Rank all the Bond Films!

Latest Bond rankings. Have had to tweak the bottom 8 post Connery/Moore films, to take into account increased appreciation for DAD. That is, increased appreciation for DAD's sheer visceral entertainment value. I am well aware of it's flaws.

I do though like the way Tamahori shot this film. It's nice to look at. Brozzer is also much more at ease here than he is in his first three efforts. The casting of Halle Berry however, really does hurt the film, as does Madge's presence.
As for the bottom two; CR and QoS are both reasonably watchable films and generaly well-acted, escpecially CR. The Haggfish presence however along with the general tediousness of the ill-advised re-boot idea, relegate these entries to the bottom of the pile, where I fear they might remain for eternity.

1. DAF
2. GF
3. TB
4. YOLT
5. DN
6. FRWL
7. OHMSS
8. LALD
9. TMWTGG
10. TSWLM
11. MR
12. OP
13. FYEO
14. AVTAK
15. DAD
16. LTK
17. TLD
18. GE
19. TND
20. TWINE
21. CR
22. QoS.

These rankings are pretty much in cement. At least the top 14 and bottom 2.
The best movies are the oldest movies. The series doesn't get better as it moves along. It doesn't collapse mind you but it doesn't improve.
The first 7 films can't be improved on anyway.
There is potential though for a great new Connery-inspired Bond, to some day jump ahead of the 70's 80's Moore era.
For now the Rog films are the best of the rest.

tiffanywint wrote:

Let me rephrase.

Feminism = slavery

Jill St John as Tiffany Case = female empowerment.

I like the way you think, timmer. 8)

Prince Kamal Khan wrote:

tiffanywint wrote:

Let me rephrase.

Feminism = slavery

Jill St John as Tiffany Case = female empowerment.

I like the way you think, timmer. 8)

If I was a woman. I'd want to be just like Tiff. ;) Minus the criminal larceny maybe, as that stuff can get you killed.

In all honesty, I can't rank all the James Bond films. The only ranking I can do is this one :

1 - The living daylights
2 - On her Majesty's secret service
3 - From Russia with love
...
20 - Live and let die
21 - Die another day
22 - Moonraker

I prefer some James Bond films to other ones, but I can't rank all of them, sorry.

Your top 3 are in my top 10, with OHMSS and FRWL being in my top 3; and your bottom three are the same as mine, though jumbled around.

Welcome to the forums! :)

Thanks for wishing me welcome. It appears that we have common James Bond tastes. Anyway, perhaps we'll disagree about Tomorrow never dies if it's your favourite. I think it's a good film but quite disappointing, especially because of Barbara Broccoli who didn't keep her word of offering Pierce Brosnan a James Bond film as he wanted to do, closer to Ian Fleming's novels, more psychological and violent. She had promised it to him if Goldeneye was a successful film. Thus, each time I see Tomorrow never dies, I can't prevent myself from thinking about how it would have been if it had been made according to Pierce Brosnan's wishes. Another movie makes me feel alike, You only live twice. I'm sure we'll have the opportunity to discuss about all this. Nonetheless I've a Tomorrow never dies picture from as my avatar. ;)

Well, I'm undecided about my favourite at the moment - so don't go by my many rankings or what's under my avatar. But i think it's a fantastic film - very much underrated as I think it boasts many great elements of the Bond franchise.

Enjoy your stay here :)

1) On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2) Goldfinger
3) From Russia With Love
4) Moonraker
5) Thunderball
6) Dr. No
7) Quantum of Solace
8) Diamonds are Forever
9) You Only Live Twice
10) The Man With the Golden Gun

An enlargement of my ranking.

