# Let's rank the Bond films! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 24, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-the-bond-films/381682 "2006-11-24T21:20:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-the-bond-films/381682/1 "2006-11-24T21:20:24Z")
[Entertainment Weekly](http://www.ew.com/ew/article/commentary/0,6115,1560072_1_0_,00.html) has published a list of their rankings of the 20 Bond films. I like how they’ve rated On Her Majesty’s Secret Service at number 5. This movie is vastly underrated. Thunderball is rated too high. This movie is very slow paced and the SCUBA scenes are interminable. I really like Live and Let Die, but not sure I’d place it at number 3. Probably around 10 or so. ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_A\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-the-bond-films/381682/2 "2006-11-24T21:28:01Z")
Well, they placed The World Is Not Enough exactly where it belongs. I might watch it again on mute and with all the scenes without Denise Richards removed. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-the-bond-films/381682/3 "2006-11-24T21:28:03Z")
I **hate** the way they make you plod through their pages instead of just having a list. I didn’t bother. So I’ll just say that my top two are _Dr. No_ and _Goldfinger_. For a long time the former was in the top spot. I liked that Bond didn’t rely on gadgets, and that it was shot for such a low budget ($1 million, IIRC). Now it’s a bit of a toss-up, with a possible edge going to the latter. _Goldfinger_ has Bond as suave as ever, plus the trademark Aston Martin and the beautiful alpine shots. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-the-bond-films/381682/4 "2006-11-24T21:29:07Z")
Incidentally, IMO OHMSS is the most true to the book upon which it was based. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-the-bond-films/381682/5 "2006-11-24T22:13:49Z")
_Die Another Day_ and _Diamonds Are Forever_ make it almost halfway up the list, while _The Living Daylights_ (nearly as underrated as _On Her Majesty’s Secret Service_, and with some great _The Third Man_ and _Lawrence of Arabia_ references, too) is at 16 (I think…I’m not going back to check)? And how the heck do _Live And Let Die_ and _You Only Live Twice_ get the #3 and #2 spots respectively, while _For Your Eyes Only_ (the best of the Moore films) gets such a low rate? My off-the cuff ranking:[ol][li]_On Her Majesty’s Secret Service_[/li][li]_From Russia With Love_[/li][li]_The Living Daylights_[/li][li]_Goldfinger_[/li][li]_For Your Eyes Only_[/li][li]_Thunderball_[/li][li]_Dr. No_[/li][li]_blah_[/li][li]_blah_[/li][li]_blah_[/li][li]_blah_[/li][li]_blah_[/li][li]_blah_[/li][li]_blah_[/li][li]_blah_[/li][li]_blah_[/li][li]_Diamonds Are Forever_[/li][li]_The Man With The Golden Gun_[/li][li]_The World Is Not Enough_[/li][li]_Die Another Day_[/ol][/li](The ones in the middle just aren’t worth ranking.) Save for a costarring turn by Michelle Yeoh and an awesomely campy performance by the always gorgeous Famke Jannsen, I could lose the Brosnan films without a twitch. They brought nothing to the table. I still haven’t seen the new Bond film yet (people just won’t commit, and I’m about to go without them) but I have high hopes that it’ll hit well above the mean. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-the-bond-films/381682/6 "2006-11-24T22:20:30Z")
Oh no, no no no, that won’t do at all. Both Dalton films are way too low - I’ll admit I may be alone in my secret, guilty love for “Licence to Kill”, but there is no way it deserves to be so neglected - not compared to “Die Another Day”, “Tomorrow Never Dies”, “Moonraker”, “Diamonds are Forever” and “Octopussy” “Dr No” and “For Your Eyes Only” are also both too low - and what’s the deal with “You Only Live Twice”? Cheez, lower middle of the pack at best! No problem, though, with “Goldfinger”. It’s one of the most entertaining films of all time as is. There should be a special category, though, for “Goldeneye (with Timothy Dalton as god intended)” which would be #2 easily. Where would those who have seen “Casino Royale” rank it? mm ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-the-bond-films/381682/7 "2006-11-24T22:40:58Z")
I guess they are limiting themselves to the EON productions, as there is no mention of _Never Say Never Again_ and the spoof verion of _Casino Royale_ Here’s my list: 1. _From Russia With Love_ (1963) 2. _Goldfinger_ (1964) 3. _Casino Royale_ (2006) 4. _On Her Majesty’s Secret Service_ (1969) 5. _The Spy Who Loved Me_ (1977) 6. _GoldenEye_ (1995) 7. _You Only Live Twice_ (1968) 8. _For Your Eyes Only_ (1981) 9. _The Living Daylights_ (1987) 10. _Dr. No_ (1963) 11-21: all the rest. If I were to choose the worst of all, it would have to be _The Man With the Golden Gun_ for its five-and-dime story and effects (1979) or _Tomorrow Never Dies_ (1997) for its complete waste of what must have been a very large budget indeed. As one might tell from the order on my list, I much prefer at least a little reality with my Bond. Connery remains the best embodiment of Bond in my book, although Daniel Craig in the most recent film has unquestionably nailed the character and I can’t wait to seem him do another one. But it’s not just Connery that makes the early