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No Time to Die

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What to Know

It isn't the sleekest or most daring 007 adventure, but No Time to Die concludes Daniel Craig's franchise tenure in satisfying style.

It's very long and packed with plot, but No Time to Die says goodbye to Daniel Craig's Bond with all the action and excitement franchise fans expect.

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Movie Clips

Every James Bond movie ranked, from Sean Connery’s Dr. No to Daniel Craig’s No Time to Die

As we anticipate the next 007, Entertainment Weekly looks back on the iconic espionage franchise.

Spanning seven decades with 25 entries and counting, James Bond is one of the most prolific and influential film franchises in pop culture history. Since 1962, adaptations of Ian Fleming’s superspy novels have consistently crafted death-defying stunts, globetrotting espionage plots with gorgeous locations, and a sense of cheeky, sexy fun.

It’s been three years since Daniel Craig ’s final Bond film, with the six-year gap between his farewell in No Time to Die (2021) and his previous outing Spectre (2015) being almost double the typical break between entries in the series. Now, a new iteration of Bond is reportedly just around the corner. Producer Barbara Broccoli told EW that the search for Craig’s successor would begin in 2023, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson is rumored to secure the part.

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As we anticipate the next 007, here’s Entertainment Weekly ’s ranking of all 25 James Bond movies.

25. Moonraker (1979)

Longtime Bond producer Albert R. ''Cubby'' Broccoli's cash-in on the late-'70s resurgence of sci-fi spliced the narrative DNA of 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me with a space battle straight out of Star Wars . With the help of CIA agent/astronaut Dr. Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles), 007 crosses laser pistols with billionaire Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale), who seeks to destroy all life on earth save for a genetically perfect few. Drax intends to start a new master race that doesn't even include his own iron-dentured henchman Jaws (Richard Kiel, reprising his role from The Spy Who Loved Me ). So guess who becomes Bond's ally? Played for broad comedy and featuring bizarre pop culture references (the Magnificent Seven theme plays when Roger Moore dresses like a gaucho), Moonraker finds the franchise parodying itself.

EW grade: C-

Director: Lewis Gilbert

Theme song performed by: Shirley Bassey

Fun fact: The opening aerial sequence required 88 skydivers.

24. Die Another Day (2002)

Pierce Brosnan's fourth and final film as 007 pushes plausibility to its breaking point and gives us the showstopping sight of Halle Berry in an orange bikini. After being tortured in a North Korean prison, Bond is released and goes off-mission to Cuba, trying to find out who betrayed him and win back his rescinded license to kill. Berry adds some feisty spice, but the villain (Toby Stephens' Gustav Graves) is a bit forgettable and the invisible car chase at his Icelandic Ice Palace is double-0 hooey.

EW grade: C+

Director: Lee Tamahori

Theme song performed by: Madonna

Fun fact: Madge is the only theme-song performer to have a cameo in a Bond film — she plays a fencing instructor.

23. Quantum of Solace (2008)

Picking up right where 2006's Casino Royale ended, Quantum is a true sequel that kicks off with a high-speed Aston Martin car chase, an MI6 double cross that almost gets Judi Dench's M snuffed, and a Bourne -esque foot chase across the red-tile roofs of Siena. From there, things get complicated fast. Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric) is a seemingly squeaky-clean eco-entrepreneur who's wrapped up in an organization called Quantum that echoes early-Bond's shadowy criminal cabal SPECTRE (a.k.a. the Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion). There's an opera-house shootout in Austria, a cool drowning-in-crude-oil death in Bolivia, and two easy-on-the-eyes Bond girls (Olga Kurylenko and Gemma Arterton) for the price of one. Still, it's no Casino Royale .

EW grade: B-

Director: Marc Forster

Theme song performed by: Jack White and Alicia Keys

Fun fact: In a Goldfinger homage, Bond discovers the oil-coated corpse of Arterton's Strawberry Fields sprawled on a bed.

22. The World Is Not Enough (1999)

A mix of the sublime and the downright silly, Brosnan's third outing becomes less an action film than a character study about post-traumatic stress disorder, oil politics, and the nature of evil. World introduces the franchise's first true female supervillain, Sophie Marceau's Elektra King, a teenage kidnapping victim-turned-terrorist who may still be suffering from Stockholm syndrome as an adult. Considering that MI6 helped make King a villain by failing to rescue her from her captor (Robert Carlyle's bald, pain-immune Renard), Bond's final confrontation with her is complex and almost bittersweet. Unfortunately, whenever Denise Richards appears as nuclear physicist Dr. Christmas Jones — she recites her lines as if she learned them phonetically — the movie pretty much melts down.

Director: Michael Apted

Theme song performed by: Garbage

Fun fact: The title is the English translation of the Bond family motto: Orbis non sufficit .

21. You Only Live Twice (1967)

Roald Dahl, creator of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach , adapted what he felt was pal Ian Fleming's ''worst'' 007 book. He ditched most of the original plot and sent Bond nearly to the final frontier — and the outer limits of plausibility. To thwart SPECTRE from hijacking space capsules, Sean Connery's undercover, presumed-dead Bond ''becomes'' Japanese, a process that amounts to little more than shaving his chest hair. With help from two of Tokyo's sexiest secret agents (Akiko Wakabayashi's Aki and Mie Hama's Kissy Suzuki), he finally meets Nehru-jacketed, white-kitten-stroking Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Donald Pleasence). But the evil mastermind is not the only one to say ''Goodbye, Mr. Bond.'' Connery also left the series (temporarily) after this stylish, if parody-ripe, entry.

Theme song performed by: Nancy Sinatra

Fun fact: Built at Pinewood Studios outside London, the set for the iconic volcano lair stood 148 feet tall and included an operating helipad and monorail.

20. The Living Daylights (1987)

Reagan-era Bond fans weaned on Moore's effervescent charm cried, ''Bland! James Bland!'' over Dalton's brooding portrayal of the character. But Dalton's approach perfectly suited the topical, Iran-contra-influenced story about a dizzying diamonds-for-drugs-for-arms plot involving a beautiful cellist (Maryam d'Abo) duped into aiding a diabolical Soviet general (Jeroen Krabbé). The film's politics now seem radically dated — Bond rides with the mujahideen in Afghanistan! — but its darker tone was well ahead of its time.

Director: John Glen

Theme song performed by: a-ha

Fun fact: A 24-year-old Timothy Dalton was supposed to replace Connery in 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service but was nixed because he was deemed too young. Brosnan was going to take over for Roger Moore in The Living Daylights , but Dalton got the job when NBC exercised a last-minute option for one final season of Remington Steele .

19. Spectre (2015)

With MI6’s future in doubt (again), Bond goes rogue (again). Acting on a scrap of beyond-the-grave intel from the late M (Judi Dench), 007 hopscotches the globe working his way up the ladder of a shadowy criminal organization called Spectre – the many-tentacled employer of his most nefarious past foes – headed by a bonkers baddie in a Dr. No Nehru jacket named Franz Overhauser (Christoph Waltz). The film wants to be the unifying culmination of all of Daniel Craig’s license-to-kill missions, but it squaders the Big Payoff it sets up.

Director: Sam Mendes

Theme song performed by: Sam Smith

Fun fact: With its many nods to previous 007 outings, adversaries, and gadgets (an Aston Martin fitted with an ejector seat), it’s no surprise that the name of Lea Seydoux’s character, Dr. Madeleine Swann, is a double reference to Remembrance of Things Past author Marcel Proust.

18. Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

Connery fans breathed a sigh of relief as the suave Scot reluctantly returned. And not a moment too soon. After all, there's the little matter of payback for the murder of 007's wife. In addition, SPECTRE's out to get its nefarious mitts on South African diamonds while blackmailing the world with a laser-armed satellite. Jill St. John got male moviegoers hot and bothered as the sassy, sex-kitten smuggler Tiffany Case, but we prefer Lana Wood's Plenty O'Toole. With its byzantine oil-rig battle, absurd moon-buggy chase, and homoerotic henchmen Mr. Wint (Bruce Glover) and Mr. Kidd (Putter Smith), Diamonds has its tongue a bit too far in its cheek, but Connery diehards were too busy cheering for their hero to nitpick.

EW grade: B

Director: Guy Hamilton Theme song performed by: Shirley Bassey Fun fact: After George Lazenby passed on re-upping as Bond, the producers signed John Gavin, but the studio lured Connery back for a then-record salary of $1.25 million.

17. The Man With the Golden Gun (1974)

Bond receives an unexpected gift in the mail: a gold bullet with 007 engraved on it. He seems to be the next target on the hit list of Christopher Lee's dastardly Scaramanga. Lee adds a touch of class (and a superfluous third nipple) to the colorful menagerie of big-screen Bond villains with his solar death ray. And after a silly kung fu detour, Bond faces off against his foe — as well as Scaramanga's pint-size sidekick, Nick Nack (Hervé Villechaize) — at a mod island hideout in the South China Sea. Adams and Britt Ekland don't add much besides eye candy, but the climactic shoot-out in Scaramanga's hall-of-mirrors fun house is a thrilling homage to Orson Welles' 1948 film The Lady From Shanghai .

Director: Guy Hamilton Theme song performed by: Lulu Fun fact: Bond girl Maud Adams would later go on to star in 1983's Octopussy as well.

16. Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

A power-drunk, Murdoch-like media baron named Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce) seeks to ignite World War III for no reason other than to boost TV ratings and newspaper sales. Bond intervenes to maintain peace, avenge his murdered old flame Paris (Teri Hatcher), woo Chinese agent Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh), and restore journalistic integrity. On at least three out of four counts, mission accomplished.

Director: Roger Spottiswoode Theme song performed by: Sheryl Crow Fun fact: Twelve years before creating Downton Abbey , Julian Fellowes played Britain's minister of defense.

15. No Time to Die (2021)

Nicola Dove/MGM/Danjaq/Courtesy Everett Collection

In Craig’s final outing as Bond, the superspy finds himself drawn out of retirement to stop terrorist Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek) from unleashing a dangerous bioweapon. The film boasts both familiar allies like Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux) and Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) and new peers like 007 successor Nomi (Lashana Lynch) and CIA agent Paloma (Ana de Armas). It’s also one of the few entries to give the MI6 team — M, Q, Moneypenny, and Bond himself — an emotional bond (heh) that makes all of their interactions more poignant. No Time to Die is a stunning farewell to Craig’s Bond, sending its hero off with an unforgettable act of heroism while providing him with numerous breathtaking action sequences.

Director: Cary Jojo Fukunaga

Theme song performed by: Billie Eilish

Fun fact: The film’s release was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic — but the studio didn’t pull the trigger until after Craig had already booked an SNL hosting gig ( and an EW photoshoot ) to promote the movie in early 2020.

14. Live And Let Die (1973)

The Roger Moore era begins with a blaxploitation bang. The debonair heir to the 007 mantle tones down Connery's brutality and cocks an amused eyebrow at the international-man-of-mystery proceedings — usually accompanied by a saucy double entendre. When Yaphet Kotto's Dr. Kananga (a.k.a. Mr. Big) hatches a plan to corner the world heroin market, Bond heads to Harlem (where he looks mighty uncomfortable) before jetting down to the fictional Caribbean island of San Monique, home of voodoo rituals and a metal-clawed killer. Jane Seymour is lovely and tragic as the tarot-reading Solitaire. And Kananga's demise (he explodes after being force-fed a shark-gun bullet) is one for the ages.

Director: Guy Hamilton Theme song performed by: Paul McCartney and Wings Fun fact: Moore's love scene with African-American actress Gloria Hendry was cut from the film when it was shown in South Africa.

13. Dr. No (1962)

This is where it all begins, and where the formula for the 50-year spy saga is laid out: the shot-through-a-gun-barrel opening, composer Monty Norman's slinky 007 theme music, etc. Connery handles his introduction with the high-thread-count smoothness we've come to expect (''Bond...James Bond'') at a London casino, where he's lucky with the cards and the ladies. Meanwhile, the Chinese überbaddie of the title (Joseph Wiseman) is out to foil an American space launch with a radio beam. Dr. No isn't the best Bond film, but it's a pistol of a debut, as the man with the license to kill heads to Jamaica, eludes a tarantula in his bed, and stumbles upon a beachcombing beauty (Ursula Andress' Honey Ryder) on his way to saving the world.

Director: Terence Young Theme song performed by: John Barry & Orchestra Fun fact: After watching the film, Bond creator Ian Fleming reportedly called it ''Dreadful. Simply dreadful.''

12. A View to a Kill (1985)

Roger Moore was 56 in his seventh and last outing. It shows. In real life, he was even older than the mother of his costar Tanya Roberts. Still, he kicks butt. Christopher Walken's Max Zorin, the freak offspring of a Nazi eugenics experiment, rigs horse races, attempts the destruction of Silicon Valley with his Amazonian henchwoman May Day (Jones), and holds Roberts' breathy geologist hostage aboard a blimp, building to a sky-high climax atop the Golden Gate Bridge. Over the top? Sure. Entertaining? No question.

EW grade: B+

Director: John Glen Theme song performed by: Duran Duran (it was the only Bond theme to top the Billboard Hot 100) Fun fact: Dolph Lundgren, who was then dating star Grace Jones, made his film debut as a bodyguard of Russian general Gogol (Walter Gotell).

11. Licence To Kill (1989)

This time it's personal. 007 goes rogue to investigate the sadistic banana-republic drug lord (Robert Davi) who fed his CIA pal Felix Leiter (David Hedison) to a shark. In this brutally violent revenge thriller, deaths are inflicted by fire, industrial shredder, pressure chamber, and electric eel. But it's Dalton's Bond who inspires true dread when he goes undercover as a thug for hire. Assisted by scrappy, sexy CIA agent Pam Bouvier (future Law & Order prosecutor Carey Lowell), he pits a gallery of magnificent rogues against one another, including a sleazy boat captain (Anthony Zerbe), a psychotic hitman (Benicio del Toro), and a crooked televangelist (Wayne Newton).

Director: John Glen Theme song performed by: Gladys Knight Fun fact: Because of a change to the tax code that made U.K. production prohibitively expensive, this was the first Bond film with no scenes shot in Britain.

10. Octopussy (1983)

One of the most woefully underappreciated Bond films, Octopussy was released four months before Connery's unofficial 007 flick Never Say Never Again (a non-Broccoli-produced remake of Thunderball ). Octopussy is a classic cloak-and-dagger nail-biter about a scheme by a rogue Russian general (Steven Berkoff) to detonate a nuke on an American military base in Germany. Along the way, Bond faces plenty of diversions: an assassin with a yo-yo buzz saw, Louis Jourdan's backgammon-cheating heavy Kamal Khan, Adams returning from The Man With the Golden Gun as the thinking man's Bond girl with a squad of female acrobat warriors in skintight red spandex catsuits, and a nifty switcheroo with a Fabergé egg.

Director: John Glen Theme song performed by: Rita Coolidge Fun fact: Before Moore re-upped at the last minute, James Brolin screen-tested for the role.

9. For Your Eyes Only (1981)

Following the silly space schlock of Moonraker , Bond gets back to basics. After a British spy ship carrying a top secret transmitter is sunk off the Albanian coast, 007 races to salvage the wreck before the Russians do. But when a marine archaeologist working for MI6 is gunned down, his daughter (Carole Bouquet, deadly with a crossbow) is out for payback with Bond's help. Bond beds an ill-fated countess (Harris), gets chased by Aryans on motorcycles down the Italian Alps, and storms a vertiginous mountaintop aerie in Greece. You'll love it, as long as you turn it off before the Margaret Thatcher impersonator (Janet Brown) appears at the end.

Director: John Glen Theme song performed by: Sheena Easton Fun fact: Early in the film's shoot, Bond conquest Cassandra Harris married future 007 Pierce Brosnan.

8. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

It's a dose of double-0 détente after Russian and British submarines are hijacked by the sinister Karl Stromberg (Curt Jurgens). Bond and Barbara Bach's KGB knockout Anya Amasova (a.k.a. Agent Triple X) head off to exotic Egypt looking for a highly classified microfilm and cross paths with the razor-toothed assassin Jaws (Richard Kiel). With his third time in the tux, Moore finally hits his stride as 007 and makes the role his own, thanks in no small part to an amphibious Lotus sports car and a rousing pre-opening-credits ski chase that ends with Bond jumping off a cliff and releasing a Union Jack parachute. Moore's best Bond performance.

EW grade: A-

Director: Lewis Gilbert Theme song performed by: Carly Simon Fun fact: The closing credits promise that ''James Bond will return in For Your Eyes Only .'' But after the success of 1977's Star Wars , Moonraker was fast-tracked as the follow-up.

7. GoldenEye (1995)

Brosnan's debut doesn't merely rehabilitate Bond for a post-Cold War world — it renews his license to thrill. 007 faces former MI6 colleague Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean), who's brimming with rage over a failed mission in Russia nine years before (Bond managed to escape alone, mistakenly assuming his colleague was offed). ''I might as well ask you if all those vodka martinis ever silence the screams of all the men you've killed,'' Trevelyan says. ''Or if you find forgiveness in the arms of all those willing women for all the dead ones you failed to protect.'' Count us shaken and disturbed. But Bond gets his cyberpunk on with Russian hacker Natalya Simonova (Izabella Scorupco), and together they foil Trevelyan's techno-terror plot to destroy the world economy.

Director: Martin Campbell Theme song performed by: Tina Turner Fun fact: The title derives from the name of Fleming's Jamaica estate, where he created James Bond and wrote all the novels.

6. Casino Royale (2006)

A back-to-basics reboot for the ages, Casino Royale reinvents 007 as a blunt instrument with a soul. In his first turn in Bond's tux, Daniel Craig brings a macho directness to the familiar role. But for all its eye-popping action, the movie doesn't just appeal to the adrenal glands — witness Bond's broken heart over doomed love Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), and the high-stakes Montenegro poker game with blood-weeping terror financier Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) that became the series' most suspenseful showdown in years.

Director: Martin Campbell Theme song performed by: Chris Cornell Fun fact: Tsai Chin, who portrays one of Bond's fellow poker players, was the lover who helped Connery's 007 fake his death at the beginning of You Only Live Twice .

