Bond … James Bond. Have you seen all of the 007 movies? Maybe a few? Perhaps you want to watch them all, but you’re looking for the right strategy.
There are few story connections between earlier films like Dr. No and Die Another Day. However, that all changed when the franchise was rebooted in 2006 with Daniel Craig’s Casino Royale.
Scroll on for a guide on how to watch the James Bond movies in chronological order:
Dr. No (1962)
Ian Fleming’s secret agent character is ready for action in this film, which is the first in the Bond franchise. James (played by Sean Connery with bulletproof arrogance) goes to Jamaica to investigate why a fellow British agent disappeared, leading him to the evil Dr. No. This villain and his henchmen want to use a weapon against an American space launch.
From Russia with Love (1963)
This is one of the most beloved Bond films of all time. 007 is wrapped up in a plot to kill a beautiful Russian woman. It’s all connected to a terrorist plot involving a Soviet encryption device. The nefarious organization is known as SPECTRE, which would have a presence in multiple Bond movies.
Goldfinger (1964)
Audiences might recognize Goldfinger — this is the movie with the famous scene of a woman painted head to toe in gold paint. This is also one of Connery’s most rewatchable adventures. Goldfinger follows Bond as he goes after a gold-obsessed villain targeting Fort Knox.
Thunderball (1965)
This film involved a terrorist organization hijacking two nuclear bombs. It would later be remade into another James Bond film starring Connery.
You Only Live Twice (1967)
007 heads to Japan to investigate the disappearance of a Soviet and American-crewed spacecraft, with the two Cold War opponents pointing fingers at each other and tensions escalating. Now the famous superspy has to make sure war doesn’t break out.
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
George Lazenby stepped into 007’s shoes for this project — and in the opening scene, he breaks the fourth wall by making a joke about the recasting. Elsewhere in the movie, Bond gets married.
Diamonds are Forever (1971)
Connery returns to reprise his role as 007. It turns out the On Her Majesty’s Secret Service star was given bad advice by his manager: not to sign a multi-picture deal to return as Bond.
Lazenby was out, and Connery was wooed back with a handsome payday. In this film, 007 poses as a diamond smuggler and learns of a nefarious plan: using diamonds to create a deadly laser weapon in space.
Live and Let Die (1973)
After Diamonds are Forever, producers couldn’t entice Connery to stay with the role. And with Lazenby having come and gone, they needed a third actor to now take up the mantle. Enter Roger Moore! His era would be known as a little bit goofier, with a larger focus on gadgets and humor.
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
This adventure includes Moore and a solar energy device. A very unique (and deadly) funhouse is involved, along with Christopher Lee handing in a memorable performance as the villain Scaramanga.
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Moore returns as Bond to take on a megalomaniac who wants to obliterate everything and replace it with a new undersea civilization. Another one of the more famous Bond foes, Jaws, appears in this film.
Moonraker (1979)
The story revolves around a space shuttle known as the Moonraker, which is hijacked on its way to the United Kingdom. The crew is all killed, and 007 is called in to investigate.
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
The superspy works to find a missing British vessel. Not just any vessel: this one has a weapons encryption device that would be used for deadly purposes in the wrong hands.
With Moore in the role, there’s a scene very early in the film where Bond visits the grave of his late wife, Tracy. It would be one of the few direct callbacks to previous 007 movies until the 2006 reboot.
Octopussy (1983)
Bond is on the case after a fellow agent is found dead with a counterfeit Fabergé egg. The egg ends up having a connection with a plot to blow up a U.S. Air Force base with a nuclear bomb. Maud Adams, who appeared in The Man with the Golden Gun, is also back playing a completely different character.
Never Say Never Again (1983)
Remember how Connery would play Bond in essentially the same story as Thunderball? Due to a rights issue involving the original novel, a writer was able to make this film separately from the “official” Bond series. It came out in 1983, the same year as Octopussy.
Connery comes back as his most iconic character for the final time as an aging 007 in essentially the same story of Thunderball. It’s not included in any box sets because it isn’t produced by EON Productions.
A View to a Kill (1985)
This is Moore’s last film as 007. In the movie, the famous spy battles Max Zorin (Christopher Walken) and May Day (Grace Jones) as the villain works to wipe out California’s Silicon Valley.
The Living Daylights (1987)
Timothy Dalton dons the tuxedo for a darker, more intense version of 007. Bond investigates a KGB plot to assassinate all enemy spies connected to a shocking arms deal.
License to Kill (1989)
After having made his debut in The Living Daylights, Dalton makes his final appearance in the role just one film later. This is a more personal tale for 007, who finds himself suspended in his duties as an agent.
Not one to sit back, he viciously chases down a drug lord who ordered the murder of his friend’s wife. That friend, CIA agent Felix Leiter, is left clinging to life after the attack.
Goldeneye (1995)
Bond disappeared from the big screen for six years after License to Kill. He returned in the form of Pierce Brosnan, who gave the character a more suave, charming demeanor. The film sees 007 investigate the disappearance of a powerful satellite system alongside M, Moneypenny, and other iconic characters.
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
Brosnan returns as 007, this time taking on a media mogul trying to ignite World War III. Appearing as one of the “Bond girls” was Teri Hatcher, most famous at the time for her role in ABC’s Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
The World Is Not Enough (1999)
Brosnan’s third outing as Bond sees him trying to protect an oil heiress (Sophie Marceau) from the man who kidnapped her (Robert Carlyle), a terrorist who is incapable of feeling pain.
Die Another Day (2002)
With Brosnan taking on the lead role for the last time, Bond is captured in the film’s North Korean opening scene, and audiences see he’s tortured for quite some time before being released.
Back stateside, he uncovers a startling truth about British millionaire Gustav Graves. Halle Berry stars as Jinx.
Casino Royale (2006)
This one serves as a bit of an origin story: What made Bond into the elusive womanizing spy he is? It revolves around a fateful poker match, where the British government literally gambles for the chance to stop a terrorist cell.
Quantum of Solace (2008)
With Craig back as Bond, this film is a direct sequel to the previous movie. Still seething and broken over Vesper’s (Eva Green) death, Bond goes after an organization known as Quantum, which is bent on destroying a country’s most valuable natural resource.
Skyfall (2012)
Craig’s third outing as Bond proved to be wildly popular, crushing box office records. In this story, 007 faces off against a former embittered agent named Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem), who plans to kill M (Judi Dench).
SPECTRE (2015)
Bond hears a posthumous message from M that sends him after an assassin, but he is ultimately led to a larger organization known as SPECTRE. The head of this nefarious group is none other than Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz). Although the villain and organization appeared in previous films, the filmmakers here add a shocking twist.
No Time To Die (2021)
This is Craig’s final outing as Bond, who is retired at the beginning of the film. A tragic attack ends up snapping his relationship with Madeline Swann (Léa Seydoux), whom he met in the previous film. He’s pulled back into another adventure, this one involving chemical weapons and a mysterious terrorist (Rami Malek).
He now must work alongside the spy who has replaced him as 007 (Lashana Lynch). And Swann has a secret that will change the agent’s fate with absolute finality.
