Best James Bond films are more than spy-movie classics—they showcase the eras, actors, villains, and unforgettable moments that define 007. This guide highlights the Bond movies worth watching, from iconic favorites to films that still spark debate.
What makes one James Bond film better than the other twenty-four? Ask a critic and you will hear about craft, tension, and villains. Ask a studio accountant and you will hear about tickets sold. Ask a fan and you will probably hear the name of whichever actor they grew up with.
This list tries to respect all three. Eon Productions has released 25 official Bond films since Dr. No in 1962, and the series has earned more than $7.6 billion worldwide at the box office, according to figures compiled on Wikipedia’s list of Bond films. Only a handful of those 25 films keep showing up at the top of critics’ rankings, fan polls, and all-time box office charts at the same time. Those are the films below.
Table of Contents
The 10 Best James Bond Films
- Goldfinger (1964), Sean Connery
- Casino Royale (2006), Daniel Craig
- From Russia with Love (1963), Sean Connery
- Skyfall (2012), Daniel Craig
- Dr. No (1962), Sean Connery
- Thunderball (1965), Sean Connery
- On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), George Lazenby
- The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Roger Moore
- GoldenEye (1995), Pierce Brosnan
- No Time to Die (2021), Daniel Craig
Best for: first-time viewers who want the essential Bond films, and longtime fans settling an argument.
Not for: anyone hoping to see Moonraker or A View to a Kill defended. Neither made the cut.
How This Ranking Was Built
Three measures shaped the order:
Critical reception. Rotten Tomatoes scores, taken from the site’s own ranking of all 27 Bond films (the 25 Eon films plus the unofficial Casino Royale of 1967 and Never Say Never Again of 1983). Scores shift slightly over time as new reviews are added, so treat them as a snapshot.
Box office popularity. Worldwide grosses from Wikipedia’s filmography, plus inflation-adjusted U.S. grosses from MovieMaker Magazine, which converted figures into 2022 dollars.
Lasting influence. Whether the film changed what a Bond movie is, or what audiences expect from one. I personally am a big fan of the Bond films and watched the all.
A useful coincidence: the ten highest-scoring Bond films on Rotten Tomatoes are exactly the ten on this list. The order below differs from the Tomatometer order because box office and influence also count.
Quick Comparison Table
| Rank | Film | Year | Bond Actor | Director | Rotten Tomatoes | Worldwide Gross |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Goldfinger | 1964 | Sean Connery | Guy Hamilton | 99% | $124.9M |
| 2 | Casino Royale | 2006 | Daniel Craig | Martin Campbell | 94% | $606.0M |
| 3 | From Russia with Love | 1963 | Sean Connery | Terence Young | 97% | $78.9M |
| 4 | Skyfall | 2012 | Daniel Craig | Sam Mendes | 92% | $1.1B |
| 5 | Dr. No | 1962 | Sean Connery | Terence Young | 95% | $59.5M |
| 6 | Thunderball | 1965 | Sean Connery | Terence Young | 85% | $141.2M |
| 7 | On Her Majesty’s Secret Service | 1969 | George Lazenby | Peter R. Hunt | 81% | $64.6M |
| 8 | The Spy Who Loved Me | 1977 | Roger Moore | Lewis Gilbert | 82% | $185.4M |
| 9 | GoldenEye | 1995 | Pierce Brosnan | Martin Campbell | 81% | about $352M |
| 10 | No Time to Die | 2021 | Daniel Craig | Cary Joji Fukunaga | 83% | about $771M |
Grosses are unadjusted for inflation, so older films look smaller than they were. See the Thunderball and Goldfinger entries for adjusted figures.
10. No Time to Die (2021)
Bond: Daniel Craig | Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga | Rotten Tomatoes: 83%
Few films have had a harder road to cinemas. No Time to Die was first dated for November 2019, then moved again and again, through a director change and then the COVID-19 pandemic, before finally opening in the UK on September 30, 2021. It still earned roughly $770 million worldwide, placing it among the biggest films of that year.
What earns it a place here is nerve. This is the first Eon Bond film in which Bond dies, and the script, polished by Phoebe Waller-Bridge at Craig’s request, treats that ending as the close of a five-film story rather than a stunt.
