7. Casino Royale Let's film Fleming's story with suitable updates- it's been done twice before but never the right way. We'll graft on a first half with action scenes as the audience has come to expect and we'll do them superbly. We'll stick faithfully to the original plotline as far as is reasonable and David Arnold will write wonderful music. We'll get a good cast to play Le Chiffre, Vesper, Mathis, Leiter, and M. Then we'll fire Pierce Brosnan, who would have strangled his grandmother to play 007 in this, and bring on a totally unsuitable actor to play Bond... and count the millions as we're proved right.
My ranking's changed a little bit in the last couple of months but I think FRWL will always be my number one
1. From Russia With Love
2. Moonraker
3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
4. The Spy Who Loved Me
5. You Only Live Twice
6. Dr No
7. The Man With the Golden Gun
8. The Living Daylights
9. For Your Eyes Only
10. Diamonds are Forever
11. Thunderball
12. Octopussy
13. A View to a Kill
14. Casino Royale
15. Goldeneye
16. The World is Not Enough
17. Goldfinger
18. Skyfall
19. Tomorrow Never Dies
20. Live and Let Die
21. Licence to Kill
22. Quantum of Solace
23. Die Another Day
1 - AVTAK (Yes Blackleiter, number 1 This film just has so many great bits)
2 - LALD (Still love the hell out of it)
3 - OP (Highly entertaining film)
4 - LTK (Brilliant stuff)
5 - FYEO (An excellent film that ticks all the boxes)
6 - SF (Need to re-watch it though when it comes to DVD)
7 - DN (The first, and one of the best)
8 - TSWLM (Grown on me again. Great classic film)
9 - GE (By far Brosnan's best, no doubt about it)
10 - TLD (An excellent film, the only letdown are the villains)
11 - YOLT (Under-appreciated, fun film)
12 - OHMSS (Very good, and different)
13 - FRWL (Consistent, not a favourite but pretty solid nonetheless)
14 - DAF (I have to be in the mood for it I think)
15 - TMWTGG (It's slow-paced, but I have good nostalgia with it)
16 - GF (It's highly overrated, but it's still a good film)
17 - QOS (Different, but watchable)
18 - TWINE (Not overly keen, but it has some good things about it)
19 - TND (Has some really great bits, but overall, still this low)
20 - CR (It's technically better than QOS. But I'm just rarely in the mood for it)
21 - TB (Was never a favourite. But still somewhat enjoyable)
22 - DAD (Obvious low-ranker. But I do enjoy bits of it)
23 - MR (The worst bond film for me. But still has it's moments)
Just a little change to my list, in that TB has shot up a few places. This is mainly due to how damn perfect the music fits to the film, as odd as a reason that may seem...
1 - AVTAK (Yes Blackleiter, number 1 This film just has so many great bits)
2 - LALD (Still love the hell out of it)
3 - OP (Highly entertaining film)
4 - LTK (Brilliant stuff)
5 - FYEO (An excellent film that ticks all the boxes)
6 - SF (Need to re-watch it though when it comes to DVD)
7 - DN (The first, and one of the best)
8 - TSWLM (Grown on me again. Great classic film)
9 - GE (By far Brosnan's best, no doubt about it)
10 - TLD (An excellent film, the only letdown are the villains)
11 - YOLT (Under-appreciated, fun film)
12 - OHMSS (Very good, and different)
13 - FRWL (Consistent, not a favourite but pretty solid nonetheless)
14 - DAF (I have to be in the mood for it I think)
15 - TMWTGG (It's slow-paced, but I have good nostalgia with it)
16 - GF (It's highly overrated, but it's still a good film)
17 - QOS (Different, but watchable) 18 - TB (Was never a favourite. But still somewhat enjoyable)
19 - TWINE (Not overly keen, but it has some good things about it)
20 - TND (Has some really great bits, but overall, still this low)
21 - CR (It's technically better than QOS. But I'm just rarely in the mood for it)
22 - DAD (Obvious low-ranker. But I do enjoy bits of it)
23 - MR (The worst bond film for me. But still has it's moments
Still not totally sure what order the last three go in, as I have re-watched them all except for those, which I will watch in the next few days - so will keep you updated, although I predict the order will stay the same...
20 - TND (Has some really great bits, but overall, still this low)
Just want you to know that I don't hold this against you!
I find enjoyment in every bond film. It's just so very hard to rank them. Tbh, the only three bond films that didn't really do it for me were MR, DAD, and CR shockingly enough... With TND (and TWINE too), they both do it for me, but for some reason I just enjoy them less than many of the others.
But I must say... the free-fall in TND is spectacular -{
1 - GoldenEye
2 - Casino Royale
3 - Thunderball
4 - Die Another Day
5 - Live and Let Die
6 - From Russia with Love
7 - For Your Eyes Only
8 - Goldfinger
9 - Skyfall
10 - The World is not Enough
11 - Dr. No
12 - Octopussy
13 - The Spy Who Loved Me
14 - Licence to Kill
15 - You Only Live Twice
16 - Tomorrow Never Dies
17 - A View to a Kill
18 - Quantum of Solace
19 - The Living Daylights
20 - On Her Majesty's Secret Service
21 - The Man with the Golden Gun
22 - Diamonds are Forever
23 - Moonraker
I like every Bond film and can enjoy each one thoroughly so my list changes frequently.
....and the best he ever managed was a sermon on the mount.
I could see it getting all the way up to #6, and bumping CR into 7th. But I don't think it will knock any of the others out of the top 5, I like them too much.
1 - GoldenEye
2 - Casino Royale
3 - Thunderball
4 - Die Another Day
5 - Live and Let Die
6 - From Russia with Love
7 - For Your Eyes Only
8 - Goldfinger
9 - Skyfall
10 - The World is not Enough
11 - Dr. No
12 - Octopussy
13 - The Spy Who Loved Me
14 - Licence to Kill
15 - You Only Live Twice
16 - Tomorrow Never Dies
17 - A View to a Kill
18 - Quantum of Solace
19 - The Living Daylights
20 - On Her Majesty's Secret Service
21 - The Man with the Golden Gun
22 - Diamonds are Forever
23 - Moonraker
I like every Bond film and can enjoy each one thoroughly so my list changes frequently.
Intresting list. It's always fun to compare lists with other fans, Die Another Day is amazingly high up in your list, but I guess seeing your username you must be fan! Although DAD is ranking pretty low in my own current list, I still think it's intresting to see people with such a controversial taste I'm curious to hear your oppinion on it.
Shame Licence to Kill isn't in your personal top 5 though :P
Ok, first post, and my list.. Gaps are where there a quality drop off
1 - GoldenEye
2 - Dr. No
3 Casino Royale
4 - Goldfinger
5 - For Your Eyes Only
6 - The Living Daylights
7 - Skyfall
8 - From Russia with Love
9 - Live and Let Die
10. The Spy Who Loved Me
11 - License to Kill
12- Octopussy
13. You Only Live Twice
14 - Thunderball
15. Moonraker
16. The World Is Not Enough
17. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
18. Tomorrow Never Dies
19. Die Another Day.
20. The Man with the Golden Gun
21. A View to a Kill
22. Diamonds are Forever
23. Quantum of Solace
Intresting list! Goldeneye used to be my favorite Bond movie for a long time as well, it's still in my top 5 today. Also intresting how Dr. No ranks as your second favorite! And welcome to AJB
Intresting list! Goldeneye used to be my favorite Bond movie for a long time as well, it's still in my top 5 today. Also intresting how Dr. No ranks as your second favorite! And welcome to AJB
Thanks, I guess I show Dr. No a lot of respect due to it being not very usual for a a film from 1962. Also, i was 15-16 when Goldeneye came out, so it as the "bond of my youth" thing going. Skyfall I am still unsure where to put it, though it is one of the better ones.
"You were fantastic! We're free!"
"Kara, we're inside a Russian airbase in the middle of Afghanistan."
