Bond Films in Order: Complete James Bond Movies List

Six actors across six decades have worn the tuxedo, and the count changes depending on who’s doing the counting. This guide sorts through the official releases, the notable exceptions, and the trivia that even die-hard fans sometimes get wrong.

Total Films Listed: 27 · First Film: Dr. No (1962) · Actors Portrayed Bond: 6 · Eon Productions Films: 25 · Latest Release: No Time to Die (2021)

The Bond franchise spans 60 years with Eon Productions as the engine behind 25 official entries. Six actors have carried the Walther PPK, and the count shifts between 24 and 27 depending on whether you include two films outside the Eon canon.

What is the correct order of the James Bond movies?

Release order is the standard for Bond film lists, and for good reason—the franchise built its continuity through shared storylines and recurring villains that only work chronologically. The list above follows that sequence strictly, from Dr. No in 1962 through No Time to Die in 2021.

Six actors anchor the series, each bringing a distinct personality to the role. Sean Connery established the template: cool under pressure, dry wit, physical competence. Roger Moore softened the edge and leaned into charm across seven films from 1973 to 1985. Timothy Dalton attempted a grittier approach in his brief two-film tenure, which divided fans at the time but has aged better in retrospect.

Sean Connery Era

Six films, 1962 to 1971, with a brief return in 1983 for Never Say Never Again (non-Eon). Connery set the standard that every subsequent actor had to contend with. Dr. No through Diamonds Are Forever established the blueprint: global stakes, exotic locations, elaborate gadgets, and villains with theatrical ambitions.

Roger Moore Era

Seven films, 1973 to 1985, making Moore the longest-serving Bond actor. Live and Let Die through A View to a Kill shifted the tone toward lighter espionage with heightened camp elements—a response to evolving audience expectations and competitive box office pressures.

Pierce Brosnan Era

GoldenEye in 1995 marked Pierce Brosnan’s debut after a six-year gap following Licence to Kill. The post-Cold War landscape demanded a reimagined Bond, and Brosnan delivered the modernized spy with updated tech and a sharper edge. Four films through Die Another Day in 2002.

Daniel Craig Era

Casino Royale rebooted the franchise in 2006 with a stripped-down, psychological approach. Five films through No Time to Die in 2021, with Craig delivering what critics called the most emotionally complex Bond performance in the series’ history.

Are there 24 or 26 Bond films?

The answer hinges on which films you count. Eon Productions—the Broccoli and Wilson family company that has controlled the franchise since Dr. No—has produced exactly 25 films. That is the authoritative number, confirmed across decades of production records.

Two non-Eon films complicate any simple count. Casino Royale (1967), starring David Niven in a production that predates Eon’s rights to the novel, and Never Say Never Again (1983), which brought Sean Connery back for a standalone spy thriller, exist outside the official canon. Both are genuine Bond films featuring the character and familiar elements, but Eon does not include them in their official filmography.

Add those two to the 25 Eon productions, and you reach 27—the figure often cited in media coverage. Some counts list 26, which typically reflects either forgetting one of the non-Eon entries or excluding a film with disputed canonical status.

Official Eon Count

Eon’s 25 films span from Dr. No (1962) through No Time to Die (2021). Each carries the official production credit, marketing support, and franchise continuity that defines the Bond canon for collectors and scholars alike.

Including Non-Eon

The 1967 Casino Royale remake and the 1983 Never Say Never Again are legitimate Bond entries by any measure—same character, familiar antagonists, studio-backed productions. They simply operated outside Eon’s rights and creative control.

Bond films in order Daniel Craig?

Daniel Craig’s five-film run from 2006 to 2021 represents the longest continuous tenure as Bond—15 years across six films if you count Casino Royale as the reboot that relaunched everything. His era fundamentally shifted the franchise’s tone from escapist adventure toward grounded, character-driven espionage drama.

Craig’s Run: 2006–2021

• Casino Royale (2006) — 94% Rotten Tomatoes score, $606M worldwide, introduction of Vesper Lynd and the betrayal that defines Craig’s arc (Wikipedia)
• Quantum of Solace (2008) — Direct sequel to Casino Royale, pursuit of the shadowy Quantum organization with Olga Kurylenko (Official 007)
• Skyfall (2012) — 92% Rotten Tomatoes, $1,108.6M unadjusted gross, the film that brought M’s death and introduced Q’s tech-forward approach (Wikipedia)
• Spectre (2015) — Sam Mendes’ finale-for-now, Blofeld’s return, and the controversial retcon connecting Craig’s era (Official 007)
• No Time to Die (2021) — Craig’s farewell, Rami Malek’s Safin as antagonist, and the emotional conclusion that divided critics on execution while earning $771.2M (Official 007)

All James Bond actors in order?

