Many people have their own views on and what the best Bond movies are, and there are many articles written on the subject. Well, here is my view on the matter.
Note: As with last time, this list does not include the unofficial James Bond films, Never Say Never Again (a remake of Thunderball which brought Sean Connery back during the Roger Moore era) or the parody film Casino Royale starring David Niven. Never Say Never Again and Casino Royale (the first one) have been deemed “not canon" and therefore do not appear on this list.
Now that preliminary matters have been dealt with, sit back, shake your cocktail mixer and get a little taste of classic Bond.
1. Casino Royale
In 2006, the James Bond franchise got revamped in the form of a very well written remake of Casino Royale. Taking advantage of current world events and technologies, the new 007 film has a darker, much more violent Bond for a new generation, that is more than able to go blow by blow with the new crop of action hero's, while also laying down the foundations which make James Bond the man he would eventually become.The somewhat controversial decision to cast Daniel Craig as James Bond turned out to be an exceptional choice with the dark, brooding character actor the perfect replacement for the dreadful Pierce Brosnan. With the Bond series starting from scratch, Craig brings originality to the character playing the super spy as ruthless, arrogant and cocky, but also bringing much more depth and emotion than any other actor before him. He wisely doesn't playing Bond the same way as Bronson, Sean Connery, Roger Moore or Timothy Dalton before him. Craig easily handles the debonair, coolest man on Earth mindset of Bond, but where he really makes the role his own is in how he gives Bond a less playful, more intense edge that always seems to be simmering just behind a condescending smirk or remark. The filmmakers also weren't afraid to poke fun at the spy legend; Craig cheekily adopts the Ursula Andress beach emergence as his own, and watching Bond say he does not give a damn if his Vodka-martini is shaken or stirred seems to come close to blasphemy. Yet many of the Bond staples are still present; the Aston Martini, the beautiful women and a very good title song by Chris Cornell.
The back to basics approach is refreshing as Bond isn’t overshadowed by the latest gadgets or souped-up car. “Royale” is all about Bond, but the filmmakers wisely bring back Judi Dench to reprise her role of “M” for a fifth consecutive Bond adventure, where she makes the most out of her limited screen time. The extremely beautiful Eva Green proves to be much more than Bond girl eye candy, with the chemistry between the French actress and Craig undeniable. Mads Mikkelsen is eerily creepy as Le Chiffre, whose credentials of a mathematical genius and chess prodigy who weeps blood the are perfect villainous attributes.
In this film, Bond is a straight up brawler and at one point literally runs through walls chasing after his prey in an awesome extended fight scene. Running at almost 2 ½ hours, Casino Royale sure does provide plenty of bang for your buck but runs a too long, and this is enough reason to drop the rating from what could have potentially been a five star film.
2. Dr. No
This is about as perfect a franchise-starter as you could imagine and certainly accomplishes the task of leaving you eagerly anticipating Bond’s next adventure. What stands out most is, even in his debut, Connery commands the role like he’s been playing Bond for years. From the moment he shows up on screen, he’s James Bond: and Connery is the perfect center to base this 007 world around, with a cool presence that makes him just as relatable when he’s checking out a hot girl on a beach, irritating his boss or going nuts with a shoe to make sure a spider is dead. Connery’s Bond isn’t the most brilliant guy around and just simply seems like a regular guy that every guy aspires to be in a way that few of his successors accomplish. The scene that best epitomizes the character involves Bond and the devious Miss Taro (Zena Marshall). Bond’s already figured she’s no good, but she’s hot enough for him to sleep with her twice, kick her out and then kill her would-be-assassin partner.Similar to Daniel Craig in his debut in Casino Royale, Connery's Bond isn’t spoiled by souped-up secret gadgets — his most exotic upgrade is a Walther PPK with a silencer — but some of the more lasting trademarks of the franchise are already in place. Like a strictly business commanding officer, M (Bernard Lee), the flirtatious banter with Miss Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell) and a staggeringly gorgeous Bond Girl in Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress, who sets a ridiculously high standard for future Bond girls).
The low-key mystery plot (where Bond is dispatched to Jamaica to investigate the disappearance of a fellow agent and finds himself in the middle of a plot to disrupt the U.S. space shuttle launch at Cape Canaveral) and the resolutely human-sized drama of it all makes this one of the sanest of all Bond pictures. Although somewhat rough around its edges, every series has to start somewhere, and this low and tame adventure is, again, the perfect franchise-starter. it is astonishing how well this film holds up and is every bit as engaging, suspenseful and entertaining as any of the more recent editions to the Bond mythos with bigger budgets, more expansive sets and exhilarating stunts.
