Top 10 James Bond Films: James Bond Revisited

Last Updated on March 4, 2025

Well, you had to know it was coming. After counting down the TOP 10 James Bond girls, gadgets and villains, and ranking the 007’s themselves, we finally got around to delivering our picks for the top 10 James Bond movies of all time on this latest episode of James Bond Revisited. One thing’s for sure, a list like this is always bound to be divisive. I tried to maintain a certain balance here between my personal feelings and the overall consensus of fans. If this were a nostalgia based list, I probably would have picked Octopussy for my top slot, while editor Nick Bosworth would have chosen Moonraker. Making a responsible list means NEITHER made our TOP 10, but facts are facts and neither are “good” James Bond movies. However, we did make some interesting choices I think, with all of the James Bond actors well represented here, including George Lazenby and, especially, the always underrated Timothy Dalton. Do you agree with our picks? Let us know in the talkbacks! Note – No Time to Die did not figure into this list. I’m not going to officially cover that movie on James Bond Revisited until more of you have had the chance to see it!

Number 10: For Your Eyes Only (1981)

This was a departure for Roger Moore. In fact, at one point, it looked like Roger Moore wasn’t even going to return to the franchise after Moonraker, despite that film being a huge hit. I suppose he just wanted more money. But for a while, it looked like Michael Billington—who was actually Major Anya Amasova’s love interest in The Spy Who Loved Me, and who gets killed in the opening teaser—was actually signed to play James Bond. In fact, there were stills taken of him on location, so he came very close to becoming our new James Bond in For Your Eyes Only. In the end, though, Roger Moore decided to return at the 11th hour. But the creative brain trust behind For Your Eyes Only had changed a little bit. I think that Albert R. Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, who were producing at the time, realized they had gone more than a little overboard in Moonraker. So the decision was made to bring James Bond back down to Earth. Thus, For Your Eyes Only is a lot more grounded compared to other James Bond films of the era, with Roger Moore giving one of his grittiest portrayals as 007.

I always really liked For Your Eyes Only. I thought the stunts were amazing, I thought that a lot of the action was really good, and it probably contains my favorite Roger Moore performance as James Bond. Because he’s just cool in this movie. You know, he’s not necessarily jumping into bed with every woman he sees. He passes up Bibi—who’s really young—Lynn-Holly Johnson as a skater, and offers to buy her some ice cream instead of jumping in the sack with her. I think that’s what I love about Roger Moore in this film. It’s his nicest portrayal of James Bond, I guess. But he’s also tough as hell—such as when he kills the assassin who killed his buddy Ferrara by throwing the pin and then booting his car off a cliff. I mean, it’s really cool. This movie’s also got a great sidekick—Topol! You’ve got Carole Bouquet as Melina Havelock, who’s kind of a badass James Bond heroine. The only problem with this movie is that Julian Glover is really boring as Kristatos, the villain. Not a very good villain. But a great James Bond movie, with a great job by John Glen behind the camera in his first-ever James Bond film.

I’m a little mixed on the score, however, by Bill Conti. Probably would be higher on the list if it wasn’t for that really weird, schlocky disco score—although I love the theme song by Sheena Easton. One of the best.

Number 9: The Living Daylights (1987)

One of my favorite James Bond movies from my childhood was The Living Daylights. In fact, when I was a kid, I did something bad, and I was punished by having my VHS copy of The Living Daylights taken away. Oh yes, it was traumatic, to put it mildly. So, this one was Timothy Dalton’s debut as 007, and you can still see that he’s trying to find his footing. I think Dalton’s just a much more serious actor than Roger Moore is—maybe even more so than Sean Connery. He’s playing 007 pretty straight-laced, but they’re still throwing in some one-liners and some Roger Moore-esque stuff, and he seems a little bit uncomfortable—especially in a tuxedo. I always thought that Timothy Dalton looked more comfortable in casual clothes, which is very evident in his next James Bond film. He also holds a cigarette really weird, as if he’s not really a smoker, but he’s doing it because, you know, he has to be James Bond. James Bond smoked at the time.

A lot of things about this movie are great. It’s got an amazing score by John Barry, it’s got a great theme song by A-ha, and it’s got a really good cast—although, again, some really weak villains, with Jeroen Krabbé as Koskov and Joe Don Baker as Whitaker. I like the main bad guy, Necros, who’s kind of like the assassin that’s going after James Bond, because they have some really good fight scenes. And I think this is probably the best thing about The Living Daylights—the action in this film is top-notch. It’s almost James Bond meets Rambo towards the end, when he goes to Afghanistan to help the Mujahideen. Of course, this isn’t necessarily a PC movie to watch nowadays… but it’s a pretty good little Bond film. And again, it was one of my favorites when I was growing up.

