The 13 Worst James Bond Movies
From golden guns to invisible cars, these are the Bond films that aren't as awesome as last week's list
Last week we celebrated the best Bond films - the ones that understood what makes 007 tick and delivered pure entertainment. This week, we're diving into the dark side of Bond: the films that forgot what made the character work, the ones that chased trends instead of setting them, and the ones that made you wonder if maybe it was time for Bond to retire.
These aren't bad movies - Bond is like pizza, bad Bond is still Bond - but they just aren’t as awesome as last week’s list. Each one had the budget, the talent, and the Bond legacy behind it, but somehow managed to fumble the formula that had worked for decades.
#1 The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
Where do I even start? Christopher Lee is completely wasted as Francisco Scaramanga - he should be menacing, but instead he's just... there. The whole "Bond vs. the world's greatest assassin" concept should write itself, but somehow they managed to make it boring.
The real problem is that Bond feels like a guest star in his own movie. Roger Moore sleepwalks through the whole thing, and you can't blame him - there's nothing here for him to work with. The plot makes no sense, and Britt Ekland's Mary Goodnight might be the most useless Bond girl ever created.
Even the golden gun itself is a disappointment. It should be this incredible weapon, but it's just a fancy prop that barely factors into the climax.
This movie single-handedly proves that you can't just throw Bond into any situation and expect it to work.
#2 Die Another Day (2002)
The movie that killed Pierce Brosnan's Bond run, and nearly killed the franchise entirely.
The first half isn't terrible - Bond being captured and tortured is actually an interesting concept, and the idea of him being a burned asset has potential. I would have liked to see a Craig era take on that premise.
But then we get to the ice palace, and everything falls apart.
The invisible car. The diamond-encrusted face. The CGI kitesurfing sequence that looks like it was rendered on a PlayStation 2. The space laser. Gustav Graves' ridiculous power suit.
It's like they took every bad idea from the previous 20 Bond films and decided to use them all at once. Pierce Brosnan deserved better than this for his final outing. He tries to sell the material, but even his considerable charm can't save this trainwreck.
The tragedy is that there's a decent Bond film buried in here somewhere - the North Korea opening, Bond's imprisonment, the London fencing club sequence. But it's overwhelmed by CGI spectacle and product placement.
It also cost us what could have been a good run of John Cleese doing his frustrated slow burn thing as Q.
#3 Spectre (2015)
The most disappointing Bond film ever made.
After the heights of Skyfall, this should have been Daniel Craig's victory lap. Instead, we got a movie that systematically destroyed everything that made the Craig era special.
The foster brother revelation is insulting. Making Blofeld Bond's childhood friend who became a supervillain because daddy liked James more? Come on. It's like something out of a bad soap opera, not a Bond film.
Christoph Waltz is completely wasted as Blofeld. He should be terrifying, but instead he's just... whiny. The whole "I was behind everything" retcon makes the previous films feel less special, not more connected.
And don't get me started on the "Bond quits MI6 for love" ending. Daniel Craig's Bond was defined by his inability to have normal relationships, and then they just... fix it? With Léa Seydoux's Dr. Swann, who has zero chemistry with Craig?
The Day of the Dead sequence is spectacular, but everything after that is a slow slide into mediocrity. Such a waste of potential.
#4 Quantum of Solace (2008)
The direct sequel to Casino Royale that I like a lot better than most people. I guess the issue is it it never feels Big. It feels like “what if Amazon bought the rights and dialed the budget back a bit.” Hmmm.
The whole thing feels like an expensive rough cut. The writer's strike clearly hurt this one, and its more of Casino Royale Coda than its own thing, but like I said, I like it a lot more than most people do.
#5 A View to a Kill (1985)
What if I told you Christopher Walken was the bad guy in the next Bond movie? That sounds like an awesome idea, doesn't it?
Roger Moore's final Bond film, and you can tell he's ready to hang up the tuxedo.
Moore was 57 when this was filmed, and it shows. The romantic scenes are uncomfortable, the action sequences are clearly doubled, and the whole thing has the energy of a tired TV movie. His mole has been removed and Moore doesn’t quite look like Roger Moore.
Christopher Walken as Max Zorin should be great - he's got the right amount of unhinged energy - but the plot about destroying Silicon Valley is surprisingly dull for such an over-the-top premise.
Grace Jones as May Day is memorable, but not necessarily in a good way.
#6 Never Say Never Again (1983)
The "unofficial" Bond film. Another one that I like way more than most people do.
Sean Connery's return to Bond should have been triumphant. Instead, it's a tired retread of Thunderball with worse production values and none of the style of the original.
The whole thing feels cheap and TV-movie-ish, and we see how much work the James Bond Theme and Style and a good musical score do for these films. Go on youtube and watch a Fan Edit that has added the Eon type score to the opening scene and you can already see how much better the film could be (can we get a Remastered Edition or something from Amazon please?)
Klaus Maria Brandauer tries his best as Largo, but he's no match for Adolfo Celi's original. Barbara Carrera is memorable as Fatima Blush, but not enough to save the whole enterprise.
