The James Bond movie catalog is big — 25 films in the official 007 canon, plus two others. Six different actors have played the cinematic secret agent across six decades, from 1962’s Dr. No to 2021’s No Time to Die. If it’s all new to you, it might seem a little daunting.
Daniel Craig’s 007 is the most recent and stands out to many — especially newer Bond watchers — as the face of the secret agent. He starred in five of the films, compared with seven for Sean Connery (the original James Bond), seven for Roger Moore, five for Pierce Brosnan, two for Timothy Dalton and one for George Lazenby.
So there’s a lot to explore beyond the Craig era. The question is, where to start? And then where do you go from there? Sure you could watch them chronologically by theatrical release date from 1962 onward, but a notable characteristic of the Bond franchise — unlike the MCU — is that for the most part there’s very little continuity or narrative arc. There are also, we have to warn you, some real clunkers mixed in with the gems.
This guide gets the shaken, not stirred treatment, bouncing from era to era and actor to actor to guide you through the most essential Bond movies to start and give you tips on where to go from there. The two of us have been watching Bond movies for decades, across nearly all the era as they occurred, so we’ve got strong thoughts on what worked well and what flopped. Let’s get into it.