James Bond, from best to worst
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- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsSean ConneryGert FröbeHonor BlackmanWhile investigating a gold magnate's smuggling, James Bond uncovers a plot to contaminate the Fort Knox gold reserve.Effortlessly cool, elegant and stylish, able to turn to thrilling action and suspense in a second - then finish it off with an insouciant one-liner. A classic.
- DirectorJohn GlenStarsRoger MooreCarole BouquetTopolSecret service agent James Bond is assigned to find a missing British vessel equipped with a weapons encryption device and prevent it from falling into enemy hands.The combo of an aged, more vulnerable 007, and some of the series' best set-pieces - the Citroen chase, the mountain climb - make this one of the most thrilling of Bond movies.
- DirectorSam MendesStarsDaniel CraigJavier BardemNaomie HarrisJames Bond's loyalty to M is tested when her past comes back to haunt her. When MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.
- DirectorPeter R. HuntStarsGeorge LazenbyDiana RiggTelly SavalasBritish agent James Bond goes undercover to pursue the villainous Ernst Stavro Blofeld, who is planning to hold the world to ransom.
- DirectorMartin CampbellStarsPierce BrosnanSean BeanIzabella ScorupcoYears after a friend and fellow 00 agent is killed on a joint mission, a secret space based weapons program known as "GoldenEye" is stolen. James Bond is assigned to stop a Russian crime syndicate from using the weapon.Pierce Brosnan's triumphant debut in the lead role alongside a memorable cast and an effective post-Cold War atmosphere. There is an edge and sense of danger here missing from his subsequent movies, punctuated by a series of great action sequences. The brutal, unflinching climatic brawl between Bond and Sean Bean's 006 is a series highlight.
- DirectorJohn GlenStarsTimothy DaltonMaryam d'AboJeroen KrabbéJames Bond is sent to investigate a KGB policy to kill all enemy spies, and uncovers an arms deal that potentially has major global ramifications.Romantic, globe-trotting and with a sense of focus and restraint and even subtlety missing in lesser entries. Dalton makes a dashing, brooding 007, and John Barry contributes his last soundtrack, another winner. Quintessential Bond.
- DirectorMartin CampbellStarsDaniel CraigEva GreenJudi DenchAfter earning 00 status and a licence to kill, secret agent James Bond sets out on his first mission as 007. Bond must defeat a private banker funding terrorists in a high-stakes game of poker at Casino Royale, Montenegro.A turning point for the series; after the slick high-tech blockbusters of the Brosnan era, Casino Royale saw a return to the elegance and style, and danger, of the original Bond movies. While the previous movie, Die Another Day, saw Bond chased around Iceland by a satellite shooting the sun's rays at him, Casino Royale shows how a simple knife fight or foot chase can be much more thrilling.
- DirectorTerence YoungStarsSean ConneryRobert ShawLotte LenyaJames Bond willingly falls into an assassination plot involving a naive Russian beauty in order to retrieve a Soviet encryption device that was stolen by S.P.E.C.T.R.E.
- DirectorMarc ForsterStarsDaniel CraigOlga KurylenkoMathieu AmalricJames Bond descends into mystery as he tries to stop a mysterious organisation from eliminating a country's most valuable resource.Some say this is lacking in the proper conventions of a Bond film; but in fact Quantum of Solace is possibly the truest update of the classic Bond style. Those early Connery films were all about the thrilling juxtaposition of style and elegance with brutality and violence. Beautifully shot, graceful scenes of gorgeous women in evening wear or Bond strolling around in picturesque locations - which suddenly burst into scenes of action and danger. Think the start of Thunderball, when a man confronting a grieving widow suddenly erupts into a frantic fight scene. That's what Quantum of Solace is all about. It's not full of gadgets or jokes, it's an update of the very style of filmmaking that Bond created.
- DirectorTerence YoungStarsSean ConneryClaudine AugerAdolfo CeliJames Bond heads to the Bahamas to recover two nuclear warheads stolen by S.P.E.C.T.R.E. Agent Emilio Largo in an international extortion scheme.
- DirectorJohn GlenStarsTimothy DaltonRobert DaviCarey LowellA vengeful James Bond goes rogue to infiltrate and take down the organization of a drug lord who has murdered his friend's new wife and left him near death.Inspired by Lethal Weapon and Die Hard, This is Bond as an 80's action movie.
- DirectorJohn GlenStarsRoger MooreMaud AdamsLouis JourdanA fake Fabergé egg recovered from the body of a fellow agent leads James Bond to uncover a jewel smuggling operation led by the mysterious Octopussy, and a plot to blow up a NATO air base.Inspired by Raiders of the Lost Ark, this India-set entry sees Bond fighting tarantulas, snakes and crocodiles alongside the usual international criminals and henchmen. The theme tune boasts an all-time high, but in fact the film yo-yos constantly between great moments and awful ones; tense thrills to schoolboy humour, great stunt sequences to ludicrous gadgets. The breathless and action-packed third act put it firmly in the win column though.
- DirectorSam MendesStarsDaniel CraigChristoph WaltzLéa SeydouxA cryptic message from James Bond's past sends him on a trail to uncover the existence of a sinister organisation named SPECTRE. With a new threat dawning, Bond learns the terrible truth about the author of all his pain in his most recent missions.
