All James Bond Movies Ranked From Worst to Best

NOTE: This list was originally posted on rateyourmusic.com. I decided to transfer it here and essentially copypasted it, only fixing some errors and moving around a couple of movies. More Bond rankings probably coming here, as well as more franchise worst to best stuff. I don't really have any release schedule, I'm just going to be writing up whatever I feel like doing.

Okay, not all because I'm not counting the David Niven parody one, nor the 1954 television version of Casino Royale. What's listed though is all the official Eon Productions movies, plus the 1983 Warner Bros production Never Say Never Again. I think I saw each movie at least three times (besides No Time to Die). Usually the more I've seen it, the higher it is on the list, but it's not a rule. There's gonna be spoilers everywhere, can't really do it any other way.

As for the actors portraying James Bond, my order of preference would be something like:
-Connery
-Craig
-Moore
-Dalton
-Brosnan
-Lazenby

The list is not going to be built around that hierarchy, as you will later see. So, we start off from the bottom of the list in order to keep the suspense high:

 26. Die Another Day 

I feel like it's a pretty popular pick right? The last Bond movie to feature Pierce Brosnan, who even though I've never really liked him all that much is probably the greatest thing in this installment. Everything plainly sucks here, from the action sequences (especially the one where Bond goes windsurfing and has to slalom his way between ice caps, the CGI there is just extremely weak, the scene is so unbelievably stupid too), maybe the dullest villain in Bond movies ever (although the next position on this list is a fair contender too) to a terrible Bond girl. Madonna's "Die Another Day" is probably the worst song to ever feature in the franchise, but I do admit that if I like any of the scenes in that movie then it's the fencing sequence connected to her cameo. I watched this one a lot back in the days, as this was the only one I had on DVD, alongside Dr. No I think. Not knowing the power of the internet made me have to get through this one a lot of times, and I do regret it.

25. Quantum of Solace 

Yeah, I already mentioned above that it has the dullest villains of all the movies in the franchise. The Bolivian general is just a pervert who we really don't know anything about, Mathieu Amalric's Dominic Greene just doesn't feel like he presents any danger to anyone and Elvis, the stupid-looking henchman is supposed to be here for laughs, yet he doesn't raise any. M gets out of her office a lot, just to get herself into trouble. I adore Judi Dench's portrayal of the character, but I think it's just stupid to think that the head of the MI6 would risk so much to do what exactly? Olga Kurylenko is a fine actress, but we don't really get to bond (haha) with her character, although I like the fact that we didn't get a sex scene between her and Craig, it fits her story arc. The more interesting gal here is Gemma Arterton's Strawberry Fields, who has so much wasted potential. Everything feels very rushed and just done in a hurry. Editing in the action sequences is so tough to follow as well.

24. Octopussy

Everything about this movie is just absolutely ridiculous. Bond dresses up as a clown, does a Tarzan impersonation, there are knife-throwing twin brothers. Once again, the movie lacks interesting villains, both Kamal Khan and General Orlov are not really memorable and the jewel smuggling plot isn't that interesting either. I know a lot of people like this movie because it's fun and although I do admit that it is probably the funniest movie in the entire series, from my picks later on it's gonna become clear that my favorites are the more serious installments. People often oversell it as this great adventure, but to me Octopussy actually drags quite a lot.

23. Never Say Never Again

The totally unnecessary spin-off, which is basically a remake of Thunderball, and I'm not that fond of that movie either. Connery still has it, despite the fact that his own agency doesn't really believe it. Max Von Sydow is one of my two favorite actors of all time (Ethan Hawke is the other one if you want to know) and he isn't bad here either, the script just doesn't let his character develop into something interesting. Instead of good action sequences that we've seen in Thunderball, we do get some lazy jokes. The one when Bond perfuses a bad guy with a random fluid and it turns out to be his own urine specimen still hurts. 

22. A View to a Kill

Some very cool stunts like the construction site chase after May Day or the Golden Gate sequence, Christopher Walken and Grace Jones do really well here, but the worst thing about this movie is either Zorin's plan to destroy Silicon Valley or the fact that Roger Moore simply looks grumpy playing James Bond at 58-years old. The movie also contains the most awkward sex scene ever, between a grandpa Bond and a black singer/actress (cross out one) with very manly arms. Watch at your own peril.

