The best James Bond movies can’t necessarily be pinned down to a specific era of the franchise.
Every decade the franchise has existed for has its ups and downs, but as we prepare for the upcoming release of 007: First Light in May, it’s as good a time as any to go back and finish your backlog of James Bond movies to watch.
We’ve made a list of the seven best James Bond films you should be watching ahead of the release of 007: First Light, giving you enough time to watch them and get caught up on the series’ long history.
Where To Watch All The James Bond Movies
As Amazon MGM Studios currently holds the distribution rights for the 007 films produced by Eon productions, you’ll be able to find the James Bond movies on Amazon Prime Video from time-to-time.
However, Amazon has a habit of removing and adding the films periodically throughout the year, and it appears that the films are not currently available on there right now.
IO Interactive
On the other hand, many James Bond movies appear to be on Netflix for the time being in many territories. They’re currently marked as ‘Leaving Soon’, and are due to leave the service on 20 April.
Now, onto the list of the best James Bond movies you should watch before 007: First Light comes out.
The Best James Bond Movies Of All Time
GoldenEye
Bond: Pierce Brosnan
Year: 1995
Director: Martin Campbell
For those of us younger millennials who had Pierce Brosnan as their first 007, GoldenEye introduced us to our fourth Bond (in the Eon line, at least) but it was the first time the series felt like a proper reboot.
The movie’s excellent action setpieces—such as the tank pursuit through St. Petersburg, the chilling open sequence in a Soviet facility, or the epic final fight between Brosnan and Sean Bean on the satellite dish—proves that the franchise still had legs to pull back some of the series’ silliness to create something that felt a lot more grounded.
Not only that, but it also introduced us to Judi Dench’s M, easily the best version of the character we’ve had to date, and also spawned an incredibly successful video game adaptation that was part of the FPS boom in the late 1990s.
Eon Productions
Casino Royale
Bond: Daniel Craig
Year: 2006
Director: Martin Campbell
Eleven years after GoldenEye, director Martin Campbell returned to strike lightning in the same spot again with a new reboot of the character.
This time, a brand new canon was established, with Bond now being younger, more inexperienced, and closer to the emotional and violent side of the character as portrayed in Fleming’s novels. It’s a character study of 007 more than an action or spy film.
It’s worth noting that while Craig’s Bond slowly drifts away from being ‘book-accurate’ post-Quantum of Solace, his introduction in Casino Royale is about as close as you’d get. In addition to that, the film just has an excellent story, memorable villain, and iconic setpieces.
Eon Productions
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Bond: George Lazenby
Year: 1969
Director: Peter R. Hunt
Following Sean Connery’s first departure from the role in 1967, Bond producer Albert Broccoli and director Peter R. Hunt eventually recast the role with George Lazenby now starring as the spy.
Lazenby’s portrayal of the character has been crucified by Bond fans over the years, unfairly judged for his sole film appearance and perhaps compared too harshly against long-standing Bond actors Sean Connery and Roger Moore.
With that being said, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is notable for being a departure from the previous films in the franchise, featuring Bond as a real, flawed human being rather than an unblemished action hero. Telly Savalas’ Blofeld is also a strong villain to counteract him. And considering the first trailer for 007: First Light uses bits of the theme song for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, I’m willing to bet IO Interactive will be pulling more inspiration from the film.
Eon Productions
The Living Daylights
Bond: Timothy Dalton
Year: 1987
Director: John Glen
Timothy Dalton is another Bond actor who gets a bit of a bad rap, with many writing off his two films as flawed entries that attempted to do what GoldenEye would later succeed at.
I don’t agree. Both of Dalton’s films are pretty excellent, but his introduction in The Living Daylights serves as a fine way to reboot the character without spending too much establishing “This is your new Bond. Get used to it.”
Additionally, it’s a rather grounded film coming off the back of Roger Moore’s last few films, which had become so outlandish that they reach a point where they stop being enjoyable. Great action sequences, especially in the final act.
Eon Productions
From Russia With Love
Bond: Sean Connery
Year: 1963
Director: Terence Young
From Russia With Love’s grounded tone makes it one of Connery’s strongest films, notable for still being stuck in that “early-installment weirdness” where the producers hadn’t yet figured out what kind of recurring tropes the Bond series would start to embody.
Where Dr. No was essentially more of a hard-boiled detective story than a spy film, From Russia With Love is a grounded Cold War thriller with sparing action and realistic spy scenes that make it rather iconic as an early entry to the series.
The train scene alone, and watching Connery play off against Robert Shaw’s Red Grant, makes it a must watch.
Eon Productions
The Man With The Golden Gun
Bond: Roger Moore
Year: 1974
Director: Guy Hamilton
This one is going to be a little controversial, but I believe The Man With The Golden Gun to be Roger Moore’s strongest Bond film. Many Bond fans will disagree with this, but it all comes down to how charismatic its lead actors in the film are.
It doesn’t have the same pressure Live And Let Die had with introducing Moore as the new Bond, allowing him to sink more effortlessly into that role. Likewise, he also plays extremely well against Christopher Lee’s Francisco Scaramanga, who is extremely charismatic and easily one of the most iconic Bond villains to have come out of the franchise’s classic era.
Sure, I could sit there and pick at flaws in this film. But it’s such a fun watch, and a heck of a lot of its DNA can be found reappearing in 007: First Light, so we’ll mark it as an essential watch to do before you play the game.
Eon Productions
Goldfinger
Bond: Sean Connery
Year: 1964
Director: Guy Hamilton
Once the franchise was able to get past the experimental productions of Dr. No and From Russia With Love, it finally found its footing with Goldfinger, establishing so many tropes that we not only associate with the Bond series, but with spy fiction as a whole.
It introduced things like the concept of a strong henchman, a world domination plot, Q’s quirky gadgets, the Aston Martin DB5, the title song sequence, and several other aspects we’ve come to associate—for better or worse—with the series.
While there are some aspects of Goldfinger that have aged rather poorly, particularly its alleged misogynistic treatment of Pussy Galore, the film still stands as a fun watch to experience and feels as close to a video game as a film could possibly get.
Eon Productions