James Bond Reviews: Our Verdict on Every Film

Our James Bond movie reviews cover 27 films, made up of 25 EON Productions films and two unofficial ones, and each film will have its own full review. These are reviews of the films, not video games. I take them the way a mechanic takes an engine, so each verdict comes down to how the set piece, stunt or plan is put together. If you want the full list in one place, the james bond movies hub has it, and the james bond movies ranked page puts them in strict order.

The best James Bond movies, in my opinion, are Goldfinger, Casino Royale (2006) and On Her Majesty's Secret Service, in that order. Goldfinger (1964), directed by Guy Hamilton, cost $3 million and earned $124.9 million worldwide. The pieces fit together cleanly: the gadget laden Aston Martin, the golf match, Harold Sakata's Oddjob, Honor Blackman's Pussy Galore and Gert Fröbe's Auric Goldfinger with a plan you can follow without a diagram. Casino Royale (2006) takes second because it rebuilt the character from the ground up. On Her Majesty's Secret Service takes third for its mountain stunts and its ambition.

Sean Connery played James Bond in six EON films, from Dr. No (1962) to Diamonds Are Forever (1971), with George Lazenby in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) between them. It is where the series wrote its own recipe, and I rate it the strongest stretch of the saga. Dr. No (1962), directed by Terence Young, had a reported UK premiere on 7 October 1962 and a reported US release on 8 May 1963. It earned $59.6 million worldwide on a $1 million budget, and it plays as a lean Jamaican thriller with Ursula Andress's Honey Ryder and Joseph Wiseman's villain. From Russia with Love doubled the budget to $2 million and brought a pre title sequence, with Robert Shaw as Red Grant and Lotte Lenya as Rosa Klebb.

Goldfinger had a reported UK premiere on 20 September 1964, and its US release on 22 December 1964 is confirmed. Thunderball (1965) lifted the budget to $9 million and won the Academy Award for Special Visual Effects for John Stears. The underwater battle in the Bahamas shows why, though I find the film slower whenever it climbs out of the water. You Only Live Twice (1967), directed by Lewis Gilbert, moves to Tokyo with Donald Pleasence as Ernst Stavro Blofeld and cost $9.5 million.

Then comes the odd one out. George Lazenby gets one film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), directed by Peter R. Hunt, and it took $82 million worldwide on an $8 million budget. At 142 minutes it gives Diana Rigg's Tracy room to matter, sets Telly Savalas's Blofeld in a mountaintop clinic in the Swiss Alps, and carries Louis Armstrong's "We Have All the Time in the World". Lazenby is not the most polished Bond, but the film makes him earn it.

Diamonds Are Forever (1971), directed by Guy Hamilton, brings Connery back for Amsterdam and Las Vegas, with Jill St. John as Tiffany Case and Charles Gray as Blofeld. It earned $116 million on a $7.2 million budget. It trades some of the earlier tension for a looser tone, and I place it in the bottom half of the Connery films, though Bruce Glover and Putter Smith as Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd are a memorable pair.

Roger Moore played James Bond in seven EON films, from Live and Let Die (1973) to A View to a Kill (1985), and I find them the most uneven of the series, and also the most fun to break down stunt by stunt. Live and Let Die (1973), directed by Guy Hamilton, introduced Moore alongside Yaphet Kotto, Jane Seymour as Solitaire, Geoffrey Holder's Baron Samedi and Clifton James as Sheriff J.W. Pepper. It returned $161.8 million on $7 million, with a George Martin score and the Wings title song.

The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) pairs Christopher Lee's Francisco Scaramanga with an AMC Hornet that performs the astro spiral jump, a practical stunt recognized by Guinness World Records. That jump is the reason to see it, for me. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), directed by Lewis Gilbert, gave us Richard Kiel's Jaws, Barbara Bach's Major Anya Amasova and the Lotus Esprit that turns into a submarine. One of the film's Lotus props later sold at auction for $989,000 to Elon Musk. It is my favorite Moore film.

Moonraker (1979) cost $31 million and earned $210.3 million, the biggest gross of Moore's run. Its space shuttle hijack is an ambitious set up, even if the tone is the broadest in the series. For Your Eyes Only (1981) marked John Glen's debut as director, with a $28 million budget, a Bill Conti score and Sheena Easton singing the title song. It is the most grounded Moore adventure. Octopussy (1983) goes from East Berlin to India with Maud Adams and Louis Jourdan, while A View to a Kill (1985) gives Christopher Walken's Max Zorin and Grace Jones's May Day to a story that Duran Duran's title song suits well.

Timothy Dalton made two EON films and Pierce Brosnan four, from The Living Daylights (1987) to Die Another Day (2002). I think both Dalton films have aged better than their grosses suggest. The Living Daylights (1987), directed by John Glen, cost $40 million and earned $191.2 million. It is the last Bond score by John Barry, and it casts Maryam D'Abo as Kara Milovy, a cellist caught up in a defection plot. Licence to Kill (1989) is the darkest of the early films: Robert Davi's Franz Sanchez, a revenge plot that begins at Felix Leiter's wedding, and a Michael Kamen score. It was the first PG-13 in the US and a 15 in the UK.

