The Definitive Ranking of James Bond Movies From Worst to Best
15. For Your Eyes Only
Bond’s greatest villain is the vicious mastermind Ernst Stavro Blofeld (played this time by Christoph Waltz) who heads the fiendish SPECTRE organization (Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion). Turns out that SPECTRE has been responsible for everything that’s been happening to Craig’s Bond, and he’s not too happy about it. While I appreciate the Moriarty-esque take on Blofeld in SPECTRE the big reveal was a bit underwhelming. Still, I think Waltz’s take on the character was pretty spot on.
14. The Man with the Golden Gun
While Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee, who was actually Ian Fleming’s step-cousin and regular golf partner) might not appear on my list of the best movie assassins, there’s no denying that the tri-nippled, golden gun-wielding hitman doesn’t leave an impression. As if killing people with incredibly expensive bullets wasn’t quirky enough, he lives on an island compound with a creepy funhouse, maintained by a miniature henchman who is all too familiar with strange tropical islands (Hervé Villechaize). Moore definitely had the weirder Bond villains.
13. The Living Daylights
You wouldn’t think that Joe Don Baker would make a good Bond villain, and you’d be right. Luckily, The Living Daylights also features a triple crossing KGB officer who offers lots of Cold War espionage action for Timothy Dalton to deal with in his first outing as 007. In fact, things get so tangled that Bond has to team up with the new head of the KGB (John Rhys-Davies) in order to prevent Russia and Britain from being manipulated into a game of “kill the spies.” Meanwhile, Joe Don Baker’s Generalissimo Brad Whitaker is dealing drugs or arms or whatever.
12. License to Kill
While Dalton only got two Bond movies, they were some of the more espionage-oriented films in the franchise. License to Kill follows Bond as he seeks revenge on behalf of his CIA buddy, Felix Leiter, who was horribly injured at the hands of a Latin American drug lord (Robert Davi). Now, screwing with Latin America is more of a U.S. thing, so Bond is ordered to stand down. He refuses and is stripped of his license to kill (which is totally a thing), branding him a rogue agent. That doesn’t stop him from dismantling an entire drug empire all on his own, which must really burn the DEA up inside.
11. You Only Live Twice
So, there are some issues with You Only Live Twice, namely Sean Connery disguising himself in yellowface after faking his death (hence the title). However, it also features ninjas, a precariously placed pool of piranha, and Donald Pleasence as Blofeld. It’s actually the first time Bond and Blofeld meet in person, which is a pretty big moment for the franchise. But, seriously, freaking ninjas in a Bond flick! It’s everything we’ve always wanted in a cheesy spy movie and direct inspiration for Michael Myers’s Dr. Evil. Oh, and Bond prevents World War III.