I’ve been a Bond fan ever since I was a kid; I love the
movies, the books, the games and absolutely everything about the series. I just
finished my yearly marathon of the 23 films and while I already had a ranking
of best-to worse in my head, I decided to write it down because it constantly
changes every time I watch the movies.
The movies are ranked in order of my personal best to my
personal worst, divided in three groups:
- Green: The best of the best, perfect or near perfect movies. They are rated between 4 and a perfect 5 out of 5.
- Yellow: Not great, but not terrible. These are the average to mediocre films, have a lot of good things but a lot of flaws that keep them from being truly great. They are rated between 2.5 and 3.5 out of 5.
- Red: The bottom of the barrel, they’re the worst films in the franchise, rated between 1 and 2 out of 5.
Without a doubt my favorite Bond movie and
one of my overall favorites of all time. Timothy Dalton is the best Bond and
the closest to Fleming’s books, he’s hard but charming at the same time and his
performance is simply amazing. He is James Bond to me.
The movie feels more like a straight-up spy
thriller than any other since From Russia with Love, with more focus on the
plot and the relationship between Bond and Kara Milovy (Played by the amazingly
beautiful and talented Mariam D’ Abo) than the action. The love story is pretty
sweet and Both Dalton and D’Abo make it believable, she’s second only to Diana
Rigg as the best Bond girl.
But that’s not to say the action isn’t
good, because it’s pretty amazing. The Aston Martin chase ranks among the best
in the series and the climatic fight between Bond and Necros in the cargo plane
is very exciting. The only downside is that the villains are not very good,
Jeroen Krabe makes Koskov way too childish to be menacing and Joe Doe Baker as
Whitaker is just a weak villain.
But even with that little thing keeping it
from being truly perfect, The Living Daylights remains my favorite; it’s a
fantastic film with a great story and two of the best central performances in
the series.
5/5
The second Bond finds a happy medium between
the detective story aspects of Dr. No and the over the top spy adventures that
would follow from Goldfinger onward. It’s a pretty grounded spy thriller that
is very exciting and has a fantastic plot. Every actor is memorable in their
roles and it presents some of the best moments in the franchise. A classic and
rightfully so, it’s one of the best.
5/5
What can I say that hasn’t been said before?
Goldfinger is from start to finish pure cinematic gold (pun intended). It has
way too many memorable moments and characters to count and it’s probably the
most consistently entertaining in the series and also the only one in the
series without any noticeable flaws. It’s an iconic film, and deservedly so,
it’s just fantastic.
5/5
The Pierce Brosnan era starts with one of my
favorite movies, not only in the franchise, but of all time. Goldeneye is a movie filled with incredible
set pieces and great characters, but it is Brosnan who carries the whole thing.
His Bond has often been called a wuss, but
he adds a layer of emotion that no other before or since has. He is vulnerable,
because after all, Bond is also human, but he finds a balance between that and
the cold-hearted killer, he is also really funny. His dynamic with the main
villain is one of the strongest points in the movie.
Besides that, the movie also has an array
of fantastic supporting characters, from the evil Xenia Onatopp to the
hilarious Valentin Zuckovsky and the action sequences are very exciting.
That’s not to say everything is great. Some
moments fell rushed, like the first romantic scene between Bond and Natalya,
and there are too many one liners that are kind of dumb, but despite that, this
movie holds up amazingly well.
5/5
Roger
Moore’s third outing is one of the greatest films in the franchise, there are
just so many great things about it.
The action is fantastic, with a lot of
exciting set pieces in many beautiful locations. The story is over-the top but
treated in a very careful way so it never loses its spy-thriller roots. The
title song is the best of any Bond film and the soundtrack, while not perfect
does it’s the job. Jaws and Stromberg are two of the most memorable villains
ever and are menacing in every shot they appear in. Roger Moore gives his best
performance, finding a perfect balance between the darker side of the character
and his more comedic touch. The car chase is fantastic and the whole film is
beautifully shot.
The only weak link is Barbara Bach as Anya
Amasova, her performance is cold and robotic, but that can be easily overlooked
considering how many great things surround her. Definitely Moore’s best and a
near-perfect movie.
5/5
Easily the most faithful adaptation of a
Fleming book and one of the best in the franchise, OHMSS is the first movie
that allows us to see a deeper side of Bond. There isn’t another one quite like
it in the series.