21. Tomorrow Never Dies

The whole concept of a media giant who is always the first to write about catastrophes because he's the one causing them is absolutely amazing. Jonathan Pryce is a little bit over the top here, but I think we can forgive him that. Bond's love interests are great (Michelle Yeoh doesn't really have romantic chemistry with Brosnan, but she's so cool as a spy counterpart) and Dr. Kaufman is one of the most interesting henchmen in the series. What doesn't work here for me are the action sequences. I honestly can't count how many times Bond was shot at in this movie. Tomorrow Never Dies is so packed with firearms that at some point it doesn't really feel like a James Bond flick to me. I still enjoy it though, there's quite a quality gap between A View to a Kill and this.

20. Spectre

Christopher Waltz should be the perfect Blofeld. I was pretty sure he will be perfect. Yet he's more of a parody of Blofeld, he's almost cartoonish, and the way the script is crafted doesn't help. The idea that he was be the person behind everything that happened in the last three movies is the dumbest thing I've ever heard and him and Bond being almost like "brothers" in the past is cheesy at best. I very much hope that Blofeld surviving this movie isn't just an idea to make him reappear in the sequel, oh god no (Note: I wrote this before No Time to Die was released). The whole movie is filled with "easter eggs" for the fans of the whole series and I like how they are placed in the scenes. The greatest thing here is probably how the movie uses Ben Whishaw and Ralph Fiennes, seeing them in action is unbelievably gratifying. An enjoyable one, but it could have been so much better.

19. The Man with the Golden Gun

Don't let the movie fool you - no one, not even the director cared about the solar power plot. The whole thing boils down to that one final meeting between Moore's James Bond and Christopher Lee's Francisco Scaramanga. Lee is absolutely fantastic here and he makes us think whether Moore really can defeat that guy because he's at least as good as 007. Scaramanga's henchman is a dwarf and he actually gets a few moments to shine here too, attacking Bond and fellow agent Mary Goodnight in the final sequence of the movie. The villains are great, but the movie has literally no plot other than Scaramanga wanting a 1v1 duel against 007.

18. Diamonds Are Forever

After the heartbreak at the end of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, this movie should be exactly as brutal as the first five minutes of it are. Bond searches for Blofeld around the world, gets really angry, fights a lot of people and starts strangling a woman with her own bra. However, then the film kinda forgets about what happened to Tracy and the revenge motif, giving Blofeld another ridiculous plan and showing him as just another villain. The fault lies in Charles Gray too, as he's just too cartoonish for a movie that was probably supposed to be a more serious installment. The movie's saved by secondary characters - Tiffany Case is a very charismatic Bond Girl, Plenty O' Toole (another name just to allow the pun) appears just for a while but also manages to draw the viewer's attention and a pair of henchmen Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd bring a few of the best one-liners in the series and are perfectly balanced between funny and serious - something that the whole movie didn't achieve.

17. You Only Live Twice

I really don't know what to think about this one. It feels very tempting to rate this high solely because of Donald Pleasance's performance (also one of my favorite actors ever by the way), who delivers the most iconic Blofeld version, which unintentionally inspired the Austin Powers trilogy. The way he pronounces I am Ernst Stavro Blofeld and then says the title of the movie to Bond is one of the most exciting moments of the franchise. I find the whole final battle very enjoyable. However, the issues lay earlier in the movie - the whole segment of making Bond look like a Japanese man to blend in into the local community of the island simply doesn't work because of how unbelievable it is that this poor makeup would really convince anyone. Connery even talks in Japanese with a Scottish accent. Just forget about how stupid the first hour is and enjoy Blofeld's reveal and the intense action sequences.

16. Thunderball

The jetpack scene is so cheesy, but I absolutely love it! However, this happens in the first ten minutes of the movie and it just gets worse an worse. The undersea fights are incredibly long and boring, Vargas and Largo just don't feel as dangerous as they should be, but the thing that makes this movie not that bad is the wonderful character of Fiona Volpe. Luciana Paluzzi manages to turn every scene she appears into gold here. Worth noting, that this is pretty much the first appearance of a "femme fatale" Bond girl, because I wouldn't count Pussy Galore as such. However, the plot is once again dull and not exciting at all and I just don't think there'll be a moment in the future when I'll think "The Bond movie I want to watch now is Thunderball". Everything Thunderball does, another installment of the series does better. (Note: Coming back to this list after a few years, I have to say that this used to rank much lower. Turns out there actually was a moment in the future when I wanted to watch this one and I wasn't disappointed).

