The Definitive Ranking of James Bond Movies From Worst to Best
5. From Russia with Love
I’m a firm believer in the notion that a hero is only as good as their villain. So, when Bond found himself forced to go against a SPECTRE operative trained to be an anti-00 agent, Donald “Red” Grant (Robert Shaw), under the command of a former Russian Colonel (Lotte Lenya), it was quite literally a fight for his life. It was also the first Bond flick to give the agent a cool gadget courtesy of Q-branch, which became a huge part of the franchise later on. While Dr. No was the first in the series, From Russia with Love solidified the concepts that all future Bond movies would utilize to make him the most iconic spy of all time.
4. Casino Royale (2006)
A lot of fans doubted Daniel Craig when he was first cast as the new James Bond. However, he brought the character into the 21st century with a grim and gritty new outlook. His version of Bond was never disillusioned by the perks of the job and accepted that he was essentially a paid killer when it was all said and done. That freedom though allowed him to become the kind of agent who filled villains with dread. The first of whom turned out to be the premier money launderer to terrorists, warlords, and maniacs around the globe (Mads Mikkelsen). Casino Royale breathed new life into the Bond franchise, just as Goldeneye did before.
3. No Time to Die
No Time to Die marks the end of Daniel Craig’s tenure as James Bond and cements his version as the best of them all. At least so far…. Craig took the character from an alcohol-dependent, womanizing, dad-joke enthusiast with a license to kill into a PTSD suffering, demoralized and broken operative who always answers the call to action no matter the cost. No Time to Die might not be perfect but it is a fitting farewell for the actor who proved the character could compete with modern action icons, like Jason Bourne and John Wick. At the same time, No Time to Die introduced some of the best “Bond Girls’ the franchise has ever seen and pleaded a convincing case that audiences need a chance to know some of the women who have achieved active 00 status as well. Cheers to you, Mr. Craig, for all you’ve given the role over these years.
2. Skyfall
Skyfall is my personal favorite of all the Bond movies, because the ripples it produced have far-reaching consequences for the character, not just for the future, but into the past as well. He once more finds himself doing battle with a former 00 agent, but finds himself doubting which side of right and wrong he and his cause are on. MI-6 actually betrayed his enemy (Javier Bardem) and sacrificed as though he was nothing more than a pawn despite all he’d sacrificed for Queen and country. More than that, it’s revealed that “James Bond” is nothing more than an alias assigned to 00 agents in order to carry out their work anonymously. This means, every other Bond, no matter who they were played by, existed and puts an end to any debates over who could play the character in the future.
1. Goldfinger
While Dr. No and From Russia with Love created the formula for all future Bond movies, Goldfinger perfected it. This was the film in which the character hit his stride and set the bar for all future Bond movies. It starred arguably the best actor to ever play Bond (Sean Connery), a delightfully diabolical villain (Gert Fröbe), and iconic henchman (Harold Sakata),and one of the greatest Bond girls of all time (Honor Blackman) with one of the worst names of all time. Of course, it also established Bond as a character who had a sense of humor but was never intended to be a joke. Goldfinger had lasting effects not just on Bond movies, but on cinema as a whole as it ignited a sense of wonder and creativity that revolutionized the action genre.
That concludes my ranking of all the Bond movies ever made. Let me know what you think of the order in the comments below and tell me which of them is your favorite as well. Of course, there are going to be plenty of updates in the future, since 007 shows no signs of slowing down. So, be sure to check back in order to see how the rankings might change.