Al's Top 10 Favorite James Bond Films

This year, 2012, marks the 50th anniversary of Ian Fleming’s famed fictitious hero, James Bond, as he appears on film. Chances are you might have heard of this guy: works for MI6, the British Secret Service, he likes his vodka martinis shaken not stirred, and he’s a real hit with the ladies. For the past fifty years, across 5 different actors and 23 different films, Bond has been the epitome of a hero that combines charm with machismo. All the Bond films have pushed the envelope for action and entertainment. All of them have brought something new and thrilling to the table, pitting 007 against so many odd enemies and challenges.

I’ve been a James Bond fan since high-school, but exploring each film has never gotten old for me. If anything, they all seem to improve and entertain a little more with each new viewing. Even then, there are some I like more than others.

In light of the 50th anniversary celebration, here is my personal top ten favorite James Bond films:

10: Licence to Kill (1989)

This might just be the bloodiest and most brutal Bond film of the entire lot. It gets pretty gnarly as one poor henchman gets shredded in a grinder, another guy gets stabbed by a forklift, and one of the major baddies gets stuck in a decompression chamber that causes his head to explode. In a way, these excesses work in favor of the film, because it makes the threat a lot more real, especially when it comes from the hands of the main antagonist: Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi), a real cold and brutal drug dealer who could give Tony Montanna a run for his money. Timothy Dalton plays Bond, who plays it real hard and tough as he tracks down Franz. The real twist here is that Bond is not just running after the bad guy for king and country: he’s in it because they messed around with his buddy Felix Leiter, murdering his wife and having his legs bitten off by sharks, so naturally Bond wants some payback. With the theme of vengeance running strong, Licence to Kill stands out as one of the most hard-hitting Bond movies.

Entertainment: Good | Story: Very Good | Film: Good

09: Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

As the 90s marched on, globalization really started to kick in with the advents of the Internet, satellite communications, and world news delivering information around the world all the time. With this in mind, TND builds its concept from a frighteningly realistic notion: what if the CEO of a news company decides to start a war, for the sole purpose of selling the news? Maybe this is still a little outlandish, but compared to every other Bond film, this is a premise that fits in perfectly with the information age. Jonathan Pryce plays a rather hammy villain, orchestrating all this madness, while Pierce Brosnan puts on his usual charm and cool wit opposite Michelle Yeoh to kick a lot of serious butt.

Entertainment: Very Good | Story: Good | Film: Good

08: Quantum of Solace (2008)

Underrated masterpiece, or underwhelming disappointment? Most viewers seem to fall on one side of the fence or the other with this film; strangely, I’ve felt both. On the first viewing, I was really thrown off by the film’s erratic, rapid-fire editing, which slams the action into the viewers’ faces. As for the plot, it strings together a bunch of insane action sequences and doesn’t really draw the lines from point A to point B the way the other films do.

On repeat viewings, however, I found myself more complacent with the loud, crazy, fast-cut action scenes; the opening car chase really makes you feel like you’re in the passenger seat with Bond as he careens through the Italian countryside and blasts this machine gun out the window. As for the rest of the film, it touches upon a lot of key issues that resonate with the modern age: the diminishing natural resources, poverty, class differences, corporate manipulation of governments, and more. As Bond treads through a morally ambiguous political terrain, he winds up rushing against the grain with his own allies. What’s most important, however, is the theme of revenge, especially in the final scenes, which bring closure to the events of Casino Royale. In spite of that, Quantum of Solace is best seen back-to-back with Casino Royale, forming a cohesive double-bill that fully develops Bond’s character (portrayed with serious skill and attitude by Daniel Craig).

Entertainment: Perfect | Story: Good | Film: Pretty Good

07: The Man With the Golden Gun (1974)

Certainly not the best or most serious film in Roger Moore’s repertoire as James Bond, but this might be the funnest, at least in my opinion. Bearing little in common with Ian Fleming’s novel, this film pits Bond against the hotshot assassin Scaramanga (played by Count Dooku…I mean, Saruman…I mean, Christopher Lee), and his vertically-challenged sidekick Nick Nack (Herve Villechaize). The story tears across all of Thailand with some really fun boat and car chases; one big highlight of which includes a car performing a magnificent 180-degree roll across a river. The most interesting showdown occurs on Scaramanga’s island hideout, where he and Bond chase each other in a funhouse-style maze. What helps make this stand out is Scaramanga himself, who comes across as what Bond himself would have been if he was evil (a type of parallel that would also come into play in Skyfall).

Entertainment: Very Good | Story: Good | Film: Good

06: The Living Daylights (1987)

Expanding upon one of Ian Fleming’s short stories, this flick kicks up the action a great deal, as Bond hops around the world from one big car or foot chase to another. He serves as a sniper in the beginning, leads a full-blown rebellion toward the end, and uses a small wealth of gadgets to give armies of bad guys the slip. It’s a pretty heavy case of one-thing-leading-to-another, and it makes for a nonstop thrill ride. Timothy Dalton shows some adequate charm and wit in this film, but mostly channels a type of angst that helps give him a more serious attitude (only outmatched by Daniel Craig). Maryam d’Abo plays the Bond girl in this flick, and might be my favorite one. Funnily enough, Joe Don Baker plays the villain, even though he reappears later in GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies as an ally.