George Lazenby, in his only outing as the
british spy, is far from a great actor but he does a good job, he looks the
part and is great in action scenes. His lack of acting shows up whenever Diana
Rigg appears but he still manages to do them well. Speaking of Diana Rigg,
she’s without a doubt the best Bond girl ever, certainly the most realistic.
She can be vulnerable as well as dangerous; one can understand why Bond would
fall in love with her. And Telly Savalas rounds up the main cast and is easily
the best Blofeld.
This is a movie that has everything: action,
excitement, a bit of comedy, real romance, a fantastic score that complements
the story well and great acting. It’s
also has one of the most heartbreaking finales ever. It’s simply a fantastic
film.
5/5
I must admit that when I first watched this
movie I didn’t like it, I thought it was boring, but I’ve learned to appreciate it much more
since, so much so that I’d rank it among my top ten now.
Casino Royale goes back to the start to
show us a younger Bond receiving his licence to kill and Daniel Craig does a
great job at it, he has the looks and the skill to be convincing as a colder,
darker Bond. I do think the lack of witticism from the earlier eras kind of
hurts him but his performance is still fantastic.
The whole film is filled with impressive
action sequences, great cinematography and a highly atmospheric score, perhaps
the best since the early days. There’s
also a grueling torture scene that is both the funniest and most disturbing moment
in the franchise. It’s a pretty great
film and I think it’ll be this generation “Bond film” just like Goldeneye was
to my generation and Goldfinger to the 60s generation.
However, when I look back at why I didn’t
like it at first I still think there are some major flaws there. Those being
the many poker scenes that drag for too long and bring the pace down a bit. Most
are pretty uninteresting and for people like me who don’t know anything about
poker they can be incredibly hard to follow. But overall, it’s a pretty
fantastic movie; it’s exactly what the franchise needed after a couple of
ridiculous films.
4.5/5
Timothy Dalton’s second and final outing as
Bond is probably the most underrated movie in the series. It’s a great revenge
thriller that is darker and more violent than any other Bond movie, but it suits
the more brutal tone of the story.
Robert Davi and Benicio del Toro are two of
the best villains in the series, menacing and scary as hell. Q also has a
bigger, more active role than before, which is awesome. The Bond girls are not
as memorable as others but they’re different, in a good way, they’re not what
one usually expect, which is great. Dalton also gives an amazing performance,
you can feel his taste for revenge, there aren't as many sweet moments as there were
in Living Daylights so he doesn’t get to show his range as much, but still, his
performance is daunting. Overall, this is probably the best acted Bond movie;
every actor does a superb job.
The
action scenes are simply astounding, the multiple truck chases on the Mexican
mountains is one of the best climaxes in any movie ever, and the underwater
scenes are also great and magnificently shot. The movie drags a bit during the
middle but it moves the story along, and since it has such a great story that’s
not much of a problem. It’s a fantastic movie.
4.5/5
Many hardcore Bond fans dislike this film, I
don’t know why; I think it’s one of the best. I mean, sure there are many bad
things about it, sometimes Johnatan Pryce’s performance as the main villain
Elliot Carver can be borderline stupid. Teri Hatcher is not the best choice for
a Bond girl. The underwater scenes are as boring as ever and some parts of the
plot feel rehashed from You Only Live Twice. Wai Ling is one of the best and
strongest Bond girls, being on par with Bond himself through most of the story,
which is why it’s somewhat disappointing that in the final battle she becomes a
damsel in distress, twice no less, which fells like an insult to the
character.
But beyond that there’s a really exciting
movie, it’s one of those cases where the good outweighs the bad. The parking
lot car chase and the motorcycle chase in the streets of Saigon are two of the
best action sequences in the whole franchise.
The hand to hand combat is believable thanks to Michelle Yeoh’s and
Brosnan’s physicality and an excellent choreography. The emotional moments also
pack a punch, even though Teri Hatcher is not great, she does a good job as
Bond’s former girlfriend and most of the other characters are also great, with
henchman Stamper being the standout.
Brosnan also gives his best performance as
Bond here, the best moment being the final battle against Carver in a nearly
destroyed ship in which he is intense and cold-hearted just as he is about to
kill him.
This is the first Bond film I ever saw as a
kid, and I’ve seen it countless of times since. Time has been kind to it; it
gets better and better with each subsequent viewing.
4/5
This is probably the Bond movie I’ve seen
the least, only about 2 or 3 times. I’ve always considered it one of the worst
but for some reason I enjoyed it much
more when I watched it recently.
