“Bond, James Bond.” Possibly the greatest hero in cinematic history, James Bond has been a figure of pop culture storytelling since the original novels by Ian Fleming hit bookshelves in the 1950s. Agent 007 felt like a very different sort of protagonist for a post-World War II world; unafraid to use sex and violence to his advantage, Bond wasn’t a straight-laced hero.
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He unquestionably became one of the most popular film characters of all-time. Over six decades have passed since the first Bond film, Dr. No, and audiences are still clamoring for more Bond-centric adventures. Here is every James Bond film, ranked by rewatchability.
27 ‘Die Another Day’
(2002)
Image via MGM
Die Another Day isn’t just the worst Bond film starring Pierce Brosnan, but a disrespectful film that didn’t reflect the character’s proud history. Die Another Day introduced a level of bad CGI, cartoonish villains, and explicit violence that felt incongruous with the more humble origins of the series. Even the worst Bond films have a sliver of realism to them, but any sense of reality was entirely absent in Die Another Day.
Although Halle Berry’s performance as Jinx gave Brosnan a partner who was his equal, it wasn’t enough to save the film that effectively killed his future as Bond.
die another day
Release Date November 17, 2002
Director Lee Tamahori
Cast Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry, Toby Stephens, Rosamund Pike, Rick Yune, Judi Dench
Rating PG-13
Runtime 133
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26 ‘Quantum of Solace’
(2008)
Image via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Quantum of Solace had the challenge of being produced amidst the 2008 WGA strike. As a result, the film feels like it doesn’t even belong in the Bond franchise at all. Quantum of Solace is less than two hours long, and features none of the fun spycraft, gadgets, or humor that is so essential to the series.
Although the idea of Daniel Craig’s Bond going on a path of vengeance after the death of Vesper Lyn (Eva Green) was a good one, Quantum of Solace simply felt like a generic revenge thriller that just happened to have Bond in it.
Quantum of Solace
Release Date October 31, 2008
Director Marc Forster
Cast Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric, Judi Dench, Giancarlo Giannini, Gemma Arterton
Rating PG-13
Runtime 106
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25 ‘Diamonds Are Forever’
(1971)
Diamonds Are Forever feels a little too close to the disastrous “legacy” sequels of the last few years. After George Lazenby had attempted to push the series in a more ambitious direction, Diamonds Are Forever saw Sean Connery returning to the role for a much safer, forgettable entry in the series. It essentially felt like The Rise of Skywalker of the Bond franchise, replacing any more ambitious ideas with the familiarity of what had come before.
Diamonds Are Forever contains a lot of sexist and homophobic humor that makes it one of the least rewatchable films in the series.
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24 ‘Casino Royale’
(1967)
Image via Columbia Pictures
Casino Royale is one of two “non-official” entries in the Bond series. The 1967 parody film took the first installment in the novel series and turned it into a complete farce that featured a revolving door of stars in the role of 007; Peter Sellers, David Niven, and Dr. No’s Ursula Andress all pop up at different points.
The film’s offbeat humor wasn’t particularly original in the 1960s, and it feels even more out of touch now. Casino Royale (1967)ranks low on rewatchability for the simple fact that it’s the only Bond film that features Woody Allen.
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23 ‘The Man With The Golden Gun’ (1974)
Image via United Artists
The Man With The Golden Gun is a terrible Bond film that just so happens to feature one of the franchise’s best villains. Christopher Lee’s performance as the villainous assassin Scaramanga is easily one of the toughest opponents Bond has ever faced. Everything else in The Man With The Golden Gun is rather dull.
Roger Moore’s 007 spends the majority of the film romancing different women instead of doing any detective work. Although the final duel between Lee and Moore is terrific, it’s the only redeeming aspect of an otherwise disappointing installment.
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22 ‘Octopussy’
(1983)
Image via MGM/UA Entertainment Co.
Octopussy may be the most infamous Bond film simply because of its title. While Moore was certainly aging out of the role at this point within the series, Octopussy features one of the franchise’s most exciting opening scenes thanks to the terrific aerial sequence.
Octopussy is best known as “the one where Bond dresses up as a clown,” but comedy and Bond often go hand in hand. The beefed up role for Desmond Llewelyn’s Q, Bond’s loyal gadget designer, certainly makes it one of the funniest entries in the series.
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21 ‘For Your Eyes Only’ (1981)
Image via United Artists
For Your Eyes Only felt like a counterintuitive film for Moore’s version of 007. It attempted to return the series to a more grounded place after Bond’s space adventure. This felt odd considering that Moore was always one of the goofier actors to play the character; the absence of comedy stole what made his version of Bond so unique.
Although For Your Eyes Only is a relatively standard entry in the series (featuring yet another nuclear subplot), it may have been better suited for one of the other Bond actors.