Number 8: Licence to Kill (1989)

Now, I’ve always said that Timothy Dalton probably had the strongest run as James Bond. He only did two James Bond movies, but they were both amazing. And Licence to Kill really feels like it’s the first James Bond movie that was tailored for Timothy Dalton. Minimal time is spent in his tuxedo. Instead, James Bond is kind of wearing casual street clothes for a lot of the movie—some kind of unstructured blazers. He looks comfortable. He looks like this is the kind of role that he wants to be doing. There’s something down-to-earth about Timothy Dalton in this movie. And I don’t think that any other James Bond actor could have pulled off a James Bond role like he has in Licence to Kill, where he has to be a lot more grounded.

This movie also has an amazing villain—one of the best ever—with Robert Davi as Sanchez, a drug-dealing sadist who nevertheless is somewhat sympathetic because he’s so loyal to his henchmen. And one of his henchmen? Played by an impossibly young Benicio del Toro.

It’s also got two of the best James Bond girls. He got Talisa Soto as Lupe, but the best ever is Carey Lowell as Pam Bouvier, who’s absolutely gorgeous, especially with her short haircut, and is a pretty badass Bond girl to boot. This one’s got a very jewel-silvery kind of ’80s score by Michael Kamen with a good theme song by Gladys Knight, and it ends with the song “If You Asked Me To” by Patti LaBelle, which would become a massive hit for Celine Dion a few years later.

I really like Licence to Kill. It’s probably the most violent James Bond film ever made, but when I was a kid, I watched it over and over again, and it’s one that I think really holds up well. In fact, it probably plays better now than it did in 1989. It was also the first James Bond movie to be rated PG-13.

Number 7: Skyfall (2012)

Now, I have to say that Daniel Craig’s run as James Bond has definitely been hit or miss. It seems that the odd-numbered Daniel Craig James Bond movies are really good, and the even-numbered ones just aren’t. Casino Royale (number one) was really good, but Quantum of Solace (number two) was not. Number three, however, Skyfall, was excellent. This one’s got a great villain with Javier Bardem, a much bigger role for Judi Dench’s M, and some really good set pieces courtesy of director Sam Mendes. The photography by Roger Deakins, I think, is probably the best we’ve ever seen in a James Bond movie. I don’t think any James Bond movie has ever looked quite as good as Skyfall does, and Daniel Craig really gives it his all in the performance. He’s in his physical prime in this movie, and it shows. It’s got some really good action scenes, and it holds up really well.

Number 6: The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

The most critically respected Roger Moore James Bond movie of all time: The Spy Who Loved Me. Now, I do think it’s a little bit inconsistent because the movie doesn’t really pick up, in my opinion, until Triple X and Roger Moore’s James Bond, of course, are paired up in the desert when they’re on the run from Jaws. But there are so many classic moments in this movie. For one thing, it’s got that opening ski jump by Rick Sylvester, which is just amazing when the Union Jack parachute opens up. It’s got a great theme song, one of the best ever, by Carly Simon: “Nobody Does It Better.” The disco-y score by Marvin Hamlisch isn’t great, but I do like his take on the James Bond theme, “Bond 77,” which I think suits the movie really well. You got the Lotus Esprit, you got Q coming along to give a couple of one-liners and look annoyed at 007. You got Curt Jurgens as Stromberg with the webbed hands. And, of course, you’ve got Jaws—I mean, you can’t go wrong with Jaws. I also really love Barbara Bach as Anya Amasova. I think that she’s a little bit stiff, but I think the character is really cool and makes a good foil for Roger Moore as Bond.

Number 5: From Russia with Love (1963)

One of the Sean Connery classics. Now, this is a little bit slow, I’ve always thought, but it’s such a well-crafted James Bond film. You got Terence Young directing, you got an amazing score by John Barry—his first full score for the series—and you have one of the best James Bond villains ever, Robert Shaw as Red Grant. The story is pretty compelling. Sean Connery is lured to Istanbul to recover the Lektor spy decoding machine, and, of course, he’s lured there by a Russian cipher clerk played by the gorgeous Daniela Bianchi, who they say has fallen in love with him based on a picture. Of course, it’s all a plot by SPECTRE—Kronsteen and Rosa Klebb, as well as a shadowy version of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, whose face we never see, just his kitty. And it all ends in that amazing fight scene on the Orient Express, and then a later fight scene in a Venice hotel room where James Bond has to take on Rosa Klebb’s pointy shoe with the shoe knife.

