Number one:
Thunderball is the first Bond film I've ever seen, on ABC TV in the 70's, and it remains my favorite to this day. The underwater battle at the end is ridiculously cool.
Number two:
From Russia with Love is perhaps the best story of all the Bond films, and told in a way that makes me now think of Hitchcock's films, even down to imitating the famous cropduster chase from North By Northwest. And there's a great, vicious fight in this story in a train compartment.
Number Three:
Goldfinger is often referred to as the best Bond film, and it's hard for me to argue against it. A great story, fantastic villain and above all, the amazing Aston Martin DB5. The conclusion, inside Fort Knox where Bond Squares off against Oddjob, an incredible, silent bad guy, is ridiculously cool.
I call these first three films the Great Bond Trilogy.
Number four:
Dr. No is ranked here because it's a good story, amazing sets by Ken Adam, who I had the fortune to meet once on the Paramount lot, and a fantastic villain. It also introduced Connery as Bond and features the only time 007 ever dispatched a man in cold blood
Number Five:
On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the best non-Connery film I've ever seen. Yeah, kids, it's even better than Casino Royale and Skyfall. It starred George Lazenby, who only played the role once for what we shall say differing reasons, but this is a fantastic story with a great villain played by Telly Savalas. If Lazenby had been Bond through the seventies instead of the guy who aint cool and shall be nameless (Roger Moore), the series would have been much better off. AWESOME bobsled chase near the end.
Number Six:
You Only Live Twice is really cool, a fun story but with some disappointing visual effects that depict space, which when compared with 2001: A Space Odyssey, lessen this film, but it also features a petty cool Datsun convertible and amazing depiction of 1960's Japan.
Number Seven:
Diamonds Are Forever is the least of the classic Bond films, and it shows. Set in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, the exoticism of the Bond universe ebbs as the series moves into the 70's with an older Connery making is second to last appearance as Bond.
BONUS:
Never Say Never Again is a remake of Thunderball, was made in the early eighties and was played as a concluding chapter in the Connery Bond series and is enjoyable to me. Some of my friends hate this film, but it's way better than some of the Roger Moore films in the 80's.
I'm not gonna rank this film, but those of you who might enjoy a little more Connery as Bond might enjoy this.
