The long-awaited James Bond film No Time to Die is finally hitting theaters on October 8th, following months of delays. Before Daniel Craig hands over the reins to a new, undetermined, super spy, now’s the time to relive decades of his predecessors. Dreamt up by author Ian Fleming in 1953, the Bond spy thrillers inspired 25 feature films, the first of which debuted in 1962.
Since then, five decades of movies have followed, with seven actors assuming the 007 identity. Two of the theme songs have won Academy Awards. And global audiences have voraciously embraced the Bond franchise, to the tune of $5.931 billion. That makes it the third-highest grossing franchise ever, falling short of only Marvel and Star Wars.
As the world prepares for another globe-trotting mission, here’s how to stream every James Bond film, from Goldfinger to Spectre.
Dr. No
Adapted from the sixth book in Fleming’s series, Dr. No was selected by producers Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman to launch Bond into cinemas. Set in Jamaica, Sean Connery establishes several hallmarks of the franchise in his first outing. There’s the character’s drink of choice (vodka martini), his first utterance of “Bond...James Bond,” and dalliances with Honey Ryder, the inaugural Bond girl. The movie was an unmitigated success, recouping its $1 million budget within months and ultimately making 20 times that number in its theatrical run.
From Russia with Love
Bond evaded the sophomore slump with its second entry, in which Connery’s spy is lured to an assignment in Istanbul where the evil SPECTRE organization plots his demise. The film is perhaps best known for its ties to President John F. Kennedy. In March 1961, JFK reportedly listed Fleming’s fifth Bond novel as one of his favorite books in Life magazine. Two years later, From Russia with Love was said to be the last film Kennedy watched before his assassination.
Goldfinger
Many will argue that Goldfinger is the quintessential James Bond picture. Starring a suave Connery, the franchise’s third film set the mold for each entry that would follow. There’s Shirley Bassey’s unforgettable theme song, the first mention of “shaken, not stirred” when ordering a martini, and Connery sporting a tux underneath his wetsuit. Lest you forget, this is also the one with a Bond Girl named Pussy Galore.
Thunderball
Connery’s fourth outing as Bond in as many years capitalizes on the franchise’s hot streak. Bond battles SPECTRE again, this time engaging in an underwater battle that dazzled viewers and helped earn the movie its visual effects Oscar.
You Only Live Twice
While well-received in 1967, Connery’s fifth Bond film remains his most difficult to praise in the current era. Written by children’s author Roald Dahl (really!), Bond fakes his own death and travels to Tokyo to investigate the hijacking of an American and Russian spacecraft. Alas, Bond wears yellowface throughout some of the film while posing as a Japanese fisherman with his “wife,” the brazenly-named Kissy Suzuki. Not even Nancy Sinatra’s memorable theme can save this one.
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Enter a new Bond. When Connery declined a sixth consecutive Bond film, one-and-done George Lazenby was enlisted to fill out the tux. Despite only starring in a single movie, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service has been critically lauded for Diana Rigg’s dynamic love interest, the daring Swiss Alps setting, and Louis Armstrong’s haunting song, “We Have All the Time in the World.”
Diamonds Are Forever
Armed with a then-record 1.25 million salary, Connery returned to the role of Bond in full-force. Flanked by not one, but two Bond girls—Tiffany Case and Plenty O’Toole—the British spy goes on a crusade to uncover who is stockpiling the world’s diamond supply. He trots the globe, hitting Amsterdam, Las Vegas, and London over the course of the film’s runtime. But even a massive payday and international travels couldn’t keep Connery around. This would be his last onscreen performance as Bond, save for 1983’s Never Say Never Again, which wasn’t produced by Eon Productions.
Live and Let Die
Two years later, a new Bond would emerge in Roger Moore, who lent the franchise a wryer and more comedic presence. 1973’s Live and Let Die utilized the popularity of blaxploitation films, transporting Bond to the Caribbean in a battle against the villainous voodoo master Mr. Big/Dr. Kananga. As for his love life, Bond switches off between romances with CIA agent Felix Leiter, played by Gloria Hendry, and Jane Seymour’s Solitaire.
The Man with the Golden Gun
This martial arts-inspired film marked Moore’s second, even goofier outing as Bond. In the franchise’s ninth entry, Bond faces off against Christopher Lee’s Scramanga, a deadly man who has been hired to kill our beloved spy. Despite this standout villain, the movie’s supporting characters and theme song failed to resonate with audiences. Wings and Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die” this was not.
The Spy Who Loved Me
Moore truly makes Bond his own in the franchise’s tenth entry. He heads to Egypt, searching for a submarine tracking system that threatens world destruction. While on the mission, Bond encounters Soviet agent Anya Amasova, played by Barbara Bach, a figure who he spars with and romances in equal measure. Plus, who could forget Carly Simon’s earworm of a theme song, “Nobody Does It Better”?
Moonraker
Released just two years after Star Wars cast its spell on Hollywood, Moonraker sets Moore’s Bond into orbit. Audiences and critics agreed that space-traveling is best left to Han Solo.
