10. The Man with the Golden Gun (Guy Hamilton, 1974)
There are many aspects to hate about this movie (Mary Goodnight, Lulu's theme song, and the car flip for starters), but the reason this movie makes the Top 10 is for the sheer awesomeness of Christopher Lee, who recently passed away. His Francisco Scaramanga is infinitely more interesting than Roger Moore's James Bond, and who can forget his secret base- a Funhouse of terror!!! It's the sort of silly goodness that Moore's bonds excelled at, but they actually make a case here for Moore's ability to be both suave and deadly. Herve Villechaze is hillarious in it as well, as the midget henchman of Scaramanga. And Maud Adams excels at the ice-cold, yet damaged Bond Girl that we're sad to see go by the end. The climactic battle between Scaramanga and 007 is a highlight in the entire series, so despite all it's major faults, Lee's amazing work in the franchise earns The Man with the Golden Gun a spot in the Top 10.
9. Moonraker (Lewis Gilbert, 1979)
As you can tell, Moore's campy James Bond holds a special place in my heart. This was my favorite 007 as a child, so even though I find it droll and oftentimes boring now, I will always love seeing James Bond kick some bad guy butt in outer space. There's also some dark stuff going on in this movie: do you remember the woman getting eaten by dogs? Or the fact that bad guy Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale, with his quintessential villainous beard) tries to poison the entire population of Earth?!? Richard Kiel makes a welcome comeback as Jaws, and despite a cringe-worthy name, Lois Chile's Holly Goodhead is quite a spectacular Bond Girl. It was great seeing James Bond react to the Star Wars boom by literally going into outer space, and Moonraker is probably the best example of the campiness that a James Bond movie was capable of serving (I mean the space stuff is cheesy enough, but Bond fighting a python, duking it out with Jaws on a ski lift, and making the password to the secret lab the five-tone motif from Close Encounters of the Third Kind is nothing short of trashy brilliance).
8. You Only Live Twice (Lewis Gilbert, 1967)
I guess Lewis Gilbert had a thing for space. Anyways, for as slow as this movie is for much of the first and second acts, ultimate 007 baddie Ernst Stavro Blofeld has a VOLCANO LAIR. Plus, the crooning Nancy Sinatra theme song soars to unparalleled theme song heights (surpassed only by "Nobody Does It Better" from our #4 film), and the sweeping visuals of Japan are gorgeous to behold. The Little Nellie sequence is iconic for various reasons, and though it does practically nothing to further the plot, it is inspired action filmmaking. Donald Pleasance's performance as Blofeld is easily the best in his multiple incarnations, and the producers never got his casting quite right after this. His scar, his cat, his sheer villainous mannerisms are all pretty cool.
7. Thunderball (Terence Young, 1965)
Following up our #1 film is a monumental task, but Terence Young got pretty close to perfection with Thunderball. This is probably my favorite source novel in the Ian Fleming series, and the movie captures the kinetic energy quite well. It has some great spy stuff and gadgets as well, so that even when the plot slows down, you're never bored. Adolfo Celi's Emilio Largo is probably one of my favorite Bond villains (eyepatches should be an essential accessory for any white tuxedo), and he's one of the rare ones to be wonderful in both the dramatic scenes as well as the action ones. And though there's a lot of hatred for the underwater fights, I personally think they're some of the best shot scenes in the entire Bond oeuvre. It captures the spirit of the Cold War so well, and I'm still in love with the plot. Many publications have called this the best Bond film, and as you can tell, it's for good reason; very few Bond films work as well as Thunderball.
6. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Peter R. Hunt, 1969)
Ok, I know I'm going to get a lot of flack for this one, but have you actually watched this movie recently? It's a heck of a film. Sure, George Lazenby is largely unsuited for the role of James Bond. However, move past that one-off casting, and you've got one of the most spectacular Bond films ever devised. Blofeld's brilliant follow-up to the volcano lair in You Only Live Twice is a frozen ski resort on top of a mountain. The plot is more complicated than it has any right to be (something about brainwashing beautiful women so that they can convince the global governments to forgive SPECTRE?), but just admiring the mountain visuals is more than enough to satisfy the average moviegoer. The ski chase scene is impeccably crafted, and leaves viewers bobbing and weaving with our hero. However, the best part of this amazing movie is Diana Rigg's Tracy Draco, the ultimate Bond Girl for many reasons. Her tragic marriage to 007 ends the only way it possibly can- in gunfire- but it's the one time in the pre-Craig era that we see Bond cry. It's a humanizing and important move that has implications for the entire series that follows. Most people try to ignore OHMSS, but if you just give it a chance, you'll see that it's actually a very rewarding experience.
