James Bond Filmography
You know his name. You got his number. Since 1962, James Bond has been the spy whose reputation precedes him.
The James Bond film series is a British series of spy films based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond, 007, who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. It is one of the longest continually running film series in history, having been in ongoing production from 1962 to the present. In that time, Eon Productions (the original Bond production company) has produced 25 films as of 2021, most of them at Pinewood Studios.
1: Dr No (1962)
Director: Terence Young
Cast: Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Jack Lord
The film that began it all. Connery’s Bond arrived fully formed, tackling Joseph Wiseman’s titular Spectre employee. Although the franchise was yet to perfect the formula, it featured all the hallmarks of the films to come; with an exotic location, Jamaica, Bond’s love interest, Honey Ryder (Andress), and a supervillain with a radio beam weapon designed to destroy the US space programme.
Music: The most notable song is the original James Bond Theme written by Monty Norman, and arranged by John Barry.
2: From Russia with Love (1963)
Director: Terence Young
Cast: Sean Connery, Robert Shaw, Daniela Bianchi
The second Bond film sees 007 aid the defection of a young Soviet clerk, with the evil criminal organisation Spectre on his tail. This raw, hard-edged story was pure Fleming, typified by the brilliant Robert Shaw as the assassin out to kill Bond.
Music: This the first Bond film in the series with John Barry as the primary soundtrack composer. The theme song was composed by Lionel Bart of Oliver! fame and sung by Matt Monro.
3: Goldfinger (1964)
Director: Guy Hamilton
Cast: Sean Connery, Honor Blackman, Shirley Eaton
The third Bond movie is the one that set the template. Connery elegantly personifies 007, facing off with Gert Fröbe’s gold-loving villain. From Bassey’s dynamic title song to the glorious henchman Oddjob and Bond’s romantic interest Pussy Galore, everything fell into place. And Goldfinger’s line: “No Mr Bond, I expect you to die,” became an instant classic.
Shirley Eaton’s career hit international status when she played Jill Masterson, one of a bevy of beauties linked to arch-villain Gert Fröbe. And like many of the Bond girls before and since, her character dearly paid for her furtive romantic clinches with Connery’s magnetic Bond. Eaton’s memorable 24-karat gold death scene (she was found by Bond, painted head to toe in gold paint, and had “died of skin suffocation”), became the eye-catching draw for the movie.
Theme song: Shirley Bassey established the opening title tradition giving her distinguished style to Goldfinger.
4: Thunderball (1965)
Director: Terence Young
Cast: Sean Connery, Claudine Auger
Bond heads to the Bahamas and battles the eyepatch-wearing Spectre No 2, Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi), as he threatens Nato. The film’s complex production comprised four different units, and about a quarter of the film comprises underwater scenes. Thunderball was the first Bond film shot in widescreen Panavision and the first to have a running time of over two hours.
Theme song: Tom Jones, who sang the new theme song, allegedly fainted in the recording booth after singing the song’s final, high note
5: You Only Live Twice (1967)
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Cast: Sean Connery, Donald Pleasence
A loose Roald Dahl adaptation of Fleming’s 1964 novel sees Bond in Japan and Pleasance masterfully playing 007’s arch enemy, Spectre head Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Stroking his white cat, and with a scar down his eye, he became the much-imitated archetypal Bond villain.
Theme song: Sung by Nancy Sinatra after her father Frank Sinatra passed on the opportunity.
6: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
Director: Peter R. Hunt
Cast: George Lazenby, Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas
Former model Lazenby’s only time as 007, this brought a very different flavour from the Connery years. Not least Bond’s relationship to Diana Rigg’s Tracy — the only time 007 marries in the franchise and a strong influence on the emotional arc taken by Craig’s Bond.
Theme song: John Barry composed the love song We Have All the Time in the World, with lyrics by lyricist Hal David, and sung by Louis Armstrong.
7: Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Director: Guy Hamilton
Cast: Sean Connery, Jill St John
With Connery returning to the role after sitting out one instalment, Bond is ready for his latest mission. The action moves between Amsterdam, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and the desert – sees Bond encounter Plenty O’Toole (Lana Wood), steal a moon buggy, get beaten up by a couple of female karate experts known as Bambi and Thumper, before finally bringing him face-to-face with a Howard Hughes-type recluse who is intent on nuclear blackmail and world domination.
Theme song: The second Bond theme to be performed by Shirley Bassey.
