Our staff decided to group together and come up with a list of the best films in the 007, James Bond franchise. With Spectre rolling out this weekend, we decided to republish the article. Let us know which is your favourite, and be sure to check out our review of Spectre here. #1: From Russia With …
When naming the best and most influential actors who have portrayed James Bond, one might expect George Lazenby to pop up at the end of the list. After all, he only starred in a single film as the famous spy. However, Lazenby’s one entry, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), is now recognized as one …
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published May 5, 2015. Ian Fleming’s James Bond is one of the most recognizable and successful characters in modern popular culture. The novels have sold over 100 million copies, and the film franchise is the second most successful in history, having been recently displaced by the Harry Potter series. For most …
Casino Royale Directed by Martin Campbell Written by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade & Paul Haggis United Kingdom, USA, Czech Republic, and Germany, 2006 For reasons that escape me consciously, I’ve never been caught up in the James Bond phenomenon. I understand why the series holds such an allure to so many people—fast cars, beautiful …
Die Another Day Directed by Lee Tamahori Written by Neal Purvis (story) & Robert Wade 2002, UK The end of Die Another Day’s first act provides a set up to what could potentially have been one of the most freshly original Bond installments, an opportunity to explore deliciously dark corners of the iconic spy’s psyche. …
“There’s no point in living if you can’t feel alive”, Shirley Manson’s eerie and unmistakable voice sings in the melodic title tune to the 1999 James Bond film The World Is Not Enough. If you can get past the ridiculous concept of Denise Richards playing Dr. Christmas Jones, a nuclear physicist, The World Is Not Enough is a wonderfully entertaining addition to the Bond film series.
Tomorrow Never Dies Directed by Roger Spottiswoode Screenplay by Bruce Feirstein 1997, USA Goldeneye may have been the first Bond made in the ’90s, but Tomorrow Never Dies is the first ’90s Bond. Finally liberated from the remnants of the Cold War, the Bond era entered the global media age where moguls are the madmen …
Goldeneye Directed by Martin Campbell Written by Jeffrey Caine and Bruce Feirsein UK / USA The Essence of Bond has been shaped and re-shaped constantly over its 50-year run and that has been due to its mostly successful ability to plug into popular zeitgeist and meld that aesthetic with what makes Bond, well, Bond: Q …
The Living Daylights Directed by John Glen Written by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson 1987, USA It wasn’t guaranteed that the Daniel Craig films would successfully reboot James Bond, in part because such a restart had already been tried before. After 1985’s A View To a Kill, in which age had begun to show …
A View To Kill Directed by John Glen Screenplay by Michael G. Wilson and Richard Maibaum 1985, USA As soon as Roger Moore took over the role of James Bond, the franchise quickly devolved into a state of ridiculousness that rendered the entire series beyond parody. A View To a Kill, Moore’s final film as …
For Your Eyes Only Written by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson, based on Ian Fleming’s short stories “For Your Eyes only” and “Risico” Directed by John Glen UK, 1981, You probably have never heard this before, but my favourite James Bond film of all time, For Your Eyes Only, was the first 007 film …
Moonraker Directed by Lewis Gilbert Screenplay by Christopher Wood UK, 1979 Moonraker has the unique distinction of being the most absurd and over-the-top Bond film produced in 50 years of the series. Spy films exist in a genre unto themselves, but the Bond films sometimes like to crossover into other popular genres as well. The …
The Spy Who Loved Me Directed by Lewis Gilbert Screenplay by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum UK, 1977 There’s an undeniable lasting appeal to Bond. Lasting 50 years is certainly proof of that, but there’s something deeper. After all, one can point to Star Trek and Doctor Who as cultural icons that have stood the …
Live and Let Die Written by Tom Mankiewicz Directed by Guy Hamilton UK, 1973 1973’s Live and Let Die unleashed a new kind of Bond upon the world, a Bond whose bland propriety and vacuous quips would dominate the screen for another twelve years. Roger Moore, taking over for Sean Connery, the third different Bond …
From McCartney to Madonna, the definitive list of 007’s 24 title tunes
The most commercially successful Bond film to date is Thunderball. The pic earned over $141 million worldwide, of which more than half was generated domestically in the U.S. The film was such a success, it was remade some 18 years later as Never Say Never Again. This is without a doubt my favourite Bond film …
1: Dr No – Opening Title Sequence The schizophrenic title sequence introduces John Barry’s famous James Bond theme, but instead of transitioning into the now traditional pop song (which uses the title as a lyric), random portions of two calypso songs were used instead. This was also of course the first of Maurice Binder’s many …
Thunderball Directed by Terrence Young Written by John Hopkins and Richard Maibaum 1965, UK Being a relative novice to the James Bond canon, I have never grown accustomed to the many colorful details that have leaked from the Bond films into popular culture. Thunderball, as I discovered, is the home to many of the …
Goldfinger Directed by Guy Hamilton Screenplay by Richard Maibaum and Paul Dehn Starred: Sean Connery, Honor Blackman Released September 1964 by United Artists Even if you had never seen this film, just as with Ursula Andress rising from the waves like a bikini-clad version of Botticelli’s Venus in Dr. No, you’d recognize the iconic image. The …
Dr. No Directed by Terence Young Written by Richard Maibaum & Johanna Harwood 1962, UK Author, Ian Fleming had been seeking out a movie deal for nearly a decade until the rights for his novels were finally bought by producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli. Little did they know they would change the landscape …
The Bond franchise which has been with us so long, has become so deeply entrenched in popular culture, that we often forget what it was that first distinguished the Bonds a half-century ago. Skyfall might be one of the best of the Bonds, and even, arguably, one of the best big-budget big-action flicks to come …
The idea of a Michael Bay film being open to interpretive scrutiny is, quite frankly, so fanciful that it practically defies the laws of our known universe. As his champions are so fond of adamantly stating, his flicks are popcorn movies designed purely for entertainment and occasional pre-pubescent escapist wish fulfillment. But it is a …