5. Thunderball (1965)

Even Bond might admire the elegance of SPECTRE's fiendish plan: Hijack a NATO bomber, steal its nuclear warheads, then blackmail the British and American governments for £100 million. A kaleidoscopic catalog of iconic images follows — a villain with an eye patch (Adolfo Celi's lusty SPECTRE No. 2, Emilio Largo), a jet-pack escape, a henchman shot with a speargun, a swimming pool full of sharks, gorgeous underwater battles, and Bond twirling evil Fiona Volpe (redhead scorcher Luciana Paluzzi) into the path of her fellow assassin's bullet. Thunderball also introduces the famous ''Bond-girl formula,'' which dictates that our hero is likely to tangle with three types of women: an early ally who dies (Martine Beswick's MI6 agent Paula Caplan), the villain's henchwoman who dies (Volpe), and the ''Bond girl'' proper who usually survives to the end (Largo's mistress-turned-nemesis Domino Derval, played by Claudine Auger).

Director: Terence Young Theme song performed by: Tom Jones Fun fact: Connery's life was really in jeopardy during Bond's shark-tank plunge, since a protective Plexiglas partition had an alarming four-foot gap.

4. Skyfall (2012)

For 007's 23rd outing, Craig is back with a bang in his best Bond outing to date. Mendes throws down the gauntlet right from the start as 007 chases a baddie across the rooftops of Istanbul, building to a chase atop a speeding train. From there, Bond is forced to do some soul-searching as a creepy cyberterrorist (played by a screne-stealingly lecherous Javier Bardem) is out to take down the MI6 agent and his spymaster, M (Judi Dench). Mendes keeps the pace brisk, hopscotching from Istanbul to Shanghai to London to the Scottish highlands, where Bond's origin story is revealed with a psychological depth that few 007 installments have had. Not only Craig's best outing, but one of the Best Bonds ever.

Director: Sam Mendes Theme song performed by: Adele Fun fact: Yes, that's Daniel Craig behind the wheel of Bond's legendary Aston Martin DB5 from Goldfinger (outfitted with it signature ejector-seat button). According to Mendes, although it appears that the classic sports car was riddled with bullets during the film's climax, no DB5s were actually harmed in the making of the picture.

3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

Best remembered as the film in which the Australian Lazenby stepped in for Connery, On Her Majesty's Secret Service has unfairly been tarred as a turkey and Lazenby as the franchise's equivalent of fifth Beatle Pete Best. Both charges couldn't be more off. The sixth installment in the 007 saga is actually one of the best — and most emotionally complex. Bond doesn't just fall into bed with Diana Rigg's Contessa Teresa di Vincenzo, he falls in love (they exchange I do's before she's gunned down). Telly Savalas hams it up perfectly as Blofeld, SPECTRE's capo di tutti capi , scheming to hold the world's food supply hostage with the help of his comely ''angels of death.'' This is our first look at Bond as existential hero, and the man can't catch a break. As Lazenby famously quips, ''This never happened to the other fellow.''

Director: Peter Hunt Theme song performed by: Louis Armstrong Fun fact: To explain the appearance of new leading man Lazenby, the filmmakers flirted with the idea of Bond getting plastic surgery.

2. From Russia With Love (1963)

SPECTRE brings the Cold War to a boil by duping Bond and a Russian Mata Hari (Daniela Bianchi) into stealing a much-coveted Lektor decoding device on its behalf. The brainy story pits 007 against two of his most fearsome adversaries: Robert Shaw's stocky hitman Red Grant, whose Orient Express showdown is a slow-burn corker, and Bertolt Brecht veteran Lotte Lenya (of ''Mack the Knife'' fame) as unforgettable shoe-dagger-wielding Rosa Klebb.

EW grade: A

Director: Terence Young Theme song performed by: Matt Monro Fun fact: President John F. Kennedy listed Fleming's original novel as one of his 10 favorite books. From Russia With Love was also the last film he ever saw — it was screened at the White House on Nov. 20, 1963.

1. Goldfinger (1964)

It's the film that most 007 aficionados consider the gold standard of the series. Bullion-hoarding bad guy Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe) attempts to attack Fort Knox after aiming a laser at 007's royal jewels (''No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!''). Goldfinger is festooned with indelible flourishes: the bowler-hatted henchman Oddjob (Sakata), a shapely corpse covered in 24-karat paint, the first appearance of Bond's Aston Martin DB5 (with ejector seat), and, of course, a lethal lady called Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman) — a naughty name the producers had to lobby the MPAA to keep. What's not to love?

Director: Guy Hamilton Theme song performed by: Shirley Bassey Fun fact: Before picking up his deadly bowler as Oddjob, the Hawaii-born Harold Sakata won a silver medal in weightlifting for the U.S. at the 1948 Olympics.

Screen Rant

Every james bond movie ranked from worst to best (including no time to die).

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After a long delay James Bond is back in No Time to Die , so there's no time like the present to rank his cinematic outings from worst to best. Through six Bond actors, 60 years and 25 movies, Ian Fleming's "blunt instrument " has punched, quipped, and slept his way through a wide variety of adventures in one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time. Blaring horns, smoking guns, and martinis (shaken, not stirred) have woven themselves into the fabric of cinematic iconography, with the promise "James Bond will return" a constant for multiple generations.

The character first appeared in Fleming's 1953 novel, Casino Royale , which became a hot property for radio and television adaptations. Less than a decade and exactly nine Fleming novels later, Eon Productions (owned by Harry Saltzman and Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli), acquired the rights to 007 and released the first film in the series, Dr. No . From the moment Sean Connery introduced himself as "Bond, James Bond, " a legend was born, and the Scottish actor would go on to reprise the role in five entries before launching the tradition of passing the torch to the next 007. George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig have all followed, each giving their own spin on the British secret agent.

Related: Why Tom Hardy Would Be a Terrible Choice To Play James Bond After Daniel Craig

For a franchise so reliant on formula, there's a wide variety of types of Bond adventures. Some embrace the ridiculous and some the hard-boiled grit of Fleming's stories. Some attempt to give 007 something resembling a soul, others have invisible cars and jetpacks. A viewer's entry point can set the tone for what they expect from a Bond film and because of that, nearly every title in this ranking is probably someone's favorite. There will be no Never Say Never Again or 1967's Casino Royale featured, and there will also be no spoilers for No Time to Die ; these are the 25 official Eon produced Bond films, ranked from worst to best.

25. Die Another Day (2002)

Invaluable to the series only because the film almost killed it so it could be reborn with Casino Royale, the 20th Bond adventure features all of the franchise's worst impulses. For being the entry that brought 007 into the 21st century, this is an incredibly tacky-looking movie, from the community theater ice palace to the CGI wave of melted ice Bond surfs. The filmmakers are lost at sea, piling on the gadgets (including a dream machine and the invisible car) and embracing the sexual innuendoes and one-liners so intensely it feels like a parody of Austin Powers. To witness its overblown climax - set on an exploding plane - is to see James Bond gone wrong , to witness the franchise quite literally self-destruct. Bond may have lived to die another day, but this was a close call.

24. The World is Not Enough (1999)

No Bond film is without its pleasures, but Brosnan's third time comes close. It doesn't help that several elements - 007 being wounded in the opening, a past foe of M's stepping out of the shadows - would all be handled better in Skyfall . Mostly, the movie just feels plodding, both an unfortunate showcase for the series' most adolescent tendencies and an undercooked preview of what it would do with the Craig entries, but this time with the wrong people involved. Sophie Marceau is an intriguing villain, but Robert Carlyle comes off embarrassed playing a terrorist who doesn't feel pain due to a bullet lodged in his head. Meanwhile, Denise Richards lays claim to the title of Worst Bond Girl of All Time.

23. The Man With the Golden Gun (1974)

The Man With the Golden Gun, Roger Moore's second outing as James Bond , isn't just a low point for its star but the series as a whole. It's a nearly joyless affair watching 007 careen from Beirut to Macau, from Hong Kong to an island showdown with the three-nippled hitman Francisco Scaramanga, played by a woefully wasted Christopher Lee. Fantasy Island 's Hervé Villechaize is quite literally hung out to dry and there's even a flying car. A headache-inducing theme and an incredible car stunt underscored by a lame slide whistle serve as the perfect embodiments of the film as a whole; this is both an obnoxious bang and a lousy whimper, and one of the worst Bonds yet.

Related: GoldenEye Saved James Bond's Aston Martin (And Proved Better Than Brosnan's Cars)

22. Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

Sending Bond to Vegas should lead to firecracker results, but aside from a killer theme sung by Bond chanteuse Shirley Bassey, this is mostly a stinker. Connery returned for a then-record $1.25 million salary after the box office disappointment of George Lazenby's one-and-done On Her Majesty's Secret Service . Overall, it's one of the most stupidly goofy Bonds and has aged poorly. Charles Gray shows up as Blofeld in the final act, but even that appearance devolves into a childish encounter involving a launch crane and a mini submarine, an ignominious ending for Bond's iconic arch-nemesis considering he wouldn't return in earnest until...

21. Spectre (2015)

All Bond movies are reflections of the cinematic landscape in which they're released, so it's not a surprise the MCU's trend of focusing on an over-arching narrative rather than the film at hand would wind up influencing 007. Blofeld has been Thanos-ing long before Josh Brolin snapped his purple fingers, yet his re-emergence here feels hackneyed. That's partly due to the uninspired casting of Christoph Waltz, who could do this type of performance in his sleep. More distressingly his claim to being the " author" of Bond's pain stems from the sort of cynical pandering that would bring Emperor Palpatine back in The Rise of Skywalker . That might all be fine if said reveal didn't follow a plodding, meandering first hour that unsuccessfully mimics Skyfall 's "ruined city" existentialism about the state of MI6, itself following a plodding, meandering theme song that unsuccessfully mimics its Adele-sung predecessor. Even a burly brawl between Craig and Dave Bautista on a train feels like a callback to a far superior sequence, in a superior film.

