Best James Bond movies

Casino Royale▲ Rising

Daniel Craig stripped away decades of camp and reintroduced a Bond who bleeds, falls in love, and gets his heart broken by Vesper Lynd in a way that actually costs him something. The poker table tension and that brutal stairwell fight announced a franchise reboot done right, proving Bond could survive being taken seriously.

Year: 2006Director: Martin CampbellIMDb: 8/10Oscars: 0

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Goldfinger▲ Rising

The one that codified the formula: the Aston Martin DB5 with ejector seat, Oddjob's lethal bowler hat, and a laser threatening Bond's most prized asset. 'No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die' remains the genre's coldest line, and every Bond film since has been chasing this template's perfect balance of gadgetry, villainy, and swagger.

Year: 1964Director: Guy HamiltonIMDb: 7.7/10Oscars: 0

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Skyfall▲ Rising

Sam Mendes turned 007 into a meditation on aging and relevance, sending Bond home to a crumbling Scottish estate to confront Silva and his own obsolescence. Judi Dench's M gets the send-off she deserved, and the Adele theme plus Roger Deakins' cinematography made this the rare Bond film that's also just a great film.

Year: 2012Director: Sam MendesIMDb: 7.8/10Oscars: 2

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From Russia with Love▲ Rising

Leaner and colder than its predecessor, this one trades gadget spectacle for genuine spy-craft tension, climaxing in that cramped, brutal train compartment brawl with Red Grant. Connery at his most calculating, it's the connoisseur's pick for the film where Bond felt most like an actual intelligence operative rather than a superhero.

Year: 1963Director: Terence YoungIMDb: 7.3/10Oscars: 0

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GoldenEye▲ Rising

Pierce Brosnan's debut resurrected the franchise after a six-year gap with a tank chase through St. Petersburg and tank-load of 90s charisma to spare. It's also the movie that spawned the N64 game an entire generation memorized frame by frame, cementing its cultural footprint well beyond the theater.

Year: 1995Director: Martin CampbellIMDb: 7.2/10Oscars: 0

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Dr. No▼ Falling

Where it all began: Sean Connery striding onto a casino floor, Ursula Andress emerging from the surf in that white bikini, and a villain's lair on a Caribbean island that set the blueprint for megalomaniac supervillainy. Rough around the edges by later standards, but its swagger invented the whole genre of spy cinema that followed.

Year: 1962Director: Terence YoungIMDb: 7.2/10Oscars: 0

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The Spy Who Loved Me▼ Falling

Roger Moore's finest hour delivers peak 70s Bond spectacle: a ski jump opening stunt with a Union Jack parachute, the submersible Lotus Esprit, and steel-toothed henchman Jaws. It's the platonic ideal of gadget-and-glamour Bond, unapologetically ridiculous and endlessly rewatchable for exactly that reason.

Year: 1977Director: Lewis GilbertIMDb: 7/10Oscars: 0

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No Time to Die▼ Falling

Daniel Craig's fifteen-year arc as 007 ends the only way it could — with an actual ending, something the franchise had never dared before. Sacrificing Bond himself for Madeleine and the daughter he barely knew, the film closes a genuinely serialized saga with a gut-punch finale that redefined what a Bond send-off could be.

Year: 2021Director: Cary Joji FukunagaIMDb: 7.3/10Oscars: 1

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