Not stirred: This lineup at the Madame Tussauds wax museum in Berlin presents all the actors who’ve played James Bond in the legendary Eon Productions movies. From left: Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Daniel Craig, Sean Connery, George Lazenby and Pierce Brosnan.
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The James Bond movie franchise is a juggernaut, with 26 films to date (24 canonical, plus two rogues). From Sean Connery to Daniel Craig, it’s featured six different actors in the lead role, going up against countless power-mad villains and deadly accomplices, with no shortage of tricked-out cars and outrageous gadgets. Along the way, the 007 franchise has delivered both gems and clunkers.
It’ll be a while longer before we can see how the next Bond movie, No Time to Die, stacks up against its predecessors. That film, likely the final one to star Craig, has been pushed back more than once by coronavirus concerns, and now it’s scheduled to hit theaters on April 2.
While you’re waiting, you can satisfy your Bond cravings by revisiting the older 007 movies, from Connery’s debut in Dr. No all the way to Craig’s most recent outing, Spectre.
If you’re not sure where to start, check out our recommendations and full rundown on big-screen Bond. With the recent death of Connery at 90, you might be inclined to start out with one of his seven turns as 007. (You could maybe also play a vintage Bond video game, or ponder the upcoming “Project 007” from IO Interactive.)
Or you can also take a run through the ranking below of James Bond movies, from worst to best. It’s not arbitrary or one person’s whim — it’s based on an aggregate of movie reviews as compiled by Metacritic. The list accounts for every theatrical release, so not just the two dozen from Eon Productions starting back in 1962 with Sean Connery in Dr. No, but also two noncanonical entries — the 1967 version of Casino Royale, a trippy turn with multiple actors playing Bond (David Niven chief among them), and 1983’s Never Say Never Again, with Connery in his second comeback.
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Don’t go looking for the 1954 version of Casino Royale, though. That was a total outlier — a 50-minute TV playhouse production that introduced Ian Fleming’s hero to the world as “Jimmy” Bond, an American secret agent. You can find that on YouTube, if you’re curious.
Otherwise, we’ve got the whole litany of actors who’ve played Bond in the official franchise — besides Connery and Craig, that’s George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan.
James Bond movies ranked, from worst to best
26. A View to a Kill
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According to the critical consensus, Roger Moore isn’t just the star of the worst James Bond movie — this snowboarding 1985 entry — he’s the star of the worst James Bond movies, period. When combined and averaged, his 007 films produce a franchise-low Metascore of 53.7.
A View to a Kill was Moore’s seventh and final 007 movie. His costars included Christopher Walken as gleefully murderous villain Max Zorin and Grace Jones as Bond baddie (and eventual ally) May Day. The plot that Bond has to foil: Zorin’s scheme to destroy Silicon Valley so he can control the market for computer chips.
“The James Bond series has had its bummers, but nothing before in the class of this one,” Pauline Kael wrote for The New Yorker.
Metascore: 40
25. The Man With the Golden Gun
MGM
As far as critics are concerned, this 1974 installment, Moore’s second outing as 007, is another bottom-dweller in the James Bond franchise. “If you enjoyed the early Bond films as much as I did, you’d better skip this one,” Nora Sayre wrote in The New York Times.
The Man With the Golden Gun, featuring Christopher Lee as the Bond villain and rival marksman Scaramanga and eventual Fantasy Island star Herve Villechaize as his henchman Nick Nack, grossed $97.6 million worldwide, the weakest box-office performance by any of the Roger Moore 007 films.
Metascore: 43
24. Casino Royale (1967)
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This offbeat, comic entry features a multitude of actors as James Bond. But more 007s do not make things merrier — or better. Variety called this version of Casino Royale “a film of astounding sloppiness” and “an insult to the Bond name.”
This is one of the two noncanonical, non-Eon films in our rundown. (And for Bond completists — sorry, we’re not including the 1954 television production of Casino Royale, which portrayed our hero as Jimmy Bond, and an American to boot.)
1967’s Casino Royale, featuring David Niven, Peter Sellers and Orson Welles, grossed a Bond-worst $41.7 million worldwide.
Metascore: 48
23. Tomorrow Never Dies
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
The first of the four Pierce Brosnan Bond movies in this list gets credit for giving Michelle Yeoh an early Hollywood showcase — but for little else. According to Salon’s Charles Taylor, this 1997 movie “scores zero in suspense, wit or class.”
