The Best of James Bond Films

Daniel Craig departed the franchise after headlining a fifth of its 25 features. He went out on a high, however, as James Bond freelances for the CIA after having retired from MI6 and seen a new agent assume his 007 number (Lashana Lynch). His mission is to recover a boffin kidnapped by Spectre before he can divulge details of a lethal biological weapon. While the pursuit of Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek, the fourth Oscar winner to play a Bond villain) contains the usual thrills and spills, director Cary Joji Fukunaga gets inside the hero's mind like never before, with the result that this is both emotional and exciting.

Now released on 4K Blu-ray, Bond's latest assignment goes gravely wrong and agents around the world are exposed. MI6 is attacked forcing "M" to relocate the agency. These events cause her authority and position to be challenged by Mallory (Ralph Fiennes), the new Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee. With MI6 now compromised from both inside and out, "M" (Judi Dench) is left with one ally she can trust: Bond. 007 takes to the shadows - aided only by field agent, Eve (Naomie Harris) - following a trail to the mysterious Silva (Javier Bardem), whose lethal and hidden motives have yet to reveal themselves.

Another James Bond film finally released on 4K Blu-ray. On a nonstop quest for justice that crisscrosses the globe, Bond meets the beautiful but feisty Camille (Olga Kurylenko), who leads him to Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), a ruthless businessman and major force within the mysterious Quantum organisation. When Bond uncovers a conspiracy to take control of one of the world's most important natural resources, he must navigate a minefield of treachery, deception and murder to neutralise Quantum before it's too late!

If you needed a checklist of the plot points, stunts, gags, gadgets and villainous traits that make the Bond movies such crowdpleasers, it could be compiled from 007's impeccably staged 19th mission. Taking its title from the motto on the Bond family crest, Michael Apted's knowing feature pits the MI6 agent (Pierce Brosnan) against Renard (Robert Carlyle), a former KGB operative who is impervious to pain and fear, thanks to a bullet lodged in his skull. Caught up in the nefarious scheme to drive up petroleum prices by threatening a nuclear incident in Turkey are oil heiress Elektra King (Sophie Marceau) and nuclear physicist, Christmas Jones (Denise Richards).

With the world still acclimatising to the post-Cold War peace dividend, producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson had to come up with a new foe for 007 to vanquish and media mogul Elliott Carver (Jonathan Pryce) reflected the growing tendency to use news to shape minds. As the head of a network keen for scoops for its newspapers and satellite channels, Carver uses a stealth ship to provoke a crisis between Britain and China. However, James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) has no intention of allowing World War III to break out and he finds a pugnacious accomplice in Chinese agent and ace martial artist, Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh).

Martin Campbell is the only man to have directed two actors on their 007 debuts. Fresh from cutting a dash in Remington Steele (1982-87), Pierce Brosnan restored a touch of suavity to the role, as he strives to prevent rogue MI6 agent Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean) and Janus syndicate sidekick Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen) from using a weaponised satellite to cause a global financial crisis. The plot reflected the fact that the Soviet Union had collapsed in the six years since the last Bond movie, while the introduction of Judi Dench as M showed that even the British Secret Service was changing with the times.

Breaking with tradition by not taking its title from Ian Fleming's writings and devoid of any footage shot in the UK, the 16th James Bond adventure proved to be the swan song of actor Timothy Dalton, producer Cubby Broccoli, director John Glen, writer Richard Maibaum and opening credits designer Maurice Binder. It doesn't have an end-of-era feel, though. Indeed, with plot elements borrowed from Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo (1961), it takes the series into darker places than before, as 007 swaps duty for personal vendetta, as he seeks revenge on drug dealer Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi) for feeding his CIA buddy, Felix Leiter, to a tiger shark.