There are still underwhelming parts about
it. The whole first hour is very boring and uninteresting, with only a couple
of truly good moments. Roger Moore is also just too old and not in the best
physical shape, but he is still energetic and gives a great performance that
feels a lot more serious than most of his other outings, without losing that
touch of comedy that defined his run on the character.
After the second hour begins, the movie
enters into constant-climax mode, with many great, tension-filled scenes
including a hunt in the Indian jungle, a car chase in West Germany, a plane
fight and an train battle that is absolutely astounding. Sure, there are some
ridiculous moments, but it wouldn’t be a Bond movie without them and besides,
it never goes overboard.
A bad first hour and some terrible
performances (Tennis pro Vijay as Bond’s ally) aside, Octopussy is a lot better
than I remembered and that a lot of people give it credit for. Moore’s
performance, a great plot with interesting characters and an amazing second
half make up for the dull beginning and make it worth the wait.
3.5/5
The first Bond film is still an entertaining flick.
It hasn’t aged as gracefully as some of the others and some parts can drag on
but it remains a fantastic spy thriller. It has tons of memorable scenes and
characters that make it fun, it’s not as great as it used to be, but it still
is a good movie.
3/5
The World is not Enough is a big and flashy
entry that while far from perfect still delivers a lot of thrills and has a
good story.
The director and writers try to add more
depth to the characters and make the story more focused on them than on the
evil plot of the villains. While there’s a good balance between the sentimental
moments and the action, and most of the characters are great, some of the
sentimental moments can be a bit too corny.
While most of the performances are great
and Brosnan does a fantastic job as usual, Denise Richards as Dr. Christmas
jones is easily the worst Bond girl ever. She’s attractive but lacks any charm,
she’s very hard to take seriously as a nuclear physicist and she’s just a
terrible actress, nearly ruining every scene she appears in.
Even though the story is good and the
action is also impressive, the overall feel of the film is pretty average, it’s
not great but it’s never boring and it finds a good balance between
characterization and over-the-top action.
3/5
The first true sequel in the franchise is a
mixed bag, it can basically be summed up as Licence to Kill by way of Bourne,
that means we get our usual Bond fix with the story and the action is a
shaky-cam, manically edited mess a la Bourne franchise.
This one gets a lot of hate but I actually
enjoy the story a lot, perhaps it’s because I’m from South America, but it resonates
a lot with me. It also feels more grounded than most of the others. Daniel
Craig’s performance is absolutely fantastic though he lacks any kind of humor,
which is understandable considering he’s mourning the death of his loved one,
but it still feels a tad too cold to really make us feel empathy for him.
My real problem with this film is the
action, I can’t follow what’s going on to save my life. It’s really frantic and
chaotic and one can barely make sense of what the hell is going on, which
really makes it not enjoyable, and considering this movie is basically one big
action set piece it hurts it a lot more than it should. And I mean it when I
say it’s just a big action sequence, there’s a car chase, a motorcycle chase, a
boat chase, an on-foot chase, a plane chase and a lot of fist fights; it’s
actually too much and it feels overdone.
Another thing that bothers me is the
director’s decisions to stay as far away from the usual things that make a Bond
film as he possibly could. Having him not drinking vodka martini, saying “Bond,
James Bond” or putting the gunbarrel sequence at the end certainly make it
different, but it takes away from the things that make it a Bond film.
3/5
Roger Moore’s debut is one of the first Bond
films I ever watched, and for a time it was my favorite. It’s too bad that it
hasn’t aged very well at all.
That’s not to say it’s a bad film, not at
all, it’s pretty enjoyable; but it suffers from pacing problems which make it
really tiresome to watch. There are very few action sequences, and the ones
that are there are not very exciting at all, which wouldn’t be too bad if it
had a strong story to make up for it, which it doesn’t. The most prominent, the boat chase in New Orleans,
is very impressive, but it’s just too long, which takes away the impact.
The tone is also rather different from
other Bond films, borrowing (or stealing) a lot from the blaxploitation movies
of the time, it doesn’t fit very well and can get a tad racist, but it’s only
in the earlier parts of the film and can be ignored easily. What cannot be
ignored is the cinematography, which is awful; the whole movie looks really
ugly; it lacks that high quality photography and lightning one expects from he
Bond movies.
But despite its problems I still enjoy it
quite a bit, Moore does a good job as does most of the cast, the music is great
and the voodoo theme gives it a very different feel from the others that is
especially welcomed when you are maratoning the series. Overall, it’s a good
movie, too flawed to be truly great and it can become tiresome but it’s
entertaining nonetheless.
s that make it a Bond film.