When averaged, Brosnan’s four James Bond movies post a 57.5 Metascore, the second-lowest among 007 actors who have starred in at least four movies.
At the box office, Tomorrow Never Dies, featuring Jonathan Pryce as villain Elliot Carver, grossed $339.5 million worldwide. That’s on par with, but on the low end of, the other films of the Brosnan era.
Metascore: 52
22. For Your Eyes Only
MGM
Critics are kinder, if still cool, to Roger Moore’s fifth 007 adventure. In the Chicago Sun-Times, critic Roger Ebert wrote that the 1981 film “is a competent James Bond thriller …[b]ut it’s no more than that.”
Aside from its reviews, For Your Eyes Only is a success of the Roger Moore era: It earned an Oscar nomination for its Sheena Easton-crooned title song, and it grossed $195.3 million worldwide — the second-best box office showing for a Moore installment.
Metascore: 54
20 (tie). The Spy Who Loved Me
LMPC/Getty Images
Nominated for a franchise-best three Oscars, this 1977 Roger Moore adventure nonetheless rated mixed reviews from critics. “After the opening sequence,” Newsweek’s Maureen Orth wrote, “much of the action in The Spy Who Loved Me … is somewhat downhill.”
The Spy Who Loved Me, featuring the first of two franchise appearances by Richard Kiel as the villainous Jaws, grossed $185.4 million worldwide, making it one of the biggest box office hits of its release year.
Metascore: 55
20 (tie). Live and Let Die
MGM
Roger Moore’s first James Bond movie is, well, another middling effort — at least per the critics. In retrospect, this 1973 film may have suffered by comparison with the just-concluded Sean Connery era.
“[E]ven the art direction — long the Bond films’ real secret weapon — seems to have fallen to a shrunken budget,” the Chicago Reader’s Dave Kehr wrote. “Not much fun.”
At the box office, Live and Let Die, co-starring Geoffrey Holder as the voodoo-practicing henchman Baron Samedi and Yaphet Kotto as head bad guy Katanga/Mr. Big, and featuring the hit title song by Paul McCartney’s Wings, was a big step up from the Sean Connery film that preceded it, Diamonds Are Forever. Live and Let Die grossed $161.8 million worldwide.
Metascore: 55
19. Die Another Day
MGM
The final Pierce Brosnan James Bond film may have introduced the invisible car, but critics think of this 2002 film as a retread, not an innovator. “Surely it will not be giving things away to tell you there’s absolutely nothing new about the latest episode,” Desson Thomson wrote in The Washington Post.
Co-starring then-reigning Oscar winner Halle Berry as Bond girl Jinx Johnson, with Monty Python’s John Cleese as Q, and featuring the hit title track by Madonna, Die Another Day grossed more money than any other Pierce Brosnan 007 film: $431.9 million worldwide.
Metascore: 56
18. The World Is Not Enough
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This 1998 film is the third Pierce Brosnan James Bond film. “This keeps one reasonably amused, titillated, and brain-dead for a little over two hours,” Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote in the Chicago Reader.
The World Is Not Enough grossed a solid $361.7 million at the worldwide box office. It co-stars Robert Carlyle as the villain Renard, who feels no pain; Sophie Marceau as the strikingly conflicted Elektra King; and Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist.
Metascore: 57
16 (tie). Licence to Kill
MGM
The second — and final — James Bond movie of the Timothy Dalton era gets good marks as an action movie, but not necessarily as a 007 movie. “James Bond might as well be any of a dozen movie cops,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Joe Pollack wrote of this 1989 entry.
Licence to Kill, featuring Robert Davi as the drug lord villain Sanchez, Carey Lowell as Bond girl Pam Bouvier and a young Benicio del Toro as a henchman, grossed $156.2 million worldwide — a big drop at the box office compared with Dalton’s debut 007 film.
Metascore: 58
16 (tie). Quantum of Solace
MGM
To date, this 2008 film is the worst-reviewed of the 007 Daniel Craig era. “Quantum of Solace may be explosive with images of fiery infernos,” Film Threat’s Jay Slater wrote, “but it’s convoluted and confusing.”
On the whole, the Craig-led Bond films boast a Metascore average of 69.8, making his movies the second-best reviewed 007 movies of all time.
On one hand, Quantum of Solace, co-starring Mathieu Amalric as Bond villain Dominic Greene, is the fourth-biggest-grossing James Bond movie of all time, with $591.7 million in worldwide ticket sales. On the other hand, the film is the lowest-grossing James Bond film starring Daniel Craig.