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,701MI6 Agent
edited February 2013
My 1-23 James Bond Film Ranking is currently:
1. OHMSS
2. Skyfall
3. Casino Royale
4. Quantum of Solace
5. The Living Daylights
6. Licence to Kill
7. For Your Eyes Only
8. From Russia with Love
9. The Man with the Golden Gun
10. Octopussy
11. Dr. No
12. Live and Let Die
13. The Spy Who Loved Me
14. Moonraker
15. GoldenEye
16. Goldfinger
17. The World is Not Enough
18. A View to A Kill
19. Thunderball
20. Tomorrow Never Dies
21. Diamonds Are Forever
22. You Only Live Twice
23. Die Another Day
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
1. OHMSS
2. Skyfall
3. Casino Royale
4. Quantum of Solace
5. The Living Daylights
6. Licence to Kill
7. For Your Eyes Only
8. From Russia with Love
9. The Man with the Golden Gun
10. Octopussy
11. Dr. No
12. Live and Let Die
13. The Spy Who Loved Me
14. Moonraker
15. GoldenEye
16. Goldfinger
17. The World is Not Enough
18. A View to A Kill
19. Thunderball
20. Tomorrow Never Dies
21. Diamonds Are Forever
22. You Only Live Twice
23. Die Another Day
Nice list. Easy to tell that you're a fan of the serious Bond movies.
The best thing about being a Bond fan is seeing how other people rank the movies and hearing their views on them. It's interesting to see that you could find films like Tomorrow Never Dies ranked at the complete top for some, and ranked at the very bottom for others. Like any other Bond fan, my list also constantly changes and ranking 23 movies isn't easy. But instead of just posting an updated list, I would like to throw in a view words on every movie, for those interested enough to read it... I’ve seen a lot of other members do the same in this thread as well. So just because I like this thread very much, here's my own personal rundown:
#23 Diamonds Are Forever
To me, this is the Bond movie I enjoy watching the least. It’s kind of a shame, because I think Diamonds had great potential to be a great follow up to OHMSS. It could have been a great revenge story of Bond trying to avenge the death of his wife. While there could still be a side story for the whole Diamond smuggling. What we got however was Blofeld in drag, some really campy humor and a Sean Connery who seems to be very far from the suave and sexy Bond we first saw in Dr. No. There is this scene of Connery lying in bed with an ashtray on his chest. Where’s the whole glamour in that?! And there were some really embarrassingly bad special effects in this one as well. When the satellite was shooting the laser from out of space and destroys all of the nuclear missile’s it all looks like a complete B movie. Atleast Plenty O’ Toole brought two upsides to the movie…
#22 Quantum of Solace
I personally felt this movie was a complete mess. And yet, much like Diamonds are Forever, this movie yet again had some great potential to be a great follow up to Casino Royale. Somehow it failed to be that. I hear a lot of people complaining on the fast editing in this one, I agree that it is a problem, but it’s not really what ruined the movie for me. The problem was it’s story. I didn’t get it on first viewing and I believe I never had that happening before... It was about water and oil, revenge and Quantum and yet it seemed very hard to follow… When I heard there was a writers strike going on during production things became pretty clear to me. Because it shows that there wasn’t much professional thinking into the plot of this movie, it has to rely on big action scene’s every 10 minutes. (Which aren’t that bad by the way.) The main villain was probably the worst villain in the franchise. His henchman Elvis was completely forgettable as well. Who ever remembers him? Daniel Craig’s acting was very solid though, he did his absolute best to make it work.
#21 On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Probably the most controversially ranked on this list. Generally it is ranked at the very top and widly recognized as one of the best, if not the best, Bond movie. I simply do not seem to share that love for this movie. And I mentioned it a view times, I honestly wish I enjoyed it more then I do, but I simply don’t. First of all George Lazenby, why on earth did they cast him as James Bond? The guy isn’t even an actor, he only did some commercials in Australia. He isn’t even British! Imagine that happening nowadays! It is still beyond me that he ever got the part… Blofeld’s sceam of spreading a deadly virus over the world using beautiful girls to cause infertility seems like a really weird plan. And I never got how just destroying Pizz Gloria stopped that plan from still continuing. The beautifull girls where already spread around the world, and it always seemed like Blofeld could easily make a new command centre to still make that plan succeed anyway… Dianna Rigg did an excellent job by the way, and the cinematography is magnificent. Bond shagging all of the beautiful women on pizz Gloria even though he is in a dedicated relationship with Tracy always seemed a bit weird to me as well. It’s Bondian, but still seems out of place here. Perhaps reading the novell lifts this one up for me. I do own it, but haven’t read it yet.
#20 Die Another Day
This movie is generally ranked at the bottom of any list and I’m really no exception. It might be surprising to some that I ranked it above QOS and OHMSS. But that’s probably because the first hour of Die Another Day isn’t as bad. But we all know that riding a CGI tsunami and visiting an ice palace where an event is hosted by a Korean who now turned into a huge western idol with plastic surgery, just takes this a little bit to far for a Bond movie. Hale Berry had some embarrassingly bad moments as well. But she is still pretty hot to watch.
#19 Live And Let Die
Always found this one though to rank. Roger Moore has a great debut as Bond, Jane Seymour is beautiful and the villain is pretty memorable. But yet, I never really got along with the whole voodoo theme to it. And the way Kananga was killed was just plainly ridiculous… There’s enough in this movie to like though, Bond tricking Solitaire into bad is so wrong, and yet so hilarious. It fits Roger Moore perfectly as well. The man is a genius. The boat chase was pretty impressive. J.W Pepper is annoying, but I can stand him enough I guess.. It’s a weird Bond movie with some likeable aspects.
#18 A View To A Kill
Not really a strong Bond movie. The plot seems very “been there, done that” in some parts. Roger Moore really seems to old for the part in this one, especially when bedding the women, and he beds a lot of them in this one… Christopher Walken is one of the reasons to watch this one. Grace Jones is creepy as hell, but yet seems to fit the Bond universe in some way. Stacey Sutton was annoying, but on a recent viewing I could stand her a lot better than I remembered. She does a better job then Denise Richards in a similar role. Roger Moore’s humor is always great, he still delivers the jokes the way he always did. “Whats serving, Whiskas?” Still miles better then George Lazenby could ever deliver a joke. All in all, it’s an enjoyable watch, but boring in some places.
#17 Moonraker
Most people rank this one at the very bottum as well. But I think there’s plenty of stuff in it to like. All of the Ken Adams set along with Derek Meddings’ brilliant miniature and special effects work really shows off here. It shows that this movie had a high budget. Of course Bond going into space really takes things to far and Jaws falling in love and turning side’s was pretty silly… But still, it’s an enjoyable watch.
#16 Dr. No
The first one is an okay movie, which I think you have to cut some slack. The budget wasn’t really that high yet, but of course you can’t blame them on that. Some scene’s like the car chases are seriously dated and look really laughable right now. But still, there’s enough iconic stuff in this one to like. Of course Connery’s legendary introduction, along with of course Ursula Andress’s famous scene. Bond killing professor Dent in cold blood is probably my favorite part in the whole movie. The end climax was pretty weak though. It was the first of it’s kind and it still holds up pretty well, but luckily it spawned plenty of other movies I enjoy even more.
#15 From Russia With Love
There isn’t really much wrong with this movie actually. I somehow just seem to enjoy a lot of other Bond movies over this one. It’s a very serious spy thriller, which is great, because the franchise doesn’t really have to much of the great spy thrillers. But yet, it still hasn’t quite found that Bond formula yet… I think all of the scene’s taking place on the Orient Express are the best. Kerim Bay was one of the best allies in the franchise, really likeable man. It’s pretty heartbreaking to know that he had cancer during production and desperately tried to finish his scenes… I also read the novell of FRWL and that really helped me appreciate the movie even more. In some ways, I almost dare to say the novell was even better then the movie.
#14 The Man With The Golden Gun
The movie felt a lot ‘smaller’ then most of the other Bond movies. But yet, I think this movie is pure guilty pleasure! I have always liked this one and I think that will never change. Christopher Lee is one of the greatest villains in the series. And probably is the strongest point to this movie. The plot keeps me entertained from start to finish, it’s simple and yet it works. Bond going up against the worlds greatest assassin. Throw him into some exotic locations and you have a fun little Bond adventure. If only they didn’t put that whistle sound over that great stunt… Such a shame…
#13 Octopussy
Octopussy is another enjoyable watch all together. There’s a lot of typical Bond stuff in it, it doesn’t really take itself to seriously, but then again, neither does Roger Moore. Sneaking in on an island only inhabited by beautiful women in a crocodile suit seems so ridiculous on paper. And yet, somehow it works for this movie! (Even though he later escapes in the waters by swimming anyway…) The jokes are once again in true Roger Moore fashion. I always loved the way he used Kamal Khans fixed dices “It’s all in the whrist”. Got to love Roger Moore! One personal highpoint for me was that James Bond actually briefly drove an Alfa Romeo GTV in this one. As I am raised with a personal love for that brand, I always thought that was a very cool moment indeed. The Tarzan yell really shouldn’t have been there though…
#12 The Living Daylights
Went up by some in my list actually. And that’s mainly due to Dalton’s terrific performance. He definitely understands the Bond of the books and I think he did a terrific job in bringing that to the screen. This is not your average Bond movie that you can put into a ‘template’. The story is more complex and coming after A View To A Kill, this really is a breath of fresh air. (Watching them all in order really makes you realise how fresh this one is after the Roger Moore era.) The villains are the only weak link in the movie and I think it kind of sinks in on the second half. Jeroen Krabbé, despite also being Dutch and despite even sharing the same name as me really wasn’t that good. I liked Kara a lot though, there seemed to be some genuine sparks between Bond and her here.
