James Bond movies, ranked from worst to best

What's the best James Bond movie of all time? And what's the worst? 

In advance of the scheduled October 4 release of "No Time to Die," here's a look at how movie critics have judged the films of the top-grossing franchise.  As of publication, critics had not yet had an opportunity to judge Daniel Craig's fifth (and purportedly final) film in the service of the spy franchise. Barry Nelson became the first actor to portray author Ian Fleming's super-spy character on screen via this approximately hourlong live-TV production, which aired as part of the CBS anthology series, "Climax!" The worst James Bond movie, according to critics, is the most unconventional James Bond movie.  Per the critical consensus, this 1985 Roger Moore entry, co-starring Tanya Roberts and Grace Jones, is the worst James Bond movie from the Eon Productions canon.  This 1974 film is considered another miss of the Roger Moore era. Christopher Lee drew praise as the gun-toting villain, but critics thought the movie otherwise shot blanks.  Roger Moore does star in some of the more critically acclaimed James Bond movies. But this 1983 adventure isn't one of them.  This 1999 James Bond movie is the first Pierce Brosnan entry in the countdown.  This 2002 effort introduced Halle Berry (as Jinx Johnson) to the James Bond franchise, but the star's Oscar-winning credentials and charisma weren't enough to win over critics.  Another subpar James Bond movie, another Pierce Brosnan entry. This 1997 release co-starred Michelle Yeoh.  This 1979 Roger Moore entry was the first James Bond movie to be made in the wake of "Star Wars" — and it shows. Critics generally found the laser-blasting "Moonraker" silly, but not necessarily in a bad way.  This is the first Sean Connery movie in this list.  Daniel Craig makes his first appearance in the countdown via this 2015 film that drew mixed reviews.  Though the lowest-rated Daniel Craig 007 movie in this list, "Spectre" shined at the 2016 Oscars.  Writing for the Boston Globe, Wesley Morris found this 2008 Daniel Craig film "one exasperated dressing down away from being 'Lethal Weapon 9.'" After giving Sean Connery a cooler-than-usual reception for "Diamonds Are Forever," critics warmly welcomed Roger Moore to the 007 family with the actor's 1973 James Bond debut.   Sean Connery took aim one last time as James Bond in this 1983 film, which was produced outside of the Eon Productions canon.  Total Film called this 1981 installment the "grittiest Roger Moore Bond" — an "under-rated, gadget-light and stunt-heavy return to Cold War action." This 1967 Sean Connery entry rated inclusion on Yahoo's list of the James Bond franchise's most embarrassing moments: The film was called out for its scene where Connery's 007 "disguis[es] himself as a Japanese fisherman" complete with "eye makeup and [a] terrible toupee." The first of two Timothy Dalton James Bond movies in this countdown, 1987's "The Living Daylights" was a middling performer at the U.S. box office. Critics, however, liked the new take on 007. Critics liked Timothy Dalton's second effort in the James Bond film series even better than his first.  Timothy Dalton's successor as Bond was Pierce Brosnan, who made a good first impression on critics in this 1995 film.  This 1977 film marked the critical high point for the Roger Moore James Bond films — and introduced the iconic, metal-mouthed 007 villain Jaws (played by Richard Kiel).   "Essential Bond viewing," critic Jeffrey Lyles wrote of this 1969 entry. "It should definitely be among the five Bond films to make someone a fan of the series." This 1965 entry was Sean Connery's fourth James Bond film in four years. The formula was set — and working.  In this photo, John Stears is seen working on a projectile-firing motorcycle used in a "Thunderball" chase scene. The British effects whiz won his first career Oscar for the James Bond movie. About a decade later, he would win his second career Oscar, for "Star Wars." This 2012 entry is one of only five James Bond movies with a Rotten Tomatoes score north of 90%.  Adele helped the James Bond franchise break a 40-year-plus losing streak at the Academy Awards. According to critics, the third iteration of "Casino Royale" is the best version — and one of the best James Bond movies of all time. The critics of 1962 and the 21st century agree: The first big-screen James Bond movie is a winner.  The second Sean Connery James Bond movie, released in 1963, is the second-best 007 entry of all time, per critics.  "It's phenomenal!," the New York Daily News' Wanda Hale wrote of "Goldfinger," and her fellow critics generally agree. "Goldfinger" claimed the James Bond franchise's first Oscar.  With every James Bond film now ranked, we're closer to the answer: Which James Bond star is the best James Bond star? Number of ranked James Bond movies: One Number of ranked James Bond movies: Seven Number of ranked James Bond movies: Four  Number of ranked James Bond movies: Two Number of ranked James Bond movies: Four Number of ranked James Bond movies: One Number of ranked James Bond movies: Seven This countdown ranks every James Bond movie by its score on the film-review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes. The movies are ordered from those with the lowest (or worst) scores to those with the highest (or best). Where there were ties, most were broken by looking at the total number of reviews each film received.  "No Time to Die" was completed in 2019 but repeatedly shelved due to the coronavirus pandemic.  