15. The Living Daylights

Mixed feelings about this. The opening sequence is one of the very best, Timothy Dalton got a perfect introduction. Dalton's Bond is a war machine, an assassin and I really like how the movie shows us a very different James Bond than the one Moore played in seven previous installments. Maryam d'Abo playing Kara Milovy doesn't have the charisma to be the perfect Bond girl and Dalton feels almost too serious for that famous cello ride in the snow. The plot is connected to the Cold War but isn't exciting at all and the villains - well, Joe Don Baker as Whitaker is just miscast as a bad guy, but on the other hand I love the double agent Georgi Koskov and Necros played by Andreas Wisniewski is a cold-blooded, scary henchman, fitting well in a Dalton movie.

14. The World is Not Enough

I honestly don't understand why I don't like this movie more. Sophie Marceau as Elektra King is one of the best femmes fatales in the entire series and I really like the concept of Renard not feeling pain, the plot twist that actually tells us that he is not the brain of the operation is really good too. I don't really mind Denise Richards as a nuclear scientist, although giving her the name Christmas just for one lazy pun was definitely not a good decision. M coming out of the office is actually understandable here as Elektra is a family friend and I like the fact that we get to see more MI6 workers doing their job. What's wrong here? I don't know, this is just not a movie I like going back to that often. Pre-title sequence is huge btw, both in terms of the runtime and the excitement.

13. Moonraker

Moonraker feels like a variation of Spy Who Loved Me - but instead of Carl Stromberg, we get a much more interesting Hugo Drax and instead of the water theme we get a space-themed James Bond movie! It's gotta be amazing, right? Well, it isn't. Despite how unrealistic it is, I love the opening parachute sequence but it's like the last good scene Jaws appears in here. The Star Wars alike battle fights feel like a parody and Jaws falling in love is one of the worst moments in the entire franchise. However, if you're looking for pure fun this is probably the Bond movie you should be watching and Michael Lonsdale as Drax is maybe the best megalomaniac villain in the series.

12. No Time to Die

Had a lot of trouble ranking this one. Ultimately, I think it serves as a bit of a gateway between these movies I consider great and the mediocre bunch. As usual in the Craig era, the filmmaking quality is astonishing and the longest runtime in the series is not an issue at all. I really enjoyed Rami Malek as the movie's main baddie and the flaws of the character are due to poor writing, not the actor's fault. The one scene Bond shares with Blofeld here would normally be supposed to be the movie's highlight but it's so poorly handled here. From the very beginning of it, you realize that they are going to have to find a way to get Bond's hands on him and the way it's done is just so out of character for Craig's bond (albeit a quote from Ian Fleming's books). There's just not enough mental pressure for him to react like that. I actually don't dislike the ending, it puts the series at an exciting crossroads. Perhaps a better way to do this was just for Bond to have to live without being able to see Madeleine (still no chemistry between them btw) and his daughter (so much chemistry here!). Some really cool moments with Ana de Armas (big crush of mine after Knives Out) and the new 007. Nice way to wrap it up after a very disappointing Spectre, I think the biggest improvement is not focusing on the "lost brother who's responsible for all your pain" storyline. Very enjoyable.

11. For Your Eyes Only

Just barely misses the cut for the Top 10, but it's way closer to 10 than 12. It would have felt wrong to me to have it higher, it would also be pretty inconsistent. I blamed a few movies earlier for their villains and For Your Eyes Only makes the same mistake - Aristotle Kristatos has a cool house in the mountains but there is just nothing that makes him remarkable. There are some very weird scenes in this movie and it focuses a lot too much on biathlon :)) However, I really like Carole Bouquet's Melina Havelock and the car chase in her yellow Citroen is one of the very best in the franchise. The climax of the movie happening in the aforementioned house in the mountains is extremely cool too. They finally mentioned Tracy in this installment too, showing Bond visiting her grave in the pre-title sequence. That serves as an introduction to Bond finally getting rid of Blofeld for good, which is a pretty decent action sequence. No, I don't know what "I'll buy you a delicatessen in stainless steel" is doing here, you're not the only one. It's a serious, more gritty Moore movie, and I dig that. Especially that scene where he kicks Locque's car and sends him to death.