#11 Tomorrow Never Dies
This is a typical Bond movie you can simply turn on and enjoy. It delivers all the stuff you come to expect from a Bond movie. In some ways the plot really feels like a Lewis Gilbert movie. There’s definitely nothing new there. But it has some typical 90’ies action in it that I can really appreciate. Both the BMW and the bike scene are pure Bond entertainment. It has the problem of really sinking in once Bond and Wai Lin are on the stealth boat. But all together a solid Bond movie. I feel that this is one that you could easily show to someone who isn’t really a Bond movie, and he would simply enjoy it.
#10 The World Is Not Enough
I always find it hard to decide if I like TWINE better then TND, they always seem to rank very close for me. They tried to go for a more complex plot in this one, as TND, though being very entertaining has a very standard Bond movie plot. This one goes a little bit deeper. Acting wise, Pierce Brosnan really shines here. And growing up with him as James Bond, I’ve always been a fan of the way he portrays him. This movie really shows that he can act. Elektra King was a pretty interesting character. Renard had the potential to be far more intresting then they made him to be though. And Denise Richards was very unconvincing to say the least.. I would have preferred to see the Cigar girl from the opening credits. Damn was she hot!
#09 Thunderball
A grand Bond adventure, definitely top 10 worthy in my book! I like how big they made this whole mission seem. Spectre stealing the nuke’s and all 00 agents are put on the job. Plots like that really seem to work well in the 60íes and I am a sucker for that! I also have to say that this movie probably had the hottest line up of Bond girls ever: Fionna Volpe is really hot and Paluzzi really made her intresting. Domino was extremely hot, one of the best looking Bond girls of all time. Hell, even Paula was hot! My only complaint would be the pacing and the long on draggin under water scene’s. And speeding up that final climax on the disco volante was pretty bad as well. Other then that one of the all time greats!
#08 You Only Live Twice
Yes, it has a villain in a hollow volcano stroking a cat, and I LOVE IT! This is prime 60’ies stuff. And in so many ways does this movie remind me of the Thunderbirds a great show I grew up with. There’s so much to like in this movie, the Little Nellie was awesome, Tiger Tanaka was a really likeable alie, Donald Pleasance is by far my favorite Blofeld. Japan is a great location to take Bond too, though trying to turn Sean Connery into a Japanese man really didn’t work … Of course the plot was pretty over the top, but that’s pretty much Lewis Gilbert’s trademark. For some people this works, for some it doesn’t. For me, it does!
#07 For Your Eyes Only
As a younger kid I didn’t really think much of this movie. Over the years I really come to appreciate this one. This is probably the first real spy thriller since From Russia With Love. And it proofed that Roger Moore could also pull of a serious Bond. It might be kind of controversial but I also liked the early 80’ies score, which some people think is terrible. I think it’s kind of catchy and suits the time it was made in. Melina Havelock was a pretty interesting character and Columbo almost was like a new Kerim Bay. Moore kicking the car of the cliff is badass, I only wish he was like this more often. The mountain climbing scene was really tense as well. Sheena Eastons title song is beautiful, one of the best in the franchise!
#06 The Spy Who Loved Me
Definitely my favorite Roger Moore movie, and by far the best movie of the 70’ies! This is Roger Moore’s Goldfinger, it has all the perfect ingredients for a solid ride of pure Bond entertainment! The Lotus Espirit is probably my favorite car in the entire franchise. Jaws is really classic and menacing here. (Unlike in Moonraker) Barbara Bach is hot! Roger Moore is in top form. The great ski jump is also something that I think no one can dislike. Nobody does it better!
#05 Casino Royale
This movie is so refreshing coming after Die Another Day. In some ways it rescued the franchise. It’s strange how I come to like this movie so much over the years. I remember really disliking Craig when he was first announced to be the new James Bond. (“Come on, Bond can’t be a blond guy!” were my words…) Yet, this movie proofs me (and many others) completely wrong. This movie doesn’t rely on stunts, it can completely rely on Bond as a character again. Him falling in love with Vesper and in the end loosing him was very emotional and, to me, much better executed than the whole relationship between Bond and Tracy in OHMSS. (Come on, the guy just went shagging all the patients on Pizz Gloria!) The poker scene was done extremely well in my opinion as well. There isn’t really much to dislike about this movie. This is truly where all the masterpieces come in!
#04 Goldfinger
The quintessential Bond movie, the classic of all classics. Whatever you would like to call it. You can’t possibly call this movie overrated, because it truly deserves a top 5 spot in my opinion. This is where the Bond formula is found, it should forever be recognized as the Godfather of Bond movies. It has the DB5, oddjobs hat, the laser scene, the golden lady on Bond’s bed. This is a 24 carat masterpiece. Period.
#03 Goldeneye
It might be sentimental value, but this is such a baddass Bond movie! I don’t think Bond has ever looked as good as Pierce Brosnan looks in this movie. On his debut he immediately convinced the world that he IS James Bond here. Bond going up against 006 is pretty clever, Xenia Onnatop is the best femme fatale the franchise ever saw. (Dutch pride ) and I really liked the score for this movie as well. The industrial type of sounds really work well for Goldeneye. Judi Dench left a great impression as the new M as well. Much like Casino Royale rescued the franchise in 2006, Goldeneye did the same in ’95!
#02 Skyfall
Having only watched this movie once, sometimes I feel I might be over ranking this one. But yet, this movie worked extremely well for me when watching it in theatre’s. Just the PTS alone proofed to me that this was a far better movie then QOS and over the course my expectations where far exceeded. This will go down in history as one of the best Bond movies the franchise ever saw. My only complaint was Sévérine dying so soon.. She was an interesting character and would have loved to see more of her. (Damn is Bérénice Marlohe hot!) The title song by Adelle is incredible as well! Can’t wait to buy this one on blu ray and watch it more!
#01 Licence to Kill
It’s no secret to people on the forum that this is my all-time favorite Bond movie. It might not be as classic as Goldfinger, but it has all the elements I like in a movie and brings them together with Bond. I am a huge fan of crime type of movies, like for instance Scarface. Here, crime is brought together perfectly with Bond. We get one of the most interesting villains ever in Robert Davi’s Franz Sanchez. He is one of the main reasons this movie is so darn entertaining. Coming after the Roger Moore era where we saw Tarzan yells and clown costumes, now all of the sudden a drug barron comes in, feeding Felix Leiter to the sharks and letting his wife get raped! (presumably) Holy sh**t!! This guy means business! Bond taking his resignation and going on a personal vendetta works brilliant here. And the plot itself is done in such a clever way. It’s pretty impossible to go after Sanchez on your own. And yet, Bond being the professional almost succeeds into sniping him if the Chinese government didn’t get him. Later using Sanchez’s fetish for loyalty against him is very clever, he manages to break down Sanchez’s entire organisation by posing as an adviser for Sanchez, eventually you can even see Sanchez slowly turning paranoid and not trusting anybody anymore. (Even though everybody is indeed 100% loyal to him.) To me, this is the ultimate Bond entertainment!
I have TWINE, DAD and QoS to watch and then I'm going to do my ranking.
1: Casino Royale 2: Goldeneye 3: Skyfall 4: Octopussy 5: Goldfinger 6: Tomorrow Never Dies 7: The World Is Not Enough 8: The Living Daylights 9: From Russia With Love 10: The Spy Who Loved Me
#1 From Russia With Love - First saw it when I was 5, Unforgettable in every way. I still hear the Telegraph theme in my head at night.