20. For Your Eyes Only (1981)

007 stumbled into the 1980s with this attempt to transplant Moore's Bond into a gritty throwback to the serious-minded thrills of From Russia With Love. Somehow, that attempt still involves an ice rink battle with a hockey team, a bizarre cameo from a Margaret Thatcher impersonator, and an opening confrontation between Bond and an uncredited Blofeld that feels less like a reunion and more like a Tom and Jerry short . There's an intriguing Bond girl in Caroline Bouquet's Melina, who for most of the film is on her own path to avenge the death of her parents, with little sign of being seduced by her leading man. Frustratingly, the screenplay misses the opportunity to bond her and James through their mutual loss of loved ones, a dynamic that might have lent emotion to an otherwise bland entry, particularly with James' deceased wife Tracy given a rare reference in the film's opening moments. Alas, For Your Eyes Only abstains, settling for being what no Bond movie wishes to be; forgettable.

19. A View to a Kill (1985)

Moore's tenure as 007 was mostly notable for its goofiness, but his final film as James Bond is mostly a staid-to-the-point-of-boring affair. There's the occasional oddity - a ski chase scored to the Beach Boys' "California Girls," or a woman in a jacuzzi saying, " The bubbles tickle my Tchaikovsky ." Mostly though, View to a Kill, Moore's least favorite Bond , stands out for just how old its star is. The screenplay attempts to compensate for this, saddling him through most of the story with the distinctly un-Bondian task of snooping around ornate homes and horse race events, pretending to be a journalist named James Stock. On the rare occasion he gets up to some action, whether it be a chase up the Eiffel Tower or any number of romantic couplings with younger women, the results alternate from creaky to creepy. Christopher Walken fares better as the sadistic Zorin, and together with Grace Jones' May Day he makes up one of the most dynamic villain duos in the series. Taking that into account, this one also gets a few bonus points for its Golden Gate Bridge finale, and for that bop of a theme.

Related: Daniel Craig's James Bond Recap: What To Remember Before No Time To Die

18. Thunderball (1965)

Were it not for a series of legal disputes beginning shortly after the 1961 publication of Ian Fleming's novel , Thunderball would have been the first entry in the Bond series. Fortunately, that wasn't the case, as after the remarkably sure-footed debut of 1962's Dr. No and the innovations and evolutions of From Russia With Love and Goldfinger, Thunderball feels the most "cruise-control" of the Connery entries. That's partly to do with its inflated running time, the first in the series to exceed two hours. However, as innovative as the sequel's copious use of underwater photography was at the time, it now only adds an element of sluggishness to an unfortunately over-padded, ponderous entry.

17. No Time to Die (2021)

The latest 007 adventure, Daniel Craig's final Bond movie , wants to do a lot in its near-three-hour runtime. It wants to mine the emotion of On Her Majesty's Secret Service , the first outing to give its hero a soul, as evidenced by the callbacks to that entry. It wants to tie up the loose ends of Spectre , a task probably better left alone, but one that eats up nearly half the runtime. It also wants to return to the Bond franchise's most eccentric aspects; island lairs, evil plots for world domination, all the things that never fit well into this era of 007. Most of all, it wants to give Daniel Craig's James Bond, arguably the best 007 of all time and certainly the most dynamic, a proper sendoff, something it achieves once it has the sense to get out of its own way. A cathartic finale is one of the lone standouts here, along with a firecracker cameo from Bond newcomer Ana de Armas and a distinctly un-Bondian prelude. Elsewhere, Rami Malek is a disappointing villain, a COVID-esque plot feels both poorly timed and regressive, and Lashana Lynch's much-buzzed-about new 007 isn't given much to do. The Craig era ends with a solid goodbye to its star, but also one of his most bloated adventures. It's not the annoyance that Spectre was, but the true final Craig film will always be Skyfall.

16. Moonraker (1979)

Often touted as one of the worst entries, Moonraker is at least memorable for its pre-credits skydiving sequence - one of the best stunts in the entire franchise - and for its final act, which improbably sends Bond to space. It's the film's middle hour which is the most difficult to get through, as Bond contends with Michael Lonsdale's villain, Drax, and sleepwalks through a series of uninspired setpieces, most involving Richard Kiel's metal-mouthed Jaws . Here, he's transformed into a Wile E. Coyote-esque doofus. After that tedium, the shark-jumping hijinks of the finale, where Jaws finds love with a pig-tailed blonde and Drax reveals himself to be a Space Nazi are a welcome jolt of energy. Moore's offerings were often guilty of copying the hits of the time, and while the reference here is undoubtedly Star Wars , Ken Adam's production design and the visual effects are undeniably impressive.

15. Live and Let Die (1973)

Moore's first outing is not without its problems. The desire to mimic cinematic trends of the time sees 007 co-opting the Blaxploitation genre for a brief foray that only underlines the character's imperialist sense of superiority over his non-white supporting characters. That's the dated part of a sequel that stands out for its dark voodoo plotline, tarot card-reading Bond girl Solitaire, and for two of the series' more unique villains, Yaphet Kotto's Kananga and Geoffrey Holder's witch doctor Baron Samedi . That it all kicks off with one of the best Bond songs, by Paul McCartney and Wings, is enough to knock it up a few notches.

Related: James Bond: Every Way Daniel Craig's Era Changed 007

14. Octopussy (1983)

After five entries flirting with the notion of making a complete mockery of the franchise, Moore finally got to turn James Bond into a literal clown. Octopussy gets a bad rap, not for entirely unjust reasons. It squanders its first act India setting with lame stereotypes that make Temple of Doom feel restrained. There's a Tarzan yell, an incomprehensible plot concerning Fabergé eggs and nuclear holocaust, plus a headscratcher of a moment where Bond seems to recognize his own theme music. Indeed, it's a far cry from the Connery days, often feeling more like bottom-shelf Mel Brooks ( Spaceballs ) than Bond. As noticeably long in the tooth as he is here, he's also the most alive he ever was in the role, surrounded by a film that plays to his strengths and actually makes him relaxed enough to be an engaging action star. Brush away the ridiculousness and Octopussy boasts an impressive succession of setpieces, from chases via rickshaws and trains to a thrilling, death-defying final plane confrontation that almost justifies the film's awful theme song, "All Time High."

13. Quantum of Solace (2008)

Criticisms that Craig's Bond has lost the franchise's sense of fun are most likely caused by this brutish, lowkey sequel to the triumphant high of Casino Royale. Nonetheless, Quantum of Solace, whatever that means , isn't the series-worst entry some fans claim. It's best viewed as a coda to Casino Royale , one which takes the vengeful Bond girl plot of For Your Eyes Only and the "Bond as angel of death" vibe of the (superior) Licence to Kill, mixing both into the sort of cold-blooded revenge movie that should have followed On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Shot from an unfinished script due to the writer's strike, with some of the dialogue written on the fly by director Marc Forster and Craig himself, this is admittedly not the most cohesive entry. Still, Quantum is at its best when it's focusing on Bond's struggle for inner peace in the wake of Vesper Lynd's death, or on his tug-of-war relationship with his boss (featuring some of Judi Dench's best work as M in the series). It's considerably less effective when dealing with its evil environmentalist bad guy (a waste of an intimidating Mathieu Amalric), or stumbling through its overly edited action sequences. Daniel Craig makes it all worthwhile, navigating Bond's journey beautifully from wounded, vengeful lover to cold MI6 assassin.

12. GoldenEye (1995)

The 007 films have always been reactionary, both to cinematic trends and to the public perception of whichever adventure Bond underwent last. It's no surprise that after two grittier entries and a six-year hiatus, the franchise would come roaring back to life with a desire to please every kind of Bond fan at once. In that way, GoldenEye can be frustratingly regressive, both in its Soviet-centered plot and in the type of megalomaniacal villain plan that felt tired several entries ago. Taken on its own terms as a sort of "greatest hits" Bond film, it's plenty of fun, with Pierce Brosnan's suave 007 serving as a solid cocktail of Dalton, Moore and Connery. There's nothing new or bold about his performance, but also nothing offensive. The only real innovative, tantalizing aspect of this entry is the introduction of Judi Dench as M, who - despite a brief appearance - makes a big impression, setting up the maternal-meets-adversarial relationship with Bond she would develop further in the Craig era. Other than that, this is mostly a splashy toy commercial of a film, exactly the kind of action flick in which the '90s specialized.

11. Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

In 1997, Tomorrow Never Dies got roundly beaten by Titanic at the box office - but that doesn't mean Brosnan's second Bond adventure is worthy of derision. After the balls-to-the-wall brouhaha of GoldenEye , this one feels a bit more refreshingly relaxed and in control. Its plot, which concerns a Murdoch-esque media magnate played by Jonathan Pryce ( The Wife ) , whose evil plan is to sow mass chaos to achieve - of all things - exclusive broadcasting rights in China for 100 years, is certainly among the series' more ridiculous. However, it's also the rare Brosnan film that looked at the present rather than the past, eschewing Cold War conflict for a satire on the evils of the day, exactly the sort of thing the series was doing in its earlier entries. That's to say nothing of Brosnan's chemistry with Michelle Yeoh, certainly in the upper echelon of "Bond-and-Bond-girl dynamics," nor of Vincent Schiavelli's scene-stealing Dr. Kaufman, one of the series' most genuinely funny villains.