Six actors have officially portrayed Bond for Eon Productions. The tenure lengths and film counts vary enough that a simple breakdown helps clarify the numbers that get misquoted in bar arguments and trivia contests.

The table below organizes each actor’s Bond tenure by film count and years active, making the disparities easy to compare at a glance.

Actor Film Counts

Roger Moore leads in raw count with seven films, but Craig’s five films across 15 years (2006–2021) represents the longest continuous run. The math on Connery depends on whether you include Never Say Never Again (1983)—Eon’s official count is six, but counting the non-Eon film brings him to seven. Lazenby’s single film remains the franchise’s most famous one-shot casting decision.

What is considered the best James Bond movie ever?

Fan and critic rankings shift with generational taste, but two films consistently land near the top: Goldfinger (1964) for establishing the template, and Casino Royale (2006) for reinventing it. The gap between them spans 42 years and two fundamentally different conceptions of what a Bond film should accomplish.

Goldfinger introduced the shaken-not-stirred martini, set the villain’s elaborate plan against world economic chaos, and established the formula that Connery’s subsequent films refined. Its Rotten Tomatoes consensus notes it as the point where “James Bond as we know him comes into focus.”

Casino Royale earned its critical reputation by dismantling nearly every convention Goldfinger established—Casino Royale has no elaborate villain scheme, no iconic Bond girl name, no exotic gadget centerpiece. Instead, it delivered poker games, brutal violence, and an emotional betrayal that haunts Craig’s entire arc.

Fan Favorites

Polls consistently rank Goldfinger, Casino Royale, and Skyfall in the top three. Thunderball, The Spy Who Loved Me, and GoldenEye round out the most-cited favorites depending on which era the respondent grew up watching. Fan Favorites Polls consistently rank Goldfinger, Casino Royale, and Skyfall in the top three, and you can find the complete list of James Bond films in this Game of Thrones Season 8.

Critic Picks

Casino Royale (94%) and Skyfall (92%) lead on Rotten Tomatoes, followed closely by Dr. No (95%) and From Russia with Love (95%). Critics gravitate toward the films that balanced spectacle with character work—a pattern that explains the Craig era’s critical dominance.

“Casino Royale disposes of the silliness and gadgetry that plagued recent James Bond outings, and Daniel Craig delivers what fans and critics have been waiting for.”

— Rotten Tomatoes Critics Consensus (Rotten Tomatoes)

“Sam Mendes brings Bond surging back with a smart, sexy, riveting action thriller that qualifies as one of the best 007 films to date.”

— Rotten Tomatoes Critics Consensus (Rotten Tomatoes)

Timeline

The Bond franchise tracks six decades of cultural shifts through its casting and storytelling approach. Each transition between actors reflected broader changes in spy fiction expectations, studio strategy, and audience taste.

The timeline below captures the key inflection points where the franchise pivoted due to casting changes or ownership shifts.

The pattern reveals a franchise that recalibrates with each new actor. The gaps between Brosnan and Craig, and Moore and Dalton, reflect both casting challenges and strategic pauses while the studio determined how to update the formula for changing audiences.

Confirmed vs. Unclear

Bond fandom thrives on debate, but some facts are settled while others genuinely remain open questions.

What people say

“Goldfinger is where James Bond as we know him comes into focus—it features one of 007’s most famous lines (‘A martini. Shaken, not stirred.’)”

— Rotten Tomatoes Critics Consensus (Rotten Tomatoes)

The critical consensus on Bond has evolved as dramatically as the films themselves. Early reviews treated the series as escapist entertainment; modern criticism treats the best entries—Casino Royale, Skyfall, Dr. No—as legitimate genre achievements worthy of serious analysis.

For newcomers deciding where to start, the choice shapes your entire experience with the franchise. Streaming the Craig films first gives you a coherent emotional arc but risks making earlier entries feel dated. Starting with Connery builds appreciation for what the franchise established but asks patience for slower pacing and different production values. Either approach works, but the Craig-first path has become the default recommendation for audiences discovering Bond in the streaming era.

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This guide lists all 27 Eon Productions films from Dr. No to No Time to Die, much like the complete Bond films chronology favored by longtime fans.

Frequently asked questions