Top 5 Bond Movies
Number 5. Goldfinger The best of the Connery films. It is a quintessential historic bond: the gadgets, the Bond villain with a lair and unstoppable henchman, the Bond girl with a hypersexual name, and some of the best lines of the franchise. “Do you expect me to talk? No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die.”
Number 4. Goldeneye. Not just an awesome N64 game. This first turn by Brosnan was his best. It reinvigorated the series with a good mix of classic campy Bond and serious action. This was also Judi Dench’s first Bond film; she would be the only part that would survive the major overhaul of the Dark Knight-style reboot.
Number 3. No Time to Die. The show was stolen by Bond. Lashana Lynch and Ana de Armas deserved more screentime; we cared more about their characters than Bond’s love interest from Spectre, Léa Seydoux’s Madeline. But otherwise, it was an excellent send-off the Daniel Craig’s Bond, showing promise for where the series may go and wrapping up a five-film storyline that had been disrupted by Quantum and Spectre.
Number 2. Casino Royale. The reboot that saved the series. People get frustrated when you say that classic Connery or Moore versions of Bond are not the best, but that is nostalgia talking. Try watching some of Connery’s films without yawning or cringing. Casino Royale showed that Bond movies can be cool as well as the highest-quality films. Craig was blonde and blue-eyed, which drove Bond purist crazy. But he also gave Bond emotion and returned him to the occupation of Ian Flemming’s original book character—an assassin. Mads Mikkelson gave us one of the best villians. And Eva Green’s Vesper would provide Bond’s motivation for the following four films, proving ‘Bond girls’ could be flushed out into full characters.
Number 1. Skyfall. The perfect blend of nostalgia and the Bourne reboot. Casino Royale revived the series by rejecting the silliness that the franchise had fallen into. But in doing so, it rejected everything Bond, other than the character names. It followed Christopher Nolan’s cookbook for a fresh reboot and borrowed from Jason Bourne’s popularity. Skyfall continued this trend of realism (Bond suffered PTSD, main characters die, Javier Bardem’s villain was sympathetic) but took a step back to remember the good parts of classic bond (the Aston Martin, gadgets from Q, a memorable titular song).
