Bond is back on Netflix, and the streaming giant is now home to every single 007 film. To help you navigate this cinematic treasure trove, we’ve ranked the five absolute best James Bond movies, analyzing why they stand as the franchise’s pinnacle achievements.
For a limited time, every single James Bond movie is available on Netflix, and that’s great news for anyone who’s ever loved 007. To give you a quick primer of where to start, we’ve selected the five best James Bond movies to stream on Netflix.
Our picks feature five out of the six James Bonds. Sorry, Timothy Dalton, you just missed the cut. But if this list featured six, we’d have put in The Living Daylights.
5. ‘GoldenEye’ (1995)
Pierce Brosnan was actually supposed to be cast as James Bond for The Living Daylights, but he was contractually tied to the NBC series Remington Steele. By the time Brosnan took over the role, he’d aged like a fine wine into one of the best Bonds. GoldenEye starts with a bang as Bond and the previously unknown 006, Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean), go on a disastrous mission.
It’s only years later that Bond realizes he was played, and now there’s a super satellite weapon, GoldenEye, that’s fallen into the wrong hands. Izabella Scorupco is a good Bond girl as Natalya Simonova, the last surviving scientist who worked on the GoldenEye project. But she’s overshadowed by an all-time great Bond Girl, Famke Janssen‘s Xenia Onatopp. You’ll have to see her to believe just how hilariously over-the-top she is.
4. ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ (1977)
Who is the spy in The Spy Who Loved Me? She’s Agent XXX, Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach), a KGB operative who reluctantly partners with James Bond (Roger Moore). During the Cold War, hostilities between the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom are placed on hold when billionaire Karl Stromberg (Curt Jurgens) tries to set off World War III.
Richard Kiel makes his first appearance as Jaws, one of the most memorable henchmen in the entire franchise. But all eyes are on Anya, a woman who has vowed to kill Bond as soon as their mission is over. She has a good reason to want payback from 007, and Bond may need to watch his back.
3. ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ (1969)
There’s a certain irony that George Lazenby‘s only appearance as James Bond is in one of the best films the franchise has ever produced. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is classic Bond at its zenith, with his returning nemesis, Blofeld (Telly Savalas), embarking on another outrageous plot to blackmail the world into submission.
The Avengers‘ Diana Rigg steals the movie — and Bond’s heart — as Teresa di Vicenzo, or “Tracy.” Bond has loved many women over the decades, but Tracy’s the one he wanted to marry. Their courtship takes place against a thrilling adventure, and the film’s tragic conclusion is referenced by several future Bond flicks.
2. ‘Skyfall’ (2012)
Most of Daniel Craig‘s James Bond films rank among the best the franchise has ever produced, but it just wouldn’t be fair if he were the only Bond on this list. The modern 007 movies peaked with Skyfall, a film that audaciously begins with Bond suffering a nearly fatal gunshot, followed by a breathtaking plunge that would have killed a lesser man. And that’s before Adele’s Oscar-winning theme song even begins to play.
The movie never lets Bond fully recover from that, physically or mentally. Bond’s newfound limitations leave him at a disadvantage against Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem), a former MI6 agent who has a vendetta against M (Judi Dench). Silva is one of the rare Bond villains who’s too much for 007 in a face-to-face battle. That’s why Bond needs to find a way to even the odds before Silva brings down the entire intelligence network of the United Kingdom.
1. ‘Goldfinger’ (1964)
Almost everything you know and love about James Bond came from this movie. Goldfinger was the third film in the franchise, and Sean Connery had 007 down to a science by that point. His adversary, Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe), set the gold standard (pun intended) for every maniacal villain who came after him. He’s just the pinnacle of super-villainy.
Honor Blackman‘s Pussy Galore is the Bond girl by whom all others are judged, but Shirley Eaton‘s Jill Masterson became just as iconic thanks to her fate in this film. This movie is the blueprint for the entire franchise, and it’s the Bond film we can watch over and over again.
For the fastest, most authoritative analysis of breaking entertainment news, stay with onlytrustedinfo.com. We deliver the definitive take before anyone else, ensuring you’re always ahead of the curve.
