# James Bond movies **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 2, 2001, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-movies/96388 "2001-12-02T01:03:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-movies/96388/1 "2001-12-02T01:03:48Z")
My nephew is 11 1/2 and has just discovered a passion for James Bond movies. He has seen a documentary about James Bond, and all three of the Pierce Brosnan movies (which my sister/his aunt owns). He is asking for James Bond movies for Christmas. Which one(s) would be the best for a new fan? ---
**Author:** ![JosephFinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3bc359/32.png) [@JosephFinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JosephFinn)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-movies/96388/2 "2001-12-02T04:06:05Z")
Goldfinger. It’s considered the best by many, and is a damn fine action film. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-movies/96388/3 "2001-12-02T08:13:00Z")
I would nominate _Thunderball_ after _Goldfinger_. It has a great enemy, a great plot, great performances, and the coolest underwater battle sequence ever filmed. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-movies/96388/4 "2001-12-02T08:58:16Z")
My personal favorite is \*Live And Let Die. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-movies/96388/5 "2001-12-02T09:08:52Z")
I’d add From Russia With Love after Goldfinger, but before Thunderball. It has the best fight scene in any Bond movie, and the best henchman (Red Grant) after Oddjob. In addition to the Bronson movies, I would classify the remaining films in three categories: **Must Haves:** Goldfinger (Connery) From Russia With Love (Connery) Thunderball (Connery) The Spy Who Loved Me (Moore) For Your Eyes Only (Moore) License to Kill (Dalton) **Good Additions:** On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (Lazenby) You Only Live Twice (Connery) Live and Let Die (Moore) Octopussy (Moore) The Living Daylights (Dalton) **For Completists Only:** Moonraker (Moore) A View to a Kill (Moore) The Man With the Golden Gun (Moore) Diamonds are Forever (Connery) ---
**Author:** ![Barking\_Spider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Barking\_Spider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barking_Spider)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-movies/96388/6 "2001-12-02T20:57:20Z")
Thanks for reminding me! I’m going to drop some hints to my wife to pick me up some Bond movies for Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-movies/96388/7 "2001-12-02T21:39:17Z")
I’d have to agree with **Spoofe**. As a long time Bond fan, I think _Goldfinger and Thunderball_ are the best representatives of the series. Oh, IMHO, anything _Roger Moore_ did trying while pretending to play 007 is utter garbage. Of course, I admit to being old school and thinking that Connery _was_ Bond for the better part of my youth. Only recently have I begun to consider that he has a legitimate son in Pierce Brosnan. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-movies/96388/8 "2001-12-02T22:09:48Z")
D’oh! I can’t believe I left Dr. No off of my list. Please consider it added to the **Good Additions** list. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-movies/96388/9 "2001-12-03T02:53:25Z")
My personal opinion, only, but I think each Bond did at least one good flick, there’s at least something good with each Bond film, and I think that Lazenby, Dalton, and Brosnan are better than they’re given credit for. Oh, and Connery was easil the best Bond ever. My picks: **From Russia with Love Thunderball On Her Majesty’s Secret Service For Your Eyes Only The Living Daylights** I like **Goldfinger** , but I don’t worship it the way so many do. (Some people complain that Thunderball is too damned long. I say Goldfinger – the shortest Bond film – is too damned short.) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-movies/96388/10 "2001-12-03T05:38:37Z")
_On Her Majesty’s Secret Service_ is the only Bond movie I’ve ever cried at the end (although I might have been premenstrual). Louis Armstrong singing, “We have all the time in the world…” and me then remembering that we might not, even if my lover isn’t killed by Blofeld…sniffle. It’s also a good lesson for a prepubescent boy: don’t think with your dick (since Bond gets bopped easily going for the girl-bait), and conversely, kilts are sexy and make it easier for girls to write their room numbers on your muscular inner thigh. I do like the Bond music CD, [Best of Bond](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00001YVFB/qid=1007357510/sr=2-2/ref=sr_2_15_2/002-2338294-5052803) Stuff like that’s always good for sing-alongs in the car, better than the polly-wolly-doodle-all-day nonsense. Though, occasionally I find myself driving too fast to it. But I’m a dork, and happy like that. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-movies/96388/11 "2001-12-03T15:12:27Z")
Just for the record, I think The Man With the Golden Gun is fantastic. Unlike the others, the villain isn’t plotting to take over of destroy the world, he’s simply an assassin (but a very good one) with his eye on Bond (sort of…it’s a lot more complex in the movie itself). I’d also highly recommend The Spy Who Loved Me. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-movies/96388/12 "2001-12-03T21:58:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Number Six \* > \*\*D’oh! I can’t believe I left Dr. No off of my list. Please consider it added to the _Good Additions_ list. \*\* I’d say **Never Say Never Again** belongs there as well. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-bond-movies/96388/13 "2001-12-04T00:45:27Z")
Thanks, guys. This helps a lot.