1 - The living daylights
2 - On her Majesty's secret service
3 - From Russia with love
4 - Quantum of Solace
5 - Dr No
6 - Casino Royale
7/8/9 For your eyes only - Licence to kill - The world is not enough. I don't know in which order.
...
20 - Live and let die
21 - Die another day
22 - Moonraker

5 Stars
1. From Russia With Love
2. On Her Majesties Secret Service
3. Casino Royale
4. Goldfinger
5. Dr. No
6. Thunderball

4 Stars
7. GoldenEye
8. Live and Let Die
9. Licence to Kill
10. The Spy Who Loved Me
11. Octopussy
12. The Living Daylights
13. Tomorrow Never Dies

3 Stars
14. Quantum of Solace
15. Moonraker
16. The Man With The Golden Gun
17. You Only Live Twice
18. Diamonds Are Forever

2 Stars
19. A View To A Kill
20. Die Another Day
21. The World Is Not Enough
22. For Your Eyes Only

There is a broad consensus in the Bond fan community that FRWL and OHMSS are the two best Bond films with TLD, CR, TB, GF and DN completing a super- seven that scores higher than the others.
This data was extrapolated from the rankings posted by roughly 150 unique Bond fans from the old site between 09-10
FRWL was slam dunk #1. OHMSS #2 CR, TLD, TB jockeyed for spots 3-5 while GF and DN vied for #6 and 7
There was a huge gap down to the #8 hence the impenetrable Super Seven.
'm sure if at the end of this year we take all the lists posted by fans here in 2011 and extrapolate the data again, providing we have a sample of at least 50 lists, the same super 7 will emerge again with FRWL #1



The three locked in bottom feeders were DAD in a class by itself with TWINE and AVTAK rounding down the bottom 3.

tiffanywint wrote:

The three locked in bottom feeders were DAD in a class by itself with TWINE and AVTAK rounding down the bottom 3.

Nice to see the underrated MR and TMWTGG escape the bottom 3. :D

EyelessCougar wrote:

2 Stars
22. For Your Eyes Only

Refreshing to see the near universally praised FYEO at the bottom. It's not my least favorite but I find it disproportionately overrated.

Drax wrote:

1) On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2) Goldfinger
3) From Russia With Love
4) Moonraker
5) Thunderball
6) Dr. No
7) Quantum of Solace
8) Diamonds are Forever
9) You Only Live Twice
10) The Man With the Golden Gun
11) The Living Daylights

List extended for PKK :p

I appreciate TLD much more now than I ever have before, and I could envision it eventually creeping up to 8...we'll see :D

If we're doing star ratings :

5 Stars
1. Doctor No (1962)
2. From Russia With Love (1963)
3. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
4. Thunderball (1965)
5. Goldfinger (1964)

4 Stars
6. Licence To Kill (1989)
7. The Living Daylights (1987)
8. Never Say Never Again (1983)
9. Live And Let Die (1973)
10. For Your Eyes Only (1981)
11. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
12. Moonraker (1979)
13. Octopussy (1983)
14. A View To A Kill (1985)
15. The Man With The Golden Gun (1974)
16. Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
17. You Only Live Twice (1967)

3 Stars
18. Quantum Of Solace (2008)
19. Goldeneye (1995)
20. Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

2 Stars
21. Die Another Day (2002)
22. Casino Royale (2006)
23. The World Is Not Enough (1999)

Ignore the rankings of the four star section. They jump around all over the place.

Prince Kamal Khan wrote:

tiffanywint wrote:

The three locked in bottom feeders were DAD in a class by itself with TWINE and AVTAK rounding down the bottom 3.

Nice to see the underrated MR and TMWTGG escape the bottom 3. :D

EyelessCougar wrote:

2 Stars
22. For Your Eyes Only

Refreshing to see the near universally praised FYEO at the bottom. It's not my least favorite but I find it disproportionately overrated.

It's so boring, I can't watch it.

Drax wrote:

Drax wrote:

1) On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2) Goldfinger
3) From Russia With Love
4) Moonraker
5) Thunderball
6) Dr. No
7) Quantum of Solace
8) Diamonds are Forever
9) You Only Live Twice
10) The Man With the Golden Gun
11) The Living Daylights

List extended for PKK :p

I appreciate TLD much more now than I ever have before, and I could envision it eventually creeping up to 8...we'll see :D

Cool, GL! 8) In some ways, TLD is the last truly classic Bond film partially because it's the last one with a score composed by John Barry.