Related: What Would Bond 25 Be Like If Craig Had Left After Spectre?

10. The Living Daylights (1987)

Contemporary audiences didn't quite know what to make of this entry's willful contrast to the Roger Moore Bond era , but nowadays, it feels like a breath of fresh air to see Bond actually break a sweat. The Living Daylights is the first entry since From Russia With Love to successfully get back to the meat-and-potatoes espionage and adventure of Fleming's source material, with Timothy Dalton's Bond a nervy combination of debonair and dangerous that has largely gone undervalued in evaluations of the series. At times, his first outing can feel like a Bond film in name only, tamping down not only the character's sex appeal but also the franchise's reliance on gadgets, diabolical villains or one-liners. Nevertheless, despite a sometimes frustrating lack of humor, this is Bond at some of his leanest and meanest.

9. You Only Live Twice (1967)

The less said about a late-game plot point in this installment which has Connery donning yellow-face to disguise himself as a Japanese fisherman, the better. That ill-conceived moment aside, You Only Live Twice - adapted from one of Fleming's darker novels - is all about Little Nellie (one of Q's most satisfying gadgets) and a finale that unveils both production designer Ken Adam's best set, a hollowed-out volcano lair, and the pivotal moment when Bond's arch-nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld first steps out of the shadows. Played here by Donald Pleasance in the character's first and greatest appearance, the short-lived but unforgettable performance created an evocative capitalization on the mystery surrounding 007's arch-villain, one whose absence would linger over most of the subsequent films. The final setpiece is a real barnstormer, with Roald Dahl's screenplay ushering in a new era of eccentric gadgets and villains for the hero.

8. Licence to Kill (1989)

If there's one entry in the Bond franchise that benefits from a marathon of the series, it's Licence to Kill. In a basket of oranges, this stands out as the poisoned apple of the bunch, an impressively daring follow-up to Dalton's already bold debut . Its plot begins a bit too ugly, with implied rape and dismemberment all being dished out in the first act. Soon, though, it settles into the sort of personal revenge thriller that should have followed On Her Majesty's Secret Service . As it stands here the final Dalton outing, which sees Bond suspended and striking out on his own is one of the series' most satisfyingly different . This entry eschews the typical aesthetics of the franchise, delving instead into the obsessive tenacity of a dangerous man who's lost one too many loved ones. Dalton really stakes his claim as the most under-celebrated 007 here; sure, he paints the character at his most hard-edged, but there's an aspect he brings to the character that never really existed before - genuine warmth. That quality is evident in his romance with Carey Lowell's Bond girl and in his rapport with Desmond Llewelyn's Q , who gets some enjoyable time in the field here. It all culminates with a rough and rowdy oil tanker showdown, and one of the most satisfying villain deaths in the series.

7. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

It all starts with that stellar opening stunt, then in comes the schmaltzy piano intro from Marvin Hamlisch's "Nobody Does It Better," hands-down the most swoony and romantic of all the Bond themes. From there, it's mostly smooth sailing through what is arguably one of the most important entries of the entire franchise. Fortunately, the film functions as a return to form following Moore's last outing, largely thanks to the re-hiring of You Only Live Twice director Lewis Gilbert and series' MVP Ken Adam, whose production design outdoes itself with the final act's giant supertanker set. Ultimately, this adventure is a success because it gives Moore, always capable of playing a darker James Bond , constant conflict from his supporting cast. That's the case with Barbara Bach's Major Anya, whose uneasy alliance with 007 gives the story a crackling sense of tension.

Related: How Many People Craig's Bond Has To Kill To Become The Deadliest 007

6. Dr. No (1962)

From 007's punny quips to that iconic Monty Norman theme, it's incredible how much of the Bond aesthetic arrives fully formed in Dr. No. Of course, the greatest victory of all is the casting of Sean Connery, who crystallizes the sexy swagger, tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, and vicious danger of the spy right from his entrance. The series would expand with more scope and spectacle in subsequent films, but this is still one of the more tautly engaging entries, with its fair share of eye candy, from Adam's expansive sets to Ursula Andress' famed emergence from the Caribbean Sea in a white bikini.

5. From Russia With Love (1963)

One of the best sequels ever made (and Connery's, Dalton's, and Craig's favorite entry in the series ), From Russia With Love is less a follow-up to Dr. No as it is an alternate take on what a Bond film can be. Less jokey and more of a Cold War spy thriller, the hard-boiled grit of this entry wouldn't be seen again until Timothy Dalton and Daniel Craig resurrected it . Connery is perfection, with a superb Bond girl in Daniela Bianchi and two series best villains in Lotte Lenya and Robert Shaw. The eleventh hour Hitchcockian train fight with Shaw still ranks as one of the best action sequences in any Bond outing, capping off a film that's 007 at its best. From Russia With Love's formula of pulpy mystery, sensuality, globe-trotting, gadgetry, and movie star machismo has rarely been bettered.

4. Casino Royale (2006)

One of the many pleasures of a Bond rewatch is to experience the effect of how much of a pivot Casino Royale was for the series. It's essentially a two-hour and 20 minute-long mic drop, the kickoff of the finest run the series has experienced since the Connery era. There was much resistance to Daniel Craig's casting, from his blond hair and blue eyes to his gruff, brooding demeanor. His Bond is without a doubt a gorilla of a man, leaping off scaffolding and propelling himself up with his tree-trunk arms, but the first hour embraces this fully with the kind of scrappy and brutish action beats, no doubt inspired by Jason Bourne , that simply doesn't exist in studio films with this budget level. By the time he's taken to the poker table, viewers are primed for a total reinvention and one that seamlessly melds the martinis, tailored tuxes, and dry witticisms they know and love with moments of genuine introspection. Dench's M finally gets some solid material and a sparring partner in Craig worth her weight, while Mads Mikkelsen's blood-weeping baddie is a nice tip of the hat to the quirky villains of old.

3. Goldfinger (1964)

Three movies in, Bond reached a perfect synthesis of the straight-faced silliness of Dr. No and the ultra-cool spy thriller of From Russia With Love. Goldfinger is the defining film of the Bond franchise for myriad reasons, from its increased use of gadgets to its often-imitated-but-never-equaled theme song. Its villain Goldfinger is the quintessential 007 baddie , with Oddjob one of the most beloved heavies. There's the Aston Martin, a bevy of memorable Ken Adam sets, and a Bond girl in Pussy Galore who straddles the line between having her own agenda and being seduced by her leading man. When that man is Sean Connery, it's hard to deny. In his third time in the role, he's as perfect a fit as a tailored tux from Saville Row, cementing his 007 as one of the most definitive movie star performances in history, and anchoring the series' most wholly entertaining offering.

Related: Martin Campbell Is Right About Craig's Disappointing James Bond Movies

2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

Famed film critic Leonard Maltin once said that, if Connery weren't recast in On Her Majesty's Secret Service , it would be the best of the Bond films. While it does feel strange to heap such praise on the film starring the only actor to play 007 just once, George Lazenby is also the best agent for this particular job. Sure, he flubs quips Connery would have knocked out of the park, but those asides also feel out of place in a film that is the most human in the series. Bond's coupling with Diana Rigg's Tracy gives the franchise a genuine love story, as well as its most tragic punch. Not only does the shattering ending teach Bond why he can never really be human; it also shows why the series, beyond economical reasons, is doomed to go on forever. Lest the promise of romance and tragedy deter casual fans, rest assured the back half is a parade of thrilling action, with the battle between Bond and Blofeld (Telly Savalas here) given its most raw, personal treatment. That's to say nothing of Michael Reed's cinematography (matched only by Deakins' work on Skyfall ), nor of John Barry's doom-laden electronic score, which boasts Louis Armstrong's heartbreaking "We Have All the Time in the World" and the only instrumental theme which ever dared go toe-to-toe with Monty Norman's original. On Her Majesty's Secret Service may be a very different Bond adventure, but it's also one of the best cinematic offerings the franchise has given viewers thus far.

1. Skyfall (2012)

The James Bond series has always been about aging; it just was never acknowledged. For Sean Connery and Roger Moore, it was business as usual in their final outings. Despite graying hair and wrinkled faces, they fired off one-liners, slipped into bed with significantly younger women and left the big stunts to their doubles. There's no hiding that with Skyfall, which action and twists aside is entirely about old dogs, antiquated relics of a bygone era and about whether or not the world needs Bond anymore. That's a valid question to ask after 50 years of movies, but director Sam Mendes manages to answer with a firm, "More than ever." This is that rarest of things, a well-made, thoughtful, and gorgeous looking (thanks to cinematographer Roger Deakins) action film, one that boils the entire series down to its simplest pieces of iconography, trusting its emotional center to what has been its most dynamic relationship for a while now; Craig's Bond and Dench's M. Dench turns in awards-worthy work, as does Javier Bardem as Silva , the cyber-terrorist who would sow the seeds of distrust in M for Bond. Skyfall is the complete package - a satisfying mixture of the old and the new, both a celebration and reflection of all things 007. James Bond will continue to return beyond No Time To Die , but it'll be difficult for the franchise to ever find as perfect a final resting place as Skyfall.