#2 The Living Daylights - First Bond I saw in the Theatres - love Dalton's Balance with the character
#3 Goldeneye - Love Brosnan as an actor, Long Hiatus after a new addiction. thoroughly loved it in every way.
#4 The Spy Who Loved Me - Moore at his finest and Jaws without a girlfriend
#5 Thunderball - Absolute Brilliance, only not #2 due to a slight feel of dragging with the Underwater Fight
#6 For Your Eyes Only - Great Story, Fantastic action, good cinematography
#7 Licence to Kill - Some height on the list due to YBS(Youth Bond Syndrome) But truly a stellar performance by Dalton, adapting Bond to a very different story, while maintaining everything cool and smooth about Bond.
#8 A View to a Kill - Moore goes out on a high note but is aging
#9 Goldfinger - Quintessential Bond. Set the stage for all others. But I'm not a big fan of Honor Blackman personally.
#10 On Her Majesty's Secret Service - Would be # 1 on most people's list if Connery or Dalton had played it, IMO.
#11 Octopussy - nice recovery from MoonRaker, Maud is gorgeous, and Moore is excellent drops in and out of the top ten all the time
#12 Dr.No - what more needs to be said than that we owe this movie for all the others
#13 Tomorrow Never Dies - Excellent action, great story, but Brosnan is becoming restricted by his writing
#14 Die Another Day - I really enjoyed this movie the first time I saw it, Love John Cleese as "R", and the scene where he walks into the hotel all raggedy and gets a suite on credit is awesome, but the tsunami, man, the tsunami...
#15 You Only Live Twice - Good, but not great Connery
#16 Diamonds Are Forever - A missed opportunity, but a delightful romp. Love seeing Bond In a Mustang, too!
#17 Live and Let Die - Love everything about this movie, but the voodoo put me off
#18 Casino Royale - I had high hopes for Craig after this one, but find him lacking in almost every way in his portrayal
#19 The World is not Enough - Again the dilemma with Brosnan, he is so good as Bond, why is this movie so bad? Answer: Denise Richards, and helicopters with saw blades as an execution device
#20 The Man with the Golden Gun - I liked how one member put it: Bond movies should never be forgettable
Let me pause here and say that was HARD! I will watch any of the above any time and love them all. I have seen all the above a dozen times at least. Now for the rest, those are easy to rank.
#21 Moonraker - I know we suspend reality for Bond, but come on
#22 Skyfall - yep, there it is. I am one of like 12 people in the world who have not bought into the hype and see this movie for what it really is: Home Alone on steroids. Everyone has a right to their own opinion, but the villian won, man, the villain won. I can believe Bond surfs a tsunami and catches a falling airplane before I am willing to admit he will be defeated by some penny ante villain like Silva
#23 Quantum Of Solace - Nonexistent story, Bad camera work, A boring villain, and Craig at his worst. The only Bond movie I will never watch again, even if you pay me. i will never get back the 4 hours of my life I spent on this rag. (I watched it twice trying to like Craig)
1 - GoldenEye
Goldeneye for me is the ideal bond film. You have a great bond, Brosnan is great at bond, and this is one of the few times he is giving a good plot. The villain is great (you could see Bean at this age playing a bond.) The bond gals are amazing, It is serious at times, it has great action sequences, and funny at times. The only weak link is the male computer hacker, but his role is small enough to ignore. It also the film i saw as a 15-16 year old, and went from the early 80s bond to this, so it was like "WOW" and has the youthful bond for me as well. Its been a solid no 1 for me. It is also understated how FUNNY the film is.
2 - Dr. No
Dr. No is my number two, and there is a few reasons, and perhaps I give it a bit more leeway then other films due to the age. It was made in 1962, and I class it for movies for its time. It also gets leeway as you can tell it was a small budget affair. But you know what. After 50 years, the killing of Dent is still a WOW moment, and that says something. I would not recommend it for a first time bond viewer, its too old and old fashioned, and i regret that I am too young to get the full impact of you know who walking out onto the beach.
3 Casino Royale
First off, I am lukewarm to Creig as Bond, though I think he did his best work in Casino Royale. Another Reason why this is number 3, Eva Green. She is just a wow in this film. The movie is long, and I am still on the fence with the whole "rope and chair" bit. The biggest weakness of this film is the villain is not that great. But it holds its own, but it is a modern movie that you would expect to hold its own, and the final battle is of course, tons of fun and grief filled as Vesper kills herself.
4 - Goldfinger
While this has a major weakness (Not going to new and exciting locations) its the Classic "Classic" bond film, a plot that is a little over the top, full of one liners, and a fun romp. I have to put it in the top five due to the fact that it is the quintessential bond film.
5 - For Your Eyes Only
Moore did play a funny bond, but he does rank with two of the most memorable kills in the series. Kicking the car is still too this day a grin inducing moment of awesome. The bond gal is eye catching, the plot is out of the cold war, but still more of a spy film then some of the camp fests, and I love it for it. This to me is the best "Moore" bond, and the climbing bit and the car kicking are just two of the moments you will remember.
6 - The Living Daylights
Dalton is a good Bond, he was perhaps before his time, and Moore was bond for so long it was a hard to sell someone else as "bond". However the movie is fun, and I like fun films, and Dalton is great as bond, not that it doesn't have its weaknesses, Its still high on my top ten, but might in the long run be knocked down by skyfall.
7 - Skyfall
I only recently saw this film, so its ranking may move in a bit. It is a GREAT movie, but in some ways, its not a bond film. I was never a fan (nor did I hate) Dench M, so I had very little emotional gravity of the threat to her, and the other bond gal appeared, made you want to see more, then gets a bullet in her head. The Villain is great, DC is once again serviceable as Bond, and I love the new M. However I did notice that DC is looking older, and it won't be long till someone else (Fesbender<sp> perhaps?) needs to take the role.
8 - From Russia with Love
The last of the top notch films, there is nothing really weak with Russia from love, it has all you want in the bond film, the Train bit is still great, and you go about all over the place in the world. I could easily switch this with "Goldfinger" and wouldn't bat a eyelash.
9 - Live and Let Die
I love Live and Let die, even though it has its weaknesses. The Voodoo bits are now just silly for example, sometimes you think that Moore is thinking "this was the best idea they could come up with?" But it has Jane Seymour as young and amazing and Feeding folks to gators and other fun. I will watch it, but there is a drop in quality from here and the above films.
10. The Spy Who Loved Me
Another Moore film I love, and the best of the campy save the world ones. Yes, Bach acting is wooden, but she catches the eye and the plot is a ton of fun, with some large set battle bits. tons and tons of fun.
11 - License to Kill
There is a lot to love with this film, great villain, great bond, great bod gal. However the tale of personal vengence just doesn't work as well as it should, and perhaps Dalton is TOO intense for the era of film. Yes, like many bond fans i would of loved to see a third Dalton bond film, but if i could wished for something it would of been Connery in OHMSS
12- Octopussy
This is where its starting to show some weakness, Moore is getting old, but its not offputting since Maud Adams is of a reasonable age for him. I have selective memory, so i forget the one REALLY bad moment of this film, and enjoy it as a romp though India, and the "its the flick of the wrists" and loaded dice still make me smile to this day.
13. You Only Live Twice
The Vacano bits are tons of fun, but due to aging poorly, or being a poor film in itself, all the bits up to this seem out of place and not enjoyable. This is the point where I might change the channel if TBS is doing a bond marathon
14 - Thunderball
I understand that at the time the underwater bits was cool. But it has NOT aged well, in fact, it almost puts me to sleep. Perhaps I am too young to enjoy it, so it and YOLT i put above the films that i know are bad.
15. Moonraker
Moonraker is NOT a good film, but I love it anyways. Yes, Bond in space and lasers is well...silly. However there is a lot of fun to be had, a good villain, a good Bod Gal, and many other noteworthy bits. I will actually much rather watch Moonraker, flaws and all, then some of the higher ranked films, as it at least enjoyable, and due to the at the time fancy model work, its aged reasonably well.
16. The World Is Not Enough
Good Bond, decent plot, and once again, I rather put on TWINE then say, thunderball, as TWINE is brainless entertainment. It does have it flaws, and yes, there is some bad miscasting, but its great to "turn off the brain and enjoy" and its new enough that it doesn't feel old, though it feels very 1990s action film. That not a bad thing, but it is what it is.
17. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
A miscast Bond can ruin a film. If this had a good bond, this might be Number one, instead, it down here at 17. Such a waste in my mind that a otherwise great film is ruined by a mis-cast star. It is the "Kingdom of Heaven" of Bond films.
18. Tomorrow Never Dies
Once again, brainless fun, but I find the plot lacking. There is little enough to remember it by, and it seems forced that Bond gets the girl, it seems more that they would shake hands and go there own way. Hatcher never did much for me.
19. Die Another Day.
The first half of this film is Actually really good. I love Frost. Then it goes and almost kills the bond franchise. Bad movie!!! I think i hit this movie hard since with a better 2nd half it could of been a top ten bond film.
20. The Man with the Golden Gun
The worse thing a bond film can be is forgettable. This is a forgettable bond film. I don't remember much of it, and that is NOT a good thing.
21. A View to a Kill
Moore looks old, the plot is bad, the Villain is great, but in the end, its not a good film. I really do not need to say more I think. It is what it is, a not very good film.
22. Diamonds are Forever
Unlike some of the other earlier bonds, i know that this film sucks, and its not just that it "hasn't aged well".
23. Quantum of Solace
Sometimes filmmakers try to be too fancy. And loose the entire narrative thread. So instead of making a great movie, it ends up being a unrecognizable mess of a film. QoS is one of these films.
Comments
Thanks, Firemass! -{
1. From Russia With Love
2. Moonraker
3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
4. The Spy Who Loved Me
5. You Only Live Twice
6. Dr No
7. The Man With the Golden Gun
8. The Living Daylights
9. For Your Eyes Only
10. Diamonds are Forever
11. Thunderball
12. Octopussy
13. A View to a Kill
14. Casino Royale
15. Goldeneye
16. The World is Not Enough
17. Goldfinger
18. Skyfall
19. Tomorrow Never Dies
20. Live and Let Die
21. Licence to Kill
22. Quantum of Solace
23. Die Another Day
Just a little change to my list, in that TB has shot up a few places. This is mainly due to how damn perfect the music fits to the film, as odd as a reason that may seem...
1 - AVTAK (Yes Blackleiter, number 1
2 - LALD (Still love the hell out of it)
3 - OP (Highly entertaining film)
4 - LTK (Brilliant stuff)
5 - FYEO (An excellent film that ticks all the boxes)
6 - SF (Need to re-watch it though when it comes to DVD)
7 - DN (The first, and one of the best)
8 - TSWLM (Grown on me again. Great classic film)
9 - GE (By far Brosnan's best, no doubt about it)
10 - TLD (An excellent film, the only letdown are the villains)
11 - YOLT (Under-appreciated, fun film)
12 - OHMSS (Very good, and different)
13 - FRWL (Consistent, not a favourite but pretty solid nonetheless)
14 - DAF (I have to be in the mood for it I think)
15 - TMWTGG (It's slow-paced, but I have good nostalgia with it)
16 - GF (It's highly overrated, but it's still a good film)
17 - QOS (Different, but watchable)
18 - TB (Was never a favourite. But still somewhat enjoyable)
19 - TWINE (Not overly keen, but it has some good things about it)
20 - TND (Has some really great bits, but overall, still this low)
21 - CR (It's technically better than QOS. But I'm just rarely in the mood for it)
22 - DAD (Obvious low-ranker. But I do enjoy bits of it)
23 - MR (The worst bond film for me. But still has it's moments
Still not totally sure what order the last three go in, as I have re-watched them all except for those, which I will watch in the next few days - so will keep you updated, although I predict the order will stay the same...
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
I find enjoyment in every bond film. It's just so very hard to rank them. Tbh, the only three bond films that didn't really do it for me were MR, DAD, and CR shockingly enough... With TND (and TWINE too), they both do it for me, but for some reason I just enjoy them less than many of the others.
But I must say... the free-fall in TND is spectacular -{
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby
2 - Casino Royale
3 - Thunderball
4 - Die Another Day
5 - Live and Let Die
6 - From Russia with Love
7 - For Your Eyes Only
8 - Goldfinger
9 - Skyfall
10 - The World is not Enough
11 - Dr. No
12 - Octopussy
13 - The Spy Who Loved Me
14 - Licence to Kill
15 - You Only Live Twice
16 - Tomorrow Never Dies
17 - A View to a Kill
18 - Quantum of Solace
19 - The Living Daylights
20 - On Her Majesty's Secret Service
21 - The Man with the Golden Gun
22 - Diamonds are Forever
23 - Moonraker
I like every Bond film and can enjoy each one thoroughly so my list changes frequently.
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
how high up is TMWTGG on your list?
Quick short list:
TLD
LTK
TND
TB
GE
OHMSS
DN
TMWTGG
But like many others here, the list changes with my mood.
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
1 - LALD
2 - AVTAK
3 - OP
4 - LTK
5 - FYEO
6 - SF
7 - DN
8 - TSWLM
9 - GE
10 - TLD
11 - YOLT
12 - OHMSS
13 - FRWL
14 - DAF
15 - TMWTGG
16 - GF
17 - QOS
18 - CR
19 - TWINE
20 - TND
21 - TB
22 - DAD
23 - MR
Hell, I love 'em all!
(except for MR)
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby
1 - TLD
2 - LTK
3 - TND
4 - TB
5 - GE
6 - DN
7 - TMWTGG
8 - OP
9 - OHMSS
10 - TWINE
11 - YOLT
12 - TSWLM
13 - FRWL
14 - DAF
15 - QOS
16 - CR
17 - GF
18 - AVTAK
19 - SF
20 - LALD
21 - FYEO
22 - DAD
23 - MR
I'm unique....
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
Maybe so, but our bottom 2 are identical
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby
1. Licence to Kill
2. The Living Daylights
3. From Russia With Love
4. Thunderball
5. A View to a Kill
6. Casino Royale
7. The Spy Who Loved Me
8. Dr. No
9. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
10. Goldeneye
11. For Your Eyes Only
12. Moonraker
13. The Man with the Golden Gun
14. Diamonds Are Forever
15. Goldfinger
16. Octopussy
17. Live and Let Die
18. You Only Live Twice
19. Quantum of Solace
20. The World Is Not Enough
21. Die Another Day
22. Tomorrow Never Dies
? Skyfall. Have not seen yet. Raking undetermined.
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
Good sir! -{
Intresting list. It's always fun to compare lists with other fans, Die Another Day is amazingly high up in your list, but I guess seeing your username you must be fan! Although DAD is ranking pretty low in my own current list, I still think it's intresting to see people with such a controversial taste
Shame Licence to Kill isn't in your personal top 5 though :P
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1 - GoldenEye
2 - Dr. No
3 Casino Royale
4 - Goldfinger
5 - For Your Eyes Only
6 - The Living Daylights
7 - Skyfall
8 - From Russia with Love
9 - Live and Let Die
10. The Spy Who Loved Me
11 - License to Kill
12- Octopussy
13. You Only Live Twice
14 - Thunderball
15. Moonraker
16. The World Is Not Enough
17. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
18. Tomorrow Never Dies
19. Die Another Day.
20. The Man with the Golden Gun
21. A View to a Kill
22. Diamonds are Forever
23. Quantum of Solace
Intresting list! Goldeneye used to be my favorite Bond movie for a long time as well, it's still in my top 5 today. Also intresting how Dr. No ranks as your second favorite! And welcome to AJB
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Thanks, I guess I show Dr. No a lot of respect due to it being not very usual for a a film from 1962. Also, i was 15-16 when Goldeneye came out, so it as the "bond of my youth" thing going. Skyfall I am still unsure where to put it, though it is one of the better ones.
1. TLD
2. CR
3. GE
4. DN
5. SF
6. LTK
7. GF
8. TND
9. FRWL
10. TWINE
11. MR
12. OHMSS
13. LALD
14. AVTAK
15. DAD
16. FYEO
17. OP
18. TSWLM
19. TMWTGG
20. QOS
21. TB
22. YOLT
23. DAF
"Kara, we're inside a Russian airbase in the middle of Afghanistan."