3. The Spy Who Loved Me
Though Ian Fleming wrote a book called The Spy Who Loved Me, it thankfully has not a thing to do with the plot of this film. Making this the first in-name-only, original Bond movie, if "original" is the right word for a story that just pilfers from other things in the franchise: Bond vs. a pretty Russian spy, chasing after a cool piece of technology, (From Russia With Love) and the mysterious villain pitting the West against the USSR from his cartoonishly large base, (You Only Live Twice.)The theme song of The Spy Who Loved Me is fantastically well suited for the film: mysteriously fluttering strings always swell and retreat in the “James Bond Theme,” but the extremes of those musical dynamics never quite felt as dramatic and different as they do in the opening fanfare of The Spy Who Loved Me. The idea of injecting noticeably improved nuances into a familiar, rumbling rhythm almost doubles as Spy’s thesis. No more bizarre, if reasonably entertaining, diversions into blaxploitation and martial arts cinema. No more tin-whistle trivializations of some of the era’s finest stunt work. And, thank heavens, no more Sheriff J.W. Pepper.
The Spy Who Loved Me's global grandeur finally gave Roger Moore a truly worthwhile adventure — one as breathtakingly assured in acting and action that it’s no wonder Spy is his favorite. It kicks off with one of cinema’s most jaw-dropping stunts of all time, provides the shrewdest, most sophisticated characterization of a Bond love interest yet, climaxes in a ginormous Bond set by imaginative production designer Ken Adam, and introduces 007’s most physically frightening opponent ever.
This is a tremendous film that offers the best combination of japery and seriousness, without descending into the clowning that would be a part of all of Moore's subsequent adventures as Bond. Coming as it did at a time when the series was experiencing a bit of a dropoff in terms of box office revenue, this was the film that arguably rescued the franchise by giving it the definitive jolt it sorely needed.
4. Skyfall
Skyfall both eulogized and kick started a long-thriving enterprise that seemed to have run out of gas with the underwhelming Quantum of Solace. There aren’t many franchises that this applies to, but if anyone ever needs advice on how to make a 50-year-old movie series seem fresh and relevant again, “Skyfall” is the model. James Bond’s 23rd outing, in which he is once again played by a steely-eyed Daniel Craig, is an explosively entertaining mix of old and new, giving the die-hard fans what they want without ignoring the problems associated with a character who’s been around for half a century.Adding to that pleasure are a trio of newcomers in Ben Whishaw (the best thing in “Cloud Atlas”), Ralph Fiennes and the gorgeous Naomie Harris (from “The Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise), who are all destined to become Bond fixtures going forward – and with good reason. To say more about any of them would only spoil three of the dozens of surprises writers Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan want to spring, as they cleverly bring the Bond franchise full circle from where it started. Suffice it to say, the Bond we began with isn’t the Bond we end up with. But even though he may have transformed, much of what surrounds him remains as it was when “Dr. No” first brought Ian Fleming’s brilliant creation to the screen in the fall of 1962.
From the dynamite opening sequence, (a franchise high point) to the globe-trotting espionage. From the hand-to-hand combat to Bond’s resourceful use of weapons and the exotic ladies in Bond’s bed, Skyfall delivers over two-and-a-half hours of pulsating entertainment that will leave you shaken - and stirred. It packs more sheer, satisfying entertainment into its runtime than any Bond film before it except one. It’s not just a terrific Bond movie; it’s a terrific movie, period.
5. Goldfinger
It took until the third installment of the Ian Fleming-based James Bond spy movie franchise for its identity to crystallize. Following on the successful heels of Dr. No and From Russia with Love— both directed by Terence Young, Sean Connery’s early mentor for the urbane leading role — Goldfinger marked a significant upgrade in production values that would make everything about the franchise iconic.Budgeted at more than the cost of the first two films combined, Goldfinger launched the ritual of beginning each subsequent Bond film with a stand-alone mission sequence for the fictional British MI6 agent, known by his code number 007, to show off his stuff. Other customs follow. An assignment meeting with British Secret Service head M allows for the otherwise autonomous Mr. Bond to have his feathers clipped while being informed of his latest mission. A little office flirtation with M’s secretary Ms. Moneypenny segues into a meeting with resident gadget master Q, who gets Bond up to speed on the state-of-the-art devices that the audience can expect to see employed throughout the movie. From here on, female characters would be sexier and more dangerous, yet also more likely to die. Exotic set pieces would be epic in scale. The series’ signature nuanced tone, straddling dualities such as dry humor and outrageous danger, would be more pronounced.
Goldfinger is practically the template for the modern action blockbuster, yet still it’s impossible to hate. In fact, it’s deucedly hard not to love, simply because everything it does, it does so much better than its inheritors. A handful of other Bond flicks qualify as more “serious” suspense, and one (Skyfall) even borders on flawless. But Goldfinger will always be the best, for the same reason the Beatles will always be the best rock act and Peanuts will always be the best American comic strip: It’s a phenomenon that defines its category.