Next: Daniel Craig Was Sure He Was Done As Bond After Spectre (Why He Returned)

SR Originals
Casino Royale

The best Bond in years

In this 50th year of the James Bond series, with the dismal “ Quantum of Solace ” (2008) still in our minds, “Skyfall” triumphantly reinvents 007 in one of the best Bonds ever. This is a full-blooded, joyous, intelligent celebration of a beloved cultural icon, with Daniel Craig taking full possession of a role he earlier played well in “Casino Royale,” not so well in “Quantum” — although it may not have been entirely his fault. Or is it just that he’s growing on me? I don’t know what I expected. I don’t know what I expected in Bond No. 23, but certainly not an experience this invigorating.

The movie’s innovations begin in its first shots, which abandon the familiar stalking silhouettes in the iris lens, and hit the ground running. Bond and another agent are in Istanbul, chasing a man who has stolen a crucial hard drive, and after a chase through city streets (involving no less than three Fruit Cart Scenes), 007 is running on top of a train. We know from earlier films that Bond can operate almost anything, but “Skyfall” incredibly has him commandeer of a giant Caterpillar and continue the chase by crushing a flatcar filled with VW Beetles.

It’s the kind of absurd stunt we expect in a Bond movie, but this one relies on something unexpected: a dead-serious M ( Judi Dench ), following the action from MI6 in London and making a fateful decision. After an enemy agent grabs Bond as a human shield, M’s other agent, Eve ( Naomie Harris ), has both men in her gun sights. The stakes are very high. “Take the shot!” M commands. Bond seems to die, although since this happens around the 20-minute mark, we’re not very surprised that he doesn’t.

M begins to compose the obituary of Commander James Bond, and she might as well also be writing her own. Time has passed her by, she’s older, and her new boss, Mallory ( Ralph Fiennes ), convenes a public (!) hearing requiring her to defend her tenure. It’s time for a generation to be put out to pasture. Even Q and, as it turns out, Miss Moneypenny are practically kids.

M is not quite ready to retire, and “Skyfall” at last provides a role worthy of Judi Dench, one of the best actors of her generation. She is all but the co-star of the film, with a lot of screen time, poignant dialogue, and a character who is far more complex and sympathetic than we expect in this series. The film is guided by a considerable director ( Sam Mendes ), written by the heavyweights Neal Purvis , Robert Wade and John Logan , and delivers not only a terrific Bond but a terrific movie, period. If you haven’t seen a 007 for years, this is the time to jump back in.

There’s a theory that you can grade the Bonds on the quality of their villains. In “Skyfall,” this is a cerebral megalomaniac named Silva, played by Javier Bardem , whose unpronounceable Anton Chigurh in “ No Country for Old Men ” approached the high-water mark of Hannibal Lecter. Here he plays a bleached blond computer whiz who stole the drive containing the guarded identities of every MI6 agent. Are we supposed to think of Julian Assange?

This is a brand-new Bond with love and respect for the old Bond. This is dramatized during Bond’s visit to the weathered Scottish mansion inhabited by Kincade ( Albert Finney ), which has secrets to divulge and continues the movie’s rewriting of the character’s back story. During the early Bonds, did we ever even ask ourselves about 007’s origins in life? “Skyfall” even produces a moment designed to inspire love in Bond fans: a reappearance of the Aston Martin DB5 from “ Goldfinger ,” which remains in good operating condition.

Just as Christopher Nolan gave rebirth to the Batman movies in “ The Dark Knight ,” here is James Bond lifted up, dusted off, set back on his feet and ready for another 50 years. And am I completely misguided when I expect to see Miss Moneypenny become a Bond girl in the next film?

I’m double-posting my review of “Skyfall” to encourage comments, which my main site can’t accept.

To read or leave comments on this review, click here.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

Judi Dench as M
Ralph Fiennes as Mallory
Naomie Harris as Eve
Daniel Craig as James Bond
Ben Whishaw as Q
Albert Finney as Kincade
Javier Bardem as Silva
Neal Purvis
Robert Wade

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Every James Bond Movie, Ranked

The best of Bond. And the worst...

30 years experience at tech and consumer publications, print and online. Five years in the US Army as a translator (German and Polish).

There have been a lot of James Bond movies over the years. The most famous secret agent on the planet has been a pop culture powerhouse for decades, through 25 movies to date. Some have been genuine masterpieces, others less so.

If you've watched all or many of the movies, you surely have a favorite. If you're new to 007 but Bond-curious, you may be looking to hit the stylish, stunt-spectacular highlights and avoid the groaning misfires. We're here to help you with that or to confirm/challenge your personal list of the best. The rankings below put all the Bond movies in order from worst to best, based on reviews by film critics over the years.

Daniel Craig brought us a new Bond for a new century, even as his first film in the franchise, Casino Royale, harked back to the Ian Fleming novel that introduced 007, way back in the 1950s. The Bond movies got started with Sean Connery , who first donned the dinner jacket and battled Spectre in Dr. No , which debuted in the UK in October 1962 but not in the US until May 1963 (making for an extended 60th anniversary). In the intervening years, we've seen spins on Bond from George Lazenby , Roger Moore , Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan. Your enthusiasm for each may vary.

Right now we're in limbo, waiting to find out who Eon Productions will call into action as the next new James Bond and how the man from MI6 might be reinvented yet again .

The rankings below are based on an aggregate of movie reviews , specific to when the films came out, as compiled by Metacritic. If you're looking for more background on Bond, and recommendations on where to start, check out our intro to James Bond .

You can now catch the Bond movies on Amazon's Prime Video subscription service, though you'll probably have to pay for a rental for anything that's not No Time to Die. Some of the Craig movies have been available through Netflix as well, and a wider selection of Bond movies have recently been showing up on the MGM Plus service (newly rebranded from Epix). HBO Max just reported for 007 duty, too, with about half the Bond movies available, including Dr. No, The Man With the Golden Gun (Roger Moore), The Living Daylights (Timothy Dalton), GoldenEye (Pierce Brosnan) and Craig's Casino Royale.

See also: Being James Bond: How 007 Movies Got Me Into Intelligence Work

James Bond movies ranked, from worst to best

27. a view to a kill.

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 co-stars 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

26. The Man With the Golden Gun

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

25. Casino Royale (1967)

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

24. Tomorrow Never Dies

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

23. For Your Eyes Only

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. … But 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

21 (tie). The Spy Who Loved Me

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

21 (tie). Live and Let Die

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.

"Even 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.

20. Die Another Day

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

19. The World Is Not Enough

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

17 (tie). Licence to Kill

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

17 (tie). Quantum of Solace

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 69.4, 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 one of the biggest-grossing James Bond movies 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.

16. Diamonds Are Forever

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

14 (tie). Spectre

This 2015 Daniel Craig adventure 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

14 (tie). The Living Daylights

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.

12 (tie). On Her Majesty's Secret Service

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

12 (tie). You Only Live Twice

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.

11. Octopussy

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

10. Thunderball

According to critics, this 1965 film is a lesser Sean Connery 007 entry, but a worthy entry overall. Wrote Empire's Kim Newman, the movie "effortlessly plies the glory Bond years, concluding with a stunning underwater battle."

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

9. GoldenEye

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

8. Moonraker

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 (tie). Never Say Never Again

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

6 (tie). No Time to Die

The final film to star Daniel Craig as 007 has drawn largely positive reviews, following an extended wait for its release brought about by production delays and the coronavirus pandemic. With a running time of 2 hours, 43 minutes, No Time to Die is the longest Bond movie of them all.

"No Time to Die packs a quintessentially Bond punch while also taking huge risks with the aging character and decades-old formula," Richard Trenholm said in CNET's No Time to Die review . "Every Bond film markets itself as a fresh twist, but No Time to Die is genuinely bonkers at how far it goes."

Or put more simply: "James Bond finally gets a life."

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

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

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

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: 83

1. Goldfinger

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).

When Connery's seven 007 movies are taken together, the average Metascore comes in at 71.4, making his run the undisputed leader among Bond movies.

Metascore: 87

James Bond movies in chronological order

In the official Bond canon -- the films made by Eon Productions -- there are 25 films, including 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.

Sean Connery

Dr. No (1962)
From Russia With Love (1963)
Goldfinger (1964)
Thunderball (1965)
You Only Live Twice (1967)

David Niven, among others

Casino Royale (1967)

George Lazenby

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

Sean Connery, first comeback

Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

Roger Moore

Live and Let Die (1973)
The Man With the Golden Gun (1974)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Moonraker (1979)
For Your Eyes Only (1981)

Sean Connery, second comeback

Never Say Never Again (1983)

Roger Moore, still on his run

Octopussy (1983)
A View to a Kill (1985)

Timothy Dalton

The Living Daylights (1987)
Licence to Kill (1989)

Pierce Brosnan

GoldenEye (1995)
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
The World Is Not Enough (1999)
Die Another Day (2002)

Daniel Craig

Casino Royale (2006)
Quantum of Solace (2008)
Skyfall (2012)
Spectre (2015)
No Time to Die (2021)

Trending on RT

No Time to Die First Reviews: A Spectacularly Fitting Sendoff for Daniel Craig's 007

Critics say the latest bond film is a worthy swan song for its longest-running star, with breathtaking action and a surprisingly emotional finale that might catch fans off guard..