Timothy Dalton inherited the mantle for the 15th James Bond movie produced by Cubby Broccoli and succeeded in steering it back into the action thriller genre. Despite refusing to shoot cellist assassin Kara Milovy (Maryam D'Abo) during the defection of General Georgi Koskov (Jeroen Krabbé), Dalton's 007 cuts a cynical dash, as he tries to fathom the connection between the abducted renegade, KGB chief Leonid Pushkin (John Rhys-Davies) and American arms dealer, Brad Whitaker (Joe Don Baker). With A-Ha providing the theme, this is a tense return to the international intrigue of the Cold War. But it's not without its white-knuckle set-pieces and audacious stunts.

In his seventh and final mission as James Bond, 58 year-old Roger Moore finds himself on the trail of Max Zorin (Christopher Walken), a Nazi geneticist who is not only stocking up on stolen microchips, but who is also endangering Silicon Valley by drilling close to California's San Andreas Fault. Driven by Duran Duran's chart-topping theme, this modish scenario gives director John Glen and stunt co-ordinator Vic Armstrong the chance to stage the finale on San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. But another iconic landmark, the Eiffel Tower, is also called into service after Bond survives a harum-scarum chase through Paris with Zorin's murderous bodyguard, May Day (Grace Jones).

The sole film in the franchise to be named after a Bond Girl takes 007 (Roger Moore) to India in order to discover why a British agent disguised as a clown died in possession of a valuable Fabergé egg. The clues lead to exiled Afghan prince Kamal Khan (Louis Jourdan), who is in league with both General Orlov (Steven Berkoff), a Soviet maverick with designs on the conquest of the West, and Octopussy (Maud Adams), a smuggler who conducts business through her circus troupe. Combining intrigue with duplicity and danger, this balances the gadgets and gimmicks like the knife-throwing twins with knowing humour and Cold War menace.

The only directorial debut in the Bond series sees veteran editor John Glen take the helm for a conscious bid to rein in the gimmicky excess and return 007 to gritty duty. The mission revolves around a stolen nuclear encryption device and sends Bond (Roger Moore) to Italy and then Greece in the company of Melina Havelock (Carole Bouquet), who is seeking to avenge her murdered parents. Restoring a sense of moderation without sacrificing the expected thrills and wisecracks, Glen brings a Hitchcockian elegance and suspenese to the series in such classic set-pieces as the ski chase and the break in at the Meteora monastery.

Roger Moore's fourth Bond outing is literally out of this world. Based on an Ian Fleming novel that began as a film script, the story centres on the efforts of Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale) to steal the Space Shuttle as a precursor to imposing a master race upon humanity. Globetrotting in the company of rocket scientist Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles), 007 blasts into orbit (thanks to some Oscar-nominated special effects) in a bid to cash-in on the success of George Lucas's Star Wars (1977). Studded with classic set-pieces and a rematch with Jaws (Richard Kiel) from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), this is fast, furious fun.

The Spy Who Loved Me is the tenth film in the Bond series, and the third to star Roger Moore – often cited as his best work in the 007 shoes. Bond and the beautiful Soviet Agent Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach) team up to investigate missing British and Russian atomic submarines. The trail leads them to billionaire shipping magnate Stromberg (Curt Jurgens). One of the highlights of The Spy Who Loved Me is Bond's fight with metal-toothed Jaws (Richard Kiel) when he travels to Egypt. Kiel has become one of the most iconic characters in the James Bond film series. Check out The Spy Who Loved Me on DVD and Blu-ray to get the most of the film, including special features like 007 Stage Dedication - Original 1977 Featurette.

The Man with the Golden Gun brings us another film with Roger Moore in the role of MI6's agent James Bond. This is the ninth entry in the James Bond series and the second to star Roger Moore. The novel The Man with the Golden Gun is also the twelfth and final novel written by Ian Fleming. In this adventure, 007 faces world's most expensive assassin Francisco Scaramanga played by villainously talented Christopher Lee. If you're a proper James Bond fan, don't miss it on DVD and Blu-ray because you get an abundance of additional content, such as Declassified: MI6 Vault: On Location with The Man with the Golden Gun, American Thrill Show Stunt Film and Inside the Man with the Golden Gun - An Original Documentary.