- DirectorRoger SpottiswoodeStarsPierce BrosnanJonathan PryceMichelle YeohJames Bond sets out to stop a media mogul's plan to induce war between China and the UK in order to obtain exclusive global media coverage.Not vintage Bond, but one of the best in terms of pure action. Inspired by John Woo and Michael Bay blockbusters, this is full of great chases and fight scenes.
- DirectorCary Joji FukunagaStarsDaniel CraigAna de ArmasRami MalekJames Bond has left active service. His peace is short-lived when Felix Leiter, an old friend from the CIA, turns up asking for help, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.
- DirectorIrvin KershnerStarsSean ConneryKim BasingerKlaus Maria BrandauerA S.P.E.C.T.R.E. agent has stolen two American nuclear warheads, and James Bond must find their targets before they are detonated.An intriguing look at an alternate cinematic history of Bond, where Connery was still in the role into the mid-80s. A remake of Thunderball, the film can boast villains of a higher calibre than most Bond entries, as well as one of the most effective shark chases caught on film. What it can't boast is the right balance of humour, action and exoticism, often coming across as a lazy, bland comedy of a British man on a package holiday.
- DirectorJohn GlenStarsRoger MooreChristopher WalkenTanya RobertsThe recovery of a microchip from the body of a fellow British secret agent leads James Bond to a mad industrialist scheming to cause massive destruction.One go-around too far for Roger Moore's 007, this regrettable entry is missing nearly everything a Bond movie needs; excitement, memorable characters, style and humour. Tanya Roberts is as beautiful as her character is useless, and the big set pieces are unusually pedestrian and badly shot. Christopher Walken and Grace Jones have a lot of presence, but seem out of place. The one winning element of the movie is the propulsive soundtrack, including the title song by Duran Duran, worthy of a much better movie.
- DirectorMichael AptedStarsPierce BrosnanSophie MarceauRobert CarlyleJames Bond uncovers a nuclear plot while protecting an oil heiress from her former kidnapper, an international terrorist who can't feel pain.There were complaints the previous Bond movie, Tomorrow Never Dies, was all action with weak plotting; so the following movie made the opposite mistake. Directed by Michael Apted, The World is Not Enough has memorable characters and a solid storyline, but the big set pieces are embarrassingly amateur, and that's a fatal defect for an action movie. Compared to The Matrix from the same year, this looks worst than pedestrian.
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsSean ConneryJill St. JohnCharles GrayA diamond smuggling investigation leads James Bond to Las Vegas where he uncovers an evil plot involving a rich business tycoon.Joyfully weird, this is one of the real curios of the series. Connery is back after skipping the previous entry, but he doesn't look or act the same. He treats the entire movie as a camp joke, as does the script; a series of bizarre sights and jarringly ludicrous sequences, punctuated by sinister villains and a memorable score. This is Bond as a tripped-out parody of itself.
- DirectorTerence YoungStarsSean ConneryUrsula AndressBernard LeeA resourceful British government agent seeks answers in a case involving the disappearance of a colleague and the disruption of the American space program.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsRoger MooreLois ChilesMichael LonsdaleJames Bond investigates the mid-air theft of a space shuttle, and discovers a plot to commit global genocide.A improved rerun of The Spy Who Loved Me. Moonraker gets a lot of criticism for taking Bond into space, but that's only in the last half hour - what comes beforehand is first rate Bond adventure, from the pre-title sequence to the cable car fight. The climax on the space station is admittedly too sci-fi for the series, but it's a solid and spectacular sequence. Bond's desperate efforts to destroy poison-filled pods from hitting the earth are a much over-looked highlight.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsRoger MooreBarbara BachCurd JürgensJames Bond investigates the hijacking of British and Russian submarines carrying nuclear warheads, with the help of a K.G.B. agent whose lover he killed.For all it's undoubted qualities, one of the series' most mechanical and charmless entries, really just a series of set pieces interspersed with a generic run-around plot.
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsRoger MooreChristopher LeeBritt EklandJames Bond is targeted by the world's most expensive assassin, while he attempts to recover sensitive solar cell technology that is being sold to the highest bidder.
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsRoger MooreYaphet KottoJane SeymourJames Bond is sent to stop a diabolically brilliant heroin magnate armed with a complex organisation and a reliable psychic tarot card reader.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsSean ConneryAkiko WakabayashiMie HamaJames Bond and the Japanese Secret Service must find and stop the true culprit of a series of space hijackings, before war is provoked between Russia and the United States.The worst Bond movies are simply a series of spectacular set-pieces, with the story acting a merely an excuse to get from one action scene to another. This is never more evident than You Only Live Twice, in which even Sean Connery looks bored. There is a truly bizarre lull before the climax in which Bond pretends to be Japanese and gets married. This is Bond at the point it was too big for it's boots; everything had to be colossal, and the human element is gone.
- DirectorLee TamahoriStarsPierce BrosnanHalle BerryRosamund PikeJames Bond is sent to investigate the connection between a North Korean terrorist and a diamond mogul, who is funding the development of an international space weapon.What starts off with a promising pre-credit sequence - and an effective credit sequence which is part of the story for once - immediately plunges downhill afterwards. This sorry entry climaxes with Bond fighting a Korean general - made to look English through plastic surgery - dressed in RoboCop armour that shoots purple electricity. On a plane. And to top it off, it's followed by Bond in bed with Halle Berry, spouting the most childish innuendos imaginable. The series at it's lowest, this is Bond stumbling to catch up with an action genre that had overtaken it.