James Bond - Overall Ranking

Originally, I revisited the James Bond movies simply because I wanted to see them all finally. Then I decided to write about each Bond actor’s set of movies because it seemed silly to watch that many movies and only write Letterboxd entries for them. After ranking the movies of each Bond actor, I figured I also needed to rank the movies altogether. Since I’ve already written as extensively as I plan to about the films of Connery, Lazenby, Moore, Dalton, Brosnan, and Craig, this list will be very sparse, only one or two sentences per entry. This ranking isn’t about which film is objectively best; it’s about my personal favorites, and which ones I consider rewatchable. Also, I am counting Never Say Never Again in the list; it may not be canon in the proper series, but I still consider it a Bond movie since Connery was in it (I don’t count the original Casino Royale because that was more like Austin Powers than James Bond). With that out of the way, here is my ranking of the Bond franchise.

1. Casino Royale

The only Bond movie I watch at least once a year; just a perfect introduction to my favorite Bond.

2. Skyfall

A very close second; the most straightforward and enjoyable of the Craig Bonds.

3. GoldenEye

This is a total nostalgia pick partially because of the game, but I truly love this one to this day.

4. From Russia with Love

If I’m watching Connery as Bond, this is my pick; and the locations are amazing in this one.

5. Spectre

This will raise some eyebrows, but I thoroughly enjoy Craig’s Bond getting his first traditional (and slightly goofy) outing as Bond with the gadgets and all the side character mainstays.

6. Goldfinger

The best music in the series, and that’s saying something.

7. No Time to Die

It’s a bit messy as it feels like two different types of Bond movies combined (the serious first three Craig movies combined with the sillier Spectre), but I like both types, so it worked for me.

8. You Only Live Twice

This is the type of Bond movie that Austin Powers was spoofing, and for good reason: it’s silly and awesome.

9. The Living Daylights

The original serious Bond.

10. The Spy Who Loved Me

I am admittedly not a fan of Moore, but this is the closest he came to making a classic Bond.

11. Licence to Kill

The original pissed off Bond.

12. Die Another Day

I originally hated this one, but I’ve come to appreciate the total insanity of it.

13. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Lazenby is all right, and I dig how serious they went with the ending.

14. Tomorrow Never Dies

It has everything a great Bond movie should, but something doesn’t click; it does feature a perfectly hateable villain, though.

15. Dr. No

Yeah, it’s the original, but I’ve seen it twice and never want to see it again.

16. Moonraker

My expectations were in the gutter for this one, but I was surprised at how traditional this one was despite the space gimmick.

17. A View to a Kill

Moore is far too old at this point, but Walken is a lot of fun in this, especially when he comes unhinged at the end.

18. The World Is Not Enough

This one has its moments actionwise, and Brosnan was great in all of his appearances, but this one was just a bit boring.

19. Octopussy

This is one of the goofier ones as it has Bond literally dressed up as a clown at one point.

20. For Your Eyes Only

This is when Moore’s age started to get to me.

21. Quantum of Solace

I’ve actually come around on this one a bit, but I still find it such a missed opportunity that it lands near the bottom for me; if the action wasn’t so Bourne-inspired, maybe I would have liked it more.

22. Live and Let Die

Moore started off with two gimmicky entries; I like this one slightly more than the other one because I like New Orleans.

23. Diamonds Are Forever

Connery as Bond in Vegas should have been amazing, but it was a bit boring as the Blofeld stuff was wearing thin at this point.

24. The Man with the Golden Gun

They brought back the stupid sheriff from Live and Let Die; that alone puts this near the bottom for me.

25. Never Say Never Again

A remake of Thunderball, which is the only Bond movie I flat out hate; this one is only above the original because they replaced one of the insufferable underwater scenes with an ‘80s requisite nonsense video game scene.

26. Thunderball 

The underwater stuff is just so damn boring.

James Bond Ranked - Timothy Dalton

For me, Timothy Dalton is the forgotten Bond. His movies came out when I was very young, and then a legal battle over the rights to the franchise cut short his tenure as Bond. By the time they started making movies again, Pierce Brosnan had been cast. So I was very interested to get to the Dalton movies.

Something I’ve realized with each Bond is that while all of them dabble with silly bullshit from time to time, the overall tone for each actor is different. Dalton has been considered a precursor to Daniel Craig’s serious Bond that the world wasn’t ready for yet. While I did find Dalton to be one of the angriest Bonds, I found him more similar to Brosnan in the end. I’ll obviously get into this more in next week’s ranking, but I consider Brosnan to be in the same category of Dalton as a slightly more serious Bond before the series went darker than ever with Craig. 

Others may consider Brosnan to be more light-hearted than Dalton because Brosnan’s last film was so goofy. But Dalton just didn’t have the chance to make his goofy movie. Hell, even Craig made a silly Bond movie with Spectre. No Bond actor is safe from nonsense. There are shades of this in Dalton’s two movies, mainly with everything involving Q. I really think Dalton would have ended up making the same type of movies Brosnan made.