Rotten Tomatoes does not have a review page for this version of "Casino Royale" — a version that was long believed to have been lost.   This version of "Casino Royale" is an episodic spoof that's credited to five directors. It stars David Niven as an aged Bond who aims to defeat the bad guys of SMERSH by enlisting a team of 007 impersonators, including one played by Peter Sellers.  "It is exhausted and exhausting, an old joke retold once too often," Time magazine judged.  "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 joy of a great Bond movie is the way it pushes the limits of believability — and knows when to stop," BBC.com's Debbie Barham wrote. "'Octopussy' fails." "Brosnan's repertoire of eyebrow arching while ogling and jaw clenching while escaping is by now entirely without flavor," Lisa Schwarzbaum wrote for Entertainment Weekly. "Perhaps it's time to say goodbye to Mr. Bond," the Associated Press' Christy Lemire opined. "Veteran director Roger Spottiswoode has tried to pep the old warhorse up," the Los Angeles Times' Kenneth Turan wrote of the film, "but the combined inertia of all those pictures over 35 years proves hard to budge." "Like most Bond adventures, 'Moonraker' is so overstated that it is camp," Donna Chernin wrote in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, "and so preposterous that it's fun." When it was released in 1971, "Diamonds Are Forever" represented a 007 comeback for Connery. Four years prior, the actor had exited the film series, supposedly for good. "'Spectre' falls somewhere in the middle; it's not as routine as some of the Roger Moore films," David Stratton judged in The Australian, "but it falls short of the high standard set by the earlier Craig films and almost all the Connery films." Sam Smith and co-writer Jimmy Napes claimed statuettes for the film's opening-title song, "Writing's on the Wall." But more critics found things to like in the movie, which co-stars Jeffrey Wright as the recurring Bond character, CIA agent Felix Leiter. "If 'Live and Let Die' was Moore's acid test, then he passed the test," Confessions From a Geek Mind's Kelechi Ehenulo wrote. The film didn't break new ground — it was based on Ian Fleming's "Thunderball," which was previously adapted into the 1965 film of the same name — but critics generally didn't mind.   Interestingly, on Rotten Tomatoes, the film's most positive reviews come not from the critics of 1967 (for whom such a scene would have been more standard fare), but from present-day reviewers.  "[Dalton] has enough presence, the right debonair looks and the kind of energy that the Bond series has lately been lacking," the New York Times' Janet Maslin judged. "'Licence to Kill' ranks as one of the best of the ... Bond films, thanks to Dalton's athletic, tough and deadly new 007," Gary Thompson wrote in the Philadelphia Daily News. "At the most basic, crowd-pleasing level, 'GoldenEye' does the trick," the Washington Post's Desson Thomson wrote. "With its comic edge, this is one of the better Bonds," Jeffrey M. Anderson declared in the San Francisco Examiner. In addition to being a critical favorite, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" is a curiosity. To date, it is the only Eon Productions canon film to star a one-and-done James Bond: model-turned-actor George Lazenby. Variety praised it as "posh all the way."  "It might sound blasphemous, but in 'Skyfall.' Daniel Craig has it all over previous 007s," Claudia Puig praised in USA Today.  At the 2013 Oscars, the singer claimed a statuette for co-writing the "Skyfall" title song.  This 2012 film marked the start of the Daniel Craig era. It was released four years after the final, critically dismissed Pierce Brosnan 007 film.    Interestingly, the Sean Connery film's original critics enjoyed it as "pure, escapist bunk" (New York Times) and "entertaining ... tongue-in-cheek action hokum" (Variety).  "This film began the fine tradition of deviating from Ian Fleming's novels, which gave us the suave, sophisticated Bond over Fleming's monosyllabic misogynist," the Austin Chronicle praised. Per the critical consensus, this 1964 Sean Connery entry is the best James Bond movie of all time.   The movie's win for sound effects marked just the second time the Oscars had honored sound work. What follows is a rundown of every 007 big-screen actor (including David Niven, who is not featured in this photo of Madame Tussauds' wax-figure exhibit).  This one-and-done 007 star is at the bottom of our James Bond actor list. Age 57 when 1967's "Casino Royale" was released, Niven never got another opportunity to play 007.  Roger Moore's lowly performance here may surprise. The British actor was the James Bond for audiences that came of age in the 1970s and 1980s. And, along with Sean Connery, he is the most prolific 007.  Pierce Brosnan's ranking may surprise, too — although the surprise may be that it's not lower.  His 007 tenure was brief, and his two films tend to get lost amid the nearly two dozen adventures featuring Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig, but Timothy Dalton is a critically respected James Bond. As of publication, only two actors have starred in 007 films that were met with near-unanimous critical acclaim. Sean Connery is one — and Daniel Craig is the other.  The lesson of George Lazenby is clear: If you only to get one shot at something, make it count. Lazenby did that with the critically acclaimed "On Her Majesty's Secret Service."  In the end, according to the critical consensus, the first big-screen James Bond starred in the best James Bond movies.