Whisper it quietly, but this could have been the end of the 007 franchise had Roger Moore not convinced fans that he had the wit, charm and ruthlessness to take over from Sean Connery. Director Guy Hamilton deftly guides the action through comic encounters with a blustering sheriff (Clifton James) and some snapping crocodiles, a romantic dalliance with a Tarot reader (Jane Seymour) and a showdown with a Harlem drug lord (Yaphet Kotto) who is also the dictatorial ruler of the Caribbean island of San Monique. Driven by Paul McCartney's Oscar-nominated theme tune, this is James Bond as you have never seen him before.

In Diamonds Are Forever, James Bond as played by Sean Connery, once again faces his nemesis Blofeld (Charles Gray) who's stock-piling the gems to use in his deadly laser satellite. Jill St. John is a beautiful smugler and one of the Bond girls, who's helping our favourite 00 agent to stop Blofeld's masterplan. Worth mentioning, this is the seventh Bond film in the franchise, and Connery's sixth and final appearance as 007 in the Eon Production (previous James Bond film starred one-time-agent George Lazenby). Plenty of special features are waiting for you on DVD and Blu-ray editions, including Cubby Broccoli The Man Behind Bond, Sean Connery 1971: The BBC Interview, and Lesson # 007: Close Quarter Combat.

In the sixth James Bond film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, we got a taste of a new 007. One-time-Bond George Lazenby jumped in Sean Connery’s place after You Only Live Twice, and the result is one of the finest works in the franchise. In the film, James Bond squares off with the evil mastermind and SPECTRE leader Blofeld, played by Telly Savalas. On Her Majesty's Secret Service is also often mentioned for having one of the best and meaningful Bond girls (whom Bond eventually marries in the film) and she's played by talented Diana Rigg. Rent it on DVD and Blu-ray to get additional content from the Bond world, such as Commentary Featuring Director Peter Hunt and Members of The Cast and Crew and Shot on Ice - Original 1969 Ford Promo Film.

Bond's Mission: When a Jupiter rocket vanishes from orbit, the Americans suspect the Soviets. But James Bond (Sean Connery) is sent to Tokyo to investigate rumours that the captured spaceship landed in the Sea of Japan. Following clues relating to a cargo ship and a chemical company, 007 flies an autogyro nicknamed 'Little Nellie' over a volcano and confides in Tiger Tanaka (Tetsuro Tamba), the head of the Japanese secret service, that SPECTRE has joined forces with a rogue Asian state in an effort to escalate the Cold War. Posing as a fisherman, Bond enters the secret base inside the volcano. But, in seeking to sabotage the Bird One spacecraft, he comes face to face with his nemesis, Ernst Stavros Blofeld (Donald Pleasence).

Aki (Akiko Wakabayashi): Part of Tiger Tanaka's team, Aki makes contact with Bond at a sumo match. He uses the code words, 'I love you', to identify her and, when he carries her to bed after she has helped him escape from the Osato chemical plant, Aki responds with the famous phrase, 'I think I will enjoy very much serving under you.' When they return to the works the next day, Aki again has to utilise her driving skills to spirit Bond away, although their cause is aided by a helicopter with a giant magnet. Disappointed at not being allowed to pose as 007's wife when he disguises himself as a fisherman, Aki helps with his ninja training. However, she dies in agony in bed beside Bond, after she ingests the poison that had been intended for him. Originally named Suki in Roald Dahl's screenplay, Aki is the first Bond Girl not to have been created by Ian Fleming. Mie Hama was set to play the role, but her limited English led to her swapping parts with Akiko Wakabayashi, whose chemistry with Connery is evident.

Helga Brandt (Karin Dor): As secretary to Osato (Teru Shimada), Miss Brandt serves Mr Fisher (Bond's alias) with champagne and takes notes during their meeting. When Bond leaves the factory, however, she dispatches a hit squad to eliminate him. Thanks to Aki, 007 survives and encounters Helga on the Nang-Po, where she sleeps with Bond, despite refusing his offer of $150,000 to betray her boss. The next day, she turns the tables by using a wooden restraint to trap Bond aboard a plummeting, smoke-filled plane. Helga parachutes to safety. But, as SPECTRE's No.11, she pays the price for failing to dispose of Bond and plunges off a walkway into Blofeld's piranha pool. Inheriting a role rejected by fellow West German Eva Renzi, Karin Dor performed her own stunts, including Helga's gruesome demise. However, her dialogue was dubbed in the German print by an unnamed actress.

