by Patrick Boniface

Created on: September 18, 2008

For an English spy James Bond 007 has been played by just two English actors, four others are Scottish, Irish, Welsh and heaven forbid an Australian. Each of the actors has brought something fresh and distinctive to the super spy even if it was Roger Moore and his over acting eye brow twitch.

James Bond is the creation of Ian Fleming, many reviewers actually suspect that Fleming wrote out his fantasies of the life he wished he had had and in many ways he did serving in Naval Intelligence in the Second World War. He was surrounded by characters that could be culled from the pages of his thrillers. Fleming was instrumental in getting his creation onto the big screen and actually watched, criticized and changed aspects of the earliest movies until his untimely death in Canterbury in United Kingdom. What he would have made of later movies is anyone's guess?

There have been 22 James Bond movies including Quantum of Solace starring the latest incarnation of 007, Daniel Craig. Essentially the plots are similar, megalomaniac with money to burn and pretty girls to act as assassins wants to introduce a new world order or Spectre or SMERSH or Ernst Stavro Blofeld wants to take over the world. Jimmy Bond is sent to do battle and 007 always wins the battle.

When you go to the cinema to see a Bond movie you already now who is going to win out at the end, James Bond. Whatever trials and tribulations are set before him you just know James Bond will succeed. No other movie teases you so much with the possible exception of the Die Hard series with Bruce Willis. Almost all other movies at least keep you guessing.

So with 22 movies to choose from which are the best and which are the worst.

1) GOLDENEYE: Pierce Brosnan had something to prove and prove it he did. No longer was he Remington Steele, now he was James Bond with Russian assassins who killed by squeezing men to death in the throes of making love.. what a way to go

2)FOR YOUR EYES ONLY: Roger Moore starting to look a little tired around the edges but his most convincing performance as James Bond.

3)GOLDFINGER: Pussy Galore and the sexy pilots, Odd Job and an man who loved Gold.

4)DR NO: The very first and the classiest of the movies. James Bond is never more sinister, lethal and feral as a hired gun than in Dr No. It's shady in all the right places, sexy in the others and Ursula Andress in a bikini. Pure class.

5)CASINO ROYALE: The complete re-invention of the brand. A brave move to take but successfully achieved with great reviews.

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>