8: Live and Let Die (1973)
Director: Guy Hamilton
Cast: Roger Moore, Jane Seymour, Yaphet Kotto
Moore makes his 007 debut, and slipped into the role with consummate ease. Bond is tasked with cracking a voodoo-controlled drug smuggling racket in the Caribbean, and sets about the task with his customary verve, finding time for speedboat chases and crocodile encounters along the way. Admirable support is offered by Clifton James, as an irate Southern Sheriff, and Jane Seymour, as tarot expert Solitaire but they face a formidable foe in drugs baron Kananga.
Theme song: Written by Paul and Linda McCartney and performed by their group Wings, was the first true rock and roll song used to open a Bond film.
9: The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
Director: Guy Hamilton
Cast: Roger Moore, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland, Maud Adams
Bond travels to the Far East to hunt for hired assassin Scaramanga (Lee), who appears to have Bond in his sights. However, it soon transpires that Scaramanga is really after a missing scientist, the creator of a pocket-sized solar converter. Bond and agent Mary Goodnight (Ekland) race to the rescue.
Theme song: The title theme was performed by Lulu – the only Bond film title track not to chart as a single on either the UK or U.S. singles chart.
10: The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Cast: Roger Moore, Barbara Bach, Curt Jurgens
Peak Moore-era Bond. Who else could ski off a mountain and glide to safety with a Union Jack parachute? Or for that matter, drive a white Lotus Esprit into the sea, only for it to turn into a mini-sub?
Theme song: Nobody Does It Better, was performed by Carly Simon. It was the first theme song in the series with a different title to that of the film.
11: Moonraker (1979)
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Cast: Roger Moore, Lois Chiles, Richard Kiel
Bond in space, a reaction to the popularity of Star Wars. While Michael Lonsdale exuded a delightfully unlikeable quality to antagonist Hugh Drax. The film’s visuals were praised, with Derek Meddings being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
Theme song: The third Bond film theme song performed by Shirley Bassey.
12: For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Director: John Glen
Cast: Roger Moore, Carole Bouquet, Chaim Topol
After the over-the-top, science fiction-focused Moonraker, the producers wanted a conscious return to the style of the early Bond films and the works of 007 creator Fleming. The film followed a more gritty, realistic approach, and an unusually strong narrative theme of revenge and its consequences. Filming locations included Greece, Italy, Spain and England, with underwater footage being shot in The Bahamas.
Theme song: Sung by Sheena Easton, who was the first title song artist to appear on screen in a Bond film.
13: Octopussy (1983)
Director: John Glen
Cast: Roger Moore, Maud Adams, Louis Jordan
Bond may have met his match in Octopussy (Maud Adams), an entrancing beauty involved in a devastating military plot to destroy détente. From the palaces of India to a speeding circus train in Germany and a mid-air battle on the wing of a high-flying jet, only Agent 007 can stop the nightmarish scheme!
Theme song: All Time High sung by Rita Coolidge. The score was composed by John Barry, the lyrics by Tim Rice.
14: A View to a Kill (1985)
Director: John Glen
Cast: Roger Moore, Grace Jones, Christopher Walken
The final Moore outing is one too many. He’s two decades older than his leading lady Tanya Roberts, and it shows. But from the cracking Duran Duran theme to stunning set pieces at the Eiffel Tower and Golden Gate Bridge, plus a cackling Walken and muscular Jones, there’s still much to enjoy.
Music: By John Barry, lyrics and performed by Duran Duran.
15: The Living Daylights (1987)
Director: John Glen
Cast: Timothy Dalton, Maryam d’Abo, Joe Don Baker
Dalton’s first 007 outing is a gritty Cold War defection tale, packed with some remarkable set-pieces — from a Gibraltar opening to a terrific battle in Afghanistan. Dalton’s Bond, closer to Fleming’s original creation than either Connery or Moore, feels like a prototype for Craig’s 007.
Theme song: Sung by the Norwegian group a-ha.
16: Licence to Kill (1989)
Director: John Glen
Cast Timothy Dalton, Carey Lowell
The second and last Dalton 007 film, this tale of drug cartels fell well short and offers excessive violence. Witness the demise of henchman Dario (Benicio Del Toro, in an early role) — who drops into a shredder. Nasty.
Theme song: At 5 minutes 13 seconds it is the longest Bond theme song – sung by Gladys Knight.
17: GoldenEye (1995)
Director: Martin Campbell
Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean, Minnie Driver
Six years on from Licence to Kill, during which time legal disputes disrupted the pipeline, director Campbell brought the franchise back with a bang. Introducing Brosnan, the story about a rogue 00 agent (Sean Bean) felt fresh, while the tank chase is still one of the best Bond action scenes.