Ana de Armas steals her short Havana sequence as the CIA agent Paloma, and Lashana Lynch’s Nomi, the new 007, gives the film a sharp rivalry. Billie Eilish’s title song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Where it slips: Rami Malek’s villain, Safin, is thinly written, and at 163 minutes the film feels long. Its reputation depends heavily on how much you care about Craig’s full arc.
9. GoldenEye (1995)
Bond: Pierce Brosnan | Director: Martin Campbell | Rotten Tomatoes: 81%
Six years passed between Licence to Kill and GoldenEye, largely because of legal disputes between MGM/UA and Danjaq, the company that controls the Bond rights. By the time the series returned, the Soviet Union was gone, and many people wondered whether a Cold War spy still had a purpose.
GoldenEye answered the question head on. Judi Dench arrives as the first female M and tells Bond, in effect, that he is a relic. Sean Bean plays Alec Trevelyan, a fellow 00 agent turned traitor, which makes the conflict personal in a way earlier Bond villains rarely were. The opening bungee jump off a dam was voted the best movie stunt of all time in a 2002 Sky Movies poll, and the tank chase through St. Petersburg is still one of the series’ most enjoyable set pieces.
The film earned around $350 million worldwide, and Rare’s 1997 Nintendo 64 game, GoldenEye 007, introduced the film to a whole generation who had never seen it.
It is also the first Bond film that uses no story elements from Ian Fleming’s writing. The title came from the name of Fleming’s Jamaican estate.
Where it slips: Some of the 1990s style, including the score, has aged less gracefully than the story.
8. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Bond: Roger Moore | Director: Lewis Gilbert | Rotten Tomatoes: 82%
Roger Moore called this his personal favourite of his seven Bond films, and most critics agree it is his best. It opens with one of the most famous stunts in film history: Bond skiing off a cliff and opening a Union Jack parachute. Stuntman Rick Sylvester performed the jump, and the sequence reportedly cost $500,000, the most expensive single stunt in cinema at the time.
From there the film delivers everything Moore’s era did well: Richard Kiel’s steel-toothed Jaws, a white Lotus Esprit that turns into a submarine, Ken Adam’s enormous supertanker set, and Barbara Bach as a Soviet agent who matches Bond rather than needing rescue.
It earned three Oscar nominations, for art direction, Marvin Hamlisch’s score, and Carly Simon’s song “Nobody Does It Better.” It also became United Artists’ highest-grossing film up to that point, with $185.4 million worldwide.
Where it slips: The plot borrows heavily from You Only Live Twice, with ships swallowed instead of spacecraft.
7. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
Bond: George Lazenby | Director: Peter R. Hunt | Rotten Tomatoes: 81%
No Bond film has improved its reputation more than this one. On release, reviews were mixed, and critics mostly compared the Australian newcomer George Lazenby unfavourably with Sean Connery. Lazenby then walked away from the role after a single film. Decades later, the film sits near the top of many critics’ and fans’ lists.
The reason is the story. Bond falls in love with Tracy di Vicenzo, played by Diana Rigg, and marries her. Telly Savalas plays Blofeld, the Alpine ski chases are some of the best action photography in the series, and Louis Armstrong sings John Barry’s “We Have All the Time in the World.” The ending remains the most devastating in Bond history.
Christopher Nolan has named it his favourite Bond film, praising its “balance of action and scale and romanticism and tragedy.” Steven Soderbergh has also called it the best-looking film in the series.
Where it slips: Lazenby is stiff in places, and his mid-film disguise as a genealogist tests patience. It earned $64.6 million worldwide, a clear drop from the Connery films.
6. Thunderball (1965)
Bond: Sean Connery | Director: Terence Young | Rotten Tomatoes: 85%
If “most popular” means the most people in cinema seats, Thunderball may be the answer. MovieMaker Magazine estimates its U.S. gross at $700.9 million in 2022 dollars, from about 74.8 million tickets. That is the highest inflation-adjusted U.S. total of any Bond film. Worldwide, it made $141.2 million in 1965, a series record that held until Live and Let Die in 1973.
Bondmania was at its height, and it shows. Thunderball was the first Bond film shot in widescreen Panavision and the first to run past two hours. Roughly a quarter of it takes place underwater, climaxing in a huge underwater battle choreographed by Ricou Browning, who had worked on Creature from the Black Lagoon. John Stears won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, and Tom Jones sang the title song.
