The best and worst James Bond movies: a ranked list
In celebration of the new Skyfall, we return to all 22 official James Bond films in search of the perfect spy cocktail, rating the best and worst Bond girls, 007 theme songs and leading actors with the licence to kill.
Tue Nov 6 2012
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
With the promise of a 1.25-million-pound payday, Sean Connery returned for another go at the character he had helped turn into a cinema icon. He slips back into the role with ease, a little older but still effortlessly charismatic, even as many of the characters and incidents around him are too camp for comfort. Rocky Horror legend Charles Gray is perfectly, primly malicious as our agent’s recurring nemesis Blofeld (this time with a few carbon-copy doubles in tow), though queer-coded assassins Mr. Wint (Bruce Glover) and Mr. Kidd (Putter Smith) are shamelessly perverse.
Theme song: Series staple Shirley Bassey belts out this defiant title song like a ravenous tigress who had Goldfinger for breakfast.
Martini rating: 
The Bond girl: Gem smuggler Tiffany Case (Jill St. John) is as blandly interchangeable as her many multicolored wigs; she should go straight to the bottom of the pool.
Martini rating: 
The killer moment: Our secret agent meets his match at the dextrous appendages of acrobatic femme fatales Bambi (Lola Larson) and Thumper (Trina Parks), the original Fembots.—Keith Uhlich
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
Don’t feel bad for odd-Bond-out George Lazenby (the unknown Australian was drafted when Connery got cold feet); his sole 007 film is actually one of the series’ finest. Darkly adventurous and romantic, the plot swirls with classic elements: Telly Savalas as the murderous Blofeld, brainwashed babes waging biowarfare, an amazing ski sequence and—most notably—the first sign of our hero’s emotional vulnerability (for the right woman). Also bar none, this is signature composer John Barry’s most extraordinary Bond score, bursting with psychedelic rock and lush, orchestral menace.
Theme song: “We Have All the Time in the World” has become a standard for its lovely simplicity; it was the last vocal Louis Armstrong recorded before his death.
Martini rating:
The Bond girl: Already a well-regarded toughie on British TV in The Avengers, classy Diana Rigg was more substantial than any previous Bond counterpart—and set a standard that’s rarely been met.
Martini rating:
The killer moment: After heroically saving Rigg from drowning—and then fighting off goons—only to have her tear off in her car, Lazenby jokes directly to camera, “This never happened to the other fellow.”—Joshua Rothkopf
Dr. No (1962)
Series producers “Cubby” Broccoli and Harry Saltzman were still working out the kinks of translating Ian Fleming’s books to the big screen when they launched this first entry. Yet from the moment Sean Connery first utters the words “Bond…James Bond,” we know we’ve entered a world of glamorous women, grandiose danger and globe-trotting derring-do. This is where everything starts, from that signature spy-a-go-go theme to Maurice Binder’s mind-blowing credits sequences. Also introduced here are centerfold-ready romantic interests and colorful megalomaniacs (Joseph Wiseman’s titular villain deserves more than two scenes). These elements would get refined over the years, but you couldn’t ask for a better introduction to Fleming’s international man of mystery.
Theme song: The memorable tunes wouldn’t start for a while, so we have to make due with a so-so calypso ditty, “Underneath the Mango Tree.”
Martini rating:
The Bond girl: You can actually hear the sound of male hormones surging when Ursula Andress’s Honey Ryder walks out of the sea in that white bikini.
Martini rating:
The killer moment: Bond cold-bloodedly confronts a friend who’s betrayed him: “That’s a Smith & Wesson. And you’ve had your six,” says 007, before reminding us he has a license to kill.—David Fear
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Roger Moore’s glib brand of Bond is routinely slagged these days, but if the guy had a high point, it’s right here. Set to the disco-fied strains of a Marvin Hamlisch score, Moore’s white-funky superspy outwits pursuers in a Lotus that turns into a submarine, travels to Egypt to wrestle with metal-toothed Jaws (Richard Kiel) and battles with a nuke-crazy nut who hopes to survive the fallout underwater. Most impressively, here’s money: tons of it spent on cavernous sets (an entire new soundstage was built for this movie) and an amazing spiderlike hideout that rises from the ocean.
Theme song: Carly Simon’s California cool was an uncanny match for Hamlisch’s “Nobody Does It Better” (with lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager), a staggeringly sexy torch song. Don’t take our word for it—here’s Radiohead.