EyelessCougar wrote:

It's so boring, I can't watch it.

Change the name of the character Roger Moore plays in it to Simon Templar and I'd call it the best episode of The Saint ever filmed.

Haven't done of these in a while:

001) TB
002) TLD
003) MR
004) OHMSS
005) CR
006) FRWL
007) YOLT
008) OP
009) GF
0010) DN
0011) TMWTGG
0012) TSWLM
0013) DAF
0014) DAD
0015) LTK
0016) TND
0017) NSNA
0018) GE
0019) FYEO
0020) LALD
0021) AVTAK
0022) TWINE
0023) QOS

Essentially, TLD, CR, my 3 favorite Moore films and all of the 1960s Bond films pretty much are my top half of the series.

The Spy Who Loved Me
Moonraker
Diamonds Are Forever
You Only Live Twice
For Your Eyes Only
Octopussy
Goldfinger
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
A View to a Kill
Thunderball
The World is Not Enough
Die Another Day
Tomorrow Never Dies
GoldenEye
From Russia with Love
Live and Let Die
The Man with the Golden Gun
The Living Daylights
Doctor No
Licence to Kill
Casino Royale
Quantum of Solace

Capsule in Space wrote:

The Spy Who Loved Me
Moonraker
Diamonds Are Forever
You Only Live Twice
For Your Eyes Only
Octopussy
Goldfinger
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
A View to a Kill
Thunderball
The World is Not Enough
Die Another Day
Tomorrow Never Dies
GoldenEye
From Russia with Love
Live and Let Die
The Man with the Golden Gun
The Living Daylights
Doctor No
Licence to Kill
Casino Royale
Quantum of Solace

Interesting list. Why Moonraker over Spy? If you'd reverse that you'd be the first person I ever met to rank MR #1 and for that I would shake your hand :D Second place is still quite commendable though. The Brosnans before FRWL and DN...that's a bit harder to swallow :p

[quote="Drax"]

Capsule in Space wrote:

Interesting list. Why Moonraker over Spy? If you'd reverse that you'd be the first person I ever met to rank MR #1 and for that I would shake your hand :D Second place is still quite commendable though. The Brosnans before FRWL and DN...that's a bit harder to swallow :p

Moonraker and The Spy Who Loved Me are almost tied, but The Spy Who Loved Me just edges out Moonraker for me. Why?

-I love the Lotus Esprit chase sequence. Roger at his best with his reactions to a winking Naomi, and discovering that a fish has made its way into his car/submarine (I know that many Bond fans find these elements to be very cringe worthy. Those fans might want to skip the rest of this post entirely).
-I like the opening sequence better (although Moonraker's is terrific).
-I like the music better. The title song is one of my favorites. I am a disco apologist.
-Roger Moore has his best dramatic scene of the series when his character admits that he killed Anya's lover.

I could go on and on. I'll just finish by stating that Moonraker certainly has its share of wonderful elements, but I think TSWLM might have one or two more. They were both very well done. What are your reasons for putting Moonraker so high?

I am also a Brosnan apologist. I think he was great in the role. I do like Connery better, but From Russia with Love and Dr. No are just too rudimentary for my tastes.

Capsule in Space wrote:

I could go on and on. I'll just finish by stating that Moonraker certainly has its share of wonderful elements, but I think TSWLM might have one or two more. They were both very well done. What are your reasons for putting Moonraker so high?

I have a few :)

1) John Barry As I've said before if the (much maligned) outer space sequences of this film had existed or no other reason than to turn John Barry's attention to the starry vastness of the heavens for inspiration, then that alone would have entirely justified their presence in the film. The Moonraker score is one of my favorites of the series, and one of the most potently beautiful of Barry's. The moment in Flight into Space where the sun appears and the song kicks into a march...is one of my favorite moments in the series.

