Best Bond Films

Unless you've been hiding under a very large soundproof rock over the last couple of weeks, you will be very much aware that the long awaited 23rd film in the James Bond 007 franchise, Skyfall, will be released on Friday. Of course, this blog will deliver its verdict on the film in due time, but for now, here is the blog's list of all Bond films in what it believes to be the favourites. Not the greatest, mind. The favourites.

22. Die Another Day - the film that killed the franchise for a few years, and sadly ended Pierce Brosnan's decent run up till then.
21.  Moonraker - when Bond tries to jump on a band wagon, it generally gets it wrong. This is the case in this post Star Wars effort. An okay villain and lots of sexism.
20. Diamonds Are Forever - Sean Connery returned to the film that starts the tradition of Bond girls IQs been smaller than their bra sizes; Charles Grey's Blofeld, though amusing, should be a different character.
19. Quantum Of Solace - not as much of a mess as some would suggest, but a complicated plot doesn't help; the theme song is awful too.
18. The Man With The Golden Gun - a fantastic villain played by Christopher Lee is the only decent thing in this tired film, the last for the partnership of Albert Brocolli and Harry Saltzman.
17. A View To A Kill - A mixture of good and awful; Christopher Walken is blistering as the villain, and Grace Jones adds glamour, but Roger Moore looks very very old and the less said about the Bond girl in this one the better.
16. License To Kill - A dark, gritty, edgy film that tried too hard to be the same as the other action films around it; despite some great performances, the film is let down by the bandwagon curse again.
15. Octopussy - A colourful caper that should have been Moore's last; a good, old-fashioned romp from an author who knows how to write good, old fashioned romps.
14. For Your Eyes Only - the darkest of Moore's films, a Cold War flick that strips back the gadgets and throws away the meglomaniacs for once.
13. The Living Daylights - Timothy Dalton's debut is better than people remember, though it suffers from a lack of a strong villain.
12.Thunderball - The first Bond film to hit a bum note; though the underwater scenes would have been impressive back in the day,they are too long now and look slightly dated.
11. Live And Let Die - Moore's first Bond film is a fantastic adventure, filled with excellent bad guys and great class, though sadly not the greatest of Bond girls.
10.The World Is Not Enough - The most spy of Brosnan's Bond films, with a plot that twists and turns and a wonderful cast; shame about the nuclear scientist in hot pants
9.  You Only Live Twice - the larger than life film that introduced Blofeld  in all his bald glory, with some beautiful location shots in Japan
8. The Spy Who Loved Me - Moore's best; an exciting, engaging film that proved that Brocolli could produce on his own.
7. From Russia With Love - perhaps the most Cold War of all the Bonds; a faithful adaptation of a great novel with an excellent performance from Connery.
6. Casino Royale - Daniel Craig saves Bond; this is a great modern interpretation of the character that makes poker exciting.
5. On Her Majesty's Secret Service - the most misunderstood Bond film with the most misunderstood Bond; George Lazenby's only folly was himself. A wonderful film with a heartbreaking end
4. Goldfinger - summed up simply by the title. Big, bold, Bond. Glorious stuff.
3. GoldenEye - Brosnan's debut is fast, exciting, surprising and intelligent; a great way to show Bond could survive in the post Cold War world.
2. Dr No - the first Bond film is one of the best; it introduces so much into the cultural mainstream and establishes a formula that many try to copy and fail superbly.
1. Tomorrow Never Dies - not the greatest, but a hell of a lot of fun. Brosnan is very comfortable in the role, the storyline is topical even today, and the villain, sometimes mocked, is wonderfully psychopathic.