The Most Conventional Bond Ranking

If we could get 50K serious Bond fans to submit their ranking of all of the official Bond films, and then averaged the results, I imagine they would look something very much like this.

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

Does that look about right to y'all?

NTTD is probably too high IMO. I've had a squiz at the Nu-MI6 forum and opinion was pretty mixed. I don't think even many Craig-boosters would rank it in the top half necessarily. While I personally would rank it close to the bottom, if I had to objectively sum up an aggregate of Bond fans' rankings, I'd probably place it somewhere between 15 and 18.

Otherwise, probably spot on when it comes to the general consensus.

Yeah, CJB, the ranking of NTtD was rather a shot in the dark.

I suppose it still has that New Film Smell to it, but I predict the gloss will fade quicker than it does for most. A decade from now I'd bet you'll still have fathers gathering the family 'round to watch Goldfinger or Spy, but "Get over here, kids, we're watching No Time to Die" is not a sentence that will get much of a workout I think.

Yep. Can't see many kids having the patience to wait to the point that NTTD actually starts to resemble a Bond film (Vesper's grave going BOOM).

Perilagu Khan wrote:

If we could get 50K serious Bond fans to submit their ranking of all of the official Bond films, and then averaged the results, I imagine they would look something very much like this.

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

Does that look about right to y'all?

Interesting topic! I think it's hard to argue against both n°25 and n°1 in your list.
I would say that TB is probably ranked too low, almost every Bond fan I know would have it in their top ten and most of those even in their top five.
Also DAF is a strangely beloved Bond (probably because of its quirkiness compared to the rest of the EON Sir Sean outings). So at n° 22 it is probably ranked considerably too low. I would have it somewhere smack in the middle of the ranking (based on my anecdotal evidence of Bond likes and dislikes).

Salomé wrote:

Perilagu Khan wrote:

If we could get 50K serious Bond fans to submit their ranking of all of the official Bond films, and then averaged the results, I imagine they would look something very much like this.

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

Does that look about right to y'all?

Interesting topic! I think it's hard to argue against both n°25 and n°1 in your list.
I would say that TB is probably ranked too low, almost every Bond fan I know would have it in their top ten and most of those even in their top five.
Also DAF is a strangely beloved Bond (probably because of its quirkiness compared to the rest of the EON Sir Sean outings). So at n° 22 it is probably ranked considerably too low. I would have it somewhere smack in the middle of the ranking (based on my anecdotal evidence of Bond likes and dislikes).

There is quite a bit of love for DAF here on BaB, but I haven't seen a great deal elsewhere, and our views on Bond tend to be a bit eccentric.

Putting NTTD aside for a moment, we’d have 24 films, and I think if I broke those up into “good reviews,” “bad reviews,” and “mixed reviews” and then tried to pick out 8 films to slot into each category I would wind up with about the same assessment.

Of course each wouldn’t be exactly 8 films.

“Good”: The only one I’d add to your first 8 is DN, whose reception I do think is more positive than mixed. So I’d probably have that below Spy.

“Mixed”: NTTD would definitely end up in here. I’d cut this category off after TND. Does TWINE belong here or has it cemented itself below? Lots of people used to really rate this one much higher than now.

“Bad”: I think you have it.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

If we could get 50K serious Bond fans to submit their ranking of all of the official Bond films, and then averaged the results, I imagine they would look something very much like this.

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

Does that look about right to y'all?

Aside from DAF and LTK that looks a lot like what your list would look like.

For a conventional ranking, I’d probably swap TWINE with QOS and bring NTTD down quite a bit too. Sadly, I’d say FRWL wouldn’t top the series in a conventional ranking. The new generation of fans find it boring. Not enough parkour and CGI.

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang wrote:

Perilagu Khan wrote:

If we could get 50K serious Bond fans to submit their ranking of all of the official Bond films, and then averaged the results, I imagine they would look something very much like this.

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

Does that look about right to y'all?

Aside from DAF and LTK that looks a lot like what your list would look like.

For a conventional ranking, I’d probably swap TWINE with QOS and bring NTTD down quite a bit too. Sadly, I’d say FRWL wouldn’t top the series in a conventional ranking. The new generation of fans find it boring. Not enough parkour and CGI.

My ranking wouldn't have GF anywhere near that high, YOLT would be considerably lower, and Gun would be higher. Add those to the major differences on DAF and LTK, and the conventional ranking departs from mine substantially. I still haven't decided where I'd place NTtD.

Goldfinger would always top the most conventional ranking.
At least one hopes that would stick and not eventually submit to the CR 06 colored sunglasses most people wear...

I'm going to add to this thread with the actual IMDB ratings for each of the official Bond films, apologies if it's been done already. This is as of April 2023.