As for his skills as Bond, I definitely dig the darker tone, especially after Moore. Dalton’s casting was an injection of energy into the franchise. The action is typically great, and he can be imposing and likable at the same time. Once again, it just sucks to try to judge him as Bond after only two films. Those two films were promising, though, and only made me want to see more of Dalton as Bond. And after spending three movies wishing Moore had called it quits sooner, that was refreshing.

1.  The Living Daylights

I was so sick of Roger Moore after seven movies that I really dug this just for the difference in Bond actors and the difference in tone. While still goofy at times, this is a much more serious take on the character, and it turns out this is the sweet spot for me. I can acknowledge that I find other, more serious Bond movies to be better overall, but this intersection of seriousness but with goofy gadgets and shit is what I want from the series in general. 

It’s already a bit silly to rank just two films, but here it’s even more pointless as I really like each of these films equally. I guess I give this one an edge because Bond is with MI6 throughout the film (he’s gone rogue in Licence), and it’s slightly more fun, in general. But it’s really just a coin toss. I like both of these films.

Random Thoughts

Everything I read about Dalton's Bond was how his films were as serious as the Daniel Craig movies. But then Q showed him the "ghetto blaster," his car sprouted skis, he rode a cello case as a sled, and he rode a bumper car while wearing a tuxedo. Yeah, this is more serious than Moore’s shit, but there’s still plenty of goofy to go around.

A few goofy elements aside, there is a welcome darkness and rage in Dalton that has been lacking in the character.

During the screenwriting phase:

"How do we make it clear that Joe Don Baker is the bad guy?"

"I don't know. Give him a bunch of mannequins dressed up like history's most brutal conquerors and dictators, including Hitler?"

"Hmm…would that be enough?

"Maybe he praises them as surgeons who cut out the worst elements of society?"

"That'll do it."

"I might never see you again.” You’re a Bond girl, lady, that’s the idea.

Joe Don Baker playing war by himself with his little action figures is fucking hilarious. What a silly thing to be doing right before you die. This, coming from the guy who’s probably going to die in a chair while rewatching every Vin Diesel movie or something else equally stupid for an article ten people might skim through. What can I say? I live a very different life than Joe Don Baker’s character in The Living Daylights.

2. Licence to Kill

This is a slightly infamous entry as it has been described as the most violent and arguably most serious Bond film. Because of that, it's also seen as the least fun, but I have to disagree with that one. Yes, Bond is in full revenge mode, but this is also the movie in which Q shows up and actively takes part in the mission so how seriously can we really take this? 

As for the violence, it did take me out of it a couple times due to its uncharacteristic gruesomeness. I mean, a guy's head fucking explodes in this one, and another dude gets slowly fed into one of those grinders you see in TikTok videos that can mulch up metal. It's kind of fucked up…and also kind of awesome.

More than anything, this one is a bummer because a legal battle made it Dalton's last appearance as Bond. It would have been great to see him in a couple more traditional Bond stories, especially since he wasn't even technically working for MI6 in this one. Oh well, Dalton's two darker entries at least made for a good palate cleanser after Moore overstayed his welcome. Now onto the Bond I grew up watching: Brosnan.

Random Thoughts 

That opening helicopter/plane sequence was some straight up Nolan shit. Watching all of these I finally understand why the Bond series gets brought up so much when discussing Nolan's more action-oriented movies.

“He was married once. A long time ago… In fact, he looked completely different back then. Right after his wife died, his looks changed completely again, and he acted like nothing happened. Then his looks changed again, and he remembered he was married, and then he dropped his wife’s murderer down a smokestack, it was fucking awesome. Then he got old…real old. Then his looks changed again, and here we are. It’s all very confusing I know, but just go with it.”

Of course Benicio Del Toro shows up and mumbles something unintelligible to the villain. When you need someone to mumble some nonsense, you get Del Toro!

“He disagreed with something that ate him!” What, was there a jokester around who just couldn’t pass on the opportunity to leave that note? Who was that for?

Wow, Leiter is unlucky. You get your leg bitten off by a shark, and one of your best friends is named Sharkey. How do you hang out with someone named Sharkey after that? Their friendship is over.

Update: Felix won't have to worry about hanging out with Sharkey anymore. 

You know Bond means business if he’s willing to drink a Bud with lime. Who drinks that, period, by the way?

Bond gives Bouvier the fake name Kennedy. Get it?

“How do we make Robert Davi more of a classic Bond villain?”

“I don’t know. Maybe put a giant lizard or something on his shoulder?”

What the fuck is Wayne Newton doing in this?

Bond does order his martini, and it’s the angriest he’s ever said, “Shaken, not stirred.”

Was not expecting ninjas in this one.