Every James Bond Movie Ranked From Worst To Best

There is nothing else quite like the James Bond series. These aren't just action movies — they're a tour of nearly 60 years of pop culture history, offering a glimpse into the trends and styles of any given era. Our tour guide on this journey is Agent 007, the avatar of cool, the guy who chases trends and makes them. To binge the James Bond movies in this day and age is to understand what audiences wanted out of an action hero over the decades. And sometimes, what producers thought audiences wanted.

This delirious, intentional inconsistency makes ranking the entire series a tricky effort. How do you measure an old school (in every sense of the word) movie like "Dr. No" against a slick, uber-'90s production like "GoldenEye"? That was the hill the /Film staff had to climb to assemble this list, which is sometimes obvious, sometimes surprising, and will probably enrage more than a few diehard James Bond fans. But that's okay. What is 007 fandom if not an excuse to argue about the best and the worst of the series? Let's leap right in. 

Note: this ranking does not include "No Time to Die," but it will be updated shortly once everyone who participated has had a chance to see the movie.

What happens when James Bond gets old? The latest Daniel Craig films explore this (and do a fine job doing so), but the Roger Moore years weren't prepared to confront this. Instead, the film acts like its leading man is still as spry as ever and the dissonance is hard to watch. Moore looks like a grandfather, and the film insists he's still the dashing, unstoppable action hero he was a decade prior. The result is... Well, it's hard to watch. It doesn't help that the plot surrounding Moore is as forgettable as Bond storylines get (the villain wants to flood Silicon Valley) and with the exception of Christopher Walken and Grace Jones as deranged villains, the supporting cast is a snooze. Moore's tenure ended on one of the franchise's biggest lows. (Jacob Hall)

"You Only Live Twice" set the standard for James Bond goofiness. Donald Pleasance's Blofeld, with his cat, grey suit, and scarred face, became the template for all pop culture villains going forward. The plot involves a secret lair inside a hollowed-out volcano from which the villains are stealing American and Soviet spacecraft. Sean Connery pilots a helicopter that fits in a suitcase. It's wild and silly and played just straight enough to keep us invested. But the Japanese setting proves to be a double-edged sword. On one level, it's fun to see Bond having adventures in Tokyo. On the other, the film's treatment of its Japanese characters is often insensitive at best, culminating in a damning subplot where Bond has surgery to "become Japanese." As fun as the film can be, "You Only Live Twice" comes from a very different time and it's tough to stomach. (Jacob Hall)

"Octopussy" is the most absurdly named Bond film and a lackluster entry in the Moore canon. The snapshot from this film that's burned into my head the most is Moore wearing a clown suit at a circus – an image which feels like an apt metaphor for this downward period in the storied franchise's history. During the standard scene in which Q outfits Bond with new gadgets, Bond actually uses a video camera to zoom in and out on a woman's cleavage; these movies have always been about the intersection between action and sex, but they're rarely this literal about creating titillating imagery. As usual, though, there are some cool action beats that help to counteract those off-kilter moments: this film's opening plane chase and its lengthy train chase still hold up pretty well. (Ben Pearson)

"Spectre" is not all bad. Dave Bautista's Mr. Hinx is a nice throwback to the types of archetypal villains Bond faced off against earlier in the series, and Jesper Christensen is suitably creepy and unnerving as Mr. White. The opening Day of the Dead action scene looks like it took a lot of work to accomplish. But other than those small bright spots, "Spectre" is dismal. I feel second-hand cringe on behalf of the writers and producers for thinking it was a good idea to retcon every major event of the Daniel Craig era into being orchestrated by Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), and the decision to make them half-brothers is nothing less than wildly misguided. Simply put, this is one of the most embarrassing blockbusters of the modern era. (Ben Pearson)

Roger Moore's first outing as 007 is a memorable one: he runs across alligator backs, faces off against a voodoo priest, out-maneuvers a racist sheriff, and seduces a young Jane Seymour. Moore's tenure is overtly goofier than any other Bond actors' (with the possible exception of Brosnan's), and you can feel the tension between that goofiness (J.W. Pepper, anyone?) and the desire for Moore to be a suave, cool, fresh iteration of the super spy. These films have always reflected the trends of their era, so perhaps it was inevitable that a Bond movie would lean into the staples of blaxploitation. But the decision to embrace the supernatural leads to one of the most baffling endings of any Bond film. Kick-ass theme song, though! (Ben Pearson)