5. Casino Royale (Martin Campbell, 2006)
It barely classifies as a Bond movie, but Casino Royale's origin story/reboot/reinvention of the James Bond character is the closest thing the franchise has to a classic epic. A tale of love and betrayal, of learning not to care for anyone in order to do your job, and realizing that the only person you can trust is yourself, this film feels like a mythological legend than an action movie. Daniel Craig silences all naysayers (remember when we were complaining that we couldn't possibly want a "Blonde Bond"?) by making Bond intimately human, capable of making mistakes but still being suave, sophisticated, and above all else brutal. It's the darkest Bond movie ever made, and features some of the strongest secondary characters in any 007 flick. Mads Mikkelson makes a creepy villain, and Eva Green is nothing short of captivating as Vesper Lynd- both more than capable of holding their own in the same frame as Craig. It's a trio of truly inspired performances, leading to one of the best made action movies in the better part of a decade.
4. The Spy Who Loved Me (Lewis Gilbert, 1977)
The best Roger Moore film for many reasons, The Spy Who Loved Me reinvigorated the franchise after falling largely flat in the wake of Diamonds are Forever and Live and Let Die. It saw James Bond jump off the mountainside with a Union Jack parachute- an iconic image that when paired with the iconic Bond them makes it the stuff of legend. Moore finds the right balance of comedy and action here, allowing him to trade quips with Agent XXX (Barbara Bach) and fist fight the indomitable Jaws (Richard Kiel) in the same scene. The music is all kinds of 70's goodness, led by the greatest Bond theme of all time, "Nobody Does It Better". The action scenes are work and flow really nicely in this one, and the tension between England and Russia feels properly rooted in reality. The sets are also amazing, taking our heroes from the opening Alps ski chase, to the pyramids in Cairo, to an underwater base so menacing it looks like a spider and calls itself "Atlantis".
3. Goldeneye (Martin Campbell, 1995)
Out of all the Bond movies ever made, Goldeneye was probably the riskiest endeavor. The Cold War had ended, a controversial Bond (Timothy Dalton) had just shamefully left the franchise, and Albert R. Broccoli's (the godfather of the franchise and it's constant producer since Dr. No) health was rapidly deteriorating. The world was left wondering whether Bond was even relevant anymore. However, as seen on many occasions, the filmmakers behind Bond work best when the odds are stacked against them. For Goldeneye is a near-perfect Bond movie, made with a precision and excellence that's uncommon to most action films. Picking up the mantle left by her father, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson craft an excellent story from a post-Cold War environment, built upon the idea that the misfits left behind in the aftermath still want a war. Sean Bean is a great villain, and his Janus group (consisting of iconic characters like Xenia Onatopp, a disgraced Russian general, and Boris) is the best evil organization in the franchise besides SPECTRE. However, the most important part of Goldeneye is Pierce Brosnan- probably the definitive example of how Ian Fleming wanted Bond to look, walk, and talk. It shows how remnants of the Cold War still impact the world, and how only one man can save us... James Bond himself.
2. Skyfall (Sam Mendes, 2012)
Normally I hesitate to rank a recent movie so high on a Top 10 that spans across 50 years. However, I don't think anyone would argue that Skyfall is one of the best Bond movies ever made. It has all the right ingredients, but most importantly, it never loses sight that James Bond is the main character in this franchise. While many films' villains overshadow the hero, director Sam Mendes makes sure never to put anyone other than Daniel Craig's Bond in the spotlight. And that's hard to do when his co-stars are the criminally non-Oscar nominated performances of Judi Dench and Javier Bardem. Skyfall is the movie that makes M the Bond Girl, and makes it work so darn well- almost as well as Bardem in the IT-baddie role that's truly scary and creepy. The titular song by Adele harkens back to the original movies that made the franchise so succesfful, making Skyfall more of a traditional Bond arc than most of the Craig films. And it works really well- Moneypenny comes howling back with a vengeance, Q is quirkily reinvented as a young man, and Ralph Fiennes dutifully steps into the role of M will vigor and prominence. I love, love, love this movie, and any Bond fanatic should too.
1. Goldfinger (Guy Hamilton, 1964)
Was this ever not getting #1? Goldfinger sets up the Bond mythology by introducing for the first time (and never more effectively) in the perfect formula of the Bond Girl, Bond Villain, gadgets, cool car, henchmen, iconic quips/one-liners, and a plot so ludicrous it just might work. Sean Connery never shone as bright as he did when next to the likes of Auric Goldfinger and Pussy Galore- in many people's minds as the best Bond Girl/Bond Villain combination ever to grace the silver screen. What more can I say about this one? It doesn't get any better than this. Now, everybody start singing, "GOLLLLLLDDDDDD-FINGAHHHHHH", and buy your tickets to go see Spectre, in theaters everywhere now.
(NOTE: I will also say that if only the middle section of Die Another Day (the Ice Palace) existed, it would be in my Top 5. It's a shame that the horrifically terrible opening, and by-the-numbers ending overshadow a great sequence that includes Rosamund Pike being ice-cold and awesome, and Halle Berry beating Bond the punch by having some of the best double entendres in the franchise (though his "Mr. Kill" joke is pretty amazing).