Martini rating:
The Bond girl: Barbara Bach looks exotic enough to play Soviet agent “Triple X” (that’s the humor, folks), but her role is largely one of adornment.
Martini rating:
The killer moment: Maybe the best one of the whole franchise: Bond (legendary stuntman Rick Sylvester) skis off a mountain, falling for an uncomfortably long time, until—surprise!—the ripcord is pulled and his parachute sports the Union Jack.—Joshua Rothkopf
You Only Live Twice (1967)
Bond heads to Japan in a witty screenplay by Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’s Roald Dahl. The space race is afoot (capsules go missing) and tensions run high between superpowers. Why not tip the balance into chaos? Finally, kitty-lapped supervillain Blofeld gets his close-up: the cosmetically scarred scowl of Donald Pleasence. (If one Bond film has inspired the Austin Powers series the most, it’s this installment.) Meanwhile, during his semi-off-hours, Connery’s Bond learns about docile Japanese women, drinks sake at the correct temperature and discovers a giant fake volcano.
Theme song: Recently used in the season finale of Mad Men, Nancy Sinatra’s voluptuous ballad is the singer’s most persuasive effort, boasting gorgeous support from John Barry’s strings.
Martini rating:
The Bond girl: Mie Hama is spunky enough as Kissy Suzuki; don’t blame her for the sexism that has her walking around in almost nothing.
Martini rating:
The killer moment: Quietly, Bond strolls the streets of Tokyo; neon signs glint, the orchestral score blooms and a movie does double duty as eye-opening travelogue.—Joshua Rothkopf
From Russia with Love (1963)
The first of many sequels drops the MI6 operative into a tried-and-true plot: A decoding device is stolen, and only Bond can retrieve it—which is what the cat-stroking Blofeld and his SPECTRE comrades are counting on. Though the movie is best known for giving us Robert Shaw’s juggernaut villain and Lotte Lenya’s shoe-knifing henchwoman, this is one of the franchise’s purest espionage entries—it suggests an alternate universe in which Bond was closer to a John le Carré spook than a gadget-wielding action hero. We love that latter version, of course, but Russia proved that a straightforward spy thriller equally suited the secret agent.
Theme song: The number shows up briefly sans lyrics in the credits and as background noise later—which, given Matt Monro’s faux-Sinatra crooning, is probably a good thing.
Martini rating:
The Bond girl: A former Miss Rome, Italian starlet Daniela Bianchi makes for a convincing Russian ballerina-turned-mole—though she’s drop-dead gorgeous in any language.
Martini rating:
The killer moment: The fight between Shaw’s blond superthug and Bond in a tiny train compartment is one of the most brutal set pieces in the entire series.—David Fear
Goldfinger (1964)
The Bond series already had two films under its belt by the time 007 matched wits with Gert Fröbe’s precious-metal obsessive, but the third time was the charm. This was the movie that perfected the template for what we consider a proper Bond movie: tricked-out sports cars and spy gadgets, eccentric supervillains and quirky sidekicks (the hat-throwing Oddjob), a name-dropping opening song and a fun, flirty, tongue-in-cheek version of Fleming’s hero. The earlier movies established Bond as Her Majesty’s most resourceful secret agent, a lover and a fighter. Goldfinger, however, made him a pop-culture icon that’s endured for decades.
Theme song: It simply doesn’t get any better than Shirley Bassey’s window-rattling tribute to the “man with the Midas touch,” punctuated by those slinky horn blasts.
Martini rating:
The Bond girl: Honor Blackman’s rough-and-tumble romantic interest made a good match for Connery’s Bond and had a name that launched a thousand playground jokes: Pussy Galore.
Martini rating:
The killer moment: Strapped to the laser table: “Do you expect me to talk?” “No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!”—David Fear
You might also like
See more in Film
007 Theme Songs on Spotify
See more film lists
-
Movie moms: The 50 most classic movie mothers of all time
-
Movies about youth & rebellion: The 50 best youth-gone-wild films
-
The best and worst James Bond movies: a ranked list
-
The top 50 sports films of all time
-
The 100 best films set in New York City
-
Our 50 favorite film fools
-
The 50 best uses of songs in movies
-
The 50 best movie villains of all time
-
The 50 best food-on-film moments of all time
-
The 50 most special effects of all time
Get Exclusive Offers from Time Out!
Sign up for Time Out's free daily offers and receive exclusive offers for handpicked events and activities, including discounts and VIP benefits, at insider-only prices.
Comments & ratings