The film also has an unusual legal history. Writer-producer Kevin McClory held screen rights to the story after a 1961 lawsuit against Fleming, which is why he received the producer credit here and why Connery later returned in Never Say Never Again (1983), an unofficial remake.
Where it slips: Those long underwater scenes slow the pace, especially on a small screen.
5. Dr. No (1962)
Bond: Sean Connery | Director: Terence Young | Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
Everything starts here. Made for about $1.1 million, Dr. No grossed $59.5 million worldwide and launched a series that is still running more than sixty years later.
Many of the series’ signatures appear in this first film: Connery lighting a cigarette at a chemin de fer table before introducing himself as “Bond, James Bond”; Monty Norman’s James Bond Theme, arranged by John Barry; and Ken Adam’s stylish sets, built on a tiny budget.
Ursula Andress’s entrance from the sea as Honey Ryder became one of the best-known images in cinema, and Joseph Wiseman set the template for the calm, theatrical Bond villain.
Where it slips: Compared with later entries it is small and slow, and some of its depictions, including the makeup used for the villain, have aged poorly.
4. Skyfall (2012)
Bond: Daniel Craig | Director: Sam Mendes | Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
Skyfall is the most commercially successful Bond film ever made, before adjusting for inflation. Released for the series’ 50th anniversary, it became the first Bond film to cross $1 billion worldwide, finishing at about $1.1 billion. In the UK it briefly became the highest-grossing film of all time, passing Avatar.
It is also one of the best-looking films in the franchise. Roger Deakins shot it digitally, and his work earned one of the film’s five Oscar nominations. It won two, for Adele’s title song and for sound editing. Javier Bardem’s Raoul Silva, a former MI6 agent with a personal grudge against M, is one of the great Bond villains, and the film gives Judi Dench’s M her fullest story.
Where it slips: Silva’s plan depends on a chain of improbable events, and the final act at Bond’s childhood home trades global stakes for a smaller siege.
3. From Russia with Love (1963)
Bond: Sean Connery | Director: Terence Young | Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
If you want the Bond film that feels most like a real spy thriller, start here. According to Wikipedia’s production history, Daniel Craig, Sean Connery, Timothy Dalton, and longtime producer Michael G. Wilson have all named it their favourite. Producer Albert R. Broccoli felt it was the film that perfected the Bond formula.
The story is lean Cold War intrigue: SPECTRE sets a trap involving a Soviet decoding machine and a defecting clerk. Robert Shaw is chilling as the assassin Red Grant, and Lotte Lenya makes Rosa Klebb unforgettable.
Their scenes build to a brutal fight aboard the Orient Express, still one of the best close-quarters fights in the series. The film also introduced Desmond Llewelyn as Q, handing Bond a briefcase full of hidden tricks.
The novel had a famous reader. President John F. Kennedy listed Fleming’s From Russia, with Love among his ten favourite books in Life magazine, and the film was reportedly the last one he watched at the White House.
Where it slips: Its box office, $78.9 million worldwide, is modest next to later hits, and the pace may feel slow to viewers raised on the Craig films.
2. Casino Royale (2006)
Bond: Daniel Craig | Director: Martin Campbell | Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
When Daniel Craig was announced as Bond in 2005, the reaction was hostile. A website called danielcraigisnotbond.com campaigned against him, and the Daily Mirror mocked him as “James Bland.” One year later, Casino Royale opened, and Roger Ebert called him “a superb Bond.”
This is a reboot that tells the story of Bond earning his 00 status, and it strips the character back to something closer to Fleming’s original: tough, arrogant, and vulnerable.
The Madagascar chase, built around free runner Sébastien Foucan, redefined Bond action. The poker game in Montenegro against Mads Mikkelsen’s Le Chiffre is tense without a single explosion, and Eva Green’s Vesper Lynd gives Bond a relationship that shapes every Craig film after it.
Green won the BAFTA Rising Star Award, and the film grossed $606 million worldwide, the series record until Skyfall. In November 2025, GQ named it the best Bond film of all time.
Where it slips: The final act in Venice runs long after the poker game’s peak. Adjusted for inflation, its U.S. gross ranks only 11th among Bond films, according to MovieMaker, so its reputation is stronger than its domestic ticket sales.
