The Best James Bond Movies

Overall, I really like the James Bond movie series. Did you know that it's the second most-successful movie franchise ever created? So far there have been twenty-one official Bond movies, and two unofficial ones. That's six different Bond actors (seven if you count the unofficials), a few dozen villains, a gaggle of Bond girls and enough high-tech gadgets to put the Sharper Image catalog folks out of business.

If you've never seen a Bond film, or if you've only seen a few, here are my top five recommended favorites.

(Much like cookies or potato chips, you often can't stop at just one! )

In this installment, James Bond (Sean Connery) is on the trail of industrialist and gold bullion dealer Auric Goldfinger, trying to figure out how the businessman is smuggling gold internationally. What he then uncovers is a plot to contaminate the entire gold supply at Fort Knox.

Villains - In addition to Mr. Goldfinger, who tries to laser Bond in half, there is his trusty man servant Odd Job, who never talks but wields a steel-edged bowler as his Frisbee-like weapon of choice.

Bond Girl - Actress Honor Blackman (which is like a Bond girl name in itself) plays Goldfinger's personal pilot, Pussy Galore. There is also Jill Masterson (Shirley Eaton), an associate of Goldfinger's who Bond seduces and is forced to pay the price: she is found dead, painted over entirely in gold.

With Roger Moore taking up the reins as the Britsh agent, 007 must track down Kanaga (Yaphet Koto) and find the source of his massive herion supply before it hits the world market. His chase takes him from Harlem to New Orleans to a Caribbean island.

Villains - In addtion to Kanaga, there are his henchmen Tee Hee (who has a nasty steel claw for one hand), the voodoo priest Baron Samedi (Geoffrey Holder) and a literal heavy named Whisper.

Bond Girl - This movie features then-21-year-old Jane Seymour as the psychic, tarot card reader Solitare. The only catch is that if she loses her virginity, she'll lose her powers... (I think you can all guess what James Bond did with that piece of intelligence)

In Roger Moore's last outing as Bond, 007 is investigating a new type of microchip that can withstand the EMP effects of nuclear blast. He soon finds out that Max Zorin (Christopher Walken) is masterminding the destruction of California's Silicon Valley to corner the world's computer market.

Villains - In addition to Zorin, Bond has to beware of his henchwoman May Day, played by the stylish disco diva Grace Jones. She hits some really perfect notes as an over-the-top sidekick and is one of the few villain women who's ever gotten to bed Bond himself.

Bond Girl - Tanya Roberts plays Stacey Sutton. Her family's company was taken over by Zorin Industries, and she now works as a geologist. She teams up with Bond to stop Zorin. Compared to most Bond girls, she is somewhat tame.

Pierce Brosnan's first foray as Bond was the series' biggest grossing entry up to that point. It opens with 007 and his fellow agent 006 (Sean Bean) on a mission at a Russian chemical factory. 006 is captured and shot but Bond manages to escape. Nine years later, M (Judi Densch) sends Bond to investigate who is trying to take over the Goldeneye satellite, and Bond learns his old friend is alive and now his foe.

Villains - Sean Bean is excellent as 006/Alex Treveylan, Bond's former best friend. He also gets classic bad guy dialog such as "Why can't you be a good boy and just die?!" Famke Jansen gets to wield "killer" thighs as Xenia Onatopp, Treveylan's henchwoman.

Bond Girl - Bond gets Natalya Simonova (Izabella Scorupco), a former Russian satellite programmer.

After the movie makers decided to go with a new actor for James Bond, they also decided to re-energize the franchise by going back to Bond's roots, to his days as a new double-O agent. Actor Daniel Craig got the part, and they went right back to Ian Fleming's first novel, CASINO ROYALE, where 007 must try to stop a terrorist banker/financier from winning a high-stakes poker match.

Villains - Mad Mikkelsen plays Le Chiffre, who has the distinction of being able to bleed tears of blood. He likes high-stakes poker, and he'll go right for your balls if there's some info you have that he wants.

Bond Girl - Bond loses his heart to Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), the treasury officer assigned to keep an eye on the money Bond is waging. She also gets to break his heart at the end, thus ensuring our hero will become the cynical hardened agent we know and love.