The Official James Bond Films--My Best To Worst (Part Two)

 

In this round, we deal with numbers 6 through 10. 

6. DR. NO
Through 21st Century eyes this movie might seem a bit quaint. But considering it was the very first James Bond film, it's quite effective, with Sean Connery already defining the role in his debut as 007. With tone-setting performances by Joseph Wiseman (as the first main Bond villain) and Ursula Andress (as the first main Bond girl). 

7. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
THUNDERBALL tried to out-do GOLDFINGER, and YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE tries to out-do THUNDERBALL. It succeeds with such elements as Blofeld's incredible volcano lair, the best villain's headquarters in the entire series. There's also Freddie Young's cinematography, "Little Nellie", John Barry's music, and the exotic Japanese locations. Unfortunately Connery seems bored throughout most of the film, and the attempt to disguise Bond as a poor Japanese fisherman is ludicrous. 

8. THUNDERBALL 
I've read somewhere online that when adjusted for inflation, this is still the highest-grossing Bond film. It was also the first true Bond epic. It might have worked better if it was a more tightly constructed story, like the earlier three films in the series. The climatic underwater battle seems to drag on forever, and there's some surprisingly mediocre effects work here as well. It's still better than most of the Bond films made in the next two decades. 

9. GOLDENEYE
Legal issues put the Bond series on hiatus for about half a decade after LICENCE TO KILL. When the series started up again, a mini-reboot was in order, with Pierce Brosnan brought in as a more mainstream 007 as compared to Timothy Dalton. I liked Brosnan's Bond a lot--I've always felt he was a cross between Connery and Roger Moore. GOLDENEYE is the best Brosnan outing by far--his era would steadily decline after this. 

10. LICENCE TO KILL
This movie gives a hint as to what a Timothy Dalton run as Bond might have looked like if the series had totally committed to him. 007 gets to go rogue here, but that aspect of the plot isn't followed through enough. The movie also feels very much like an enlarged MIAMI VICE episode. It does have some of the best stunt work of the series.