3/5
Connery’s fourth features him at the top of
his game, both physically and emotionally, he gives his best performance in the
series. Emilio Largo, the villain, is very memorable and evil. The fight
choreography is nearly as good as it was in Goldinger. Domino Derval, played by
Claudine Auger is absolutely beautiful as is the setting and the photography.
It’s too bad that with all these good elements
the movie is never really exciting, that’s in part thanks to the first few
scenes in the clinic and the overlong, tedious, boring and almost
unintelligible underwater scenes that make the pacing suffer, making it an
exhausting film to watch. It’s too long and too slow, which is a shame because
whenever the story stays above the water it’s pretty good.
3/5
The fifth Roger Moore and first John
Glen-directed Bond film is a step back to basics, after the spectacle of dumb
that was Moonraker they decided to make this more of a down-to earth spy story,
in some ways it works and it some ways it doesn’t.
The approach here is much more realistic
and dark than in the previous 6 films and the story is good enough to do this;
however, it’s a very slow, boring film.
That’s not to say there isn’t any action, because there are a lot of
great chases and fights, but the soundtrack is so terrible that takes away any
impact that those scenes could have, add to that that it’s a very slow-paced
film, even more than Thunderball, which makes it really tough to watch.
There’s a great deal of good things about
it however. Moore’s performance is fantastic and adds a darker side to his
usually silly, comical portrayal of Bond, the main villain is great because for
the first time in a while we’re presented with a realistic character and not a
billionaire maniac who wants to take over the world, the stunts are fantastic ,
specially the climax at the greek mountain.
Overall,
it’s a decent film that goes back to the Fleming style of the first
four, but the poor pacing and soundtrack make it rather boring. It’s good for
what it is, but it’s not as entertaining as others.
2.5/5
Oh boy, here we go. The best thing about A
View to a Kill is its title song, which says a lot about the movie. There are
just so many problems with this one, the main one being Bond himself.
Roger Moore still gives an enthusiastic
performance, certainly better than Connery in his last couple of films, but
he’s just too old to be believable; he can barely run and his fight sequences
are a joke. His age is even more pronounced whenever Tanya Roberts appears,
because her performance is so childish.
Speaking of Tanya Roberts, god, she must be
the worst and most annoying Bond girl of all time. Her performance is terrible,
there’s not a single redeeming quality about her presence on the film.
The other problems lie in the pacing and
story. The main plot of the villain is relatively interesting and it follows
the usual patterns, but there’s something about it that bores the hell out of
me. The funny bits don’t work and the
dark parts feel out of place with everything else, the action sequences are
poor and unmemorable and the whole fire truck scene is just pathetic.
On the good side, Max Zorin is one of the
best villains in the franchise, but even Christopher Walken’s excellent
performance can’t save this film from utter failure. Roger Moore deserved a
better sendoff.
2/5
Die Another Day starts out well enough, the
first 40 minutes are classic Bond with a new great twist, having him being
captured by the North Koreans in the first act is a great concept and adds a
new layer of psychological depth to the character. It’s a really good, grounded
movie until it gets to a shoot out at a DNA clinic in Cuba, then it introduces
Madonna, an invisible car, virtual reality glasses, an ice palace, a bad guy in
a robot suit, a gigantic laser from space and Bond wind-surfing a CGI wave created
from a melted Iceberg.
That’s right, Bond wind-surfing a CGI wave.
These movies have had Bond doing impossible things for a long time, but this
one takes the cake for how unbelievable it is. The overuse of special effects
hurts the movie because this franchise is known for its amazing stunts and
realistic action sequences. That makes them very unexciting.
The whole thing is just an example of style
over substance. The horrendous editing overuses the slow-mo to fast-forward
gimmick that feels very out of place in a Bond film and the cinematography is
too flashy.
With the exception of Brosnan (who’s a little out of
shape but does a good job anyway) and Rosamund Pike as Miranda Frost, all the
main actors do a really bad job. Halle Berry is a terrible actress and her
character is definitely one of the worst Bond girls ever, Tobey Stephens is
just not believable as a bad guy and overacts way too much.
The concept of having Bond being a war
prisoner for over a year is wasted on a ridiculous plot. The movie is not as
boring as others but it’s not particularly entertaining either. Roger Moore
once remarked after watching it: “I thought it just went too far — and that’s
from me, the first Bond in space!”, and I couldn’t agree more, it’s just too
much, even by the standards set by Moonraker. Like Moore, Brosnan deserved a
better last outing.
