James Bond films ranked from worst to best

This is a purely personal response to The Guardian's Bond films ranking by Peter Bradshaw (August 24, 2018).


26. "Octopussy" (1983) Worst title song of the franchise.

25. "Quantum of Solace" (2008) Who can remember the plot?

24. "Casino Royale" (1966) Burt Bacharach score and Woody Allen are the only saving graces.

23. "Die Another Day" (2002) Really... an invisible car??

22. "For Your Eyes Only (1981) There's a good bit with Maggie Thatcher.

21. "A View To A Kill" (1985) Walken is a wet Bond villain. Duran Duran score helps.

20. "The World Is Not Enough (1999) Forgettable movie, great Garbage score.

19. "The Living Daylights" (1987) Dalton tries hard, excellent supporting cast (Jeroen Krabbe, Joe Don Baker, John Rhys-Davies, Art Malik.

18. "Licence to Kill" (1989) Killer Gladys Knight title song, even though it is not by John Barry.

17.  "Moonraker" (1979) Blame "Star Wars" mania.

16. "Goldeneye" (1995) Great tank chase around St Petersburg.

15. "Thunderball" (1965) - great first 10 minutes, the underwater scenes are interminable.

14. "Casino Royale" (2006) Classy but morose.

13.  "The Man With The Golden Gun" (1974) Silly fun in Thailand. Sheriff Pepper returns. Casting Hammer's Dracula as Scaramanga was inspired.

12. "The Spy Who Loved Me" (1977) The Union Jack parachute ranks as one of the great pre-title sequences.

11.  "Never Say Never Again" (1983) Endless fun. Connery has a ball sending up his Bond character. Improves on "Thunderball".

10. "Tomorrow Never Dies"(1997) Nifty idea to have a Murdochian villain.

9.  "Spectre" (2015) Beautifully filmed.

8.  "Live And Let Die" (1973) Producers jump on the Blaxpoilation bandwagon. Moore's best Bond.

7.  "Skyfall" (2012) Just for the return of the original DB5.

6.  "From Russia With Love" (1963) Most faithful adaptation, released only 5 years after novel.

5.  "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1969) Lazenby impresses, Great Swiss location work, getting ex-Avengers Diana Rigg also helps.

4.  "Diamonds Are Forever" (1971) Naff but wildly enjoyable. Charles Gray is the best Blofeld.

3.  "Dr No" (1962) Holds up extremely well. Joseph Wiseman's villain evokes Fu Manchu. First time we see Ken Adam's amazing sets. Looks great on such a small budget.

2. "You Only Live Twice" (1967) Best score, Kobe docks scene is sublime, Ken Adam's volcano set is a stunner.

1.  "Goldfinger" (1964) Ticks all the boxes - Score, Sets, Villain, Locales, Gadgets, Bond girl (Honor Blackman - another former TV's "The Avengers" actress). Improves on the plot of the novel by planning to nuke Fort Knox so the gold can't be removed for decades.