TAGGED AS: 007 , Action , blockbusters , Film , films , james bond , movie , movies

It’s been six years since the release of the last James Bond movie, Spectre , which received the lowest Tomatometer score of Daniel Craig’ s run of the franchise. That means anticipation is very high and very demanding for the 25th installment, No Time to Die . Fortunately, reviews of the 007 sequel, which is also Craig’s last, claim it more than delivers. This Bond has all the action and cosmopolitan flair that fans expect while also offering a lot of unique twists on the character and his mythology. Unfortunately, it does seem to have a villain problem.

Here’s what critics are saying about No Time To Die :

So, mission accomplished?

“Raise a martini — it was worth the wait.” – John Nugent, Empire Magazine

“Worth the wait… I enjoyed it tremendously as a James Bond fan.” – Chris Bumbray, JoBlo

“ No Time to Die exceeds all expectations.” – Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics

“ No Time to Die is a disappointment but not a soul-killing whiff akin to Spectre .” – Scott Mendelson, Forbes

Is it one of the better Daniel Craig installments?

“Possibly the best film of the Craig era.” – Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics

“ No Time To Die is Daniel Craig’s best incarnation.” – Jason Solomons, The Wrap

“It’s the third-best Daniel Craig Bond outing.” – Deirdre Molumby, entertainment.ie

“It might not hit the Skyfall and Casino Royale heights, but it’s a marked improvement on Spectre and will give fans plenty to savor.” – Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy

Is there a lot of fan service?

“The call-backs to the Bond mythology are fun yet resonate on a deeper level.” – Alistair Harkness, Scotsman

“There is a lightness that makes this final film in the Daniel Craig arc a true celebration of all things James Bond.” – Mike Reyes, Cinema Blend

“The film overcompensates to assure fans that James Bond is the ‘real 007.’” – Scott Mendelson, Forbes

Is it also one of the more original Bond movies?

“ No Time To Die aptly balances the franchise’s classic construct yet totally remakes what a Bond movie can be for a fitting, touching end to Craig’s tenure.” – Robert Daniels, The Playlist

“While the conventions can occasionally feel confining, there are enough significant deviations to make this entry stand out.” – Matt Maytum, Total Film

“This film does things that no Bond film has ever done… It is the unfamiliar things it does that make this such an exciting entry.” – John Nugent, Empire Magazine

“This is arguably the most tender portrait of James Bond we’ve ever seen.” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

“The 007 franchise-template is still capable of springing a surprise on the fanbase.” – Peter Bradshaw, Guardian

How is the action?

“The stunts are simply spectacular, with one particular scene involving a motorbike in Italy that will leave you watching through splayed fingers in exhilarating fear.” – Dulcie Pearce, The Sun

“Craig also gets arguably the standout action sequence of his entire run with an astonishing and brutal one-take stairwell sequence.” – Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy

“The fight choreography by Patrick Vo is excellent, thorough and exciting. The stunts (coordinated by Lee Morrison and Petr Rychlý) are also thrilling.” – Mae Abdulbaki, Screen Rant

“Fukunaga’s action seems to partly ape John Wick , with an emphasis on sharp, savage gunfights and intense chase sequences.” – John Nugent, Empire Magazine

Does it still feel more grounded and intense than most Bond movies?

“ No Time To Die looks like it is taking place in the real world, a huge wide open space that we’re all longing for.” – Peter Bradshaw, Guardian

“The action’s outlandish yet grounded, the gadgets are ridiculous but work beautifully within the framework of a story.” – Alistair Harkness, Scotsman

“A Bond that is so thrillingly tense, it veers into something close to horror.” – Clarisse Loughrey, Independent

Daniel Craig and Jeffrey Wright in No Time to Die

How is the plot?

“The storyline feels like there were too many cooks, but it still tastes familiar enough to be craved.” – Dulcie Pearce, The Sun

“Fukunaga and his fellow writers inherited a whole mess of plot baggage from Spectre , and they handle it in the only way they possibly could.” – David Ehrlich, IndieWire

“ No Time to Die [is] a movie with a plot so ridiculous it reaches Roger Moore-era absurdness.” – Mike Ryan, Uproxx

“It’s so convoluted and protracted you might find yourself zoning out through much of the villainy.” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

What if you haven’t seen the previous movies?

“You could probably understand it without fresh knowledge of the other movies. It will be a richer experience if you did know them, yet isn’t inaccessible to potential newcomers.” – Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy

“[As] an explicit sequel to Spectre … it undercuts the franchise’s appeal as escapist entertainment.” – Scott Mendelson, Forbes

Does it benefit from Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s writing?

“This film is all about the girls. Unlike the previous 24 Bond films, the ladies in No Time to Die are more kick-ass than just, well, ass.” – Dulcie Pearce, The Sun

“Refreshingly, the women on screen — as uncommonly, unsurprisingly gorgeous as they all tend to be — read more like actual human beings than scenery here, and even James treats them accordingly.” – Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly

“Another worthy note about No Time to Die is the contribution of Fleabag creator/star Phoebe Waller-Bridge to the screenplay.” – Dierdre Molumby, entertainment.ie

“The movie’s very best joke… classic Fleabag !” – Charlotte O’Sullivan, London Evening Standard

“As much as Fukunaga and company try to diversify the franchise… This movie is solely concerned with white men who feel out of step with the world.” – Robert Daniels, The Playlist

How is Daniel Craig’s final Bond performance?

“Craig may well have delivered the most complex and layered Bond performance of them all.” – Jason Solomons, The Wrap

“He is brilliant in No Time to Die , in a way that outshines everything around him.” – Clarisse Loughrey, Independent

“I believe this is the best he’s ever done as Bond.” – Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics

“It’s clear that Craig knows and loves this character and that shines through.” – Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy

“I love Craig’s Bond, but there are times when he’s trying to be a Connery Bond in a clearly Roger Moore Bond movie.” – Mike Ryan, Uproxx

How is Rami Malek’s villain?

“Rami Malek is a menacing presence as Safin and as with the best of Bond villains, less is more.” – Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy

“Rami Malek seems to be enjoying playing the villain, and that glee is infectious.” – Deirdre Molumby, entertainment.ie

“As a villain, he’s no fun, and Malek can’t do much to make him memorable.” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

“More a grab bag of character motivations than a felt threat. But Malek’s performance is also lacking.” – Robert Daniels, The Playlist

“Malek himself gives almost nothing to the role beyond the accent and the fake scars he wears.” – Clarisse Loughrey, Independent

“He is too young, too wet, and too unscary to be a classic Bond villain. He looks as if he spends more time on his haircare than his evil plans.” – Nicholas Barber, BBC

“He’s not the most cogent bad guy ever, but he has ocean eyes.” – Charlotte O’Sullivan, London Evening Standard

“This underwritten and almost incidental role feels entirely left on the cutting room floor.” – Scott Mendelson, Forbes

How about Lashanna Lynch as the new 007?

“Lynch is pretty kick-ass in the role…she more than holds her own alongside Craig, injecting the early parts of the film with a fun spy-vs-spy energy.” – Alistair Harkness, Scotsman

“Lynch’s Nomi is a wonderful anomaly. And she has super-duper taste in trousers.” – Charlotte O’Sullivan, London Evening Standard

Will we want more of any other characters?

“Everyone is going to claim to want a Paloma spin-off.” – Scott Mendelson, Forbes

“The swift exit of [Ana de Armas’ Paloma] once the action moves on from Cuba is a real disappointment. The character begs for a recurring role in future installments.” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

“Please, please, please, can someone give Q his own spin-off movie?” – Charlotte O’Sullivan, London Evening Standard

Will we feel that record running time (163 minutes)?

“ No Time to Die is so, so long. But I wish it went a little longer if only to see how else Craig could’ve pushed this dinosaur.” – Robert Daniels, The Playlist

“While the pace never lags and there’s never a moment when you could get bored, it’s just a lot of movie with a ton going on and it’s exhausting.” – Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics

“The run length alone dilutes the intended emotional resonance of the final scenes.” – Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly

“You really start to feel the pacing of the longest Bond installment.” – Deirdre Molumby, entertainment.ie

Daniel Craig and Ana de Armas in No Time to Die

So is No Time to Die a proper goodbye to Daniel Craig’s 007?

“As Craig’s swan song, No Time to Die is everything one could ask for in a final outing.” – Mae Abdulbaki, Screen Rant

“It’s a moving valedictory salute to the actor who has left arguably the most indelible mark on the character since Connery.” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

“ No Time to Die is his perfect ending, a moment worth toasting as a wistful rejection of a character that’ll never be the same without him.” – Robert Daniels, The Playlist

“Gives both Bond and audiences the goodbye he deserves.” – Rob Hunter, Film School Rejects

“What’s most disappointing about the film is how strangely anti-climatic the whole thing feels.” – Clarisse Loughrey, Independent

“I was hoping No Time to Die would give Daniel Craig a noble swan song, but it’ll have to settle for merely being better than Diamonds Are Forever , A View to A Kill and Die Another Day .” – Scott Mendelson, Forbes

Will this finale leave us in tears?

