James Bond has been an ever-evolving character in cinema. The smooth-talking British MI-6 agent is a piece of pop culture and a character that will still be portrayed on screen for plenty of generations to come. In total, there are 27 Bond films. Some have wowed us, some are incredibly laughable and cringeworthy, and a few are incredible pieces of cinema.
It's time now to go from Roger Moore to Timothy Dalton. Sean Connery to Pierce Bronson, and Daniel Craig to George Lazenby. Bond girls to Bond villains, Q's to M's, and see how Rotten Tomatoes has ranked this long-lasting legacy of films given to us by the great Ian Flemming.
27 Casino Royale (1967) - 26%
The version of Casino Royale some of you may be thinking of won't come till later on this list. The original 1967 release of the film is quite the opposite in terms of tone. It's without a doubt a product of the swinging 1960s in London. In it, Bond is being brought out of retirement when a mysterious organization named SMERSH begins to kill off British secret agents.
Only in this version, it is more of a wacky comedy version of Ian Fleming's original first novel about the adventures of the British spy. Casino Royale sits at 26% on Rotten Tomatoes for obvious reasons. With a star-studded cast that includes Orson Wells, Peter Sellers, Woody Allen, Ursula Andress, John Huston, and David Niven as 007.
26 A View to a Kill (1985) - 37%
In Roger Moore's final outing as 007, A View to a Kill puts James Bond against the evil Mark Zorin (Christopher Walken), a titan of the tech world who has something evil on his mind. The last few Roger Moore films aren't known for being the best in the franchise, but A View to a Kill has some great set pieces. The shootout between Bond and Zorin's right hand by the name of May Day (played brilliantly by Grace Jones) on the Eiffel Tower is followed by a car chase through Paris. And some great sequences on the Golden Gate Bridge. It may sit at a dismal 37% on Rotten Tomatoes, but A View to a Kill is overlooked in some areas. You gotta love that theme song by Duran Duran.
25 The Man With the Golden Gun (1974) - 42%
Maybe not the most memorable Bond film overall with a 42% score, but The Man with the Golden Gun delivers a memorable villain. Christopher Lee plays Francisco Scaramanga. A hitman who lures Bond to a remote island, where the two face off in a climactic duel on the beach. It's Roger Moore's second outing as 007 in a film that oozes 1970s cinema. Lee and Moore have great chemistry in their showdown with one another. The Golden Gun would later be utilized in Bond video games, like the 1990s' Nintendo 64 game Goldeneye.
24 Octopussy (1983) - 42%
Yeah, you read that right: Octopussy is an actual Bond film. Only a title like that would work for either a James Bond movie or a... well, you get it. Octopussy is about Bond investigating the murder of fellow MI-6 agent 009. His search for what happened sends him to India, where he encounters a woman who uses her traveling circus as a smuggling ring as well and has something sinister planned. The 42% rating of the film is warranted; it's loaded with cheesy moments that were very prevalent in the Roger Moore era of Bond. But if you dig deeper on the internet, you'll learn that Octopussy has itself quite a cult following.
23 The World is Not Enough (1999) - 51%
Pierce Brosnan plays Bond for a third time in the franchise, as he is assigned to protect the daughter of an oil tycoon who has been murdered. Thus creating a power struggle for the world's oil supply. There are two things working really well for The World is Not Enough, despite its extremely mid-Rotten Tomatoes score of 51%.
It has one of the best Bond girl names, with Christmas Jones, played by Denise Richards. It also has an outlandish but enjoyable trope we sometimes see in Bond villains in the pre-Daniel Craig era. The bad guy always has some edge on Bond that feels very over the top. In the film, Robert Carlyle plays Renard, a man who has a bullet lodged in his brain, therefore making him unable to feel pain.
22 Die Another Day (2002) - 55%
Die Another Day has a score of 55% on Rotten Tomatoes and would be Brosnan's final outing as 007. In it, he serves a grueling prison sentence in North Korea. He believes he was double-crossed by one of his fellow agents, so once out, he tracks him down to Cuba, where he learns his new enemy and a British millionaire have their hands on a destructive laser. While all this is going on, Bond makes time to fancy an NSA Agent named Jinx (Halle Berry). The film was an interesting career move for Berry, as she had just won an Oscar a year and a half earlier. Die Another Day is an interesting Bond film. But one of its main criticisms is that the plot and a lot of unrealistic stunts and action sequences in the film that don't really fit in the world of 007.