Theme song: Written by Bono and the Edge and performed by Tina Turner.
18: Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
Director: Roger Spottiswoode
Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Jonathan Pryce, Michelle Yeoh, Teri Hatcher
It was the only one of Brosnan’s Bond films not to open at No. 1 at the box office, as it opened the same day as Titanic, and finished at No. 2 that week.
Brosnan returns as the fearless, cunning and devastatingly cool 007 in this thrilling adventure. When a ruthless media tycoon (Pryce) tries to destabilise the world economy by orchestrating a deadly standoff between world superpowers, in an attempt to achieve high ratings for his media conglomerate, Bond must step in to prevent World War III.
Theme song: Surrender was eventually recorded by k.d. lang after an extensive selective process.
19: The World Is Not Enough (1999)
Director: Michael Apted
Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Sophie Marceau, Robert Carlyle
An exhilarating and sophisticated, action-packed adventure. Brosnan returns as Bond, charged to protect a gorgeous billionaire heiress (Marceau) from the ruthless hands of the nuclear-obsessed terrorist Renard (Carlyle), who wants control of the world’s petroleum supply.
Theme song: Written by David Arnold with Don Black and performed by Garbage.
20: Die Another Day (2002)
Director: Lee Tamahori
Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry, Rosamund Pike
Bond pulls out all the stops to take you on an unforgettable, adrenaline-pumping ride across the globe in this action-filled adventure. From a dark cell in a North Korean prison to the beautiful beaches of Cuba, 007 is on the trail of a diabolical genius who’s hell-bent on slicing up the Earth… literally.
Theme song: Performed by Madonna, who also had a cameo in the film as Verity, a fencing instructor.
21: Casino Royale (2006)
Director: Martin Campbell
Cast: Daniel Craig, Eva Green
Craig launched his tenure as Bond with this gritty reboot, taking the character back to his rookie roots. It’s a brutal 007 outing — not least when Bond is tied up and tortured by Mads Mikkelsen’s scheming Le Chiffre. But the relationship with Eva Green’s agent lends a real humanity to the character.
Theme song: Chris Cornell composed and performed the title song, You Know My Name.
22: Quantum of Solace (2008)
Director: Marc Foster
Cast: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurlenko
While Casino Royale ends with Bond suffering a significant loss, and Quantum allows him to take revenge. Bond is still grappling with a broken heart. But from its baffling title to its anaemic villain Dominic Greene, an evil environmentalist(!) This is the nadir of the Craig era. While it’s the first Bond film to be a direct sequel to its predecessor, all the good work of Casino Royale felt wasted.
Theme song: Jack White of The White Stripes and Alicia Keys collaborated on Another Way to Die, the first Bond music duet.
23: Skyfall (2012)
Director: Sam Mendes
Cast: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Judi Dench
Arriving for Bond’s 50th anniversary, Daniel Craig hit his stride in director Mendes’s brilliant blend of nostalgia and playfulness (led by Bardem’s villain Raul Silva). The finale, at Bond’s parents’ estate, hits an emotional note, as the fate of Judi Dench’s long-serving MI6 boss M is sealed.
Theme song: Adele performed the theme song and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. It was the first time a Bond song had won.
24: Spectre (2015)
Director: Sam Mendes
Cast: Daniel Craig, Christopher Waltz, Lea Seydoux
After the success of Skyfall, this was a huge disappointment — not least because Christoph Waltz’s role as Blofeld was the worst-kept secret in Hollywood. Still, the pre-credits opener in Mexico City is thrilling, and Dave Bautista’s near-silent Mr Hinx oozes menace.
Theme song: Sam Smith performed the title theme, Writing’s on the Wall.
25: No Time to Die (2021)
Director: Cary Joyi Fukunaga
Cast: Daniel Craig, Rami Malek, Christopher Waltz
The longest Bond film — and arguably the most controversial. Bringing Craig’s tenure to a resounding close as he tackles Malek’s vengeful hitman, it went further than any 007 movie ever did.
If audiences knew anything walking into No Time to Die, it was that Daniel Craig‘s fifth movie as James Bond — and the 25th (official) Bond movie ever — was also Craig’s final film as the dashing secret agent.
Theme song: Billie Eilish performed the film’s theme song, with her brother, Finneas O’Connell, serving as co-writer as well as the track’s producer.
Source: 007.com, jamesbondfandom.com, rottentomatoes.com, thenationalnews.com and collider.com
Image: The James Bond Film Guide by Simon Hugo & Will Lawrence