We’re done! 26 Bond films rated, based on the following;

James Bond- 100 possible points

Villain- 100 possible points

Bond Girls- 100 possible points

Bond Theme- 75 possible points

Henchman- 50 possible points

M,Q, Moneypenny & misc. – 25 possible points.

Total points possible- 450

And if you’ve been following the reviews, you know the final overall scoreboard;

1. Diamonds are Forever- 428
2. Goldfinger- 419
3. The Spy Who Loved Me.- 410
4. Goldeneye- 407
5. Spectre-397
6. Live and Let Die- 396
7. Thunderball- 393
8. Skyfall- 383
9. Casino Royale / Die Another Day / Skyfall- 382
10. For Your Eyes Only- 380
11. Tomorrow Never Dies- 377
12. From Russia with Love
13. The World is not Enough- 367
14. A View to a Kill- 359
15. Never Say Never Again- 356
16. No Time to Die- 355
17. Dr. No- 346
18. The Man with the Golden Gun. 331
19. License to Kill- 321
20. Moonraker- 315
21. You Only Live Twice- 300
22. Octopussy- 255
23. The Living Daylights- 228
24. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service- 201

Does this mean that Goldfinger is my favorite Bond film? Nope. My favorite is Casino Royale. I like Daniel Craig’s Bond,. though I also like Connery and acknowledge that he was the originator. But Craig’s Bond plus Mads Mikkelsen & Eva Green , with Giancarlo Giannini thrown in? That’s my cup of tea. But that was part of the fun of this little exercise. I didn’t look to see how the score of a film was adding up as I rated the elements. And yeah, there are a couple of ties. That’s just the way it worked out. Now, Let’s take a look at the ratings for each category;

Bond;

Sean Connery, Dr.No 99
Sean Connery, Diamonds are Forever 98
Sean Connery, From Russia with Love 98
Sean Connery, Goldfinger 97
Daniel Craig, Skyfall 96
Daniel Craig, Casino Royale 95
Pierce Brosnan, Goldeneye
Roger Moore, For You Eyes Only 94
Roger Moore, The Spy who Loved Me 93
Sean Connery, Thunderball 92
Roger Moore, Live & let Die 91
Pierce Brosnan, The World is not Enough 90
Daniel Craig, Quantum of Solace 89
Pierce Brosnan, Die Another Day 87
Roger Moore, Man with the Golden Gun 86
Daniel Craig, Spectre 85
Pierce Brosnan, Tomorrow Never Dies 84
Daniel Craig, No Time to Die 83
Roger Moore, Moonraker 82
Sean Connery, Never Say Never Again 81
Roger Moore, Octopussy- 80
Roger Moore, A View to a Kill 79
Sean Connery, Never Say Never Again. 78
Timothy Dalton, Licensed to Kill 75
Timothy Dalton, The Living Daylights 65
George Lazenby, On Her Majesty’s … 25

Sean Connery, in my opinion, gets the edge on everyone else because he started from scratch. There was no-one else to work off of. No one knew that the Bond franchise was going to be what it is. He just stepped in and created this larger than life character. I think Craig creating just as compelling a character, but he had a lot of source material to work off of. And, btw, I also think that Pierce Brosnan, and Roger Moore for that matter, did really good work with what they brought to the role. Moore especially was a completely different type of performer, and brought a clever, whimsical quality to his Bond. I wasn’t a fan of Dalton’s Bond and simply don’t think it’s even fair to mention Lazenby.