2/5
On paper, this is the best concept for any
Bond movie, the two best killers in the world, James Bond and Francisco
Scaramanga, pitted against one another, but the sloppy execution makes this one
of the worst.
Instead of focusing on the
assassin-vs-assassin dynamic that the first few minutes promise, the film is
all about some stupid McGuffin that can prevent or cause a major energy crisis,
which leads to a lot of uninteresting, boring and just stupid scenes, including
another overlong boat chase (which gets even more boring watching this right
after Live and Let Die) and a ridiculous karate fight out of nowhere. And with
Nic Nac, Mary Goodnight and Sheriff J.W. Pepper making his return from Live and
Let Die, there’s no shortage of annoying characters and performances that make
the film almost unbearable.
One thing that absolutely pisses me off is
the car chase, not because it’s bad, but because it features what’s probably
the best car stunt in the history of cinema and it’s ruined by a ridiculous
comedic whistle sound effect that is completely out of place and off-putting.
Who the hell thought that was a good idea?
For a film that revolves so much around
energy that’s exactly what it lacks. The whole thing has a cheap look and
nothing seems to be up to the usual standards. There are some great moments
towards the end between Bond and Scaramanga but those few minutes of greatness
are not worth the tedious two hours that precede it. What a missed chance.
1.5/5
Like Moonraker, this is a very dumb and over
the top movie, it’s probably the most ridiculous Bond movie, and that’s saying
a lot in a franchise that has laser fights in space and invisible cars. Unlike
Moonraker, this movie takes itself way too seriously which makes the fact that
it is so stupid way more pronounced.
The setting of Japan could’ve been used in
a better way, and only leaves us with what we come to expect from the
stereotypic representations of the country: sumos, samurais, ninjas and a funny
accent. The action is absolutely boring and the special effects are terrible,
even for its time.
But the biggest fault here is Sean Connery,
he’s just so bored, it’s like he’s not even trying, it’s like a sleepwalker
reading his lines. The fact that he is so out of it makes an already dull movie
even duller, so we’re left with a product that is both stupid and boring.
On the good side, the sets by Ken Adam are
impressive as usual, the Little Nellie is one of the best gadgets in the series
and Mie Hama is absolutely gorgeous, but that hardly makes up for the disaster
that is You Only Live Twice.
1.5/5
Connery’s last outing is a mess of epic
proportions. This is the series’ equivalent to the 70s Godzilla movies, but not
nearly as enjoyable. It takes Bond further into the realm of stupidity and
camp, with pathetic attempts at humor that are not funny and action that never
even gets close to the standards of the series.
Even if we forget the fact that this movie
was released after On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and completely ignores the
events from that film and take it as its own thing, it’s just simply bad. The
story is beyond stupid with set-pieces that make little sense and are poorly
done. Connery is better than he was in YOLT but still far from his great
performances in the first four films, it’s also hard to understand any word
he’s saying and he looks older and more out of shape here at 41 than Roger
Moore did in A View to a Kill at 57.
And not only that, but this is probably the
worst acted Bond movie, every performance is beyond terrible and annoying, there’s
not a single redeeming quality about the cast of this picture.
I can appreciate a campy or stupid movie
but only if it’s entertaining, which this one is not. It’s a tedious 2 hour
experience and remains the textbook example of how not to do a Bond film.
1/5
So there it is, i'm sure the list will change next year with the coming of Skyfall which I'm hoping will be great. The Bond franchise is a cinematic staple that will hopefully continue to entertain for many more years, I honestly can't imagine the movie world without it.
And just to recapitulate, here's the complete list with scores:
- The Living Daylights 5/5
- From Russia with Love
- Goldfinger 5/5
- Goldeneye 5/5
- The Spy who Loved Me 5/5
- On her Majesty’s Secret Service 5/5
- Casino Royale 4.5/5
- Licence to Kill 4.5/5
- Tomorrow Never Dies 4/5
- Octopussy 3.5/5
- Dr. No 3/5
- The World is not Enough 3/5
- Quantum of Solace 3/5
- Live and Let Die 3/5
- Thunderball 3/5
- Moonraker 3/5
- For Your Eyes Only 2.5/5
- A View to a Kill 2/5
- Die Another Day 2/5
- The Man with the Golden Gun 1.5/5
- You only Live Twice 1.5/5
- Diamonds are Forever 1/5
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