21 Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) - 57%
Tomorrow Never Dies has a lot to live up to, as it came off the heels of Goldeneye two years earlier. With a Tomato ranking of 57%, it's a shame it didn't live up to it, but it is still an interesting plot for a Bond film. With a Bond villain named Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce), who thinks his news empire can take over the world until China rejects it from having a presence there. Carver goes to war with the Chinese government. Bond teams up with Chinese secret agent Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh) to stop the madman.
20 Moonraker (1979) - 59%
Eventually, James Bond has to go into space. Moonraker is a film that may be easy to criticize, but like most 70s Bond films, it is very much of the era it was produced in and has achieved cult film status in recent years. With science fiction epics like Star Wars released a few years earlier, Bond had to dabble in the genre as well. This is a film that takes 007 (Roger Moore) from Venice to Rio de Janeiro to outer space. Bond has to save all life on earth as he must go toe-to-toe with evil industrialist Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale), who has hijacked an American space shuttle. This film also has one of the best bad guy henchmen in the entire franchise, Jaws (Richard Kiel).
19 Diamonds Are Forever (1971) - 63%
Another great location that Bond was bound to have a mission at was Las Vegas. With a 63% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Diamonds Are Forever has 007 infiltrate the world of diamond smuggling in an attempt to put a stop to a plot that targets Washington from a laser up in space. Bond is equipped with high-tech gear to face off against the villains in the film.
Diamonds Are Forever is the lowest rated score for a Sean Connery-led Bond film. But the film has a few standout elements. One of which is the theme song, orchestrated by John Barry and written by Don Black. The song is performed by Shirley Bassey, who has performed the most Bond theme songs of any performer. Kanye West would go on to sample the chorus for his song Diamonds From Sierra Leone.
18 Spectre (2015) - 63%
Spectre had a lot of hype going into its 2015 release. When you are following up 2012's Skyfall with the same director for both films, it feels like there is pressure to be better than one of the best Bond films of all time. Despite a mid-level rating of 63%, Spectre falls flat for many reasons. Bond gets a cryptic message from the past as he uncovers the existence of a sinister organization called SPECTRE. A known entity in the Bond universe, so to speak.
Due to a legal battle for many years, the title "Spectre" was not allowed to be used in Bond films for a while (more on that in a bit). As he gets closer to the organization, Bond learns of a connection between him and the enemy (Christoph Waltz). Spectre is a film criticized for being slow, with not a lot of action in its two and a half-hour run time. And a challenge to feel really engaged with the story.
17 Quantam of Solace (2008) - 64%
The great thing about the Daniel Craig 007 films is that there seems to be some linear connections between them. Quantum of Solace feels like a direct sequel to Casino Royale. Maybe not as good as its previous film, but it definitely has great parts. Quantum of Solace picks up not long after the death of Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) in the previous film. Bond's next mission is personal, as he seeks out the organization that coerced her, which is led by an evil businessman named Dominic Green (Mathieu Amalric). There never feels like there is a lot of 007 charm in the film due to him being on such a ruthless, vengeful path, but then again, this isn't your daddy's James Bond.
16 Live and Let Die (1973) - 66%
With one of the most standout Bond themes of all time by Sir Paul McCartney and Wings (and a decent cover of it by Guns n' Roses), Live and Let Die shows up on Rotten Tomatoes with a 66%. A film that feels like it's fusing two genres together: the British spy thriller and the blaxploitation films of the 1970s. In Live and Let Die, Bond (Roger Moore in his first outing) takes on Mr. Big (Yaphet Kotto), a man who is planning a vicious threat to the world that uses his self-made supply of heroin. Live and Let Die features Jane Seymour, a tarot card reader by the name of Solatiare, who uses her skills against Mr. Big. The film also features its first African American Bond girl, Gloria Hendry as Rosie Carver.
15 For Your Eyes Only (1981) - 69%
In For Your Eyes Only, 007 must retrieve a communications device before it lands in the hands of the Russians. The device controls British submarines, and once in the hands of the Russians, all hell could break loose. One thing that always defines a Bond movie is its diverse batch of dangerous set pieces that make you wonder how Bond is going to make it out alive. For Your Eyes Only has brilliant scenes, like the helicopter that he is flying that isn't under his control. The scene of him and Bond girl Melina (Carole Bouqet) tied to a rope underwater and being stalked by a shark that smells blood. And one of the best chases involving skiing ever recorded on film.