1. OHMSS
2. Skyfall
3. Casino Royale
4. Quantum of Solace
5. The Living Daylights
6. Licence to Kill
7. For Your Eyes Only
8. From Russia with Love
9. The Man with the Golden Gun
10. Octopussy
11. Dr. No
12. Live and Let Die
13. The Spy Who Loved Me
14. Moonraker
15. GoldenEye
16. Goldfinger
17. The World is Not Enough
18. A View to A Kill
19. Thunderball
20. Tomorrow Never Dies
21. Diamonds Are Forever
22. You Only Live Twice
23. Die Another Day
Intresting list! Casino Royale, Goldeneye and Skyfall are also in my personal top five.
Nice list. Easy to tell that you're a fan of the serious Bond movies.
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#23 Diamonds Are Forever
To me, this is the Bond movie I enjoy watching the least. It’s kind of a shame, because I think Diamonds had great potential to be a great follow up to OHMSS. It could have been a great revenge story of Bond trying to avenge the death of his wife. While there could still be a side story for the whole Diamond smuggling. What we got however was Blofeld in drag, some really campy humor and a Sean Connery who seems to be very far from the suave and sexy Bond we first saw in Dr. No. There is this scene of Connery lying in bed with an ashtray on his chest. Where’s the whole glamour in that?! And there were some really embarrassingly bad special effects in this one as well. When the satellite was shooting the laser from out of space and destroys all of the nuclear missile’s it all looks like a complete B movie. Atleast Plenty O’ Toole brought two upsides to the movie…
#22 Quantum of Solace
I personally felt this movie was a complete mess. And yet, much like Diamonds are Forever, this movie yet again had some great potential to be a great follow up to Casino Royale. Somehow it failed to be that. I hear a lot of people complaining on the fast editing in this one, I agree that it is a problem, but it’s not really what ruined the movie for me. The problem was it’s story. I didn’t get it on first viewing and I believe I never had that happening before... It was about water and oil, revenge and Quantum and yet it seemed very hard to follow… When I heard there was a writers strike going on during production things became pretty clear to me. Because it shows that there wasn’t much professional thinking into the plot of this movie, it has to rely on big action scene’s every 10 minutes. (Which aren’t that bad by the way.) The main villain was probably the worst villain in the franchise. His henchman Elvis was completely forgettable as well. Who ever remembers him? Daniel Craig’s acting was very solid though, he did his absolute best to make it work.
#21 On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Probably the most controversially ranked on this list. Generally it is ranked at the very top and widly recognized as one of the best, if not the best, Bond movie. I simply do not seem to share that love for this movie. And I mentioned it a view times, I honestly wish I enjoyed it more then I do, but I simply don’t. First of all George Lazenby, why on earth did they cast him as James Bond? The guy isn’t even an actor, he only did some commercials in Australia. He isn’t even British! Imagine that happening nowadays! It is still beyond me that he ever got the part… Blofeld’s sceam of spreading a deadly virus over the world using beautiful girls to cause infertility seems like a really weird plan. And I never got how just destroying Pizz Gloria stopped that plan from still continuing. The beautifull girls where already spread around the world, and it always seemed like Blofeld could easily make a new command centre to still make that plan succeed anyway… Dianna Rigg did an excellent job by the way, and the cinematography is magnificent. Bond shagging all of the beautiful women on pizz Gloria even though he is in a dedicated relationship with Tracy always seemed a bit weird to me as well. It’s Bondian, but still seems out of place here. Perhaps reading the novell lifts this one up for me. I do own it, but haven’t read it yet.
#20 Die Another Day
This movie is generally ranked at the bottom of any list and I’m really no exception. It might be surprising to some that I ranked it above QOS and OHMSS. But that’s probably because the first hour of Die Another Day isn’t as bad. But we all know that riding a CGI tsunami and visiting an ice palace where an event is hosted by a Korean who now turned into a huge western idol with plastic surgery, just takes this a little bit to far for a Bond movie. Hale Berry had some embarrassingly bad moments as well. But she is still pretty hot to watch.
#19 Live And Let Die
Always found this one though to rank. Roger Moore has a great debut as Bond, Jane Seymour is beautiful and the villain is pretty memorable. But yet, I never really got along with the whole voodoo theme to it. And the way Kananga was killed was just plainly ridiculous… There’s enough in this movie to like though, Bond tricking Solitaire into bad is so wrong, and yet so hilarious. It fits Roger Moore perfectly as well. The man is a genius. The boat chase was pretty impressive. J.W Pepper is annoying, but I can stand him enough I guess.. It’s a weird Bond movie with some likeable aspects.
#18 A View To A Kill
Not really a strong Bond movie. The plot seems very “been there, done that” in some parts. Roger Moore really seems to old for the part in this one, especially when bedding the women, and he beds a lot of them in this one… Christopher Walken is one of the reasons to watch this one. Grace Jones is creepy as hell, but yet seems to fit the Bond universe in some way. Stacey Sutton was annoying, but on a recent viewing I could stand her a lot better than I remembered. She does a better job then Denise Richards in a similar role. Roger Moore’s humor is always great, he still delivers the jokes the way he always did. “Whats serving, Whiskas?” Still miles better then George Lazenby could ever deliver a joke. All in all, it’s an enjoyable watch, but boring in some places.
#17 Moonraker
Most people rank this one at the very bottum as well. But I think there’s plenty of stuff in it to like. All of the Ken Adams set along with Derek Meddings’ brilliant miniature and special effects work really shows off here. It shows that this movie had a high budget. Of course Bond going into space really takes things to far and Jaws falling in love and turning side’s was pretty silly… But still, it’s an enjoyable watch.
#16 Dr. No
The first one is an okay movie, which I think you have to cut some slack. The budget wasn’t really that high yet, but of course you can’t blame them on that. Some scene’s like the car chases are seriously dated and look really laughable right now. But still, there’s enough iconic stuff in this one to like. Of course Connery’s legendary introduction, along with of course Ursula Andress’s famous scene. Bond killing professor Dent in cold blood is probably my favorite part in the whole movie. The end climax was pretty weak though. It was the first of it’s kind and it still holds up pretty well, but luckily it spawned plenty of other movies I enjoy even more.
#15 From Russia With Love
There isn’t really much wrong with this movie actually. I somehow just seem to enjoy a lot of other Bond movies over this one. It’s a very serious spy thriller, which is great, because the franchise doesn’t really have to much of the great spy thrillers. But yet, it still hasn’t quite found that Bond formula yet… I think all of the scene’s taking place on the Orient Express are the best. Kerim Bay was one of the best allies in the franchise, really likeable man. It’s pretty heartbreaking to know that he had cancer during production and desperately tried to finish his scenes… I also read the novell of FRWL and that really helped me appreciate the movie even more. In some ways, I almost dare to say the novell was even better then the movie.
#14 The Man With The Golden Gun
The movie felt a lot ‘smaller’ then most of the other Bond movies. But yet, I think this movie is pure guilty pleasure! I have always liked this one and I think that will never change. Christopher Lee is one of the greatest villains in the series. And probably is the strongest point to this movie. The plot keeps me entertained from start to finish, it’s simple and yet it works. Bond going up against the worlds greatest assassin. Throw him into some exotic locations and you have a fun little Bond adventure. If only they didn’t put that whistle sound over that great stunt… Such a shame…
#13 Octopussy
Octopussy is another enjoyable watch all together. There’s a lot of typical Bond stuff in it, it doesn’t really take itself to seriously, but then again, neither does Roger Moore. Sneaking in on an island only inhabited by beautiful women in a crocodile suit seems so ridiculous on paper. And yet, somehow it works for this movie! (Even though he later escapes in the waters by swimming anyway…) The jokes are once again in true Roger Moore fashion. I always loved the way he used Kamal Khans fixed dices “It’s all in the whrist”. Got to love Roger Moore! One personal highpoint for me was that James Bond actually briefly drove an Alfa Romeo GTV in this one. As I am raised with a personal love for that brand, I always thought that was a very cool moment indeed. The Tarzan yell really shouldn’t have been there though…
#12 The Living Daylights
Went up by some in my list actually. And that’s mainly due to Dalton’s terrific performance. He definitely understands the Bond of the books and I think he did a terrific job in bringing that to the screen. This is not your average Bond movie that you can put into a ‘template’. The story is more complex and coming after A View To A Kill, this really is a breath of fresh air. (Watching them all in order really makes you realise how fresh this one is after the Roger Moore era.) The villains are the only weak link in the movie and I think it kind of sinks in on the second half. Jeroen Krabbé, despite also being Dutch and despite even sharing the same name as me really wasn’t that good. I liked Kara a lot though, there seemed to be some genuine sparks between Bond and her here.
