physicist named Christmas Jones. She's horribly miscast, so badly that it derails a pretty interesting premise. There's a lot more intrigue and double-crossing going on in this one than your typical Bond film and the bad guy, played by Robert Carlyle, is given an interesting trait: he can't feel any pain. He's not immortal, but it does give him an edge that they have a little fun with.
The World Is Not Enough was never going to be a top tier Bond film, but sadly Richards derails this earnest effort almost singlehandedly.
21) For Your Eyes Only (1981)
After going a little crazy with the space-centric Moonraker the producers decided to go back to Bond basics and that's how we get this more solid, but still kinda dull story about a missing a targeting computer called an ATAC that is being sought after by a bunch of bad people. Carole Bouquet makes a pretty good counterpart to 007 and there's a great action sequence where the two are dragged behind a boat through shark infested waters that's pretty intense, but on the whole this is a very forgettable Bond film.
20) The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Nobody does it better! In this one James Bond travels to Egypt and meets Russian secret agent code named Triple X (Barbara Bach), the 007 of the KGB. They spend just as much time fighting with each other as they do alongside each other. This film introduces one of the series' most recognizable bad guys, the previously mentioned metal-mouthed bitey henchman known as Jaws (Richard Kiel). This installment opens with a giant stunt (Bond skiing off a cliff and then opening up a British Flag parachute), setting a new standard for this franchise.
The back and forth between two evenly matched secret agents that don't trust each other but also have to work with each other is the big idea for this one. Bach playing a female James Bond, using her charm on the most charming secret agent, is a great twist on the formula, especially once she finds out Bond killed her partner, who she happened to be in love with.
Ultimately I find this story pretty dull despite having one of the flashiest henchmen. It doesn't help that the plot being foiled is pretty standard, non-inventive stuff. Russian and US nuclear subs are stolen and will fire their payloads, obliterating all everything above the ocean. Below the waves a madman has built an undersea sanctuary. A little proto-Bioshock to be sure, but not nearly as entertaining.
19) Never Say Never Again (1983)
Sean Connery returned to the character thanks to some complicated legalese surrounding the rights to Thunderball. Never Say Never Again is a fascinating entry into the franchise because it's the only unofficial Bond movie that has legitimacy thanks to Connery reprising the role that made him famous. It is a remake of Thunderball, but done in a more realistic way. At the start of this movie the Double Os are all but retired, the new M isn't fond of Bond who is now in his 50s and feeling it.
Connery doesn't try to play younger than he is, which makes this film even more interesting. Bond isn't all that spry and is constantly messing up and getting caught. He's struggling here, which is something we're not used to seeing with the character. That said, Never Say Never Again isn't all that exciting in the grand scheme of things. Max Von Sydow as the head of SPECTRE is a nice touch, but is underused. Everything else aside this is still just a duller retelling of Thunderball. But you do get James Bond shirtless in overalls for some reason, so there is that.
18) Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
James Bond vs. Fake News. Here 007 takes on Rupert Murdoch on steroids... and maybe hallucinogens. Holy moly is Jonathan Pryce set to 11 in this one, playing his media mogul Elliot Carver so over the top he's almost in an Austin Powers movie. This one's super goofy and not to be taken seriously. It has its pluses and minuses. Michelle Yeoh is firmly on the pluses side, playing one of the most competent Bond girls ever. The real sad thing about this movie is it set the Brosnan Bonds on a direct line to Sillyville and they never recovered.
17) Spectre (2015)
Christoph Waltz as Blofeld should have been a slam dunk for this newly rebooted franchise, but it's handled in such a hamfisted way that it sours what could have been a great reveal. This is the Star Trek into Darkness of the Daniel Craig Bonds. Everybody knows the twist going into it, but they play so coy about it that it all comes across as theatrical, yet not fun. It's a bizarre window to hit since going too far in either direction could have made the movie more entertaining, but they struck the most uninteresting chord possible. That's a shame because Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall teed up the reveal of MI6's biggest adversaries so well.