GoldenEye (1995), directed by Martin Campbell, earned $352.2 million on $60 million, with Sean Bean, Famke Janssen and Judi Dench as M. It is my pick of the Brosnan four. Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) pits Jonathan Pryce's media tycoon against Michelle Yeoh's Wai Lin. The World Is Not Enough (1999), directed by Michael Apted, opens with a Thames boat chase and was the last film for Desmond Llewelyn as Q.

Die Another Day (2002), directed by Lee Tamahori, earned $432 million, the best of the Brosnan films, with Halle Berry, Toby Stephens and a Madonna title song. Its North Korean opening and 14 months of captivity are bold. In my opinion, though, the later set pieces feel less physical than the stunts of the Moore and Dalton years.

Daniel Craig played James Bond in five EON films, from Casino Royale (2006) to No Time to Die (2021), and they hold the five highest worldwide grosses in the series. In my opinion it is also the most consistent run in the saga. Casino Royale (2006), directed by Martin Campbell, earned $606.4 million on $150 million. It builds from the Prague kill to a Miami airport chase and then a poker game in Montenegro, with Eva Green's Vesper Lynd and Mads Mikkelsen's Le Chiffre. It runs 144 minutes and I would not cut a scene.

Quantum of Solace (2008), directed by Marc Forster, runs 106 minutes and earned $589.6 million. The Bolivia scenes were shot in Chile, where Baquedano stood in for Bolivia, and the cutting is quick, but the revenge story holds together better on a second viewing. Skyfall (2012), directed by Sam Mendes, took $1.11 billion on $200 million. It has Javier Bardem's Silva, Ben Whishaw's Q, a Thomas Newman score and an Oscar for Adele's title song, the first Bond theme to win.

Spectre (2015) cost $245 million and earned $879.1 million. Its Day of the Dead opening in Mexico City is a strong set piece, and the Erfoud explosion earned a Guinness record. Christoph Waltz's Blofeld is the film's weak link for me. No Time to Die (2021), directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, is the longest at 163 minutes and earned $758.9 million. It has Rami Malek as Lyutsifer Safin, Lashana Lynch as Nomi, Hans Zimmer's score and a Billie Eilish title song.

The two unofficial films are Casino Royale (1967) and Never Say Never Again (1983), both made outside EON Productions and reviewed as spin-offs. Casino Royale (1967) is a spoof produced by Charles K. Feldman with five credited directors, a cast of Peter Sellers, David Niven, Ursula Andress and Orson Welles, and Burt Bacharach's "The Look of Love". It earned $41.7 million on $12 million. It is a curiosity, not a Bond film in the usual sense.

Never Say Never Again (1983), directed by Irvin Kershner, retells Thunderball with Sean Connery back as Bond, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Max von Sydow, Kim Basinger and Rowan Atkinson, and a Michel Legrand score. It was made by Jack Schwartzman's Taliafilm with Kevin McClory as executive producer. It earned $160 million on $36 million, and it arrived in the same year as Octopussy.

By box office, Daniel Craig is the most popular James Bond. His five films hold the five highest worldwide grosses, from Skyfall at $1.11 billion to Quantum of Solace at $589.6 million, and the next best is Die Another Day at $432 million. Those are unadjusted figures, so the older Connery and Moore films would look stronger once ticket prices are taken into account. For the full picture, see the james bond box office page.

Popularity and quality are different questions, and I would put Connery first for influence. Moore's best gross was Moonraker at $210.3 million, and Brosnan's was Die Another Day.

In my opinion Daniel Craig in Casino Royale (2006) and Timothy Dalton in The Living Daylights (1987) are the closest to Ian Fleming's cold, professional agent. Which actor counts as accurate depends on whether you mean accuracy to Fleming's novels or to the tone of the series. Quantum of Solace takes its title from a 1960 Fleming short story, though the film's plot is its own. Roger Moore played the lighter, wittier version and Sean Connery the template for the screen Bond. No actor is literally accurate, because every film adapts the source freely.

Yes, the earliest Bond films suit older children best: in the US, every official film from Dr. No (1962) to The Living Daylights (1987) is rated PG, though parents should still preview them. The 10 films from Licence to Kill onward are PG-13. In the UK, Licence to Kill and GoldenEye are rated 15, Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough are 12, and Die Another Day onward are 12A. My suggestion for younger viewers is Moonraker or Thunderball, which have spectacle and little graphic violence, and I would hold back Licence to Kill and Casino Royale (2006) for older teens.

The next Bond film is Bond 26, which is in development and has no title or release date. Amazon MGM Studios has creative control, Denis Villeneuve is directing, and Steven Knight is writing, with Amy Pascal and David Heyman producing. Casting is unconfirmed: TheWrap reported, citing Deadline insiders, that Jack Lowden, Callum Turner and Josh O'Connor were among four final screen tests, and Amazon MGM has confirmed none of them. A 2027 shoot and 2028 release are rumored targets only. See the next james bond movie page for updates.

Start with Goldfinger (1964) for the classic formula, or Casino Royale (2006) for the modern reboot. Then use the james bond movies in order guide to see which films to watch next, and the james bond cast page to see who played Bond in each era.