The legal battle that led to this film's existence is more interesting than anything that happens in the movie itself.
#7 Dr. No (1962)
There is a lot to like here. This is totally the Pizza Analogy. But we don’t yet have a lot of the Bond staples (Q banter, fun henchmen) and like everything else that’s 60 years old, it can at times feel “deliberately paced’ as they say.
I like it a lot, but something has to be on a “worst” list. What am I supposed to do, have two lists of The Top 24 and another with the two at the bottom of this list?
It's fascinating as a historical artifact, but if you're looking for pure Bond entertainment, there are 12 better options on the "best" list.
#8 No Time to Die (2021)
Daniel Craig's final Bond film tries to be epic and emotional, but mostly just feels exhausting.
At 163 minutes, it's way too long. The Safin plot makes no sense. The nanobots are a ridiculous MacGuffin. And the ending... well, let's just say it's a choice that not everyone will appreciate.
Rami Malek's Safin is supposed to be menacing, but he's just generic. The mask is creepy, but once it comes off, there's nothing underneath. Ana de Armas is great in her brief appearance, but she's barely in the movie.
The Cuba sequence is fantastic, and some of the emotional beats work, but it's all wrapped up in an overly complicated plot that tries to service too many characters and storylines.
Craig deserved better for his farewell.
#9 The World Is Not Enough (1999)
The one where Denise Richards plays a nuclear physicist named Christmas Jones.
That sentence alone should tell you everything you need to know about this movie's relationship with credibility. Pierce Brosnan tries his best, but he's fighting an uphill battle against a script that thinks "Christmas comes once a year" is the height of wit.
Sophie Marceau is actually quite good as Elektra King - she's one of the more complex Bond villains - but she's undermined by everything else going on around her. Robert Carlyle's Renard should be terrifying (a man who can't feel pain), but he's surprisingly forgettable.
The boat chase on the Thames is strong, but the oil pipeline finale is a slog. And the less said about that submarine climax, the better, even if all great Bond movies have submarines.
#10 You Only Live Twice (1967)
The one where Sean Connery clearly stopped caring.
Connery phones it in completely here - he looks bored, sounds tired, and seems to be counting the days until his contract is up. The Japanese setting should be exotic and exciting, but instead it's filled with uncomfortable racial stereotyping and a plot that's impossible to follow.
The volcano lair is impressive from a production design standpoint, but the story leading up to it is a mess. Donald Pleasence's Blofeld is disappointingly ordinary after being built up as Bond's ultimate nemesis.
The space sequences feel like they belong in a different movie, and not a better one.
#11 Live and Let Die (1973)
Roger Moore's debut is hampered by a plot that never quite comes together, even if as a kid in NYC it was fun to see Bond on the FDR and knowing exactly where he was!
Yaphet Kotto is a decent villain, but he's working within a framework that doesn't serve him well.
The boat chase is spectacular - probably the best sequence in the film - but it can't overcome the problems with everything else.
Moore hadn't quite found his Bond persona yet, and it shows. He's trying to be Connery when he should be figuring out how to be himself. That will take two more films, but when he finds it, nobody does it better!
#12 Licence to Kill (1989)
Timothy Dalton's second and final Bond film takes the character in a darker direction that doesn't quite work.
The revenge plot is interesting in theory - Bond going rogue to avenge Felix Leiter - but the execution is grim and humorless in a way that feels more like Miami Vice than James Bond, and looks like it was shot on a camcorder.
Robert Davi is a solid generic Miami Vice villain, but the drug cartel setting feels Miami Vice generic. The action sequences are competently staged but lack the style and wit that make Bond special.
It's not a bad movie, exactly, but it's not a very good Bond movie. Did I mention Miami Vice? Crockett sets off to avenge the death of his friend Felix Leiter. It feels like they were trying to compete with other action franchises instead of playing to Bond's strengths.
#13 Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Sean Connery's "final" official Bond film (before Never Say Never Again) is a lazy, uninspired mess.
Connery returned for a huge payday, but he clearly didn't return for the love of the character. He looks tired and sounds bored, and the script doesn't give him anything interesting to work with.
Connery looks OLD at 39. He looks 55 - and what’s crazy is he’d later in life be named sexiest man alive - but in this film he looks worse that he does in Never Say Never Again.
The Las Vegas setting should be glamorous, but instead it feels cheap and tacky. Charles Gray's Blofeld is campy in all the wrong ways. The diamond smuggling plot is convoluted without being clever.
The elevator fight is decent, but everything else feels like it was made by people who didn't understand what made Bond work in the first place.
If Amazon is out of ideas - a re-take on this premise - Bond hunting down Blofeld for revenge, set in Las Vegas….not a bad premise at all.
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There you have it - the Bond films that forgot what made 007 special. Some are ambitious failures, some are lazy cash grabs, and some are just plain bad movies that happen to have James Bond in them.
The good news? Even the worst Bond film is still a Bond film, and there's usually something worth salvaging. The bad news? When Bond is bad, it's really, really bad.
What's the worst Bond film in your opinion? Did I go too hard on Die Another Day? Should Dr. No be on this list at all? Let me know in the comments.