For Your Eyes Only
The first Bond film of the ‘80s is an exercise in marrying the new with the old. First-time director John Glen helmed the picture, which starred a more senior Moore. This time, Bond must travel to various European locales in search of a secret device that goes missing on a sunken spy ship. Glen would go on to direct five Bond films, but Moore’s days with the franchise were waning.
Octopussy
This entry is best known for its titular Bond girl, played by the captivating Maud Adams. The renowned jewel smuggler goes head-to-head with Moore’s Bond, before joining forces in the pursuit against villainous Prince Kamal Khan.
A View to a Kill
After seven films spent saving the world as Bond, Moore bid farewell to the character at the age of 57. His advanced age, coupled with the movie’s broadly comedic tone, has often marked A View to a Kill as one of the franchise’s weakest entries. Still, Grace Jones’s singular take on the Bond girl and Duran Duran’s wacky title track have drawn fanfare in the decades since.
The Living Daylights
The Bond franchise was looking to reinvent itself by casting the suave Timothy Dalton as its next lead. While his Bond was meant to read as dashing and worldly, his plot to defeat the KGB’s Russian General fell flat. May we suggest watching this video of Princess Diana playfully smashing Prince Charles with a prop glass bottle on the movie’s set instead?
Licence to Kill
After Dalton’s muted debut, he was cast as a revenge-seeking Bond, out to destroy those responsible for killing two of his dear friends. Despite the urgent plot, Licence to Kill failed to find an audience, becoming the lowest-grossing entry in franchise history. Soon after, Eon Productions delivered the death blow to Dalton’s time as Bond.
GoldenEye
It would be six long years before Bond would grace movie screens once more. This time, it was Pierce Brosnan who was entrusted to right the ship. The film delivered some of the thrills missing from Dalton’s iterations—from eye-catching visual effects (this was the first Bond film to use CGI) to an upbeat theme song from Tina Turner. In terms of villains and love interests, Sean Bean and Famke Janssen both earned high marks for their appearances.
Tomorrow Never Dies
Brosnan wars with Jonathan Pryce’s maniacal media mogul in his second stint as Bond. He works to stop Elliot Carver from invoking a world war between China and the U.K. alongside the fierce Michelle Yeoh. They prove to be an exciting onscreen duo, even if the film proves anti-climactic.
The World Is Not Enough
The title pretty much sums it up for Brosnan’s third Bond outing. Although it should feel innovative when Bond girl Elektra King (Sophie Marceau) is revealed as the film’s true villain, the twist feels obvious. This isn’t helped by Bond’s other love interest, Christmas Jones, an astrophysicist played by the unconvincing Denise Richards. (She’d make a much bigger splash when re-enacting her Bond girl days on Bravo’s Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.)
Die Another Day
Brosnan finally sticks the landing as Bond in his fourth and final film, which coincides with the franchise’s 40th anniversary. Bond begins the movie at an all-time low, beaten down physically and emotionally after a punishing North Korean prison sentence. He’s resurrected, however, by partnership with NSA agent Jinx (Halle Berry) and high-stakes vendetta against M16 agent Miranda Frost (Rosamund Pike), who may have had a hand in imprisoning him.
Casino Royale
Four years after bidding farewell to Bronson, Daniel Craig became the franchise’s next leading man. The film, which has Bond receive his license to kill and fight terrorist organizations via high-stakes poker, reinvigorated the franchise. It introduced audiences to a tougher, grittier Bond—making his emotional connections with Judi Dench’s M and Eva Green’s Vesper Lynd hold particular resonance. Craigs 007 “let us in a bit, which makes the moments he shuts us out even more arresting,” Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who worked on the script of No Time to Die said in an email to GQ. “Overall he grounded a fantasy character in real emotion, which is what I think we hadn’t realized we’d missed amongst the action and the bravado.”
Quantum of Solace
Craig’s follow-up begins, quite literally, right where Casino Royale left off. Reeling from Vesper’s demise, Bond finds answers in the evil organization QUANTUM, which enlists double agents within the M16 and CIA. But even Craig has admitted faults with the Marc Forster-directed sequel. “We didn’t have a script,” he told GQ. “So we concentrated a lot on the stunts.”
Skyfall
For the first time in franchise history, Bond became an actual awards contender. Sam Mendes boarded Skyfall as the first Oscar winner to direct a Bond film, bringing along cinematographer Roger Deakins and actor Javier Bardem, both Academy Award winners themselves. Bardem’s Raoul Silva has remained Craig’s definitive Bond villain and Dench’s M got her proper, moving sendoff. To top it off, Adele’s theme song won that year’s Oscar for best original song.
Spectre
While both Mendes and Craig returned for the latest Bond entry, the results were largely disappointing. “In the shadow of Skyfall, Spectre seems superfluous—an epilogue we don’t need—while setting up future superfluousness,” VF’s Richard Lawson wrote in his review. He went on to call the plot “muddled,” Christoph Waltz’s villain “a bit out of step,” and Bond women Monica Bellucci and Léa Seydoux as having added “dismayingly little to the story.” Still, Sam Smith’s “Writing’s on the Wall” walked away with that year’s original song Oscar.
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