Villain;

Javier Bardem, Skyfall 98
Gert Frode, Goldfinger 97
Christopher Lee, Man w/ Golden Gun 96
Mads Mikkelsen, Casino Royale 95
Klaus Maria Brandauer, Never Say..Again 94
Yaphet Kotto, Live & Let Die 93
Sophie Marceau / Robert Carlyle,The World is not Enough 92
Sean Bean, Goldeneye 91
Curd Jurgens, The Spy who Loved Me 90
Charles Gray, Diamonds are Forever 89
Donald Pleasance, You Only Live Twice 88
Mathieu Almaric, Quantum of Solace 87
Toby Stephens, Die Another Day
Jonathon Pryce, Tomorrow Never Dies 86
Andrew Scott, Christof Waltz, Spectre 85
Christopher Walken, A View to a Kill 84
Adolfo Celi, Thunderball 83
Romi Malek, No Time to Die 82
Michael Lonsdale, Moonraker 81
Julian Glover, For Your Eyes Only 80
Robert Davi, Licensed to Kill 70
Joseph Wiseman, Dr. No 65
Jeroen Krabbé, The Living Daylights 50
Telly Savales, On Her Majesty’s… 41
Louis Jourdan,Octopussy 40
Anthony Dawson , From Russia with Love 35

Javier Bardem, Mads Mikkelsen, Christopher Lee..? Of course, you could have guessed them. But Gert Frode? However, watching the film, I was so impressed with what he did with the material he was given. It was early days in terms of the series. He wasn’t getting the same nuanced character material as Bardem’s queer, twisted character or Mikkelsen’s pitch black Le Chiffre. But he brought the character of Goldfinger to life as a 3 dimensional villain. Honorable mention to Sophie Marceau & Robert Carlyle in The World is not Enough. Her character had layers within layers, and Carlyle supported a very interesting dynamic.

Bond Girls;

Jill St.John, Lana Wood, et al Diamonds are Forever 98
Shirley Eaton , Honor Blackman, Goldfinger 97
Martine Breswick, Daniela Bianchi , From Russia with Love 96
Denise Richards, Sophie Marceau,The World is Not Enough 95
Monica Belluci, Léa Seydoux, Spectre 94
Halle Berry, Rosamund Pike, Die Another Day 93
Eva Green, Casino Royale,
Barbara Bach, The Spy who Loved Me
Martine Breswick et al, Thunderball 92
Bérénice Marlohe, Naomie Harris, Skyfall 91
Izabella Scorupco, Famke Jansen, Goldeneye 90
Barbara Carrera, Kim Basinger, Never Say…Again 89
Ursula Andress, Zena Marshall, Dr. No
Olga Kurylenko, Gemma Atherton, Quantum of Solace 87
Jane Seymour, Gloria Hendry, Live & Let Die 86
Ana de Armas, Lea Sedoux, No Time to Die 85
Carole Boquet, Lynn Holly Johnson, For Your Eyes Only 84
Akiko Wakabayashi, Mie Hama , You Only Live Twice 83
Michelle Yeoh,Teri Hatcher Tomorrow Never Dies 80
Diana Rigg, On Her Majesty’s 75
Cari Lowell, Licensed to Kill 70
Lois Chiles, Moonraker 68
Brit Eklund, Maud Adams, Man / Golden Gun 67
Tanya Roberts, Grace Jones, View to a Kill 66
Maud Adams,Octopussy 65
Maryam d’Abo, The Living Daylights 45

You can have an issue with this category in general. You can say it objectifies women, or reduces them to sex objects. But it’s an element of the Bond experience. Shoot me. But the best ones are, again, fully realized characters. That’s what makes them so interesting. Jill St. John is funny, fiery and more than just a babe in a bikini. Honor Blackmon’s Pussy Galore is a badass, business owning, independent woman. That’s just part of it. Léa Seydoux in Spectre. The same. Interesting, smart and independent. That’s hot, IMO…

Bond Theme;