Metascore: 58
15. Diamonds Are Forever
MGM
The lowest-ranked Sean Connery film in this rundown is the Scotsman’s sixth Bond project — and the last one that the iconic star made before taking a 12-year 007 hiatus. According to critics, Diamonds Are Forever was evidence of a franchise in need of new blood.
The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael called the film an “unimaginative Bond picture that is often noisy when it means to be exciting.”
Diamonds Are Forever co-stars Charles Gray as arch-villain Blofeld and Jill St. John as Bond girl Tiffany Case, and features Putter Smith and Bruce Glover as the archly menacing Mr. Kidd and Mr. Wint, respectively. Among the Sean Connery 007 installments, the movie grossed a middling $116 million worldwide.
Metascore: 59
13 (tie). Spectre
MGM
This 2015 Daniel Craig adventure, the most recently released James Bond movie, is “filled with big sets, big stunts, and what ought to be big moments,” Matt Zoller Seitz noted for RogerEbert.com, “but few of them land.”
Spectre co-stars Christoph Waltz in a new take on the old reliable Bond villain Blofeld, with Ralph Fiennes taking over as M, and like Skyfall, delves deeper into Bond’s origin story. It grossed a whopping $879.6 million worldwide, the second-biggest take for the franchise.
Metascore: 60
13 (tie). The Living Daylights
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This 1987 Timothy Dalton entry, the first of his two turns as James Bond, wins points from critics for not being a Roger Moore entry. “After the fizzle of the later Roger Moore Bonds,” Empire’s Kim Newman wrote, “The Living Daylights brings in a new 007 … who manages the Connery trick of seeming suave and tough at the same time.”
The Living Daylights outgrossed its predecessor, Roger Moore’s A View to a Kill, by nearly $40 million, for a worldwide box office total of $191.2 million.
Metascore: 60
11 (tie). On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
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This 1969 film, which marks George Lazenby’s lone outing as James Bond, is a pretty good 007 entry, per critics. While the New Yorker’s Pauline Kael found its star “quite a dull fellow,” she called the movie “exciting.”
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service broke new ground: It featured a James Bond wedding, with Diana Rigg as 007’s feisty but ill-fated bride, Tracy di Vincenzo. At the box office, though, the film fell flat with an $82 million worldwide gross.
Metascore: 61
11 (tie). You Only Live Twice
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This 1967 entry marks Sean Connery’s fifth outing as James Bond. Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert saw signs of wear: “Connery labors mightily,” Ebert wrote.
For a Sean Connery James Bond movie, You Only Live Twice grossed a so-so $111.6 million worldwide. The film is nonetheless influential: Its cat-petting iteration of Blofeld (played by Donald Pleasence), complete with villain’s hideaway in a volcano, inspired the Austin Powers franchise’s Dr. Evil.
Metascore: 61
10. Octopussy
MGM
According to critics, this 1983 film is Roger Moore’s second-best James Bond movie. “It soars, all right, but it does it on automatic pilot,” wrote Jay Scott for Toronto’s Globe and Mail.
Octopussy, co-starring Maud Adams in her second franchise outing (after The Man with the Golden Gun), as the titular character, grossed a solid $187.5 million worldwide.
Metascore: 63
9. Thunderball
LMPC/Getty Images
According to critics, this 1965 film is a lesser Sean Connery 007 entry, but a worthy entry overall. “[It] still effortlessly plies the glory Bond years, concluding with a stunning underwater battle,” wrote Empire’s Kim Newman.
Thunderball is the top-grossing Sean Connery 007 movie of the 1960s and 1970s: It took in $141.2 million in worldwide ticket sales. It also provided the template for Connery’s final James Bond outing nearly two decades later, Never Say Never Again.
Metascore: 64
8. GoldenEye
MGM
The first Pierce Brosnan Bond movie is the best Pierce Brosnan Bond movie, per critics. “New Bond man Brosnan can’t be faulted for much,” Desson Thomson wrote in The Washington Post. “In this new venture, he’s appropriately handsome, British-accented and suave.”
GoldenEye featured Sean Bean as a double-0 agent turned bad guy, Famke Janssen as Bond girl Xenia Onatopp and Judi Dench in her first turn as Bond boss M. It grossed a then-huge $356.4 million worldwide. Pent-up demand may have helped: The 1995 film was the first James Bond movie since Timothy Dalton’s License to Kill, released six years prior.