10. Live and Let Die

Coming at number ten, the first Roger Moore movie is also the first one on this list I consider to be really good and interesting not only as a part of the franchise. James Bond goes blaxploitation here, there is a cool voodoo motif and the Bond girl is a psychic played by Jane Seymour! Crazy, right? Moore fights off crocodiles and has to defeat a great henchman Tee Hee, who has a sort off of a pincer for a hand. The fight on the train in the last scene of the movie is absolutely top-notch. I like the plot here too and Yaphet Kotto does a great job as the main villain. Plus, Paul McCartney came up with probably the greatest song to ever feature in a Bond film.

9. Dr. No

The one that started it all. Despite a poor plot, it has all the iconic stuff - the first "Bond, James Bond" line sounds great and Ursula Andress stepping out of the ocean became a pop culture symbol. Joseph Wiseman's Dr. Julius No is a role model for all future Bond villains and even despite the fact that tarantula isn't dangerous to people, if we just forget about this the spider scene still works. Connery is so classy, but also brutal here - the scene he kills Anthony Dawson's Professor Dent is basically him shooting to an unarmed man (technically he has a gun, but there are no more bullets). This still stands as a fantastic example of how to make an iconic movie with a crazy small budget.

8. Goldeneye

A lot of people probably have it as their favorite and I can totally see why. Brosnan is perfect here, it's a shame his performances went downhill from there imo. The opening sequence is great and I love how it sets up the entire plot of the movie. Izabella Scorupco's Natalya Simonova works so well because we get to know her from almost the very beginning of the film and she really gets to develop her story arc. Both General Ourumov and Sean Bean's Alec Trevelyan are played exceptionally well, the storyline is pretty good for a Bond movie and the action sequences are among the best in the entire series. Not really a fan of Famke Janssen's Xenia Onatopp though, she is a little too campy for my taste (you can see where the Austrin Powers names like Alotta Fagina came from though).

7. Skyfall

I know I talked about how the boss of MI6 shouldn't be taking an active part in the plot, but here it is justified well, with her being the target of Raoul Silva's revenge. Javier Bardem finds the perfect balance between campy and serious and this is a Bond movie so we can forgive the screenwriters just how ridiculous his plan to get caught and then escape from the MI6 headquarters to kill M during a meeting is. Getting us a little information on Bond's backstory also feels great (not like in Spectre) and the relationship he develops with his boss is very moving. Hate the song though, sorry Adele fans, but it's so over the top in its attempts to sound dramatic.

6. Licence to Kill

This probably comes as a surprise. As I said before, I love the more serious installments of the Bond series. The storyline with James getting revenge for Felix is just so good, David Hedison and Dalton have great on-screen chemistry, it's really believable that the two of them are best friends. Bond has to go rogue and it's cool to see Desmond Llewyn's Q helping without M's knowledge (about M though, the scene where he doesn't let his guy shoot Bond because there are "too many people" and there's like literally no one there aside from 007 - mistake or does M also want to help Bond?). The girls are very memorable, both Sanchez's girlfriend and the CIA agent, the villains are also amazing - young Benicio Del Toro makes a great henchman and Roberto Davi is extremely credible as a drug dealer. The whole Sanchez car chase sequence and then the final moments of Sanchez are excellent and incredibly brutal for a James Bond movie. So yeah, I totally get why people don't have it high on their lists, but it's a personal favorite of mine and was very close to making the top 5.

5. Goldfinger

Probably the most renowned movie in the Bond franchise, this is a quintessence of "Bondness". We have a megalomaniac villain with a pretty unbelievable plan to take over the world, a powerful henchman who's also intentionally funny, phenomenal one-liners (do you expect me to talk? no, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die) and a whole lot of iconic scenes. Jill Masterton's body painted gold, the golf duel between Goldfinger and Bond (which set the standard of Bond beating the bad guy in some kind of a game), the unforgettable fight with Oddjob next to a time bomb and finally the last battle where Goldfinger gets blown out of a plane after an uncontrolled decompression. The movie that became an instant classic and has everything that we love in the James Bond franchise.

4. From Russia With Love 

As I mentioned already, I usually prefer more serious installments of the series. This is definitely one of those. The second movie in the franchise is an exceptionally well-written spy thriller, with a very good plot revolving around the Cold War. Connery delivers his most down-to-earth performance which fits the atmosphere of the movie. From Russia with Love probably came the closest to capturing the world of Ian Fleming's books. The first half of the movie, mostly set in Istambul, is great, but what really makes it one of the best James Bond movies is the second half, happening almost entirely on the Orient Express. The mind game between Bond and an Irish assassin working for the Russians and their fight is one of my favorite moments of the entire series. This isn't a movie as quintessential for the Bond franchise as Goldfinger is, but it achieves what it was trying do with ease. It's simply an amazing spy thriller, wonderful at keeping the viewer in suspense.