#11 Tomorrow Never Dies
This is a typical Bond movie you can simply turn on and enjoy. It delivers all the stuff you come to expect from a Bond movie. In some ways the plot really feels like a Lewis Gilbert movie. There’s definitely nothing new there. But it has some typical 90’ies action in it that I can really appreciate. Both the BMW and the bike scene are pure Bond entertainment. It has the problem of really sinking in once Bond and Wai Lin are on the stealth boat. But all together a solid Bond movie. I feel that this is one that you could easily show to someone who isn’t really a Bond movie, and he would simply enjoy it.
#10 The World Is Not Enough
I always find it hard to decide if I like TWINE better then TND, they always seem to rank very close for me. They tried to go for a more complex plot in this one, as TND, though being very entertaining has a very standard Bond movie plot. This one goes a little bit deeper. Acting wise, Pierce Brosnan really shines here. And growing up with him as James Bond, I’ve always been a fan of the way he portrays him. This movie really shows that he can act. Elektra King was a pretty interesting character. Renard had the potential to be far more intresting then they made him to be though. And Denise Richards was very unconvincing to say the least.. I would have preferred to see the Cigar girl from the opening credits. Damn was she hot!
#09 Thunderball
A grand Bond adventure, definitely top 10 worthy in my book! I like how big they made this whole mission seem. Spectre stealing the nuke’s and all 00 agents are put on the job. Plots like that really seem to work well in the 60íes and I am a sucker for that! I also have to say that this movie probably had the hottest line up of Bond girls ever: Fionna Volpe is really hot and Paluzzi really made her intresting. Domino was extremely hot, one of the best looking Bond girls of all time. Hell, even Paula was hot! My only complaint would be the pacing and the long on draggin under water scene’s. And speeding up that final climax on the disco volante was pretty bad as well. Other then that one of the all time greats!
#08 You Only Live Twice
Yes, it has a villain in a hollow volcano stroking a cat, and I LOVE IT! This is prime 60’ies stuff. And in so many ways does this movie remind me of the Thunderbirds a great show I grew up with. There’s so much to like in this movie, the Little Nellie was awesome, Tiger Tanaka was a really likeable alie, Donald Pleasance is by far my favorite Blofeld. Japan is a great location to take Bond too, though trying to turn Sean Connery into a Japanese man really didn’t work … Of course the plot was pretty over the top, but that’s pretty much Lewis Gilbert’s trademark. For some people this works, for some it doesn’t. For me, it does!
#07 For Your Eyes Only
As a younger kid I didn’t really think much of this movie. Over the years I really come to appreciate this one. This is probably the first real spy thriller since From Russia With Love. And it proofed that Roger Moore could also pull of a serious Bond. It might be kind of controversial but I also liked the early 80’ies score, which some people think is terrible. I think it’s kind of catchy and suits the time it was made in. Melina Havelock was a pretty interesting character and Columbo almost was like a new Kerim Bay. Moore kicking the car of the cliff is badass, I only wish he was like this more often. The mountain climbing scene was really tense as well. Sheena Eastons title song is beautiful, one of the best in the franchise!
#06 The Spy Who Loved Me
Definitely my favorite Roger Moore movie, and by far the best movie of the 70’ies! This is Roger Moore’s Goldfinger, it has all the perfect ingredients for a solid ride of pure Bond entertainment! The Lotus Espirit is probably my favorite car in the entire franchise. Jaws is really classic and menacing here. (Unlike in Moonraker) Barbara Bach is hot! Roger Moore is in top form. The great ski jump is also something that I think no one can dislike. Nobody does it better!
#05 Casino Royale
This movie is so refreshing coming after Die Another Day. In some ways it rescued the franchise. It’s strange how I come to like this movie so much over the years. I remember really disliking Craig when he was first announced to be the new James Bond. (“Come on, Bond can’t be a blond guy!” were my words…) Yet, this movie proofs me (and many others) completely wrong. This movie doesn’t rely on stunts, it can completely rely on Bond as a character again. Him falling in love with Vesper and in the end loosing him was very emotional and, to me, much better executed than the whole relationship between Bond and Tracy in OHMSS. (Come on, the guy just went shagging all the patients on Pizz Gloria!) The poker scene was done extremely well in my opinion as well. There isn’t really much to dislike about this movie. This is truly where all the masterpieces come in!
#04 Goldfinger
The quintessential Bond movie, the classic of all classics. Whatever you would like to call it. You can’t possibly call this movie overrated, because it truly deserves a top 5 spot in my opinion. This is where the Bond formula is found, it should forever be recognized as the Godfather of Bond movies. It has the DB5, oddjobs hat, the laser scene, the golden lady on Bond’s bed. This is a 24 carat masterpiece. Period.
#03 Goldeneye
It might be sentimental value, but this is such a baddass Bond movie! I don’t think Bond has ever looked as good as Pierce Brosnan looks in this movie. On his debut he immediately convinced the world that he IS James Bond here. Bond going up against 006 is pretty clever, Xenia Onnatop is the best femme fatale the franchise ever saw. (Dutch pride
#02 Skyfall
Having only watched this movie once, sometimes I feel I might be over ranking this one. But yet, this movie worked extremely well for me when watching it in theatre’s. Just the PTS alone proofed to me that this was a far better movie then QOS and over the course my expectations where far exceeded. This will go down in history as one of the best Bond movies the franchise ever saw. My only complaint was Sévérine dying so soon.. She was an interesting character and would have loved to see more of her. (Damn is Bérénice Marlohe hot!) The title song by Adelle is incredible as well! Can’t wait to buy this one on blu ray and watch it more!
#01 Licence to Kill
It’s no secret to people on the forum that this is my all-time favorite Bond movie. It might not be as classic as Goldfinger, but it has all the elements I like in a movie and brings them together with Bond. I am a huge fan of crime type of movies, like for instance Scarface. Here, crime is brought together perfectly with Bond. We get one of the most interesting villains ever in Robert Davi’s Franz Sanchez. He is one of the main reasons this movie is so darn entertaining. Coming after the Roger Moore era where we saw Tarzan yells and clown costumes, now all of the sudden a drug barron comes in, feeding Felix Leiter to the sharks and letting his wife get raped! (presumably) Holy sh**t!! This guy means business! Bond taking his resignation and going on a personal vendetta works brilliant here. And the plot itself is done in such a clever way. It’s pretty impossible to go after Sanchez on your own. And yet, Bond being the professional almost succeeds into sniping him if the Chinese government didn’t get him. Later using Sanchez’s fetish for loyalty against him is very clever, he manages to break down Sanchez’s entire organisation by posing as an adviser for Sanchez, eventually you can even see Sanchez slowly turning paranoid and not trusting anybody anymore. (Even though everybody is indeed 100% loyal to him.) To me, this is the ultimate Bond entertainment!
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I have TWINE, DAD and QoS to watch and then I'm going to do my ranking.
#1 From Russia With Love - First saw it when I was 5, Unforgettable in every way. I still hear the Telegraph theme in my head at night.
#2 The Living Daylights - First Bond I saw in the Theatres - love Dalton's Balance with the character
#3 Goldeneye - Love Brosnan as an actor, Long Hiatus after a new addiction. thoroughly loved it in every way.
#4 The Spy Who Loved Me - Moore at his finest and Jaws without a girlfriend
#5 Thunderball - Absolute Brilliance, only not #2 due to a slight feel of dragging with the Underwater Fight
#6 For Your Eyes Only - Great Story, Fantastic action, good cinematography
#7 Licence to Kill - Some height on the list due to YBS(Youth Bond Syndrome) But truly a stellar performance by Dalton, adapting Bond to a very different story, while maintaining everything cool and smooth about Bond.
#8 A View to a Kill - Moore goes out on a high note but is aging
#9 Goldfinger - Quintessential Bond. Set the stage for all others. But I'm not a big fan of Honor Blackman personally.
#10 On Her Majesty's Secret Service - Would be # 1 on most people's list if Connery or Dalton had played it, IMO.
#11 Octopussy - nice recovery from MoonRaker, Maud is gorgeous, and Moore is excellent drops in and out of the top ten all the time
#12 Dr.No - what more needs to be said than that we owe this movie for all the others
#13 Tomorrow Never Dies - Excellent action, great story, but Brosnan is becoming restricted by his writing
#14 Die Another Day - I really enjoyed this movie the first time I saw it, Love John Cleese as "R", and the scene where he walks into the hotel all raggedy and gets a suite on credit is awesome, but the tsunami, man, the tsunami...
