Audiences have been turning up in droves to watch James Bond’s spy adventures for 60 years. They enjoy the pure escapism, the exotic locales, and of course, the character of 007 himself. Bond is the ultimate gentleman spy. He’ll save the world and look good doing it.
Over the years, actors ranging from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig have captured 007’s ice-coolness, cold-bloodedness, and grace under pressure. Some Bond movies have come closer to capturing the character’s uniquely suave personality than others.
Dr. No (1962)
Terence Young and Sean Connery got it right out of the gate with the very first Bond movie, Dr. No, way back in 1962. Six decades later, Dr. No still holds up as a timeless spy adventure with all the fun and escapism that fans have come to expect.
From the moment he introduced himself as “Bond, James Bond” in the casino, Connery effortlessly embodied the role of 007 and made him an instant icon.
The Living Daylights (1987)
Timothy Dalton’s short-lived tenure in the role of 007 began with The Living Daylights. Like many Bond films, The Living Daylights starts off as a traditional spy actioner but later morphs into a love story.
While Dalton’s Bond is notoriously the darkest take on the character, The Living Daylights proves that he’s a hopeless romantic at heart. At the end of the movie, he risks assassination just to see Kara’s first performance as a solo cellist.
The World Is Not Enough (1999)
Pierce Brosnan’s penultimate Bond adventure, The World is Not Enough, starts off with a riff on The Bodyguard as 007 is assigned to protect an oil heiress who’s been targeted by a terrorist and ends up falling in love with her.
When the oil heiress turns out to be in cahoots with the terrorist, Bond doesn’t let the betrayal get to him. Instead, he uses it to fuel his vengeance – and maintains grace under fire the whole time.
Skyfall (2012)
After the gritty self-seriousness of Casino Royale (which used it to great effect) and Quantum of Solace (which used it to much lesser effect), Skyfall marked a welcome return to the pure escapism of classic Bond films. Sam Mendes brought back the Aston Martin, the wacky Q gadgets, and the far-fetched set-pieces.
There’s also an emotionally engaging arc in Skyfall as Bond struggles to protect M, who he sees as a maternal figure, from his latest foe. Appropriately, he takes this surrogate mother to his childhood home to hide out.
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
George Lazenby only ever played 007 in one movie, but that one movie – 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service – is often ranked as one of the best Bond films ever made, and widely considered to be the most masterfully crafted of the bunch from a cinematic perspective.
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is more of a love story than a spy caper. Most Bond romances feel one-note and tacked-on, but the romantic tragedy of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service works beautifully.
License To Kill (1989)
Timothy Dalton only starred in two Bond movies, but the second one marked a drastic tonal departure from the first one. The Living Daylights introduced Dalton as the darkest, edgiest, most brooding take on 007 to date, but License to Kill took that darkness to a new level.
The only Bond movie to be rated 15 in the UK, License to Kill is a straightforward revenge thriller in which 007 abandons his official MI6 duties to pursue a personal vendetta against a drug lord.
GoldenEye (1995)
Pierce Brosnan’s first film in the role of Bond, GoldenEye, has a real emotional arc for 007. Bond films usually focus on external conflicts, but GoldenEye has an internal conflict as Bond mourns the loss of 006 and struggles with the guilt of failing to save him.
What’s even worse is that 006 turns out to be alive – and he’s the mysterious Janus that Bond is trying to thwart. Brosnan’s Bond debut combines all the best parts of previous portrayals of the character: Connery’s coolness, Lazenby’s heart of gold, Moore’s sense of humor, and Dalton’s grizzled edge.
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me is by far the most widely acclaimed movie from the Roger Moore era. It’s the ultimate 007 adventure, opening with a daring parachute jump, closing with a showdown on a supertanker, and filling in the middle with a rooftop fight, a submersible sports car, and a steel-toothed henchman taking a bite out of a killer shark.
Moore always nailed Bond’s wry cynicism, but he brought a layer of sincerity to The Spy Who Loved Me as 007 tried to earn forgiveness for killing his latest love interest’s boyfriend on a recent mission.
Casino Royale (2006)
Daniel Craig’s first Bond outing, Casino Royale, is an origin story detailing how Bond earned his 00 status and his license to kill. On top of that, after falling in love and being betrayed, Casino Royale depicts the heartache that turned 007 into a cold-blooded killer.
Craig captured Bond’s personality perfectly from the get-go. This younger, less experienced version of 007 is more reckless. During a construction site chase, when Bond’s perp jumps over a wall, Bond just smashes right through the wall.
Goldfinger (1964)
Connery solidified the lasting legacy of the Bond franchise with an initial run of three masterpieces that tapped into the contemporary zeitgeist and still hold up after more than half a century. This three-movie run culminated in Goldfinger, which cemented the now-familiar Bond formula.
From the eccentric titular villain to the final battle at Fort Knox, Goldfinger both established the formula and nailed it from the offset. Casually lighting a cigarette while a drug lab explodes behind him, Connery’s Bond is as effortlessly suave as ever in Goldfinger.