Sean Connery in Diamonds Are Forever (All photos courtesy of Fox/MGM except where noted)
By Matt Brunson
(To see rankings of all the James Bond films from worst to first, go here.)
Best James Bond
In preferential order:
1. Sean Connery
2. Daniel Craig
3. Timothy Dalton
4. Roger Moore
5. Pierce Brosnan
6. George Lazenby
10 Bond Alternates
At various points, the following actors (listed alphabetically) were among those considered (or at least rumored) to play the role of 007:
1. James Brolin
2. Richard Burton
3. Clint Eastwood
4. Mel Gibson
5. Cary Grant
6. Rex Harrison
7. Clive Owen
8. Burt Reynolds
9. Dick Van Dyke
10. Adam West
10 Best Bond Women
Whether due to beauty, brains, bravura, brawn or some combination thereof, these are the most memorable heroines in the 007 universe.
In chronological order:
1. Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress) in Dr. No
2. Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman) in Goldfinger
3. Tilly Masterson (Tania Mallet) in Goldfinger
4. Tracy di Vincenzo (Diana Rigg) in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
5. Major Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach), aka Agent XXX, in The Spy Who Loved Me
6. Melina Havelock (Carole Bouquet) in For Your Eyes Only
7. Pam Bouvier (Carey Lowell) in Licence to Kill
8. Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) in Casino Royale
9. M (Judi Dench) in Skyfall
10. Paloma (Ana de Armis) in No Time to Die
10 Best Master Villains
In chronological order:
1. Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya) in From Russia with Love
2. Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe) in Goldfinger
3. Blofeld (Donald Pleasence) in You Only Live Twice
4. Blofeld (Telly Savalas) in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
5. Scaramanga (Christopher Lee) in The Man with the Golden Gun
6. Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale) in Moonraker
* 7. Largo (Klaus Maria Brandauer) in Never Say Never Again
8. Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi) in Licence to Kill
9. Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) in Casino Royale
10. Silva (Javier Bardem) in Skyfall
* Film not part of official series
10 Best Henchmen / Secondary Villains
In chronological order:
1. Red Grant (Robert Shaw) in From Russia with Love
2. Oddjob (Harold Sakata) in Goldfinger
3. Tee Hee (Julius Harris) in Live and Let Die
4. Jaws (Richard Kiel) in The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker
5. Locque (Michael Gothard) in For Your Eyes Only
6. Gobinda (Kabir Bedi) in Octopussy
7. Dario (Benicio Del Toro) in Licence to Kill
8. Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen) in GoldenEye
9. Dr. Kaufman (Vincent Schiavelli) in Tomorrow Never Dies
10. Zao (Rick Yune) in Die Another Day
10 Best Bond Theme Songs
In preferential order:
1. “Nobody Does It Better” – The Spy Who Loved Me (Carly Simon)
2. “Goldfinger” – Goldfinger (Shirley Bassey)
3. “A View to a Kill” – A View to a Kill (Duran Duran)
4. “You Only Live Twice” – You Only Live Twice (Nancy Sinatra)
5. “We Have All the Time in the World” – On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (Louis Armstrong)
6. “You Know My Name” – Casino Royale (Chris Cornell)
7. “Skyfall” – Skyfall (Adele)
8. “Licence to Kill” – Licence to Kill (Gladys Knight)
9. “For Your Eyes Only” – For Your Eyes Only (Sheena Easton)
10. “Diamonds Are Forever” – Diamonds Are Forever (Shirley Bassey)
10 Best Foreign Titles for Bond Films
In chronological order:
1. Dr. No: 007 Is The Killing Number (Japan) – Dr. No
2. Agent 007 Sees Red (Sweden) – From Russia with Love
3. Calm Down, Mr. Bond (Netherlands) – Thunderball
4. 007 Seized The Rocket Base (China) – You Only Live Twice
5. 007 Seized The Snow Mountain Castle (China) – On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
6. 007, My Beloved (Finland) – The Spy Who Loved Me
7. 007 Against The Death Rocket (Brazil & Portugal) – Moonraker
8. Agent 007: Strict Confidence (Denmark) – For Your Eyes Only
9. Dangerously Yours (Canada & France) – A View to a Kill
10. To Kill Is Not To Play (France) – The Living Daylights
(Source: IMDb)
10 Great Character Names
In chronological order:
1. Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress) in Dr. No
2. Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman) in Goldfinger
3. Oddjob (Harold Sakata) in Goldfinger
4. Kissy Suzuki (Mie Hama) in You Only Live Twice
5. Plenty O’Toole (Lana Wood) in Diamonds Are Forever
6. Nick Nack (Herve Villechaize) in The Man with the Golden Gun
* 7. Fatima Blush (Barbara Carrera) in Never Say Never Again
* 8. Nigel Small-Fawcett (Rowan Atkinson) in Never Say Never Again
9. Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen) in GoldenEye
10. Strawberry Fields (Gemma Arterton) in Quantum of Solace
* Film not part of official series
12 Most Poignant Deaths
(Spoilers, obviously)
In chronological order:
1. Quarrel (John Kitzmiller) in Dr. No
2. Kerim Bey (Pedro Armendariz) in From Russia with Love
3. Aki (Akiko Wakabayashi) in You Only Live Twice
4. Tracy di Vincenzo (Diana Rigg) in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
5. Vijay (Vijay Amritraj) in Octopussy
6. Della Leiter (Priscilla Barnes) in Licence to Kill
7. Sharkey (Frank McRae) in Licence to Kill
8. Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) in Casino Royale
9. Rene Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini) in Quantum of Solace
10. Severine (Berenice Marlohe) in Skyfall
11. M (Judi Dench) in Skyfall
12. Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) in No Time to Die
James Bond at the Oscars
1. Goldfinger (1964) – 1 win (Best Sound Effects)
2. Thunderball (1965) – 1 win (Best Visual Effects)
* 3. Casino Royale (1967) – 1 nomination (Best Original Song, “The Look of Love”)
4. Diamonds Are Forever (1971) – 1 nomination (Best Sound)
5. Live and Let Die (1973) – 1 nomination (Best Original Song, “Live and Let Die”)
6. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) – 3 nominations (Best Art Direction & Set Decoration; Best Original Score; Best Original Song, “Nobody Does It Better”)
7. Moonraker (1979) – 1 nomination (Best Visual Effects)
8. For Your Eyes Only (1981) – 1 nomination (Best Original Song, “For Your Eyes Only”)
9. Skyfall (2012) – 5 nominations (Best Cinematography; Best Original Score; Best Original Song, “Skyfall”; Best Sound Editing; Best Sound Mixing), 2 wins (Best Original Song, “Skyfall”; Best Sound Editing)
10. Spectre (2015) – 1 win (Best Original Song, “Writing’s on the Wall”)
11. No Time to Die (2021) – 3 nominations (Best Original Song, “No Time to Die”; Best Sound; Best Visual Effects), 1 win (Best Original Song, “No Time to Die”)
* Film not part of official series
FILM FRENZY 