The James Bond franchise has produced a lot of great films over the decades, but only a few have had real-world importance. Bringing Ian Fleming’s best-selling spy books to life on the big screen, the James Bond movie franchise began strong in the early 1960s, and has evolved across the years to become something even better.

Originally known for their charming wit, globe-trotting adventure, and fast-paced action, the 007 movies have grown to become gripping character studies with even bigger and more spectacular moments. Though the James Bond films haven’t all been perfect, the superspy’s cinematic outings have always been crowd-pleasers, and are typically a financial success.

With more than two dozen movies in the canonical franchise, the series has hit several major milestones that have real-world importance. Whether the films achieve the pinnacle of financial success, or help to set the tone for what a spy movie should look like, the James Bond franchise is the most famous for a reason.

8

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

It Set The Tone For Decades To Come

Following the middling success of The Man with the Golden Gun, Roger Moore’s third outing as Bond would not only be the highlight of his tenure, but would set the tone for decades to come. The Spy Who Loved Me returned the franchise to its roots, but it did so with a bit more cheek than the Sean Connery era.

The action was bigger and more bombastic, and Bond had more charm and quips than ever before. It also leaned heavily into the globe-trotting adventure of the franchise, and offered even more diverse locales. The Spy Who Loved Me also introduced legendary henchman, Jaws, who would appear in future installments.

Though it’s hardly the best movie of the franchise, the 1977 blockbuster would have a profound effect on the way the Bond franchise looked. Almost every movie that followed (until the Daniel Craig era) borrowed elements from the film, though it would eventually lead the Roger Moore era to devolve into absolute farce in the coming years.

7

Skyfall (2012)

The Highest-Grossing Bond Film Of All Time

Daniel Craig’s Bond got off to a H๏τ start with Casino Royale, but stumbled in Quantum of Solace. Fortunately, Skyfall would not only prove to be the best film of Craig’s era, but also the most financially successful Bond film of all time. Skyfall didn’t just do well at the box office, it blew the rest of the franchise away.

According to Box Office Mojo, Skyfall earned over $1.1 billion worldwide, against a budget of $200 million. That’s nearly $300 million more than the next best, Spectre, which topped out at around $800 million. All five of Craig’s Bond movies make up the five highest-grossing 007 films, but some of that can be chalked up to inflation.

6

Casino Royale (2006)

The Franchise’s First Reboot

By the time Casino Royale premiered in 2006, the James Bond movie franchise was rapidly approaching its fiftieth year. The role had been recast several times, but the series’ narrative throughline had remained mostly consistent. However, when Daniel Craig donned the tuxedo for the first time, 007 got a much-needed reboot.

This was a hugely important step for the spy series, because it allowed the new era to blaze its own trail without having to worry if the movie mixed with the tone of earlier installments. Previous attempts to make the 007 movies serious hadn’t been well-received, largely because they came on the coattails of sillier entries.

Casino Royale didn’t just dip its toe into serious territory, it dove headfirst into making Bond a fleshed-out character with deeper emotions. It caused some backlash within the fanbase, but was ultimately a welcome change because of how excellent the 2006 film turned out to be.

5

GoldenEye (1995)

The Movie That Brought Bond Back From The Brink

Timothy Dalton’s time as James Bond is actually quite underrated, but there’s no denying that the franchise was on a downward slide in the last half of the 1980s. Thankfully, Pierce Brosnan’s Bond came on the scene in GoldenEye and breathed new life back into the tired series after a multi-year hiatus.

The first post-Cold War Bond film was yet another return center for the superspy, and Brosnan’s version of 007 was a mix of the best elements of predecessors like Connery and Moore. What’s more, the hearkened back to the blockbuster adventures of the past, with plenty of locations and cheeky humor.

Financially speaking, GoldenEye was just what the franchise needed to stay afloat, and though quality was dodgy during the rest of Brosnan’s tenure, the money was always good. While embracing humor and campy fun may have backtracked the progress that the franchise made under Dalton, that’s most likely the reason Bond is still around today.

4

Licence To Kill (1989)

A Dark & Gritty James Bond That Came Years Too Soon

Licence to Kill sticks out from the rest of the original Bond films because of its confrontational nature and shocking violence. 007 had always been light and fun, even when the superspy was saving the world from some dangerous threat. However, Timothy Dalton’s final Bond film added impact by making everything darker and grittier.

For one of the first times in the franchise, Bond was seen as emotional and dangerous, and he was motivated by revenge to take down an international criminal. This was an obvious attempt to take the franchise in a new direction, especially after farcical movies like Octopussy had turned 007 into a literal clown.

Unfortunately, the experiment was a failure, though it wasn’t because the movie was bad. Licence to Kill was simply released too early, and audiences just weren’t ready for a Bond that was having no fun. Almost 20 years later, Licence to Kill would be vindicated when Casino Royale embraced the same dour tone, and made Bond a more dynamic character.

3

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)

George Lazenby Steps Into The Biggest Shoes In Movie History

After a handful of genre-defining films, it was clear that Sean Connery’s time as James Bond was coming to an end. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service had the unenviable task of replacing the legendary first Bond, and George Lazenby was the man to fall on that grenade for the rest of the franchise.

The 1969 film is perhaps the most underrated movie in the entire franchise, and Lazenby is usually skewered by fans because he was the first to ᴀssume the role after Connery. However, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is one of the franchise’s best, and it only has a bad reputation because of the circumstances under which it was made.

Even if the movie wasn’t great, it’s still important because it set the precedent that would keep the James Bond franchise alive for decades to come. Though Lazenby only appeared in one movie, he proved that Connery was replaceable, so that Roger Moore could become the full-time 007 in the future.

2

Dr. No (1962)

The Movie That Started It All

Few movies are as important to the Bond franchise as the one that started it all, and Dr. No was the world’s introduction to the superspy. Choosing to adapt one of Fleming’s later Bond novels was an interesting departure from expectations, but it allowed the first movie to have a bit more gravitas.

Connery set the standard for the role that few have rivaled, and Dr. No specifically reinvented the language of the spy film. Gone were the gritty, noir-inspired takes of early spy movies, and in came a sunnier and action-packed approach. Few long-running franchises nail it on the first attempt, but Dr. No is still one of Bond’s best adventures.

1

Goldfinger (1963)

The Second Sequel Is The Most Important

After Dr. No introduced the world to James Bond, and the first sequel proved the magic trick could be repeated; Goldfinger had the most pressure to succeed. Not only did it match the quality of its predecessors, but it far exceeded what the first two films achieved in terms of storytelling and explosive action.

Many of the hallmarks of the franchise were established in the third film, with Goldfinger finally nailing down the tone that would come to typify a James Bond film for years to come. The тιтular villain’s nefarious plot is just goofy enough to have a tongue-in-cheek quality, but the movie takes it seriously enough to add stakes and excitement.

Goldfinger is far and away the best movie in the entire franchise, but that wasn’t guaranteed after two popular films. By pushing the boundaries and exploring, the threequel wasn’t afraid to change in order to keep Bond’s adventures fresh and new. James Bond will probably always be around, but no future film will have franchise-spanning importance quite like Goldfinger.