Kissy Suzuki (Mie Hama): As Bond needs to get close to Blofeld's volcano HQ, he pretends to be a Matsu Island fisherman and marries local agent Kissy Suzuki, who poses as an Ama diver to reinforce the cover story. On their 'wedding night', Kissy reminds 007 that their union is strictly a business arrangement. But she also tells him about a diver being killed in a cave that doubles as an air vent for the hideaway and joins Bond in a boat heading for the spot the next morning. Having been forced to swim underwater to escape some poisonous gas, Bond and Kissy have a moment on the beach. When they spot a helicopter flying into the volcano, however, Bond sends her back to base to fetch reinforcements. She needs her diving skills to evade a SPECTRE sharpshooter and returns with Tanaka's ninja force and, following the explosive finale, shares a dinghy with 007 before they are rescued by M's submarine. Dubbed by Nikki van der Zyl, Mie Hama is one of the few Bond Girls to prove capable of looking after herself and doesn't need rescuing once.

Bond's Mission: Bond (Sean Connery) is sent to the Bahamas after two NATO atomic bombs are stolen by SPECTRE No.2, Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi). He threatens to attack a major American city unless he receives $100 million in diamonds. However, Largo makes an enemy of his mistress, Domino Derval (Claudine Auger), by killing her pilot brother and she agrees to help 007 when he discovers something unusual about Largo's boat, Disco Volante.

Fiona Volpe (Luciana Paluzzi): One of the busier Bond Girls, Fiona seduces French Vulcan pilot Major François Derval (Paul Stassino) so SPECTRE can replace him with her surgically altered accomplice, Angelo Palazzi (also Stassino). Fiercely loyal to No.1, Ernst Stavros Blofeld (Anthony Dawson), Fiona disposes of boss Count Lippe (Guy Doleman) by blowing up his car with a missile fired from her motorbike. In the Bahamas, she allows Bond to seduce her and mocks his chauvinist arrogance. When he escapes her clutches and hides out in the Kiss Kiss Club, Fiona corners him on the dance floor. But 007 uses her as a shield when one of her sidekicks shoots at him. Fiona was an Irish redhead called Kelly in Richard Maibaum's original screenplay and became an Italian to accommodate Paluzzi after she missed out on the role of Domno.

Patricia Fearing (Molly Peters): A nurse at the Shrublands Health Clinic, Patricia is worried she will lose her job after Lippe tries to kill Bond by dangerously speeding up a traction table. He promises not to complain if she accompanies him to the steam room and later gives her a massage using a pair of mink gloves to relieve her tension. Although voiced by Barbara Jefford, model Molly Peters made 007 history by becoming the first woman to disrobe during a scene.

Paula Caplan (Martine Beswick): Based in the Bahamas, Paula helps Bond make contact with Domino by posing as a couple whose boat has broken down offshore. She is due to meet 007 to hand over photographs of Largo's craft, when she is ambushed by Volpe and her henchmen and taken to the Palmyra estate. Rather than divulge any information, however, Paula commits suicide with a cyanide capsule. Two years after playing Zora in From Russia With Love, Martine Beswick made her second and final series appearance. She would later share the title role in Roy Ward Baker's Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971) with Ralph Bates.