#15 You Only Live Twice - Good, but not great Connery
#16 Diamonds Are Forever - A missed opportunity, but a delightful romp. Love seeing Bond In a Mustang, too!
#17 Live and Let Die - Love everything about this movie, but the voodoo put me off
#18 Casino Royale - I had high hopes for Craig after this one, but find him lacking in almost every way in his portrayal
#19 The World is not Enough - Again the dilemma with Brosnan, he is so good as Bond, why is this movie so bad? Answer: Denise Richards, and helicopters with saw blades as an execution device
#20 The Man with the Golden Gun - I liked how one member put it: Bond movies should never be forgettable
Let me pause here and say that was HARD! I will watch any of the above any time and love them all. I have seen all the above a dozen times at least. Now for the rest, those are easy to rank.
#21 Moonraker - I know we suspend reality for Bond, but come on
#22 Skyfall - yep, there it is. I am one of like 12 people in the world who have not bought into the hype and see this movie for what it really is: Home Alone on steroids. Everyone has a right to their own opinion, but the villian won, man, the villain won. I can believe Bond surfs a tsunami and catches a falling airplane before I am willing to admit he will be defeated by some penny ante villain like Silva
#23 Quantum Of Solace - Nonexistent story, Bad camera work, A boring villain, and Craig at his worst. The only Bond movie I will never watch again, even if you pay me. i will never get back the 4 hours of my life I spent on this rag. (I watched it twice trying to like Craig)
1 - GoldenEye
Goldeneye for me is the ideal bond film. You have a great bond, Brosnan is great at bond, and this is one of the few times he is giving a good plot. The villain is great (you could see Bean at this age playing a bond.) The bond gals are amazing, It is serious at times, it has great action sequences, and funny at times. The only weak link is the male computer hacker, but his role is small enough to ignore. It also the film i saw as a 15-16 year old, and went from the early 80s bond to this, so it was like "WOW" and has the youthful bond for me as well. Its been a solid no 1 for me. It is also understated how FUNNY the film is.
2 - Dr. No
Dr. No is my number two, and there is a few reasons, and perhaps I give it a bit more leeway then other films due to the age. It was made in 1962, and I class it for movies for its time. It also gets leeway as you can tell it was a small budget affair. But you know what. After 50 years, the killing of Dent is still a WOW moment, and that says something. I would not recommend it for a first time bond viewer, its too old and old fashioned, and i regret that I am too young to get the full impact of you know who walking out onto the beach.
3 Casino Royale
First off, I am lukewarm to Creig as Bond, though I think he did his best work in Casino Royale. Another Reason why this is number 3, Eva Green. She is just a wow in this film. The movie is long, and I am still on the fence with the whole "rope and chair" bit. The biggest weakness of this film is the villain is not that great. But it holds its own, but it is a modern movie that you would expect to hold its own, and the final battle is of course, tons of fun and grief filled as Vesper kills herself.
4 - Goldfinger
While this has a major weakness (Not going to new and exciting locations) its the Classic "Classic" bond film, a plot that is a little over the top, full of one liners, and a fun romp. I have to put it in the top five due to the fact that it is the quintessential bond film.
5 - For Your Eyes Only
Moore did play a funny bond, but he does rank with two of the most memorable kills in the series. Kicking the car is still too this day a grin inducing moment of awesome. The bond gal is eye catching, the plot is out of the cold war, but still more of a spy film then some of the camp fests, and I love it for it. This to me is the best "Moore" bond, and the climbing bit and the car kicking are just two of the moments you will remember.
6 - The Living Daylights
Dalton is a good Bond, he was perhaps before his time, and Moore was bond for so long it was a hard to sell someone else as "bond". However the movie is fun, and I like fun films, and Dalton is great as bond, not that it doesn't have its weaknesses, Its still high on my top ten, but might in the long run be knocked down by skyfall.
7 - Skyfall
I only recently saw this film, so its ranking may move in a bit. It is a GREAT movie, but in some ways, its not a bond film. I was never a fan (nor did I hate) Dench M, so I had very little emotional gravity of the threat to her, and the other bond gal appeared, made you want to see more, then gets a bullet in her head. The Villain is great, DC is once again serviceable as Bond, and I love the new M. However I did notice that DC is looking older, and it won't be long till someone else (Fesbender<sp> perhaps?) needs to take the role.
8 - From Russia with Love
The last of the top notch films, there is nothing really weak with Russia from love, it has all you want in the bond film, the Train bit is still great, and you go about all over the place in the world. I could easily switch this with "Goldfinger" and wouldn't bat a eyelash.
9 - Live and Let Die
I love Live and Let die, even though it has its weaknesses. The Voodoo bits are now just silly for example, sometimes you think that Moore is thinking "this was the best idea they could come up with?" But it has Jane Seymour as young and amazing and Feeding folks to gators and other fun. I will watch it, but there is a drop in quality from here and the above films.
10. The Spy Who Loved Me
Another Moore film I love, and the best of the campy save the world ones. Yes, Bach acting is wooden, but she catches the eye and the plot is a ton of fun, with some large set battle bits. tons and tons of fun.
11 - License to Kill
There is a lot to love with this film, great villain, great bond, great bod gal. However the tale of personal vengence just doesn't work as well as it should, and perhaps Dalton is TOO intense for the era of film. Yes, like many bond fans i would of loved to see a third Dalton bond film, but if i could wished for something it would of been Connery in OHMSS
12- Octopussy
This is where its starting to show some weakness, Moore is getting old, but its not offputting since Maud Adams is of a reasonable age for him. I have selective memory, so i forget the one REALLY bad moment of this film, and enjoy it as a romp though India, and the "its the flick of the wrists" and loaded dice still make me smile to this day.
13. You Only Live Twice
The Vacano bits are tons of fun, but due to aging poorly, or being a poor film in itself, all the bits up to this seem out of place and not enjoyable. This is the point where I might change the channel if TBS is doing a bond marathon
14 - Thunderball
I understand that at the time the underwater bits was cool. But it has NOT aged well, in fact, it almost puts me to sleep. Perhaps I am too young to enjoy it, so it and YOLT i put above the films that i know are bad.
15. Moonraker
Moonraker is NOT a good film, but I love it anyways. Yes, Bond in space and lasers is well...silly. However there is a lot of fun to be had, a good villain, a good Bod Gal, and many other noteworthy bits. I will actually much rather watch Moonraker, flaws and all, then some of the higher ranked films, as it at least enjoyable, and due to the at the time fancy model work, its aged reasonably well.
16. The World Is Not Enough
Good Bond, decent plot, and once again, I rather put on TWINE then say, thunderball, as TWINE is brainless entertainment. It does have it flaws, and yes, there is some bad miscasting, but its great to "turn off the brain and enjoy" and its new enough that it doesn't feel old, though it feels very 1990s action film. That not a bad thing, but it is what it is.
17. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
A miscast Bond can ruin a film. If this had a good bond, this might be Number one, instead, it down here at 17. Such a waste in my mind that a otherwise great film is ruined by a mis-cast star. It is the "Kingdom of Heaven" of Bond films.
18. Tomorrow Never Dies
Once again, brainless fun, but I find the plot lacking. There is little enough to remember it by, and it seems forced that Bond gets the girl, it seems more that they would shake hands and go there own way. Hatcher never did much for me.
19. Die Another Day.
The first half of this film is Actually really good. I love Frost. Then it goes and almost kills the bond franchise. Bad movie!!! I think i hit this movie hard since with a better 2nd half it could of been a top ten bond film.
20. The Man with the Golden Gun
The worse thing a bond film can be is forgettable. This is a forgettable bond film. I don't remember much of it, and that is NOT a good thing.
21. A View to a Kill
Moore looks old, the plot is bad, the Villain is great, but in the end, its not a good film. I really do not need to say more I think. It is what it is, a not very good film.
22. Diamonds are Forever
Unlike some of the other earlier bonds, i know that this film sucks, and its not just that it "hasn't aged well".
23. Quantum of Solace
Sometimes filmmakers try to be too fancy. And loose the entire narrative thread. So instead of making a great movie, it ends up being a unrecognizable mess of a film. QoS is one of these films.