Entertainment: Perfect | Story: Good | Film: Very Good

05: Skyfall (2012)

Not everybody has taken too kindly to the latest 007 film, citing it as appearing far less like James Bond and more like Jason Bourne. Skyfall additionally takes some huge influences from Christopher Nolan’s Batman films, so the film is loaded with some serious plot twists that might strain some believability, and may cause some viewers to call this film weak, pretentious, or overrated.

As a fan of both Bond and The Dark Knight films, any issues in Skyfall never really bothered me that much, and I enjoyed it quite thoroughly. I was personally impressed as to how high the film kicked up the stakes: this is the first time in a Bond film where MI6 itself is targeted and bombed, and where M becomes a target (she was captured in The World is Not Enough, but in Skyfall, it’s a lot more intense). The film goes on to reintroduce a few old characters in a completely new way, appealing to old-time fans while paving the way for a canonical future. Daniel Craig continues in his mean streak as Bond, while Javier Bardem puts on a quality performance as one of the weirdest and creepiest Bond villains of the lot. Their interactions serve to underscore some strong themes regarding the characters’ progress and future, and ultimately fuel the complex dynamics of the story. Whether you love it or hate it, it proves once and for all that Bond is here to stay.

Entertainment: Very Good | Story: Very Good | Film: Very Good

04: Goldfinger (1964)

There can be no best-of list for Bond without mentioning Goldfinger in any respect. This film has all the classic moments that have defined the franchise over the decades: the girl covered in gold, the creeping laser-beam scene, the man with the iron hat, the fight in Fort Knox, the car with the ejector seat, the bad guy appearing with a golden pistol…chances are that you may know these scenes even if you’ve never seen the film. It’s not just a bunch of random cool scenes though: the film plows through its fun and simple story at full speed, loading it up with action and suspense. Sean Connery, cool as ever, plays Bond for the third time in his career, while Gert Fröbe portrays a decently wacky villain. Honor Blackman appears as one of the most famous Bond girls, thanks largely to her unintentionally suggestive name.

Entertainment: Perfect | Story: Good | Film: Very Good

03: GoldenEye (1995)

This was the first Bond movie I saw, and it remains a top favorite. After a six year gap, Bond blasted back to the big screen with loads of incredible action: it starts of thrillingly as Bond bungee jumps off a dam, before blowing up a Russian base, having plenty of intense shootouts with bad guys, driving a tank through St Petersburg, and ultimately duking it out with the villain on top of a satellite dish array. Not only is the entertainment good, but the story is too, as Bond is forced to confront a specter of his past while facing the challenges of the future. With the Cold War ended, it seemed as though Bond was a useless relic; this film turned it around and paved an endearing future for the character, and the stories.

Entertainment: Perfect | Story: Very Good | Film: Very Good

02: Thunderball (1965)

Of all the Bond movies, Thunderball has always seemed like the sexiest and most exotic film of them all. Set in the gorgeous beaches and waters of the Bahamas, the film runs through a fairly simple story (theft of nuclear weapons, pretty standard action-movie territory by today’s standards) with plenty of style.  It is probably the closest adaptation of an Ian Fleming novel to date, for it is scene-by-scene and word-for-word the same for about 95% of it.  The film brims with beautiful women and locations. Plus, it has a lot of intense fist-fighting, pursuits, and suspenseful scenes. The film is long and thrilling, and it makes for a very satisfying adventure. Sean Connery is still the man as James Bond; Adolfo Celi is iconic as the eyepatched villain Largo, while Claudine Auger and Luciana Paluzzi add some serious sex appeal to the mix.

Entertainment: Perfect | Story: Perfect | Film: Very Good

01: Casino Royale (2006)

After 20 Bond movies, the series had decidedly grown stagnant, ending with the rather overblown Die Another Day (a film held in very little regard, but still ranks as a top favorite guilty pleasure for me personally). It was decided that Bond needed a fresh start. So in ’06, Casino Royale was released.

This new Bond proved to be very fresh, bold, and different. It may rub long-time fans the wrong way, seeing Bond without his famous gadgets, spending more time in a card game than kicking butt, and in seeing blonde hair on the guy for a radical change.

Personally, I never saw much ground for such complaints: Daniel Craig established himself very well as James Bond, adapting a perfectly volatile mix of suave charm, brutal attitude, and cold-heartedness that has always defined Bond, but was never quite as vibrant or intense as seen in Craig’s performance. The film starts off hard-hitting, showing Bond in a hard-edged fistfight in a gaudy bathroom, in the assignment that grants him his initial license to kill. From then on, the film plows ahead at full steam: the opening scenes in Africa are incredible as Bond runs down a parkour master through a construction yard and into an embassy, practically destroying both locales in the process. Bond constantly runs into danger from then on, having to fight goons, finding himself poisoned, running down a terrorist at the Miami airport, and ultimately confronting a gang of baddies in Venice. The film is long, but it’s so full of action that it feels very fulfilling.

At the heart of it, the film still focuses very well on its storytelling, especially in regards to showing Bond’s first mission and his attachment to Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), whose fate would affect Bond in all his future endeavors (perhaps moreso than the events of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, which provided a major turning point for Bond throughout the original series). In the end, Casino Royale is one of those few movies I value the most: the type that perfectly balances storytelling with action, and does so with style.

Entertainment: Perfect | Story: Perfect | Film: Perfect