films; the majority of the '60s efforts had an amoral wildness about them that wasn’t so common at the time, were fairly well-directed and, for the most part, contemplated the character of Bond and the implications of his chosen career path, rather than simply having him swan around as a tux-wearing action figure. Nevertheless, none of the series, except perhaps parts of _Russia_, _OHMSS_ and most effectively, _Casino Royale_, show the sort of Bond I’m most interested in: one who makes mistakes, suffers for them but eventually triumphs through a combination of thuggish guile and cleverness. While I thought Roger Moore was at least adequate for the role in his early films, time has not been kind to his efforts. He had the manifold problems of being, frankly, far too old in most of them, of having fallen into a time when the producers were clearly making live-action cartoons for as broad an unsophisticated worldwide audience as possible, and of several of them being directed by the absolutely god-awful Jon Glen. Dalton was not bad in _TLD_, but I’ve never quite gotten the attraction the fanboys have for this one as being near the top of the list, and _Licence to Kill_ similarly to most of Moore’s efforts, had horrible production design, lighting and direction. Brosnan’s first outing (directed by Martin Campbell of _Casino Royale_) remains his best effort; the rest, unfortunately, simply seem tired despite their generally good supporting casts and production values. That leaves us with the odd Bond out, Lazenby in _On Her Majesty’s Secret Service_. I’m glad to see that it has gained something of a cult reputation, as I’ve always thought it had one of the strongest stories and most emotional cores of the series, and Diana Rigg still and likely will forever remain my favorite Bond Girl _evah_… ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-the-bond-films/381682/8 "2006-11-25T00:37:17Z")
The only Bond Ifilms I have not seen are **Casino Royale** (the new one), and **Die Another Day** (lost interest by then). My own top 10, purely subjective of course: The Living Daylights (Dalton is hot hot hot as Bond) Dr. No (not yet gimmicky, great little period action flick) Goldfinger (THE classic Bond movie) The Man With the Golden Gun (Christopher Lee, Bond saved by schoolgirls, and Lulu) Octopussy (George MacDonald Fraser script) Never Say Never Again (Sean returns with Rowan Atkinson in an '80’s classic) Casino Royale (David Niven, Peter Sellers, Woody Allen) Goldeneye (okay, I’ll watch anything with Sean Bean) Live and Let Die (would have ranked higher if there had been more Geoffrey Holder) The Spy Who Loved Me (no particulare reason, just not as notably bad as some of the others) ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-the-bond-films/381682/9 "2006-11-25T00:42:59Z")
I vote for A view to Kill simply because of Christopher Walken’s awesome, awesome Bond villain. Rest of the movie was trash though. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-the-bond-films/381682/10 "2006-11-25T03:15:36Z")
I gotta go with the Sean Connery classics of the 1960s. I haven’t seen most of these movies in 40 years, but I remember scenes from them like it was yesterday. In no particular order: Goldfinger Thunderball You Only Live Twice From Russia With Love Dr. No Oh, and let’s throw Casino Royale in there at #6. Excellent flick. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-the-bond-films/381682/11 "2006-11-25T05:43:29Z")
The folks at EW need to re-calibrate their crack pipes. Here’s my current ranking, by groups, not counting _Casino Royale_, which I may see tomorrow. **The Top Seven, aka The Essentials:** _Dr. No From Russia with Love Goldfinger Thunderball On Her Majesty’s Secret Service The Living Daylights Licence to Kill_ **The Bottom Seven, aka The Dross:** _You Only Live Twice Diamonds are Forever Live and Let Die The Man with the Golden Gun Moonraker A View to a Kill Die Another Day_ **The Middle Six, aka The Rest:** _The Spy Who Loved Me For Your Eyes Only Octopussy GoldenEye Tomorrow Never Dies The World is Not Enough_ ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-the-bond-films/381682/12 "2006-11-25T14:40:41Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] So I’ll just say that my top two are _Dr. No_ and _Goldfinger_. For a long time the former was in the top spot. I liked that Bond didn’t rely on gadgets, and that it was shot for such a low budget ($1 million, IIRC). Now it’s a bit of a toss-up, with a possible edge going to the latter. _Goldfinger_ has Bond as suave as ever, plus the trademark Aston Martin and the beautiful alpine shots. [/QUOTE] Bang on. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-the-bond-films/381682/13 "2006-11-25T15:45:33Z")
I was disappointed by _Octopussy,_ if only because the title implied the female lead would have certain anatomical peculiarities. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-the-bond-films/381682/14 "2006-11-26T19:25:32Z")
You only live Twice ,No.! on my list. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-the-bond-films/381682/15 "2006-11-26T19:39:13Z")
I’m just happy to see that someone other than I has _On Her Majesty’s Secret Service_ at the top of their list. Thought I haven’t seen the new one, right now, George Lazenby is my favorite Bond. I wish he had made more of the films. ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-the-bond-films/381682/16 "2006-11-26T22:15:38Z")