For Your Eyes Only
Release Date June 23, 1981
Director John Glen
Cast Roger Moore, Carole Bouquet, Topol, Lynn-Holly Johnson, Julian Glover, Cassandra Harris
Rating PG
Runtime 127
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20 ‘A View to a Kill’
(1985)
Image via MGM
A View to a Kill is the most inadvertently hilarious film within the Bond franchise. Christopher Walken’s performance as Max Zorin, a crazed Nazi dead set on destroying Silicon Valley with a giant blimp, single-handedly pushed the series into campiness.
Walken clearly wasn’t taking the material seriously, and the sheer number of goofy one-liners suggested that no one else was either. Although it doesn’t exactly feel true to the character that Fleming had originally written, A View To A Kill is still an entertaining guilty pleasure that shows a lighter side to Bond.
A View to a Kill
Release Date May 24, 1985
Director John Glen
Cast Roger Moore, Christopher Walken, Tanya Roberts, Grace Jones, Patrick Macnee, Patrick Bauchau
Rating PG
Runtime 131
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19 ‘Never Say Never Again’
(1983)
Image via Warner Bros.
Never Say Never Again may not be an “official’ Bond film, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth watching. The film marked Connery’s return to the role for the first time since Diamonds Are Forever, and the film itself served as a loose reworking of Thunderball. However, Connery accepted that he was an older version of the character; Never Say Never Again is one of the rare Bond films that actually understood that the character aged.
Never Say Never Again was helmed by The Empire Strikes Back director Irvin Kershner, who added a sense of maturity that had been absent within the Moore era of the franchise.
Never Say Never Again
Release Date October 7, 1983
Director Irvin Kershner
Cast Sean Connery, Kim Basinger, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Barbara Carrera, Max Von Sydow, Bernie Casey
Rating PG
Runtime 134
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18 ‘The World Is Not Enough’
(1999)
The World Is Not Enough is complete camp, but unlike Die Another Day, it still felt true to the series’ goals. Director Michael Apted added a propulsive sense of momentum to the film, which follows Bond’s adventures across the globe with the comically named nuclear physicist Dr. Christmas Jones (Denise Richards).
Richards and Brosnans’ chemistry isn’t great, but the terrific villainous performances from Robert Carlyle and Sophie Marceau more than make up for it. The World Is Not Enough also succeeded by positioning Judi Dench’s M into a more pivotal leading character.
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17 ‘Moonraker’
(1979)
Image via United Artists
The most ironic aspect of Moonraker is that it’s based on one of the most serious films within the original novel series. However, the surprise success of Star Wars in 1977 meant that in order for Bond to feel relevant, he had to go to space by the end of the decade.
Everything up until the lunar space sequence is rather typical Bond shenanigans, but the final sequence set above the Earth’s surface is so goofy that it makes Moonraker worth rewatching. The poorly aged visual effects actually make it funnier within a modern context.
Moonraker
Release Date June 26, 1979
Director Lewis Gilbert
Cast Roger Moore, Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale, Richard Kiel, Corinne Clery, Bernard Lee
Rating PG
Runtime 126
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16 ‘Spectre’
(2015)
Image via Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group
Spectre is a challenging Bond film. On one hand, it’s beautifully shot, features some of the franchise’s most stunning action sequences, and features a delightfully wicked performance by Christoph Waltz as the film’s antagonist. However, the film’s attempt to tie in various homages to other Bond films made Spectre feel like it was trying too hard to replicate what came before.
There’s a lot to like in Spectre; the “Day of the Dead” sequence is outstanding, and Léa Seydoux’s Madeleine Swann is one of Bond’ rare love interests that actually gets to participate in the story. However, it’s also a very long, bloated film that doesn’t immediately inspire a rewatch.
Spectre
Release Date October 26, 2015
Director Sam Mendes
Cast Dave Bautista, Christoph Waltz, Daniel Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Monica Bellucci, Lea Seydoux
Rating PG-13
Runtime 145
15 ‘Thunderball’
(1965)
Image via United Artists
Thunderball was Connery’s fourth appearance as Bond, and after a while, his charisma had waned a bit. It no longer felt “special” simply to see Connery in action, and the explicit sexism within Thunderball is much more apparent than it was in the earlier films within the series.
However, the terrific underwater combat sequences during the film’s climax does make up for some of the dull aspects of its first and second act. The film also benefited from having a more significant role for Rik Van Nutter’s Felix Leiter, Bond’s ally within the CIA.