1 CR 2006 8.0 669k
2 SF 2012 7.8 708k
3 GF 1964 7.7 195k
4 FRWL 1963 7.4 139k
5 NTTD 2021 7.3 416K
6 GE 1995 7.2 262k
7 DN 1962 7.2 172k
8 TSWLM 1977 7.0 112k
9 TB 1965 6.9 122k
10 S 2015 6.8 450k
11 YOLT 1967 6.8 113k
12 LALD 1973 6.7 111k
13 TMWTGG 1975 6.7 109k
14 FYEO 1981 6.7 104k
15 TLD 1987 6.7 102k
16 OHMSS 1969 6.7 95k
17 QOS 2008 6.6 457k
18 LTK 1989 6.6 108k
19 TND 1997 6.5 199k
20 DAF 1971 6.5 110k
21 OP 1983 6.5 109k
22 TWINE 1999 6.4 204k
23 AVTAK 1985 6.3 101k
24 MR 1979 6.2 104k
25 DAD 2002 6.1 223k

The last column is the number of ratings (in thousands) left for the film. Where films have the same score I have ranked the one with the greater number of ratings higher. Don't really agree with most of the placings but the people have spoken. Certainly wouldn't have put No Time To Die at #5!

I certainly wouldn’t either. And swap CR with TND or TWINE for the love of God.

Safari Suit wrote:

I'm going to add to this thread with the actual IMDB ratings for each of the official Bond films, apologies if it's been done already. This is as of April 2023.

1 CR        2006   8.0 669k
2 SF        2012   7.8 708k
3 GF        1964   7.7 195k
4 FRWL 1963   7.4 139k
5 NTTD 2021   7.3 416K
6 GE        1995   7.2 262k
7 DN        1962   7.2 172k
8 TSWLM 1977   7.0 112k
9 TB        1965   6.9 122k
10 S        2015   6.8 450k
11 YOLT        1967   6.8 113k
12 LALD        1973   6.7 111k
13 TMWTGG 1975   6.7 109k
14 FYEO        1981   6.7 104k
15 TLD        1987   6.7 102k
16 OHMSS 1969   6.7 95k
17 QOS        2008   6.6 457k
18 LTK        1989   6.6 108k
19 TND        1997   6.5 199k
20 DAF        1971   6.5 110k
21 OP        1983   6.5 109k
22 TWINE 1999   6.4 204k
23 AVTAK 1985   6.3 101k
24 MR        1979   6.2 104k
25 DAD        2002   6.1 223k

The last column is the number of ratings (in thousands) left for the film. Where films have the same score I have ranked the one with the greater number of ratings higher. Don't really agree with most of the placings but the people have spoken. Certainly wouldn't have put No Time To Die at #5!

Interesting. Thanks for doing this, SS. I would note, however, that a significant percentage of IMDB voters, while film buffs, are not Bond specialists. And I think that accounts for some of the nonsense in the rankings--NTTD at 5 and OHMSS at 16, among other foolishness.

Very good list, PK, although I wouldn't be surprised if Casino Royale ranked even higher. That film is A+ material. It moved people in ways that the others didn't.

Safari Suit wrote:

I'm going to add to this thread with the actual IMDB ratings for each of the official Bond films, apologies if it's been done already. This is as of April 2023.

1 CR        2006   8.0 669k
2 SF        2012   7.8 708k
3 GF        1964   7.7 195k
4 FRWL 1963   7.4 139k
5 NTTD 2021   7.3 416K
6 GE        1995   7.2 262k
7 DN        1962   7.2 172k
8 TSWLM 1977   7.0 112k
9 TB        1965   6.9 122k
10 S        2015   6.8 450k
11 YOLT        1967   6.8 113k
12 LALD        1973   6.7 111k
13 TMWTGG 1975   6.7 109k
14 FYEO        1981   6.7 104k
15 TLD        1987   6.7 102k
16 OHMSS 1969   6.7 95k
17 QOS        2008   6.6 457k
18 LTK        1989   6.6 108k
19 TND        1997   6.5 199k
20 DAF        1971   6.5 110k
21 OP        1983   6.5 109k
22 TWINE 1999   6.4 204k
23 AVTAK 1985   6.3 101k
24 MR        1979   6.2 104k
25 DAD        2002   6.1 223k

The last column is the number of ratings (in thousands) left for the film. Where films have the same score I have ranked the one with the greater number of ratings higher. Don't really agree with most of the placings but the people have spoken. Certainly wouldn't have put No Time To Die at #5!

Interesting list. The vote totals most of all. You have almost like geological layering. IMDB was launched when Brosnan was Bond, and you have all his films clustering somewhere around 200k - 250K. Then with Craig the films explode (along with Internet usage) to around 2x that on the low end. Then all the rest (barring the most iconic in GF) are situated mostly in the low 100k's -- OK, OK, and DN and FRWL, which are probably film enthusiast watches (the only other ones besides GF released by Criterion, I think?)

I think there is a measure of recency bias involved here, but it shows up in the vote totals rather than the rating itself. For example I wonder where OHMSS would be if the same 669k CR voters also all voted on OHMSS. If that makes sense?

In terms of "recency" there is also a time element. NTTD was released, what? 18 months ago? It's done 416k votes in 18 months. That's 100% of its votes. What percent of its total votes has OP or something taken on in the same frame? I'd guess the majority of the older films votes are baked in such that they could be said to reflect the reviews of folks of a different time period, non-contemporary, when even the average IMDB rating across all the films was probably different.