Twenty-three films… think about that. That is the most in any franchise in movie history and James Bond has been doing it in style for fifty years. With 007’s latest, Skyfall, hitting theaters, it’s time to look back and choose the top films. Movie Fanatic’s 007 Days of Bond comes to a close after putting the series in context highlighted by our Top 10 Bond Girls and Top 10 Bond Themes. It is now time to announce the Top 10 James Bond movies!
10. Thunderball
Underwater sequences had never been captured on film as they were so thrillingly in Thunderball. The film starring Sean Connery is one of the more underappreciated movies in the first Bond’s run, and who could ever forget that jet pack that even drew sci-fi fans into the fandom? Movie Fanatic is not the only one who appreciates this classic, it is one of the series' highest grossing… capturing in inflation-adjusted dollars, one billion!
9. GoldenEye
Pierce Brosnan made his 007 debut several years after the Timothy Dalton era came to a close. Critics described Dalton’s time as lacking humor and perhaps to overcompensate, GoldenEye is dripping with self-effacing humor, but it works in spades with Brosnan dishing out the dialogue. Brosnan took to the action like a fish to water and looked impeccable in the requisite tuxedo. Director Martin Campbell knew what he was doing when he had the story center on a disgruntled ex “00” with 006’s Sean Bean. The Brosnan-Bean war took us from one action sequence to another in one of the franchise’s more thrilling movies.
8. The Spy Who Loved Me
The third film to star Roger Moore, although still based on an Ian Fleming book, kept almost nothing from the novel and as such, took a gamble that paid off with one heck of a thrill ride. The film was ahead of its time in 1977, coming out years before Mikhail Gorbachev's Glasnost. It found Bond teaming up with a Russian agent to protect the world from utter destruction at the hands of an international megalomaniac.
7. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
The only Australian to inhabit the lead role, George Lazenby was also the only actor to appear as the superspy only once in the series. It’s unfortunate as his film -- On Her Majesty’s Secret Service -- is one of the best. Unfortunately the film has on one hand one of the most compelling conclusions to a Bond film, but its closing James Bond quotes would also prove ironically false for Lazenby: “We have all the time in the world.”
6. Casino Royale
Daniel Craig took over the Bond role in Casino Royale and his magnificence is still being felt today. The film stands on its own as an incredible piece of work cinematically, but as a Bond film it excels by embracing the changing world politically while simultaneously giving audiences an origins story to a character they know all too well.
5. Dr. No
The first is still one of the best. Fifty years ago Connery took his Scottish swagger and gave the world a movie character that has become progressively more beloved. The way the classic Bond moments through its 23 movies are indelible speaks to the power they had when they were first introduced in 1962 with Dr. No. The Bond girl, the vicious villain, the theme song and our hero who has a certain license to kill… have stayed with us for five decades.
4. From Russia with Love
The second film in the Bond canon took what was introduced in Dr. No and showed the world that this is a storyline with a hero that we will be fascinated with for a long time to come. We meet Desmond Llewelyn’s Q and From Russia With Love instantly becomes possibly one of the smartest films of the entire run.
3. Live and Let Die
Live and Let Die is a personal favorite of Movie Fanatic and it showed how the James Bond character can be as suave as they come, but still be a fish out of water. By sending 007 into the swamps of Louisiana and giving him a tarot card reading love interest, this 1973 film showed how elastic the series could be. And that only further fueled the producing Broccoli family ammunition to have the creative wherewithal to send their hero anywhere… even into space!
2. Goldfinger
Goldfinger has so many things going for it -- it’s hard to know where to start. There are a multitude of iconic scenes throughout the film from Bond discovering the girl covered in gold to his coming within an inch of his life on Goldfinger’s table… this film is the one that sent the Bond character from film favorite to cultural icon.
1. Skyfall
The latest Bond movie is the greatest. As stated in our Skyfall review, from thrilling beginning to its practically franchise rebooting finish… director Sam Mendes has crafted a stellar piece of filmmaking, regardless of its genre. A campaign has started that is compelling the Academy to consider the film for Best Picture. It is not only one of the best movies of the year, Skyfall is Bond’s best… period.