Are you a huge fan of agent 007? This fictional secret agent character created by Ian Fleming in 1953 has become extremely famous over the years. Altogether, 24 movies are starring James Bond as part of the James Bond franchise. The 25th film, No Time to Die, is coming later this year to the cinemas.
Today, we brought you a list of the top 5 James Bond movies of all time. So next time you would like to watch something, you don’t have to spend hours looking for a good movie.
1. Diamonds are Forever
The first movie on our list is Diamonds are Forever, a popular James Bond movie from 1971. Interestingly, besides exclusive gadgets and martinis, casinos always played a huge role in the life of James Bond. Gambling gives a great addition to 007’s secret agent personality.
Diamonds are Forever is based on Ian Fleming’s novel of the same name and is directed by Guy Hamilton. The movie stars Sean Connery as James Bond, who this time has to travel to Las Vegas to investigate a diamond smuggling case. Bond visits several casinos in the movie, among them the famous Circus Circus casino as well. In this casino, he holds one of the villains of the movie over a spinning roulette wheel while trying to interrogate him. Such an iconic scene!
Of course, the agent also plays some casino games during the movie. For example, he plays roulette where he bets on the number 17 and wins. Then he goes on and starts to play craps.
Without a doubt, Diamonds are Forever gained huge popularity all over the world, including Pakistan as well. Many people tried to be like James Bond and play casino games as confidently as him. If you would like to try gambling but don’t know where to play, take a look at the best online casinos in Pakistan that are catalogued here.
2. Goldfinger
The second James Bond movie on our list is Goldfinger. This classic film was directed in 1964 by Guy Hamilton just like Diamonds are Forever. James Bond (Sean Connery) has to observe Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe), a gold magnate, and investigate his gold smuggling operations. He discovers that Goldfinger and his henchman have a plan to contaminate the bullion depository at Fort Knox and destroy the world economy. In order to save the world, Bond has to go through many adventures, including becoming friends with Goldfinger.
This Bond film has every element we would expect from an exciting action movie: a memorable villain with an outrageous scheme, a hero, a henchman with interesting killing skills, quotable dialogues (for example, ‘No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!’), and spectacular scenes filled with action.
Goldfinger was a great success all over the world, it even won the first Oscar of the James Bond franchise for sound effects.
3. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, directed by Peter R. Hunt (1969), is certainly one of the best secret agent movies. This is the first movie where Bond is not played by the legendary Sean Connery. In fact, it’s George Lazenby who stars as James Bond. Although – according to the critics – Lazenby couldn’t act as well as Connery, Bond’s character is so amazingly written in this movie that regardless of his performance, the movie is a must-see!
Plus, if you would like to see Bond fall in love for the first time and get married, you should not miss this film.
The storyline itself is interesting and like every Bond movie, is filled with action and unexpected turns. In On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Bond has to go undercover to find out the villain’s, Blofeld’s (Telly Savalas) plan to turn beautiful women into carriers of biological weapons and to once again: save the world. While Bond is searching for the head of SPECTRE, he saves a woman, Tracy di Vicenzo (Diana Rigg), from committing suicide on the beach. Later he meets Tracy again in a casino and falls in love with her.
4. Skyfall
Skyfall is a Bond movie directed by Sam Mendes in 2012. In Skyfall, Daniel Craig is starring as the agent 007 and his performance is simply fantastic. In this film, the MI6 comes under attack and it’s Bond’s role to investigate the attack. No matter the cost, he has to do everything to destroy the threat. Along the way, his friendship with M (Judi Dench) is also tested since – with MI6 being threatened from both sides – the only person M can trust is Bond.
Since Goldfinger (1964), this is the first Bond film that won two Oscars: one for the title song, and one for sound editing.
5. Casino Royale
The last movie on our list of the best James Bond movies is Casino Royale (2006) directed by Martin Campbell. This is the first time that Daniel Craig stars as Bond. The movie shows the beginning of his career as agent 007: how Bond has earned his 00 status and his license to kill. As part of his first mission in Montenegro, agent 007 has to defeat Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a bankrupt terrorist financier, in a poker game at Casino Royale. And in the meantime, he falls in love with a treasury employee, Vesper Lynd (Eva Green).
Craig’s performance brought new depths to Bond’s character in Casino Royale. Bond’s personality has become more dangerous and complex than ever before. No wonder that the movie was a huge success!
Hopefully, you liked our collection of the best James Bond movies. If you are interested in the world of secret agents, they are all must-see movies. Watch them all before the newest Bond movie, No Time to Die arrives!