“It leaves you with emotions few filmgoers will be expecting to find in a big budget action film.” – Rob Hunter, Film School Rejects

“ No Time to Die will be remembered for its emotional impact above all.” – Jason Solomons, The Wrap

“I never thought I’d wipe away a tear at the end of a James Bond movie, but No Time to Die fulfills its promise.” – Owen Gleiberman, Variety

“I want to watch James Bond and feel good after…not feel forlorn.” – Mike Ryan, Uproxx

Will it be a hard act to follow?

“Whoever’s next has got one hell of job on their hands.” – Jason Solomons, The Wrap

“Whoever steps in next has enormous shoes to fill.” – Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics

No Time to Die is in theaters on October 8, 2021.

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‘No Time to Die’ Review: Daniel Craig Says Goodbye to Bond with Most Emotional 007 Movie Ever

David ehrlich.

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James Bond has saved the world two dozen times during the last half-century, but the stakes have never been higher than they are in Cary Joji Fukunaga’s long-awaited (and even longer-delayed) “ No Time to Die .” This mega-blockbuster is saddled with the extraordinary pressure of salvaging the Daniel Craig era from the ruins of “Spectre,” justifying the spy franchise’s decision to abandon standalone adventures in favor of a more serialized arc, and resolving its current run in a way that allows the 007 brand to stay relevant in the face of a Marvel-dominated future that has little room for 59-year-old sex pests on her majesty’s Secret Service. Phew.

While several Bonds have come and gone before, none of them have ever really needed to say goodbye — they were all effectively just replacing each other on the same deathless merry-go-round. One unflappably suave British man would get off, and another would step into the open car he left behind. These were movies without a memory, and that was a signature part of their timeless (if always trend-driven) charm. Even after 007’s new wife was assassinated in the closing moments of one film, he was literally a different person by the time the next began.

But the Craig-starring saga has played by its own rules from the start. “Casino Royale” cut Bond too deep for his scars to be Etch-a-Sketched away overnight, and so “Quantum of Solace” became the series’ first proper sequel. “Skyfall” explored the past of a character who had always existed in an eternal present, while “Spectre” clumsily attempted to connect that present to a past the character had long outgrown (thereby inventing a template that “Rise of the Skywalker” would later perfect into a miserable art form).

And so, in what now seems like an inevitable course-correction, “No Time to Die” is a story about the need to leave certain things behind. It’s the modern spy movie equivalent of “The Last Jedi,” as the universe tells James Bond that he has no choice but to let the past die — to kill it if he has to — and dares Craig to pull the trigger. The actor barely even blinks. Instead, he limps, smirks, and shoots his way through five erratic movies’ worth of pent-up emotion in order to make you cry. The result might be the least exciting Bond film of the 21st century, but it’s undeniably also the most moving.

At the end of the day, “No Time to Die” is a second chance at ending Craig’s run on a strong note and tying up all of the frayed threads that “Spectre” left blowing in the wind, and it makes good on that potential even at the expense of several new shortcomings. Written by Bond custodians Neal Purvis and Robert Wade — with assists from Fukunaga and Phoebe “Fleabag” godhead Waller-Bridge — the movie is fittingly also 007’s second chance at the happiness that slipped through his fingers when he took Vesper Lynd on the worst trip to Venice since “Don’t Look Now.” And from the moment it starts with the least Bond-like cold open in the franchise’s history, it’s clear that the spy’s 25th official outing will move forward with at least one eye locked on the rearview mirror. By the time Billie Eilish starts belting out the film’s downbeat title song more than 25 minutes later, it seems entirely possible that Bond may not be able to move forward at all.

It begins in a remote patch of Norwegian nowhere some two decades ago, when the eventual Dr. Madeleine Swann — then only a little girl who’s unaware that her father works for Spectre, or that she’ll have the good fortune of growing up to become Léa Seydoux — is visited by a killer in a porcelain mask. “Your father kills people,” the uninvited visitor says to her. “Is that who you love? A murderer?” He might as well be talking to Madeleine (and to us as well) about her future boyfriend. But times change, and James Bond has always been able to change with them, at least to a certain degree. So when 007 and Madeleine arrive in the hilltop village of Matera for an all-too-perfect Italian holiday, she encourages him to stop by Vesper’s grave; Madeleine is smart enough to recognize that James would only share his future with someone if they were able to be honest about their respective pasts. To recognize that they each have them, and ought to keep them where they belong. And that’s when things start blowing up.

The chase that follows is far and away the most exciting action setpiece in the entire film, and yet for all of its death-defying leaps and spinning machine-gun cars there’s something muted about the whole affair. The sequence climaxes with an emotionally unnerving (and somewhat unhinged) test of wills unlike anything this series has ever attempted before, and surrenders to the opening credits on a note that feels like it was borrowed from one of Richard Linklater’s “Before” movies.

There’s another smash-and-grab bit of carnage when “No Time to Die” picks up again five years later — a bio-weapon heist that takes full advantage of Bond’s retirement from MI6. Not long after that, Ana de Armas swings in for a sublimely charming cameo set in neon-lit Havana, where a Spectre party ends in a frenetic shootout. But such high-octane moments prove to be the exceptions to the rule, as it grows increasingly evident that Fukunaga isn’t following the franchise’s usual template.

B25_39456_RC2James Bond (Daniel Craig) and Paloma (Ana de Armas) inNO TIME TO DIE, an EON Productions and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios filmCredit: Nicola Dove© 2020 DANJAQ, LLC AND MGM. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Sure, the movie touches upon all of the expected Bond tropes: Felix Leiter, explosive watches, a slightly disfigured and wholly underwritten villain who lives on an island fortress somewhere between Russia and Japan (more on him in a minute), etc. There’s even a fight scene in which 007 appears to drink more shots than he fires. And yet “No Time to Die” can’t seem to get through this stuff fast enough — it’s like there’s somewhere else the film would rather be. Someone else its hero would rather be with .

What little action this movie has to offer beyond its pulse-raising prologue is contained in short spurts that emphasize intentionality over destruction, the most effective of them being a cat-and-mouse sequence (with serious “Metal Gear Solid” overtones) that patiently watches Bond set up a series of tripwires, only for 007 to off the bad guys in a hurry when they fall into his trap. In other words, anyone hoping for spectacle on par with what Martin Campbell brought to “Goldeneye” and “Casino Royale” will be sorely disappointed by what Fukunaga musters here, even if the film takes full advantage of its IMAX-scale presentation by the end.

Over time, this approach slowly becomes more of a feature than a bug, as a standard-issue story about a gene-targeting nanobot weapon capable of targeting specific individuals (or entire ethnicities) is revealed to be nothing but a simple backdrop for a melodrama that’s only masquerading as an action movie. Fukunaga and his fellow writers inherited a whole mess of plot baggage from “Spectre,” and they handle it in the only way they possibly could without replacing Craig altogether: They sign over that baggage to Bond instead, tie all of the dead weight from the previous movie onto his flailing body like an anchor around a sailor lost at sea, and challenge him to slip free of it before he drowns in his own past.

By that logic, it’s almost tempting to wonder if Rami Malek is deliberately forgettable as the standard-issue villain who checks all of the expected boxes, never reveals even a semi-cogent explanation for his evil plan, and only exists to make Bond confront his own demons. Few actors could redeem a role this basic — a role so broadly sketched to be 007’s negative image — and Malek isn’t one of them. His instinct to go full Jared Leto in “Blade Runner 2049” is all wrong for Bond’s ultimate adversary, or it would be if Lyutsifer Safin were meant to be more of a threat to Bond than Bond is to himself. “I want the world to evolve,” Lyutsifer whispers at the hero spy in his hodgepodge of a Eastern European accent, “while you want it to stay the same.” One day, see-through self-analysis might not be the only way that Hollywood blockbusters are allowed to be smart, but for now it’s nice to see one so willing to define its terms for us, and so eager to illustrate them with such clever examples (Lashana Lynch is a total blast as the MI6 agent Nomi, both a worthy rival for Bond as well as a potential replacement).

Of course, a simple “evolve or die” situation wouldn’t satisfy a legacy as rich as Bond’s, nor a performance as layered as Craig’s. From the moment he got his license to kill, Craig has stood out from his predecessors for being the most bulletproof 007 to ever wear that tuxedo, but also the most vulnerable. His Bond is as sensitive as an exposed nerve, and yet still able to laugh off a direct blow to the testicles from Mads Mikkelsen; he bleeds the same way as the rest of us, but scabs over twice as hard. Connery will always be treasured for giving birth to the character, but it’s Craig who finally allowed him to grow up.

Here — in the actor’s final and most affecting go — Bond takes stock of his wounds in order to understand what they were ultimately worth to him, and his conclusion is, in its own absurd way, worth the long and winding road this franchise has taken to get there. “If you have nothing left to give,” someone tells Bond, “you are irrelevant.” But he does. And by figuring out what that is, he buys the franchise that bears his name a new hope for the future. It will probably be a minute before the powers that be decide what that future will look like, but that’s okay. Bond doesn’t need to go faster — he has all the time in the world.

MGM will release “No Time to Die” in U.S. theaters on Friday, October 8.

As new movies open in theaters during the COVID-19 pandemic, IndieWire will continue to review them whenever possible. We encourage readers to follow the safety precautions provided by CDC and health authorities. Additionally, our coverage will provide alternative viewing options whenever they are available.

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