Tom Jones, Thunderball 74
Paul McCartney, Live & Let Die 73
Shirley Bassey, Goldfinger, & Diamonds are Forever 72
James Bond Theme, Dr. No 71
Chris Cornell, Casino Royale
Carly Simon, Nobody Does it Better, The SpyWLMe 70
Sheena Easton, For Your Eyes Only 69
Matt Munro, From Russia with Love 68
Adele, Skyfall,
Sheryl Crow, Tomorrow Never Dies 67
Duran,Duran, View to a Kill 66
Madonna, Die Another Day 63
Alysha Keys / Jack White “Another Way to Die”
Quantum of Solace 61
Sam Smith, “The Writing’s on the Wall”
Spectre 60
Tina Turner, Goldeneye 59
Garbage, The World is not Enough,
Tina Turner, Licensed to Kill 45
a-ha, The Living Daylights 30
Shirley Bassey, Moonraker 29
Lulu, Man / Golden Gun 28
Lani Hall, Never Say Never Again 27
Nancy Sinatra, You Only Live Twice 26
Rita Coolidge “All Time High”
Octopussy 25
Bond Theme rehash, On Her Majesty’s 24

Top rated Tom Jones is simply a favorite of mine. And my Mom’s. Mom loved Tom. I mean LOVED Tom. But the 2nd rated song features Paul McCartney . If you know me, you know I’m not a Beatles fan. Or any part of the Beatles. So the ratings on this weren’t completely biased.

Henchman;

Goldfinger, Harold Sakata
The Spy Who Loved Me, Richard Kiel 49
Spectre, Dave Bautista & Goldeneye, Famke Jansen 48
Bruce Glover/Putter Smith Diamonds are Forever 47
Hervé Villechaize, Man / Golden Gun,
Robert Shaw, From Russia with Love 46
Ricky Yune, Die Another Day,
Götz Otto, Tomorrow Never Dies 45
Grace Jones, View to a Kill,
Julius W. Harris, Geoffrey Holder, Live & Let Die 44
Billy Magnussen, No Time to Die 43
Barbara Carrera, Never Say Never Again 42
Joaquin Cosio, Quantum of Solace,
Benicio Del Toro, Licensed to Kill 41
Octopussy, Kabir Bedi as Gobinda 40
Moonraker, Richard Kiel 39
Michael Gothard For Your Eyes Only 36
Thunderball, Luciana Paluzzi as Fiona Volpe 35
The Living Daylights, Andreas Wisniewski 28
lse Steppat, On Her Majesty’s… 21
The World ..Enough, John Sebu as Gabor 20
Karin Dor, You Only Live Twice 10
Anthony Dawson / None, Dr. No 06
None (?) , Casino Royale / Skyfall 05

I just surprised myself. I did not remember putting Richard Kiel’s Jaws even with Harold Sakada’s Oddjob on top with 49 out of 50. But there it is. And they are both iconic & memorable. So I’m not going to go changing things now. Famke Jansen was amazing and excellent as well. Dave Bautista is just so imposing, and consistently proving himself as an actor in his own right. And special mention to the recently departed Bruce Glover and Putter Smith in Diamonds are Forever. They were different, odd, possibly queer and just plain interesting.

M, Q, Moneypenny & misc;

The World is Not Enough 25
Spectre 25
Casino Royale 25
Skyfall 25
Goldeneye 25
Quantum of Solace 25
Diamonds are Forever 24
Never Sy Never Again 23
A View to a Kill, Licensed to Kill 20
Dr. No 18
Thunderball 17
The Spy Who Love Me 16
Tomorrow Never Dies , On Her Majesty’s..
Moonraker 15
The Living Daylights, Die Another Day,
Goldfinger 10
Live & Let Die 09
The Man with the Golden Gun 08
Octopussy 05

I think the trio of Lois Maxwell, Desmond Llewelyn and Bernard Lee were always a welcome anchor for the series. And the later additions of Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes & John Cleese were interesting . The many faces of Felix Leiter were always interesting, with Jeffery Wright as a standout. And there were surprises as well. Charles Dance in a cameo as a thug on skis, and very young Benicia del Toro as a henchman? Didn’t know it til I saw it.

What’s next? Good question. There’s no definitive choice for the next Bond, so we’ll have to wait for that. But that’s the fun of the Bond series.

Can’t wait.

Talk Later,

Bob