What was the Best Bond Movie Ever?
At the bottom of my post is a list of all the bond movies. In the 1954 Casino Royale, James Bond was an American, played by Barry Nelson. I had the opportunity to watch this version and it had an American TV style to it, more like a suave FBI agent. There have been so many Bonds, villains, and movies, does one stand out? I think so. My opinion is that if you could only watch ONE of them, I would recommend From Russia With Love. It has Sean Connery, young virile and rough, some of the best plot and characters, and the elements that fans love. First, we have an outstanding cast with Daniela Bianchi, the lovely Russian told to lie and say she was a traitor in love with Bond. Robert Shaw and Lotta Lenya are awesome as the villains. Desmond Llewelyn was still Q, even back then. Pedro Armendaiz is great as Karim Bey.
Instead of hard to believe gadgets, Bond’s briefcase has hidden gold coins and small throwing knife. His hand-to-hand combat is more focused upon. He is harder hearted, kissing a girl, then slapping her for information, warning he will hurt her if she does not speak. The intrigue takes you across into the soviet bloc, through Turkey, and on trains. Various intelligence operatives are employed from various countries. In all the story, plot, acting and style of this movie make it my all-time favorite. The raw masculine energy and machismo of Sean Connery is only approached by Daniel Craig. However, if you watch old and new, the new is still more worried about cinematography, special effects and chases, and less with solid dialogue, plotting and changes in pace. In 1963, the year I was born, and the year From Russia with Love was released, a body count of even one or two in a film was still remarked upon as violent. Now you watch Expendables and Commando, or Zombie films and thousands die on camera and you lose the personal connection to the events.
What are your choices for best Bond film of all time, or am I just clearly correct that you agree with me?
The “official” James Bond films have been produced by Eon Productions and producer Cubby Broccoli (1909-1996), later succeeded by producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. Films not produced by them are considered “unofficial”.
Official James Bond films
- Dr. No (1962-Sean Connery)
- From Russia With Love (1963-Sean Connery)
- Goldfinger (1964-Sean Connery)
- Thunderball (1965-Sean Connery)
- You Only Live Twice (1967-Sean Connery)
- On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969-George Lazenby)
- Diamonds Are Forever (1971-Sean Connery)
- Live and Let Die (1973-Roger Moore)
- The Man with the Golden Gun (1974-Roger Moore)
- The Spy Who Loved Me (1977-Roger Moore)
- Moonraker (1979-Roger Moore)
- For Your Eyes Only (1981-Roger Moore)
- Octopussy (1983-Roger Moore)
- A View to a Kill (1985-Roger Moore)
- The Living Daylights (1987-Timothy Dalton)
- Licence to Kill (1989-Timothy Dalton)
- GoldenEye (1995-Pierce Brosnan)
- Tomorrow Never Dies (1997-Pierce Brosnan)
- The World is Not Enough (1999-Pierce Brosnan)
- Die Another Day (2002-Pierce Brosnan)
- Casino Royale (2006-Daniel Craig)
- Quantum of Solace (2008-Daniel Craig)
- Skyfall (2012-Daniel Craig)
- “Bond 24” (2014?)
Other films
- Casino Royale (1954-Barry Nelson)
- Casino Royale (1967-David Niven & Peter Sellers)
- Never Say Never Again (1983-Sean Connery)
- Goldeneye (1989) & Spymaker (1990), films about the life of Bond creator, British author Ian Fleming
Michael Bradley - Time Traveler 
I can’t choose! I can perhaps narrow it down to Never Say Never Again (Go Sean Connery) and A View to a Kill (Go Christopher Walken!)
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What is it about those two that you find particularly appealing? Some like the Bond actor, some the villain, some the setting, some gadgets…Just curious if you can isolate the parts you like best.
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For me it was the villains, I think. In both cases, they were just so stereotypically Bond-ish. Elaborate death traps for Bond, over-the-top evil plans, and evil villains with flair. You’re kind of routing for Walken’s bomb to detonate by the end of it!
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It’s hard for me to compare; while I’ve seen every Bond film up to Die Another Day, I last saw them at completely different times of my life. Some I haven’t seen since I was under ten. I’m sure many of them have blurred together, so that I’m remembering, say, Sean Connery as Bond rather than Sean Connery is Bond in film X.
There are some that have stayed with me though for various reasons. Dr No always played smoothly and Ursula Andress on the beach was unforgettable. Goldfinger has a lot of my favourite touches, including Oddjob, but I saw it again a few years ago and it didn’t stand up. I’m a huge Donald Pleasence fan and Blofeld is the archetypal Bond villain, so You Only Live Twice has much to be thankful for. I’ve always felt Lazenby was underrated as Bond and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service had Diana Rigg, which is always a plus. More recently, Tomorrow Never Dies had Michelle Yeoh, which was great to see, not only because she’s amazing as an actress and an action star, but because she got a much less traditional role than usual.
Of all of them, Live and Let Die may have stayed with me most, perhaps because of the feel, tone and colours of the piece. It was much more immersive than any the others, or at least that’s how I remember it.
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It’s the Daniel Craig Casino Royale for me.
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