Metascore: 65
7. Moonraker
MGM
Released in 1979, two years after Star Wars changed just about everything in Hollywood, the fourth Roger Moore James Bond film sees 007 sent to outer space. Critics non-ironically cheered. “Moonraker is a satisfying blend of familiar ingredients,” wrote The Washington Post’s Gary Arnold.
Moonraker, co-starring Lois Chiles as astronaut Holly Goodhead (yes, really), is the ninth-biggest-grossing James Bond movie of all time, with $210.3 million in worldwide ticket sales.
Overall, Moonraker is the best-reviewed Bond movie of the Moore era.
Metascore: 66
6. Never Say Never Again
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The top-grossing Sean Connery Bond movie, this 1983 film is also one of the better-reviewed Bond movies.
Never Say Never Again marked Connery’s final 007 appearance and, from a critical standpoint, seems to have benefited from having been released during the reviled tail end of the Roger Moore era.
“It is good to see Connery’s grave stylishness in this role again,” Time’s Richard Schickel wrote. “It makes Bond’s cynicism and opportunism seem the product of genuine worldliness (and world weariness) as opposed to Roger Moore’s mere twirpishness.”
Despite the presence of Connery, who first embodied Bond on the big screen, this movie wasn’t from Eon Productions, making it the second of the two non-canonical films in our list.
Metascore: 68
5. Dr. No
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The first James Bond feature film, released in 1962 (though it didn’t arrive in the United States until 1963), is one of the best James Bond movies, per critics. “Sean Connery excellently puts over a cool, fearless, on-the-ball, fictional Secret Service guy,” Variety praised.
Dr. No, featuring Ursula Andress as original Bond girl Honey Ryder (yes, really), was one of 1963’s Top 10 box-office hits. It grossed $59.6 million worldwide.
Metascore: 78
4. Casino Royale
MGM
The first Daniel Craig James Bond movie, Casino Royale blew away critics with its new take on the spy saga. “[Craig’s] Bond is at least the equal of the best ones before him, and beats all of them in sheer intensity,” The Wall Street Journal’s Joe Morgenstern raved.
The opening minutes of the film reveal how Bond earned his double-0 rating, and for fans of the Ian Fleming novels, it manages to both stay true to the 1953 book and adapt that story for audiences a half-century later.
The 2006 film grossed a then-franchise-best $594.4 million worldwide.
Metascore: 80
3. Skyfall
MGM
The top-grossing James Bond movie to date, with a worldwide take of more than $1.1 billion, this 2012 film is, according to critics, the best Daniel Craig 007 movie — and that’s not all.
“Skyfall is one of the best Bonds in the 50-year history of moviedom’s most successful franchise,” James Adams wrote in Toronto’s Globe and Mail.
The film won the series’ first two Oscars since 1964’s Goldfinger; it claimed statuettes for sound editing and for Adele’s title song.
Metascore: 81
2. From Russia With Love
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The second James Bond movie is, per the critical consensus, the second-best James Bond movie ever. The New Yorker’s fabled Pauline Kael praised the 1963 release: “Exciting, handsomely staged, and campy.”
From Russia With Love, featuring Lotte Lenya as Bond baddie Rosa Klebb and Robert Shaw as the SPECTRE assassin gunning for Bond, grossed $78.9 million worldwide, a take that represented significant growth over Dr. No, and firmly established 007 as a franchise to watch.
Metascore: 84
1. Goldfinger
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Here it is: This 1964 Sean Connery entry is, per the critical consensus, the best James Bond movie. It had all the elements we’ve come to expect: the megalomaniac villain with an outrageous and murderous scheme, the henchman with a quirky method for killing (Oddjob and his hat), big set pieces with extravagant action, Bond in a dinner jacket.
“Larger than life, faintly ridiculous, completely cool, Goldfinger is the quintessential James Bond movie,” Empire’s Ian Freer wrote.
The film grossed a then-franchise-best $124.9 million worldwide, and won the franchise’s first Oscar (for sound effects).
Metascore: 87
James Bond movies in chronological order
In the official Bond canon — the films made by Eon Productions — there are 25 films, including the upcoming No Time to Die. Because of licensing issues, there were two other, non-canonical movies: the 1967 version of Casino Royale, and Sean Connery’s final outing, 1983’s Never Say Never Again.