"License to Kill" was the second and final entry in Timothy Dalton's short tenure as 007. Directed by John Glen, it is, in many ways, a forward-thinking entry in the series. It's more overtly violent than most of its predecessors, while also serving as an out-and-out revenge flick. It serves, in hindsight, as a bit of foreshadowing, in that, so many Hollywood franchises in the ensuing decades would go for dark and gritty — Including James Bond. It's just unfortunate for Dalton that it didn't quite gel in this particular movie. But credit where credit is due for trying to do something different, instead of being stuck in the past. (Ryan Scott)

It cannot be overstated how much of a cultural game changer this was when it was released in the early 1960s. Sean Connery oozes a charisma, sex appeal, and ruthlessness that was uncommon for cinematic heroes of the era, and his ineffable sense of cool helps to counterbalance some of the movie's weaker elements. The pacing plays out at a snail's pace compared to some of the later entries (it seems to luxuriate in watching Bond quietly walk across rooms) and the whole fake dragon subplot is hokey at best. Still, respect must be paid to the movie that kicked this whole thing off. (Ben Pearson)

Though not typically held up as one of the more beloved entries in the "James Bond" series, time has been kind to "The World is Not Enough," a misunderstood film, in my humble opinion. It's the epitome of a late 90s action flick, put through the Bond lens. The whole thing starts with an audacious 14-minute cold open that really sets the tone for the all-over-the-place adventure we're about to go on. We get a nice little twist with Sophie Marceau's Elektra King and, for my money, it looks like the most fun Pierce Brosnan ever had during his tenure. And, come on, if you can't derive joy from the idea of Denise Richards as Dr. Christmas Jones, we are not the same. (Ryan Scott)

In many ways, "The Spy Who Loved Me" is the platonic ideal of the James Bond movie. It contains everything you expect from the series, and it does each and every one of those things well. Massive sets, impressive action, memorable villains, terrific use of the supporting cast, a satisfying blend of a humor and ruthless action, and, of course, a damn cool car equipped with impossible gadgets (this one can turn into a submarine). The plot is typical world domination/destruction nonsense, but that's part of the appeal. The fun is watching Roger Moore, never better, strut his way through these impossible situations and save the day in the nick of time. The opening scene, where Bond skis off a cliff and unfurls a parachute with the colors of the Union Jack, is iconic and still jaw-dropping today. (Jacob Hall)

What can one possibly say about "Goldfinger" that hasn't already been said? While movies have redefined "James Bond" after director Guy Hamilton's 1964 spy flick, this is the movie that defined the franchise. The movie that arguably every Bond movie has lived in the shadow of ever since. For fans of Bond, despite some of its outdated moments ("Man Talk" for example), this is a watershed moment in blockbuster filmmaking that cemented 007 as a global icon. The gadgets. The puns. The Aston Martin DB5, arguably the coolest car in cinema history! Sean Connery delivered the quintessential Bond movie. Period. (Ryan Scott)

"Skyfall" came at such a unique time. "Quantum of Solace" was produced during the writer's strike, hampering Daniel Craig's second outing as 007 after "Casino Royale" kicked it off with such a bang. It ultimately resulted in a four-year gap between movies. But that wait was well worth it as director Sam Mendes delivered a globe-trotting, modern action flick that both felt familiar and bold for Bond. It remains one of the best action movies of the past decade, and one of the very finest entries in the franchise overall. Much can be said of this movie, its lack of an actual Bond girl (one could argue Judie Dench's M is the Bond Girl), its taking up after "The Dark Knight in some ways. But I will always think of one scene that gives me chills to this day. Bond running through the streets of London to catch Silva, en route to a noble shootout to save M from certain death, as the pitch-perfect words of Tennyson ring out from M. Not big, bombastic score. Literal poetry. Bond, James Bond indeed. (Ryan Scott)

For a franchise so beholden to its history, you'd think a Bond film that lacks several of the franchise's mainstays (gadgets, Q, Moneypenny, etc.) would go over like a lead balloon (or, better yet, a Kananga balloon). But "Casino Royale" strips away all of the excess and served as a perfect transition into modern blockbuster filmmaking. The entire franchise has never quite attained the same combination of visceral thrills and genuine emotion as it did here: Bond and Vesper is a relationship for the ages, the freerunning intro is an excellent encapsulation of the mid-2000s "gritty origin story" era, and this movie catapulted Mads Mikkelsen into "household name" status. What's not to love? (Ben Pearson)