I always thought it was really cool. It’s a good movie, it has some good action. I think, in some ways, the editing by Peter Hunt is largely responsible for the current editing that we see in action movies nowadays. In some ways, you could even say that From Russia with Love was the first modern action film.

Number 4: GoldenEye (1995)

Pierce Brosnan’s first and best performance as James Bond: GoldenEye. The thing about Pierce Brosnan is he was an amazing James Bond who just never got really good material. GoldenEye, however, was his first and most promising take on the part. You had Martin Campbell directing, who always knew exactly how to make a James Bond movie. You had Izabella Scorupco and you had Famke Janssen, plus Sean Bean as one of the best James Bond villains ever, 006, who’s very much James Bond’s physical equal. And they have that amazing fight scene at the end of the movie. It’s also got a really cool but unusual score by Éric Serra and that great theme song by Tina Turner and Bono. This is a really good Bond film. The pacing is off a little bit at times, but I think in terms of Pierce Brosnan Bond movies, you really can’t get much better than this.

Number 3: Goldfinger (1964)

The James Bond series as it exists now simply would not be what it is without Goldfinger. I mean, this movie kind of established the formula. You have the larger-than-life villain, Auric Goldfinger, played by Gert Frobe. You got Pussy Galore (no, it’s a character name) played by Honor Blackman. You had that golden girl, Shirley Eaton—I mean, that’s great. Plus, you had the Aston Martin DB5, complete with Desmond Llewelyn as Q’s first Q-branch nifty gadget scene. I mean, it’s the best. In that car chase, he’s ejecting people, shooting off machine guns—I mean, it is a great James Bond movie. I have an absolute blast every time I watch this movie, and the theme song is so good by Shirley Bassey.

Number 2: Casino Royale (2006)

Daniel Craig’s first turn as James Bond was his best. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Martin Campbell is the director of two of the James Bond films in the top five because he really knows how to do a movie like this and especially knows how to introduce a James Bond to the audience. I mean, if they bring in somebody new in the next one, you really got to get Martin Campbell back to direct because he just nails it every time, knocks it out of the park. And there’s so many good things about Casino Royale because the book isn’t very cinematic—it all ends in a poker game with a sad ending—but Martin Campbell will just pepper in tons of amazing action scenes, including that opening parkour sequence. You know, I think that once we all saw Daniel Craig doing parkour, we knew that a new action icon had been born, and man, his James Bond was going to be a lot different and a lot more physically capable than the ones that we’d seen come before.

Daniel Craig is amazing. He has probably his best performance ever as James Bond. He’s got a great score by David Arnold. Only thing about it was, I always thought that the Chris Cornell theme song, “You Know My Name,” didn’t sound really Bond-like, although I do like the song a lot. And, you know, of course, I miss Chris Cornell, as does everybody. But Casino Royale, in my mind, is pretty much a flawless James Bond film with flawless villains, including Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre, and perhaps the most flawless James Bond girl of all, Eva Green as the gorgeous but tragic Vesper Lynd.

Number 1: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)

A controversial pick, to be sure, but one I gotta go with On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Yes, George Lazenby may have been the worst James Bond, but he was in the best James Bond movie. And I honestly think that if George Lazenby had even been given a chance to grow into the part, he would have probably emerged as one of our best James Bonds ever. He looks great. He fights really well. The action scenes in this movie are awesome. It’s got an amazing Bond girl with the late Diana Rigg as Tracy. Plus, James Bond gets married in this movie. It’s epic length, running just a hair under two and a half hours at two hours and 20 minutes. It’s got that beautiful location photography—all the snow in Switzerland and Piz Gloria—plus it’s got one of the best scores ever by John Barry. It has that great song by Louis Armstrong, “We Have All the Time in the World.” It’s got kind of a romantic vibe. All the girls are gorgeous.

I mean, this movie has all the elements of James Bond that you could ever possibly want, but it’s also probably the James Bond film that the least people have seen because of—probably—Lazenby. Nobody really thinks of him as James Bond. But damn, they made a great James Bond movie, and Peter Hunt, as the director, absolutely nailed it. And I wish he had come back to do some more James Bond films because he really, really knocked it out of the park with this one.

So On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is my favorite James Bond movie of all time. But I know that a lot of you are probably going to disagree with me, so make sure to let me know in the talkbacks.

James Bond Revisited is written, produced and narrated by yours truly, Chris Bumbray. Nick Bosworth is the editor, while Berge Garabedian is the executive producer. Check out more episodes below!