The 5 Best and Worst James Bond Films

By starrymag | August 20, 2021

James Bond is an icon the world over, a quintessentially British spy travelling the world helping stop super-criminals doing their thing.

 

Ian Fleming’s novels have spawned 26 movies to date, with seven different actors playing James Bond. They begin in the sixties and have been released right up to the present day. Every film brings a new question: Who will be the next James Bond? Are we ready for a female super spy, dubbed Jane Bond? How can a one-time misogynist and cad become relevant in the modern era?

 

Every film release answers questions and poses others, one of which is this: which films are the best? The answer to that is here, as we explore the five best and worst James Bond movies to date.

 

 

The Best

 

Goldfinger

 

As Mental Floss explains, Goldfinger established many James Bond firsts. It was the first film to switch directors, the first film to have an iconic theme delivered by a well-known vocalist, and the first to play up the relationship between 007 and Q, the man with the gadgets. It is also the first to include the immortal line ‘shaken, not stirred’, and it is first in terms of quality.

 

Dr. No

 

Dr. No was the first installment of the Bond franchise, filmed in 1962, and it sets the tone for the 007 we know and love. The film is fairly standard, with plenty of action and humor, but it is perhaps more important as the first. There was no legacy to live up to when this film was released, which makes it remarkable as it is still one of the best.

 

From Russia With Love

 

Perhaps the problem with many Bonds of the eighties era was they tried too hard to be like their forebearers because the third film on our list is the second chronologically. Its subject matter, the Cold War, was very relevant when it was released, and it tells a great story, away from the action and typical Bond fayre.

 

Casino Royale

 

 

The modern films have been difficult to live up to, and it is the first novel that delivers our next best film, 2006’s Casino Royale. It takes the series in a new direction, becoming more serious and focused on real-life rather than over-the-top gadgets. It also includes what Gala Casino call the most iconic casino scene from a movie ever. Which, if we are being honest, you’d expect from a film with the word casino in the title. The scene between Bond and Le Chiffre is bristling with tension and plays out perfectly against the opulent backdrop of a Monaco casino.

 

Skyfall

 

Daniel Craig is one of the few actors, if not the only one, to redefine Bond and do it successfully. Gone is the chauvinist figure of the sixties, accepted and yet unacceptable to modern audiences. In his place, a tense and stern Bond, who doesn’t need to be backed up by punchlines, puns or wordplay. Skyfall is a smart and slick movie that deviates from the accepted norms of the franchise to great success.

 

 

 

The Worst

 

Die Another Day

 

Tomorrow Never Dies isn’t a bad film – few Bond films are really poor, but it doesn’t stand out either. The fact it’s the fifth-worst isn’t reflective of its quality; it is a generic Bond romp with decent action sequences that modern audiences expect. It just doesn’t have the wow factor of many of the other films in the franchise.

 

The Man with the Golden Gun

 

There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with the 1974 release; it’s just an average film in a series with far stronger ones. The film is notable for its lack of gadgets, which at the time was a staple of the series. The dialogue is feeling a little worn, even by the day’s standards, whilst the villain is more likeable than the protagonist.

 

The World is Not Enough

 

Goldeneye helped reinvent the franchise for a newer, modern audience, but The World is Not Enough undid a lot of that work after another average release, Tomorrow Never Dies. The dialogue is moderate; the plot is average, and the film is average. Brosnan makes a good Bond, but his portrayal might have been more suited to the camp romps of the early seventies rather than the last film of the century.

 

A View to a Kill

 

Roger Moore wasn’t a bad Bond, some films such as Moonraker were great fun and very well handled, but A View to a Kill is absurd and fanciful. Even the stellar cast, including Christopher Walken and Grace Jones, can’t pull this one into the realms of realism. This flick feels like an old joke, retold a little too often.

 

Octopussy

 

Before A View to a Kill came Octopussy, and it must have been tough for fans to see the franchise sliding towards an accepted norm. This 1983 release arrived with the same worn humor, the same story retold slightly differently and little to differentiate it between the films on either side, apart from somewhat less action, which isn’t always a good thing.