2) Moore puts in his (imho) ultimate performance as Bond. LALD and TMWTGG saw him (unsuccessfully) trying to either find his way or emulate Connery, TSWLM found him finally getting his stride and in MR he perfected it. He is playing perfectly to his own strengths in the film, epitomized in the PTS when, unruffled and full Leisure Suit Larry attire his response to being told at gunpoint to exist the plane is to simply cock an eyebrow and quip "a little...premature, isn't it?". He also manages to be deadly serious and in command when need be (within the context of the movie)-- the centrefuge scene could have come right out of Thunderball. In fact I would say that MR was the closest we ever got after Connery departed in '71 to the true feel of the early classic films. Which brings me to...

3) Ken Adam and Bernard Lee both hit it out of the park, with this unfortunately being Lee's final film.

4) Lonsdale's Drax is one of my favorite villains and his plan is one of the most terrifiying and effectively evocative of all the Bond villain. schemes.

In a nutshell Moonraker to me is a perfectly realized comic-book escapist romp. They don't make them like this anymore.

Drax wrote:

Capsule in Space wrote:

I could go on and on. I'll just finish by stating that Moonraker certainly has its share of wonderful elements, but I think TSWLM might have one or two more. They were both very well done. What are your reasons for putting Moonraker so high?

I have a few :)

1) John Barry As I've said before if the (much maligned) outer space sequences of this film had existed or no other reason than to turn John Barry's attention to the starry vastness of the heavens for inspiration, then that alone would have entirely justified their presence in the film. The Moonraker score is one of my favorites of the series, and one of the most potently beautiful of Barry's. The moment in Flight into Space where the sun appears and the song kicks into a march...is one of my favorite moments in the series.

2) Moore puts in his (imho) ultimate performance as Bond. LALD and TMWTGG saw him (unsuccessfully) trying to either find his way or emulate Connery, TSWLM found him finally getting his stride and in MR he perfected it. He is playing perfectly to his own strengths in the film, epitomized in the PTS when, unruffled and full Leisure Suit Larry attire his response to being told at gunpoint to exist the plane is to simply cock an eyebrow and quip "a little...premature, isn't it?". He also manages to be deadly serious and in command when need be (within the context of the movie)-- the centrefuge scene could have come right out of Thunderball. In fact I would say that MR was the closest we ever got after Connery departed in '71 to the true feel of the early classic films. Which brings me to...

3) Ken Adam and Bernard Lee both hit it out of the park, with this unfortunately being Lee's final film.

4) Lonsdale's Drax is one of my favorite villains and his plan is one of the most terrifiying and effectively evocative of all the Bond villain. schemes.

In a nutshell Moonraker to me is a perfectly realized comic-book escapist romp. They don't make them like this anymore.

Good defense of MR. I forgot to ask earlier but I see CR has dropped out of your top 11. Where would you now rank it?

Prince Kamal Khan wrote:

Good defense of MR. I forgot to ask earlier but I see CR has dropped out of your top 11. Where would you now rank it?

Somewhere in the 2-3 films following TLD I think. It hasn't fared as well as QoS for me under repeat viewings, though. That said I should attempt to watch it soon. There are a few things about the film I really don't like, though and unlike certain other films (AVTAK) it doesn't have the magnificence of a John Barry score to aid it.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service
From Russia with Love
Casino Royale
GoldenEye
Dr No

The Spy Who Loved Me
Moonraker
The Living Daylights
Quantum of Solace
Thunderball

Licence to Kill
Live and Let Die
Tomorrow Never Dies
Goldfinger
You Only Live Twice

The Man with the Golden Gun
Die Another Day
The World is Not Enough
A View to a Kill
Octopussy

For Your Eyes Only
Diamonds are Forever

Haven't done a rewatch in a good long while, and haven't given thought to ranking lately, either, but this is where my mind is settling at the moment:

CR
FRWL
OHMSS
TLD
LALD
MR
QOS
TB
GF
DN
GE
TSWLM
DAF
YOLT
TMWTGG
FYEO
LTK
OP
AVTAK
DAD
TND
TWINE

That's a reasonable ranking. Flip LALD and LTK and it's fairly close to mine, hence the reasonableness.

:)