Domino Derval (Claudine Auger): Domino is first seen with her foot trapped in a reef while snorkelling and she has to be rescued by Bond, who is boating with Paula. She invites him to lunch on the beach, where their every move is watched by Largo's thugs, as she is his mistress and he is enraged by her flirtation with 007 on the casino dance floor following a highly charged game of baccarat. While the enigmatic Domino seems to have previously enjoyed the luxurious lifestyle that Largo had provided, she vows to avenge her brother when she learns of his death. Indeed, she actively seeks to exploit Bond to do the deed for her and even endures torture with ice cubes and a lighted cigar after she is caught spying on the Disco Volante. When Largo threatens to overpower Bond, however, Domino has to do her own dirty work with a handy harpoon gun. Producer Cubby Broccoli was keen to cast Julie Christie in the role and pursued Raquel Welch before she signed up for Richard Fleischer's Fantastic Voyage (1966). Onetime beauty queen Auger was cast instead, although she was dubbed by Nikki van der Zyl and doubled by Evelyne Boren for the underwater sequences.

Bond's Mission: When the Bank of England warns M that Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe) is manipulating the price of gold, Bond is sent to keep the bullion dealer under surveillance. Having thwarted Goldfinger at the gin rummy table and on the golf course, 007 is fortunate to escape a close encounter with an industrial laser. But he makes it to Kentucky in one piece, where he learns that Operation Grand Slam is about to be launched to detonate a dirty bomb inside Fort Knox in order to irradiate America's gold reserves.

Bonita (Nadja Regin): Belly dancer Bonita performs the tarantella at the El Scorpio nightclub in the Mexican pre-credits sequence. Bond surprises her in her dressing-room bathtub after blowing up a heroin den and, in attempting to seduce him, she asks him to remove his Walther PPK holster because it's hurting her. Fortunately, 007 sees Capunga (Alf Joint) reflected in her eye and the assassin meets a shocking end after a protracted struggle. Having appeared as Kerim Bey's unnamed girlfriend in From Russia With Love, Nadja Regin became the first actress to play two different characters in the Bond series.

Jill Masterson (Shirley Eaton): Goldfinger's mistress helps him cheat at cards using long-range binoculars and a one-way radio connected to his 'hearing aid'. However, Bond catches her in the act and lures her back to his hotel room after having used the radio to shame Goldfinger into losing a hand. The megalomaniac is so furious at being stymied that he has his Korean henchman, Oddjob (Harold Sakata), incapacitate Jill and kill her by covering her body with gold paint. Shirley Eaton had misgivings about appearing naked, but wound up on the cover of Life magazine en route to securing an indelible place in screen history. But the golden figure in the opening titles was played by Margaret Nolan, who also crops up as Bond's Miami masseuse, Dink.

Tilly Masterson (Tania Mallet): Seeking to avenge her sister's skin asphyxiation, Tilly attempts to shoot Goldfinger on a Swiss road and nearly hits Bond following in his iconic Aston Martin DB5. He uses one of Q's gadgets to shred Tilly's tyres. But he proves unable to protect her when her bid to assassinate Goldfinger at his factory results in a car chase that culminates in Tilly having her neck broken by Oddjob's famous metal-brimmed hat. Having missed out on the role of Tatiana in From Russia With Love, former Miss Universe contestant Tania Mallet finally got her 007 moment.

Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman): Having placed her Flying Circus at Goldfinger's disposal, Pussy Galore flies Bond to the gold smuggler's stud farm near Louisville. She apprehends the agent when he breaks out of confinement and uses judo on him when he gets frisky in the barn. However, 007 disarms her and persuades her to betray Goldfinger by switching the toxic gas her pilots are due to drop on Fort Knox for a harmless substance. Right up until the end, she resists Bond's advances, but succumbs after sharing a parachute descent following a hair-raising tussle on her depressurised plane. Known to millions as the catsuit-wearing Cathy Gale in The Avengers (1962-64), Honor Blackman broke the Bond Girl mould by giving 007 as good as he gets. Nervous of the name, the producers considered calling her 'Kitty Galore'. But Mike Myers had no such qualms when he created Allota Fagina for Jay Roach's spy spoof, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997).