14 Never Say Never Again (1983) - 71%
At 71% on Rotten Tomatoes, Never Say Never Again has some controversy surrounding it. A rights battle ensued between the powers that be that owned the name James Bond and the companies that produced the intellectual property. It's a long-drawn-out battle, so read about all of it right here. Roger Moore had reportedly been stepping down as Bond, but then returned for his next outing in Octopussy. Sean Connery was brought back to reprise the role of 007 as a much older Bond, who was now in his fifties.
This all creating two Bond films being made by two separate entities in the same year. The title, Never Say Never Again, is a bit of a joke based on the fact that Connery said he'd never play the role again after Diamonds Are Forever. The whole plot revolves around Bond being older, as he is suspended due to a mess-up on a routine training mission. However, he's reinstated upon the robbery of two nuclear missiles by SPECTRE.
13 The Living Daylights (1987) - 73%
Timothy Dalton's first outing as James Bond received unexpectedly high praise, with a 73% Rotten Tomatoes score. The Living Daylights centers around Bond assisting a KGB officer defecting to his side; once this happens, a brand-new plot for the film takes shape. It's a Bond film with a lot of unexpected twists and turns. The Living Daylights delivers on great dual villain roles, one of which is an American arms dealer played by the great Joe Don Baker. Great chases, with cars that have high-tech gadgets. It's a shame we only got to see Timothy Dalton play 007 once more.
12 You Only Live Twice (1967) - 74%
You Only Live Twice has everything a Bond film needs to have. Action, mystery, an intriguing villain, and a global conspiracy that takes center stage in the film's third act. In Sean Connery's fifth appearance as James Bond, he fakes his own death to investigate the belief that there is an American and Russian spacecraft that has fallen from the sky and into the seas close to Japan. You Only Live Twice has an easy plot to follow; it's another testament to Connery being arguably the most entertaining Bond of all. Donald Pleasence in the role of Blofeld. You Only Live Twice also has a brief appearance from Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's grandfather, Peter Mavia, who gets into a tussle with 007.
11 License to Kill (1989) - 79%
License to Kill was the least financially successful Bond film in both the U.S. and Canada of the whole franchise. Yet it sits quite high on this list at 79% via Rotten Tomatoes. This film is yet another Bond revenge tale, as his best friend's wife is killed by the leader of a drug organization in South America. Bond goes undercover in the criminal organization as a hitman for the man he intends to kill. License to Kill was Timothy Dalton's last appearance as 007-- it seems that it was by his choice, though. Apparently MGM and the film's producer got into a lawsuit, which hung up any Bond films from being made until the middle of the 1990s. Dalton decided to move on to other roles rather than wait around for all this to be settled.
10 Goldeneye (1995) - 80%
What would happen after that lawsuit was settled was a new Bond film released in 1995 and the debut of Pierce Brosnan as the MI-6 agent. Goldeneye brought energy back to the franchise with its 80% score on Rotten Tomatoes and one of the greatest video game adaptations of all time, Nintendo 64's Goldeneye. In the film, 007 must take on a friend turned enemy, 006 Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean), who has taken hold of a satellite system that plans to use it as a weapon against Earth. Goldeneye is loaded with non-stop thrills and a great supporting cast that also includes Famke Janssen and Alan Cumming.
9 On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) - 81%
Some people forget about this one in the franchise. On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Bond is played by George Lazenby. During production of the film, it was announced that he would only play the role once. Sean Connery had announced he had retired from the role in the previous film, but would later return for Diamonds Are Forever. George Lazenby was a model and very unknown at the time, with no acting credits to his name. Despite that, a lot of things work for the film. The great Diana Rigg co-stars as Tracy Di Vicenzo, who teams up with Bond to stop SPECTRE from launching germ warfare on millions.
8 The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) - 82%
A lot of Bond film lovers think The Spy Who Loved Me is the best 007 film of the Roger Moore era. In it, Bond teams up with a Russian agent named Anya Amasova (Barbra Bach) to stop a man from launching nuclear warheads into New York City. There are thrilling chases in the mountains on skis, as well as an ocean-side chase sequence that gives us an underwater driving car. Although he appears two years later in Moonraker, this film was the debut of probably the most iconic henchman of the whole franchise, Jaws. Lastly, The Spy Who Loved Me, has one of the best cold opens of the franchise.