3. The Spy Who Loved Me

I already said this is like Moonraker's twin brother. Carl Stromberg is a very dull villain but fortunately, almost everything else about this movie works. I like Moore's chemistry with Barbara Bach's Anya Amasova, love the moment when she seemingly falls for his charm just to get the microchip they obtained together to her boss first. She also has a backstory connected to Bond and is a very well-written character. I already said something about Jaws talking about Moonraker - his portrayal works a lot better here though, he is just a silent monster, his scenes take place in amazing sets - Egypt, we also get another train fight. This is also the movie that features the iconic Lotus Espirit, which converts into a submarine. Had this movie had a better main villain, it would be a contender for the top spot. As of now, it stands at third place in my rankings.

2. Casino Royale

The series was in desperate need of a reboot and it got one. We start our journey with the new 007 from the very beginning of his spy career. The plot is actually believable, which is very rare in Bond movies. Mads Mikkelsen's Le Chiffre is a gripping character, the poker duel between him and Craig is acted perfectly by both, despite the fact that the way the Poker tournament is shown hurts me a lot as a decent amateur player (four players left and they get a flush, a full house, a four of a kind and Bond has a friggin' straight flush??????), but I think that was a necessary move in order to keep the excitement high for everyone. The movie is very action-packed and doesn't leave the viewer bored at any point but the reason it works so well is actually Eva Green's Vesper Lynd. There was only one other instance in the series when the script allowed a Bond girl to develop her story arc so much (we'll get to that one soon, promise) and for the second time in the franchise, it pays off. Green is a fantastic actress and has amazing on-screen chemistry with Bond. That's what done so well in this movie - the relationship is developed in not so much screen time and it is still so credible anyway! The plot twists also work and I love the kind of open ending and the idea of Bond saying the iconic "Bond, James Bond" right before the credits. A much needed fresh start to the series and maybe the best movie about the 007.

1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service

Honestly, I don't think it's better than Casino Royale or From Russia with Love. I just decided to give the first place to my favorite James Bond movie and not the one I consider the best. This one has one big flaw - George Lazenby. The Australian just doesn't feel right here, he isn't funny, he looks more like a model than a fighter too. Recasting Telly Savalas as Blofeld allowed to fit in some scenes where Bond's archenemy is physically active. Lieutenant Kojak is a wonderful actor and he delivers here too, but casting him was a huge error when it comes to continuity - the plot of On Her Majesty's Secret Service wouldn't work if Blofeld and Bond saw each other before (which they did in the previous installment, You Only Live Twice - the reason for that confusion here is that On Her Majesty's... came out earlier as a book than You Only Live Twice). Ok, now to the good points - Irma Bunt is an amazing henchwoman but the reason for which you should love this movie is Diana Rigg as Contessa Tracy di Vicenzo - the relationship between her and Lazenby is built so well, she's the first one who managed to tame Bond and even becomes his wife at the end of the movie. Rigg is probably the best actress to have ever played a Bond girl and her performance here is just superb, she totally takes this film and makes it something else, something way, way better. The fact that Lazenby is a bad actor just doesn't really matter at this point, he kinda manages to find his own place in this movie and is pretty tolerable. Blofeld's plan is actually somewhat stupid but Savalas also has some chemistry with Lazenby and the bobsleigh ride stunt at the climax of the movie is marvelous. The emotional value in this movie is crazy, tell me you didn't shed a tear at the ending with the never more beautiful than in this moment "We Have All The Time in The World" by Louis Armstrong playing in the background.

To finish this off, I also wanted to look at where I ranked movies with the Bond actors.

-Connery - 4, 5, 9, 16, 17, 18, 23 (Three in the top 10 is awesome and he's my favorite Bond after all)
-Craig - 2, 7, 12, 20, 25 (Two huge duds, but I really don't think this was ever Craig's fault)
-Moore - 3, 10, 11, 13, 19, 22, 24 (I definitely find his tenure to be really inconsistent)
-Dalton - 6, 15 (Would probably rank much higher for me if he got more than two movies)
-Brosnan - 8, 14, 21, 26 (I think my dislike of his portrayal also influences my rankings a lot)
-Lazenby - 1 (Definitely not to his credit, he's a lucky bastard for having Diana Rigg next to him)

Thanks for reading!