1. Goldfinger (1964)
Bond: Sean Connery | Director: Guy Hamilton | Rotten Tomatoes: 99%
Goldfinger is the highest-rated Bond film on Rotten Tomatoes, and it is also the second-biggest Bond film at the U.S. box office after adjusting for inflation, at an estimated $621.2 million in 2022 dollars.
No other entry does as well on both counts. The Guinness Book of World Records once listed it as the fastest-grossing film of all time, with $10.3 million in 14 weeks in the United States.
Its budget of $3 million equalled the first two films combined, and every dollar is on screen. This is the film that introduced the gadget-packed Aston Martin DB5; the Corgi toy version became the best-selling toy of 1964. It gave us Shirley Bassey’s brassy title song, which set the pattern for Bond themes ever since.
It gave us Harold Sakata’s Oddjob and his steel-rimmed hat, Honor Blackman’s Pussy Galore, and Gert Fröbe’s Auric Goldfinger, who ranks 49th on the American Film Institute’s list of the greatest film villains. And it gave us the laser scene, in which Bond asks whether Goldfinger expects him to talk and hears the famous reply.
Norman Wanstall’s Oscar for sound effects made it the first Bond film to win an Academy Award.
Where it slips: Bond is surprisingly passive for long stretches, and the film’s treatment of Pussy Galore reflects the attitudes of 1964. Even so, no other Bond film combines this level of craft, fun, and cultural reach.
Which Bond Actor Has the Best Films?
Counting only this list, Sean Connery leads with four films, followed by Daniel Craig with three. George Lazenby, Roger Moore, and Pierce Brosnan each have one. Timothy Dalton is the only official Bond missing; Licence to Kill (79%) and The Living Daylights (75%) sit just outside the top ten on Rotten Tomatoes.
Honourable Mentions
- Licence to Kill (1989): Dalton’s darker, revenge-driven Bond, which now looks like an early draft of the Craig era.
- You Only Live Twice (1967): Ken Adam’s hollow-volcano lair set the standard for every Bond villain base.
- The Living Daylights (1987): A grounded Cold War story with one of the series’ best cello-case escapes.
What’s Next for James Bond?
Bond 26 is in development at Amazon MGM Studios, which took creative control of the franchise from Eon in 2025. Denis Villeneuve (Dune) is directing, Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders) is writing, and Amy Pascal and David Heyman are producing.
As of late September 2026, according to The James Bond Dossier, the new Bond actor has not been officially announced, and no release date has been confirmed. Reports point to 2028 at the earliest.
FAQs
What is the best James Bond film of all time?
Goldfinger (1964) is the most common answer. It has the highest Rotten Tomatoes score of any Bond film (99%) and the second-highest inflation-adjusted U.S. gross. Casino Royale (2006) and From Russia with Love (1963) are its closest rivals.
What is the most popular James Bond film?
It depends on the measure. Skyfall (2012) has the highest worldwide gross, about $1.1 billion. Adjusted for inflation, Thunderball (1965) sold the most U.S. tickets, roughly 74.8 million, according to MovieMaker Magazine.
What is the best Daniel Craig Bond film?
Casino Royale (94%) edges out Skyfall (92%) with critics. Skyfall made far more money.
What is the best Sean Connery Bond film?
Goldfinger, although many Bond actors and producers prefer From Russia with Love.
What is the best Roger Moore Bond film?
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). Moore himself called it his favourite.
How many official James Bond films are there?
Twenty-five, produced by Eon Productions from Dr. No (1962) to No Time to Die (2021). Casino Royale (1967) and Never Say Never Again (1983) are not part of the official Eon series.
In what order should I watch the James Bond films?
Release order works best for the Connery through Brosnan films, which are mostly standalone. The five Craig films, starting with Casino Royale, tell one continuous story and should be watched in order.
Conclusion
The best James Bond films share one thing: each found a balance between spectacle and a story worth caring about. Goldfinger built the formula, From Russia with Love proved it could be a serious thriller, Casino Royale rebuilt it for a new century, and Skyfall showed it could still fill cinemas worldwide fifty years on. Whoever Amazon MGM casts next inherits that standard.
If you enjoyed this ranking, see our list of the best Denzel Washington movies ranked, our guide to 101 best films you need to see, and our 10 best liberal arts movies.
