BOND-A-THON: Reality or Good Intention?

My plan for this year--and you know how it goes with plans--anyway, my hopeful plan is to rewatch all the James Bond films in chronological order. Of course, it's now mid-June and I haven't started this, still hope springs eternal, ya know. I’ve done this once before a few years back and I think it’s time for a revisit and a reappraisal.

I’m a big Bond fan, have been since 1964 when GOLDFINGER dazzled me on the big screen, and I’ve seen all the films multiple times except for SKYFALL and SPECTRE which I’ve seen only once each. Definitely time to watch those again.

The listing below shows my own current ranking of all 25 of the 007 movies. I feel confident in the top few and the bottom few, but the 15-20 in the middle will probably see some shuffling about after I take another look. 

You will note, if you care to, that I’ve slotted the two non-canonical Bond films off to the side where they would fit into the ranking were they included. And yes, I’ll be rewatching those two as well.

I dearly love me some Bond and a series rewatch will be a genuine pleasure. With maybe a couple of dips in the journey.

BOND FILMS RANKED

1. GOLDFINGER

2. CASINO ROYALE

3. SKYFALL

4. DR. NO

5. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

6. LICENSE TO KILL

7. GOLDENEYE

8. THE SPY WHO LOVED ME

9. NO TIME TO DIE

10. THUNDERBALL

11. TOMORROW NEVER DIES

12. DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

13. ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE

14. OCTOPUSSY

15. THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH

16. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

17. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS

18. SPECTRE

19. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE

20. LIVE AND LET DIE

21. QUANTUM OF SOLACE

21.5.  NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN

22. A VIEW TO A KILL

23. DIE ANOTHER DAY

23.5. CASINO ROYALE

24. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN

25. MOONRAKER

It looks to me that the breaking point in the list can be found around number 17, THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS. Movies 1-16 are all movies which I kinda love, to one degree or another. From #18 down, we find movies which range from “okay but disappointing” to “lousy”.  THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS could fall either way. I’ll let you know after I’ve watched it again.