Bond's Mission: Armed with gadgets supplied by Q (Desmond Llewellyn) and driven on by John Barry's pulsating theme, Bond (Sean Connery) travels to Turkey to help Soviet corporal Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi) defect to the West. However, SPECTRE want revenge for the death of Dr No, as well as the top secret Lektor decoding device that Tatiana has stolen. Consequently, 007 is greeted by a reception committee that includes former SMERSH agent Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya), Czech chess master Kronsteen (Vladek Sheybal) and British assassin, Red Grant (Robert Shaw).

Sylvia Trench (Eunice Gayson): An interrupted picnic by the river turned out to be the last that audiences got to see of Sylvia. Yet there was a plan to have her return as the girl Bond leaves behind in each of the first five films, only for her to become his main sidekick in the sixth.

Vida (Aliza Gur) and Zora (Martine Beswick): Bond meets these rivals for the son of Gypsy chief Vavra (Francis de Wolff) when he is introduced by Istanbul spy boss, Ali Kerim Bey (Pedro Armendáriz). As the women fight for supremacy, the camp is invaded by SMERSH agents and 007 persuades Vavra to let him decide which woman is worthiest of his heir. Having slept with Vida and Zora, however, he leaves without delivering his verdict. Aliza Gur was a former Miss Israel, while Martine Beswick would famously have another catfight, with Raquel Welch, in Don Chaffey's One Million Years BC (1966).

Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya): A sadistic SMERSH colonel who uses maternal duplicity to extract information from torture victims, Rosa Klebb is also SPECTRE agent No.3, who relishes the prospect of hurting Bond and humiliating the British government. Having filmed Bond and Tatiana in flagrante through a two-way mirror, Klebb is given a chance to make amends for letting Bond reach Venice by posing as a hotel maid. whose shoe hides a blade coated with deadly blowfish venom. Director Terence Young had hoped to cast Greek actress Katina Paxinou but Austrian chanteuse Lotte Lenya caught his eye when she was nominated in the Best Supporting category for José Quintero's The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone (1961). Interestingly, even in 1963, the Hollywood Production Code meant that the film couldn't follow the book in overtly stating that Klebb is a lesbian.

Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi): A corporal devoted to the Communist cause, Tatiana is coerced into accepting the mission to entrap Bond by Colonel Rosa Klebb. Her cover story is that she wishes to defect and had personally requested 007 as her contact after falling in love with his photo. Bond finds her naked in his bed after returning from Vavra's camp. He knows she can't be trusted, but boards the Orient Express with her in order to secure the cryptographic gizmo. Once they reach their Venice hotel, he's more than glad he did, as the maid service is terrifyingly bad. Dane Annette Vadim, Brit Tania Mallet and Italians Sylva Koscina and Virna Lisi were considered for the role before Daniela Bianchi was cast. She learned English for the shoot, but her lines were dubbed by Barbara Jefford.

Casino Royale marked a new start for the James Bond franchise, but it's the 21st film in the James Bond film series. The film introduced Daniel Craig as new Bond even though he's not a typical Bond character, which later turned out to be a good quality. Casino Royale's plot also centres on the events before James Bond got his licence to kill. This is where we see how he gets his "00" status, adorned with more action scenes, a bit more violence and visual effects on a grander scale. We follow Bond on his first mission where he must defeat a weapons dealer in a high stakes game of poker at Casino Royale. All-star cast includes Judi Dench as M (head of the British Secret Service), Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen as the inevitable villain, and many more.

Doctor No marked the beginning of the saga we now know as James Bond. Starring Sean Connery, with Ursula Andress and Joseph Wiseman, the film is based on the 1958 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. MI6’s Agent 007 battles the mysterious Dr. No who's bent on destroying the U.S. space program, but it all starts with Bond's investigation into the disappearance of a colleague. Doctor No is the film that introduced SPECTRE, vast international criminal organisation, to the Bond franchise. If you want to find out more, be sure to check out DVD and Blu-ray editions of this classic. There you’ll get access to an abundance of extra content including featurettes: 007 license to restore, Dr. No 1963, the guns of James Bond, premiere Bond: Opening nights, mission control: Exotic locations, inside Dr. No, and Terence Young: Bond vivant.