Thunderball
Release Date December 11, 1965
Director Terence Young
Cast Sean Connery, Claudine Auger, Adolfo Celi, Luciana Paluzzi, Rik Van Nutter, Guy Doleman
Rating PG
Runtime 130
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14 ‘You Only Live Twice’
(1966)
Image via United Artists
You Only Live Twice was a great conclusion to Connery’s original run as Bond. Even though he would ultimately return to the character with both Diamonds Are Forever and Never Say Never Again, You Only Live Twice felt like the final act in Bond’s battle against SPECTRE. It forced Bond to go head-to-head with Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Donald Pleasence), the head of SPECTRE that was first glimpsed in Thunderball.
By giving Bond a more powerful antagonist, You Only Live Twice indicated that there was a larger threat that tied his previous adventures together.
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13 ‘Live and Let Die’
(1973)
Image via MGM
Live and Let Die couldn’t have been a better debut for Moore. Connery’s films had mostly stuck within the same genre, but Live and Let Die felt like a major stylistic departure for the series with its incorporation of blacksploitation influences. Bond goes to New Orleans, experiences voodoo, and gets into trouble with American crime lords; it felt like a 1970s crime thriller that happened to feature Fleming’s characters.
It’s also worth noting that Paul McCartney’s theme song is so good that it makes up for some of the film’s flaws; “Live and Let Die” has a great legacy on its own as a single.
12 ‘The Living Daylights’
(1987)
Image via MGM/UA Distribution Co.
The Living Daylights was a solid, if imperfect debut for Timothy Dalton’s version of Bond. Dalton was clearly a much more serious actor that was interested in respecting the darker nature of Fleming’s original source material.
Unfortunately, The Living Daylights still inherited some of the comedic sensibilities that had made more sense in the Moore era; Dalton didn’t feel quite as natural spouting off goofy quips. Although he introduced a darker sensibility to the character, Dalton would have to wait for his second Bond film in order to prove that he could change the tone of the series.
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11 ‘License to Kill’
(1989)
EON Productions
License to Kill was arguably the most grounded and realistic entry in the Bond series before the Craig era. Instead of giving Bond another assignment from MI6, the film put 007 on a revenge mission in order to avenge an attack on his friend Felix (Frank McRae).
License to Kill featured more violence than any other entry in the series up until that point; Dalton’s Bond is an almost uncontrollable killing machine. License to Kill may have swung the series a little too far in a different direction, but it felt like a breath of fresh air after the goofiness of A View To A Kill.
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10 ‘No Time To Die’
(2021)
No Time To Die makes some of the boldest choices in the entire franchise. The film showed Bond as a more vulnerable character, whose relationship with Swann had blossomed into a more serious relationship than anything he had engaged in before.
In many ways, No Time To Die is about more than just Bond; Naomie Harris’ Moneypenny, Ben Whishaw’s Q, Jeffrey Wright’s Felix, and Ralph Fiennes’ Mallory are equally important to the story. By tying in these supporting characters, No Time To Die felt like the conclusion to Craig’s entire run as the character.
No Time to Die
Release Date September 29, 2021
Director Cary Fukunaga
Cast Ana De Armas, Rami Malek, Ralph Fiennes, Daniel Craig, Lea Seydoux, Christoph Waltz
Rating PG-13
Runtime 167
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9 ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’
(1997)
Image via MGM
Tomorrow Never Dies actually fixes one of the biggest issues that the Bond franchise has had: sexism. While the Bond saga has often been accused of discounting its female characters, Michelle Yeoh’s Mai Lin is one of the best allies that Bond has ever worked with. She didn’t feel like a “Bond girl,” but an equal to him that was equally important to preventing a threat to world peace.
Jonathan Pryce gives a terrific performance as the film’s antagonist, Elliot Carver. The notion of a media mogul pedaling “fake news” is easily one of the more realistic ideas for a Bond villain.
Tomorrow Never Dies
Release Date December 11, 1997
Director Roger Spottiswoode
Cast Pierce Brosnan, Jonathan Pryce, Michelle Yeoh, Teri Hatcher, Ricky Jay, Götz Otto
Rating PG-13
Runtime 119
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8 ‘Dr. No’
(1962)
Image via Eon Productions
Dr. No set an amazing template for the rest of the series to follow. While not as action-packed as some of the other installments in the series, Dr. No focused on the practical spycraft and espionage that made it stand out within the Cold War era. Although the series would feature nuclear war as a potential consequence of Bond’s failure many times, it felt more realistic in Dr. No.
The titular villain, played brilliantly by Joseph Wiseman, laid the groundwork for the rest of the saga’s villains. Dr. Julius No simply wants to create chaos and destruction; is there a better motivation than that?
Dr. No
Release Date October 7, 1962
Director Terence Young
Cast Sean Connery, ursula andress, Joseph Wiseman, Jack Lord, Bernard Lee, Anthony Dawson
Rating PG
Runtime 110
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