The decision to tie Blofeld's backstory in with Bond's is soap opera-y, which is a tone that doesn't jibe well with these more serious Daniel Craig Bonds. Still, it's not a slog like the worst examples of this franchise. Just a missed opportunity.
16) The Living Daylights (1987)
Timothy Dalton's first outing, establishing a radically different 007. His Bond is chasing Indiana Jones and Rambo, not so much the golden years that established the character. The Living Daylights is an exceedingly '80s movie, The Cold War front and center. A good chunk of the action takes place in Afghanistan as the insurgents help Bond and his allies fight the Russians, which makes this an interesting historical artifact in today's world.
I probably watched this movie a dozen times on cable as a kid and on this revisit it held up pretty well, especially as a palate cleanser after the long, stale Roger Moore run.
15) Quantum of Solace (2008)
My rewatch of this one was kinder than I expected it to be. It might be that watching it in such close proximity to Casino Royale carries over some of that film's emotional punch, but I was more invested in Bond's inner conflict on this viewing that I was when I first saw it theatrically. Bond is dealing with the after effects of his perceived betrayal by the love of his life and is a cold, brutal thug for a good majority of this movie, which makes an interesting counterbalance to Casino Royale's version of the character who melts for Eva Green's Vesper Lynd.
However even with that added emotional layer this is still a lower tier Bond film thanks mostly to its villain problem. Matheiu Amalric's Dominic Greene and Joaquin Cosio's General Medrano are underwritten and just not all that interesting. Neither is the overall bad guy plot, which is all about stealing water (exciting, right?). This movie is more of a stepping stone to Skyfall and filling in the rebooted Bond world than it is a worthy standalone movie.
14) Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
This film marks the return of Sean Connery as Bond after George Lazenby gave it a shot with On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Unfortunately the lack of lead character continuity and the bare minimum attempt to address the downer ending of the previous film makes this one feel like a bit of a shrug off of the truly interesting direction OHMSS was trying to take the character in. Bond does all his revenging in the opening sequence and then goes back to his usual self. Clearly the producers were trying to hit the reset button.
007 goes to Vegas in this one and infiltrates a diamond smuggling operation only to find his old adversary, Blofeld, alive and well and running the show. It isn't the worst Bond movie, but you can tell that Connery took it as a payday and isn't fully invested. Diamonds are Forever does have a couple of really bizarre hitmen in the form of Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd, played by Bruce Glover (Crispin's dad) and Putter Smith who are off-putting, to say the least. Oh, and there's also an elephant playing slot machines, which is inarguably pretty great.
13) A View to a Kill (1985)
Christopher Walken helps elevate Roger Moore's final outing as 007 in which the eclectic businessman plots to wipe Silicon Valley off the map by setting off earthquakes with explosives on the fault lines of California. It's a little Lex Luthor of him, granted, but man does Walken milk it for all it's worth.
It helps that this film has ditched the soap opera lighting of the previous few entries. It's not the most exciting Bond film, but the finale on the Golden Gate Bridge is very memorable as is Grace Jones, who may not be the greatest actor in the world, but is incredibly striking as Walken's personal assassin May Day. They give her a little bit of that Jaws henchman magic by having her turn to the good side at a certain point and use her superhuman strength for good. It's always fun to see a character dramatically shift like that, especially the colorful ones.
12) The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
There's something charming about the smaller scope of this film, which pits 007 against a man named Scaramanga (the late, great Christopher Lee) the best assassin in the world. There's a larger threat, a plot to use solar power to make a big laser, which will later be repeated on a larger scale in Die Another Day, but ultimately the draw of this movie is that it's The Most Dangerous Game with the world's most famous spy.
Christopher Lee elevates the material just by his very presence and Roger Moore finally gets a bad guy that you're not sure he can beat.
