The 007 series has gone through numerous James Bond actors over the course of 26 films. As many actors as it's gone through, the massive saga has also incorporated any number of gadgets, one-liners, and villains.
With all this history, the franchise has plenty of gold to mine. From Connery to Moore to Dalton to early Brosnan, later Bond films have developed an affinity for referencing the past. Most homages took place in the Daniel Craig era, but there were some callbacks in a particular Brosnan film as well.
James Bond, Author In Die Another Day (2002)
On a Spectre Easter egg thread, scoobythebeast posited that a Pierce Brosnan 007 movie still held the title for the most meta entry in the franchise to date: "Nothing beats him picking up the book written by James Bond in Die Another Day." DibsODDJOB added, "Because DAD was an anniversary film, they crammed a ton of references on there...they went in Q's lab and picked up the exact prop gadgets from previous films, like the rebreather and jet pack."
If the viewer wasn't a Bond aficionado, they might not get how items such as the jetpack are referential to past installments. The book scene in the silly Bond movie is even more literal, as 007 picks up a book titled A Field Guide to Birds of the West Indies by real-life author James Bond. Franchise creator and novelist Ian Fleming was a birdwatcher and named the superspy after the author, according to The New York Times.
The Train Fight In Spectre (2015)
Spectre is an emotional James Bond movie as well as a brutal one. Never is this more clear than during Bond's train fight with Mr. Hinx (Dave Bautista). There's a bone-crunching grittiness to the fight that is very reminiscent of Sean Connery's 1960s fight scenes, and more than one Redditor has noticed the similarity.
Or, as lame_corprus wrote, "The whole train fight against Hinx was a FRWL reference, but in particular that move where Bond grabbed a bar with both hands and used both legs to kick was straight for Connery."
The Canal In Spectre
Daniel Craig will always at least partially be a movie star defined by his role as Bond, and the intensity displayed in the opening of Spectre is explanation enough.
Sirgraemecracker added to the comparisons between From Russia with Love and Spectre to go along with the Bond vs. Hinx train fight: "The bit in the canal with the boat, on the way to the new Q branch, was visually similar to the sewer in From Russia with Love." It's a good point, and while it's unclear if this was a directorial choice, the shots are reminiscent.
Spectre And On Her Majesty's Secret Service
A fair portion of Spectre takes place in the Alps. Bond goes to a clinic to gain more information on a particular member of the organization. This isn't all that dissimilar to his motivations in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, which also had a significant section take place in the Alps.
Anubis2051 stopped on a Spectre Easter egg thread to write "On Her Majesty's Secret Service - Mountaintop clinic in the Alps. Honestly, the whole movie has elements of OHMSS."
Delectados In No Time To Die (2021)
If any character provided as many great quotes as Daniel Craig's Bond villains, it was his era's rendition of Felix Leiter.
One Redditor brought up something specific about No Time to Die. Specifically, the brand of cigar smoked by Felix Leiter. In their words: "Felix was smoking a 'Delectados' cigar, which is from Die Another Day. Particularly hazardous for one's health...." For the sake of clarity, the Redditor is referring to a line of dialogue from that Brosnan-starring film.
Portraits In No Time To Die (2021)
The Craig Bond films had reverence for the past, and this was never more apparent than their reverence for the M position. Judi Dench's rendition of the character was, of course, honored after her death in Skyfall, but Spectre went so far as to honor both her and her cinematic predecessor.
Grandmofftalkin wrote, "I loved the Bernard Lee and Judi Dench portraits hanging in the hallway of MI6." However, there was a slight correction to be made. There's a Dench portrait, but it's Robert Brown, not Bernard Lee. For context, Brown was the actor who succeeded Lee in the portrayal of M.
The Yacht In No Time To Die (2021)
From Russia with Love concludes with Connery's Bond soaring down a river in a speedboat as a helicopter hovers, guns blazing, in pursuit. Casino Royale incorporated a similar, beautiful shot, just without the gunning chopper.
Grandmofftalkin added to their portrait shout-out with "Also his Spirit yacht in Jamaica was a nod to the one he and Vesper sailed into Venice in Casino Royale." It's a good catch, and one most Bond fans probably wouldn't pick up on, but it is most certainly there.
Toss The Tag In No Time To Die
One of the Connery years tropes was the tossing of the hat onto the rack by Moneypenny's desk. No Time to Die kept the torch lit, but used a different propellant.
Marty2015McFly asked about a subtle moment they thought they remembered: "Wasn't there a reference to Bond's throwing the hat into the stand somewhere. Did he throw something into Moneypenny's trash can or something like that?" Dj_deeb then responded with "He threw his visitor tag into the trash can after leaving M's office."