Omigod, I don’t even know where to begin pointing out what incredible idiots those EW people must be. I’ve never liked Brosnan as Bond, but “A View to a Kill” is clearly the lowest point of the Bond franchise. And who knows why the EW people have it in for Dalton; his outings deserve much higher ranking than they gave them. And “From Russia with Love” at number 8 because the pacing is sometimes too slow? They must have seen a different cut of that movie than I’ve seen. And lower than “Goldeneye”??? Morons. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-the-bond-films/381682/17 "2006-11-26T22:39:31Z")
I would put \*\*A View to a Kill \*\* at dead last; the chase scene in a balloon summed up everything wrong with the franchise at that point. And all the Brosnan films were better than all the Dalton and Moore ones, with the possible exception of **Live and Let Die**. **Casino Royale** ranks near the top. Daniel Craig makes Connery look like a pussy! It just lacks a great theme song and title sequence. ---
**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:** [November 27, 2006, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-the-bond-films/381682/18 "2006-11-27T19:34:58Z")
Other than having On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and Goldfinger in the top 5, I’ve got to scratch my head at most of these rankings. My tastes aren’t everyone’s, but I’d put Moonraker dead last instead of 1/3 of the way above bottom. They write that Halle Berry was the best thing about Die Another Day, and I thought she was the worst. Doctor No was fine for its day, but lacked much of what we’ve come to love about James Bond. I hated Live and Let Die and You Only Live Twice, yet they rank them near the top. My rankings - with comments where I know most people disagree with me: 1. Goldfinger 2. The Man with the Golden Gun - many people dislike this one, but Scaramanga is my favorite villain, and that’s a big factor for me 3. From Russia With Love 4. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service 5. Octopussy - another one most people will disagree with; I loved cute touches like the chase through New Delhi in which Bond finds use for a bed of nails, a sword swallower’s sword and hot coals for firewalking, his disposable assistant uses the tennis racket, and Bond throws money into the crowd to stymie his pursuers, I loved the backgammon scene (“It’s not really all in the wrist, you know”), the “Most Dangerous Game”…it’s FUN to watch. 6. Tomorrow Never Dies - another generally unpopular one, but I like the media villain, Michelle Yeoh, and the remote-controlled car chase through the parking lot. 7. Diamonds Are Forever - Wint and Kidd are fun, Tiffany Case is a great Bond Girl, and Las Vegas is used to great effect. 8. Goldeneye 9. The Spy Who Loved Me 10. For Your Eyes Only 11. Thunderball 12. The World is Not Enough - many dislike Denise Richards, but Sophie Marceau makes up for it 13. The Living Daylights - That awesome theme song bumps it up amongst other middle-of-the-packers 14. Doctor No - As I said in my pre-amble, a decent action flick, but (understandably) missing a lot of what I think of as essential Bond elements 15. You Only Live Twice - Sean Connery is less believable as a Japanese man than Joseph Wiseman was as a (half) Chinese one 16. License to Kill 17. A View to A Kill - has its faults, but the fire-engine chase is one of my favorites 18. Die Another Day 19. Live and Let Die - “Let’s take everything we can think of associating with blacks and throw it into a James Bond movie.” Harlem, drug dealing, New Orleans and Voodoo all stuck together. Paul McCartney strangling a cow over the opening credits, Bond bedding a virgin naive enough to be thought of as statutory rape…how did anyone enjoy this?? 20. Moonraker ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-the-bond-films/381682/19 "2006-11-27T20:08:03Z")
Goldfinger - The gold standard. You Only Live Twice - The music, Little Nellie, rocket eating rocket hidden in a volcano, what’s not to like? Casino Royale - A belivable Bond. From Russia With Love - A classic. Diamonds Are Forever - Campy but entertaining. Doctor No - Yes. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service - Lazenby’s weak but the music’s outstanding and it’s entertaining. Thunderball - Old school. The Living Daylights - Tolerable. All the rest I lump. Either wasn’t impressed, can’t remember one from another or never even bothered to see it because it just looked awful. The Man with the Golden Gun Octopussy Tomorrow Never Dies Goldeneye The Spy Who Loved Me For Your Eyes Only The World is Not Enough License to Kill A View to A Kill Die Another Day Live and Let Die Moonraker ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-the-bond-films/381682/20 "2006-11-27T20:12:19Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] I **hate** the way they make you plod through their pages instead of just having a list. I didn’t bother. . [/QUOTE] Right. They are assholes. Thus, their list is to be ignored and despised. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-rank-the-bond-films/381682.md?page=2)