11) You Only Live Twice (1967)
Blofeld is finally revealed after being faceless for so long. He's ends up being a droopy-eyed Donald Pleasence and for some reason they decide to try to turn Bond into a ninja by giving him eye prosthetics and a bad haircut so he can “blend in” with the locals on the Japanese island.
The most Austin Powers-y of all the Connery Bonds, You Only Live Twice is the series coasting on autopilot in the most positive sense of the term. It's not stale yet, but everybody's in their groove and it just kind of feels effortless, even if it's yet another SPECTRE plot involving stolen nuclear weapons.
10) Live and Let Die (1973)
Roger Moore's first time as Bond. Live and Let Die is commonly referred to as one of the worst James Bond movies, but I think it gets a bit of a bad rap. It's possible I like this one more than the average fan because it's the most exploitation-y of all the 007 films, and not just one kind of exploitation either. There's what Quentin Tarantino would call a “southern” exploitation influence, which plays a little Smokey and the Bandit as a redneck sheriff chases Bond around Louisiana and there's a “blaxploitation” influence as Bond travels to 1970s Harlem in pursuit of the main villain, played with great zeal by Yaphet Koto.
In this film 007 runs on alligators, fights Voodoo priests armed with venomous snakes and seduces a fortune teller. We also get an all-timer title song from Paul McCartney at the height of his pop songwriting powers. I know it's a bit silly, but how could someone hate a movie that has all that craziness in it?!
9) License to Kill (1989)
By far the seediest Bond film ever made. James Bond goes rogue to get revenge on a drug kingpin played by Robert Davi after he feeds Bond's US partner-in-crime to a great white shark. No shit. This is the goriest film of the series and feels way more like a Golan-Globus Cannon Pictures outing than a 007 flick, but it's undoubtedly the most entertaining of the Dalton Bonds and one of the most entertaining Bond movies period. Plus you have Wayne Newton as a skeevy televangelist, an early unhinged appearance by Benicio del Toro as a psychotic henchman and one of my favorite '80s movie regulars, Frank McRae, as a Bond buddy named Sharkey.
8) Skyfall (2012)
It's not the best of the Daniel Craig Bonds, but it's the one that lets Craig have the most fun. The Vesper Lynd business is closed (but not forgotten) and Craig's Bond is up against my favorite of his villains in the form of Javier Bardem's scenery-chewing Silva, a man with a giant plan for something very simple: destroy M and everything she has built.
A good 007 movie has to have a good villain and Silva might not be trying to blow up the world or steal Russian nukes, but damn is he colorful and filled with rage. And, like all the great Bond villains, he's devilishly intelligent. There's a few logic holes you have to leap over here, the biggest of which is the decision to orchestrate a showdown out in the middle of nowhere without any real weapons, but Skyfall is unquestionably the most fun of the Craig Bonds.
7) Dr. No (1962)
The one that started it all. Looking back on it now it's a bit tamer and smaller in scope than what people are used to with this franchise, but all the building blocks are there. Sean Connery's unadulterated charm is on full display, SPECTRE is revealed and the definition of “Bond Girl” is forever set in stone when Ursula Andreas' Honey Ryder steps out of the ocean in a white bikini.
Dr. No isn't the most exciting entry into the Bond cannon, but it's beautifully shot and definitely one of the classiest films the series has produced. There's a purity to it being a spy movie first and foremost with the trademark Bond silliness, gadgets and giant stunts not yet front and center.
6) Thunderball (1965)
This entry contains some of the most iconic Bond moments, but also some of the most misogynistic. None of the early Bonds are exactly woke, but the beginning of this one is particularly rape-y. You do have to consider these movies as products of their time, so I don't condemn them outright, but it's definitely something that is there when watching them today.
All that considered, Thunderball raises the stakes considerably, capping off with a massive underwater scuba fight with spearguns and hungry sharks. This one's still a lot of fun, despite the less-than-PC turn for the character.