The James Bond franchise has existed since 1962, and will likely continue to be a prominent part of Hollywood’s blockbuster culture as long as audiences still demand to see 007 adventures. While certain franchises like Die Hard and Lethal Weapon are too tied to specific actors to permeate throughout generations, Bond has been played by many different actors, allowing the series to revitalize itself for each and every generation.
There are both great and terrible Bond films, but what remains so impressive about the franchise is its consistency; within every ten years, there is at least one installment in the franchise that justifies its continuation, and proves why audiences will never be tired of seeing 007 travel the world, fall in love, and take down eccentric villains. Here is the greatest James Bond film of every decade since the 1960s.
1
‘Goldfinger’ (1964)
Starring Sean Connery
Goldfinger is the film that cracked the Bond formula most perfectly, and developed many of the recurring hallmarks that has allowed the series to retain its popularity. Although Dr. No introduced Sean Connery as the charismatic superspy, and From Russia With Love included one of the most thrilling Cold War adventures ever, it was Goldfinger that included the gadgets, snarky humor, and playful ridiculousness that distinguished the Bond series from all other franchises. It also contains Connery’s best performance, as there was no other time in which he was able to be as purely charismatic.
Goldfinger is responsible for some of the most iconic imagery in the Bond franchise, and has inspired countless homages and parodies. Although it is easy to think of most Bond films as “escapist fun,” Goldfinger is a legitimate all-time classic, which Roger Ebert cited as being one of the greatest action films ever made.
2
‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ (1977)
Starring Roger Moore
The Spy Who Loved Me came after a period of decline in the Bond franchise, as while Roger Moore’s tenure as Bond has started off on a strong note with Live and Let Die, the subsequent sequel The Man With The Golden Gun fely highly derivative and dull in comparison to the best of what Connery did.
Thankfully, The Spy Who Loved Me worked as a great romantic thriller, as Moore’s Bond is forced to team up with the Soviet Union spy XXX (Barbara Bach) in order to stop a conspiracy from spreading global chaos. Although it contains the winking humor that is inherent to this era of the franchise, The Spy Who Loved Me does show that Moore was an incredibly talented dramatic actor, particularly in a scene in which he admits to XXX that he was responsible for the death of her former lover.
3
‘Licence to Kill’ (1989)
Starring Timothy Dalton
Licence to Kill was a major comeback to the franchise that succeeded by taking it in a completely different direction. After the last few films starring Moore had grown so silly that they had basically become parodies of what the franchise once was, Timothy Dalton was cast as a more serious version of Bond in The Living Daylights. While The Living Daylights still inherited some of the cheeky humor of the Moore era, Licence to Kill dove straight into the darker origins of Ian Fleming’s novel series.
Licence to Kill is sometimes referred to as “the Cannon Bond,” as it takes the approach of a ruthless revenge thriller like Death Wish and other B-movies produced at the time. Although it is the most violent and mean-spirited installment in the entire franchise, Licence to Kill played an important role in showing that Bond was a character that was worth taking seriously once more.
4
‘GoldenEye’ (1995)
Starring Pierce Brosnan
GoldenEye finally turned the Bond franchise into a blockbuster series again, as Martin Campbell created a cool, action-packed adventure that brought 007 out of the Cold War era and into modern times. Pierce Brosnan proved to be the most charismatic actor to play Bond since Connery, and Sean Bean’s performance as the former MI6 agent 006 instantly ranked among the saga’s best villains.
Brosnan is one of the more underrated Bond actors, as he was able to be both a compelling romantic lead and a cold-hearted assassin. Although Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough are both much better than they are given credit for, GoldenEye clearly represents the peak of what he could do with the character. The introduction of Judi Dench as M was also a brilliant choice, as her playful relationship with Bond would become an integral part of the series moving forward.
5
‘Casino Royale’ (2006)
Starring Daniel Craig
Casino Royale was a Bond film that fans thought that they would never see, as despite being the first novel in Fleming’s series, the original book of the same name had only once previously been adapted into a 1967 parody film. Casino Royale was revamped as the origin story for Daniel Craig’s Bond, and served as the perfect explanation for why he developed such a cold, cynical approach to the world in the aftermath of the death of his lover, Vesper Lyn (Eva Green).
Casino Royale is an excellent romantic thriller, an enticing international adventure, and a heartbreaking tragedy, and perfectly reintroduced Bond into the new world. Although Bond is a series that has always had darker components, Casino Royale is one of the most thrilling installments in the entire franchise, and most certainly one of the most violent films to somehow walk away with a PG-13 rating.
6
‘Skyfall’ (2012)
Starring Daniel Craig
Skyfall is a modern masterpiece that examined the trajectory of Bond as a franchise by exploring the character’s past and legacy; although there are many homages to the various adventures in the saga’s past, Skyfall also contends with the way that espionage is perceived in a modern world, and indicates why an “old-fashioned” spy like Bond is still needed in an era of cyberterrorism.
Skyfall is among the most emotional installments in the franchise, particularly due to the amazing performances by Craig and Dench, as well as Javier Bardem’s terrifying role as the villain Raoul Silva. Although it received Academy Award nominations for Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Original Score, and even a win for Adele’s Best Original Song, it is still a bit frustrating that Skyfall did not become one of the few sequels to actually earn a nomination for Best Picture.
7
‘No Time To Die’ (2021)
Starring Daniel Craig
No Time To Die may be the only installment in the Bond franchise released thus far in the 2020s, but it served as an eloquent conclusion to the Craig era of the series, and certainly put even more pressure on whoever will step into the role next. Similar to a film like Avengers: Endgame, No Time To Die bids farewell to all of the most important characters that had appeared in the franchise for the last fifteen years, including Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), Eve Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), Tanner (Rory Kinnear), Q (Ben Whishaw), Mallory (Ralph Fiennes), and Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux).
No Time To Die took a risk in humanizing Bond, exploring how his unflinching desire to protect the world robbed him of the domestic bliss that he secretly had desired. Despite the more epic swings and the CGI-packed finale that pushed the film’s running time to nearly three hours long, No Time To Die is a sweeping epic that showed just how dramatically the franchise had evolved since its inception.