With Daniel Craig’s announcement that he would be returning as James Bond, 007, Newsweek re-published its 1999 article, about the production of The World Is Not Enough, titled “The Best James Bond Movie Ever?” We can safely say, no, it wasn’t. But what is?
Eon has produced 24 James Bond films. There are even more opinions on which of the 24 is the best. There will never be a consensus on it — and there shouldn’t be. But that doesn’t mean we can’t survey the rankings of critics (and fans). Which films are most often in the conversation? Let’s tackle that question.
Winter is Coming
Scoring Systems
Rotten Tomatoes
Based solely on Rotten Tomatoes’ “Fresh” rating, there is a three-way tie for the top spot: Dr. No, From Russia With Love, and Goldfinger. However, based on the site’s “audience” score, Goldfinger and Casino Royale are tied for the top spot.
Internet Movie Database
IMDB uses “viewer ratings” on a scale of 1-10. Based on the average rating, Casino Royale is #1, at 8.0. Goldfinger and Skyfall are tied for second.
Metacritic
Based on its aggregate scoring system, of 1-100, Goldfinger comes in first, with a score of 87. In second and third place: From Russia With Love (85) and Skyfall (81).
The MI6 Community
MI6 is a fan-based website that includes news and discussion boards. It is generally understood as the biggest and best Bond fan community on the web. In August of 2016, a complete points system was applied to the community members’ rankings of the films. The scores were tabulated, and the results placed Casino Royale in the top sot, followed by On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and From Russia with Love.
Publications’ Rankings
Rolling Stone (Peter Travers): 1. Goldfinger; 2. From Russia With Love; 3. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
Entertainment Weekly: 1. Goldfinger; 2. From Russia With Love; 3. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Time-Out: 1. Casino Royale; 2. Goldfinger; 3. From Russia With Love
Movie Fone: 1. Casino Royale; 2. Goldfinger; 3. Skyfall
Indiewire: 1. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service; 2. Goldfinger; 3. From Russia With Love
Digital Spy: 1. On Her Majesty’s Seceret Service; 2. Casino Royale; 3. From Russia With Love
Conclusions
So what can be concluded? If you don’t want to do a tally, you can simply view the following word cloud, based on the results above, and the other films that regularly made the top 5. Enjoy.
