James Bond - Watch Order: Essential Classics

1962 - 19957 Films14h 35m3.9 Average

This watch order lists the definitive pre-Craig Bond films that showcase the franchise at its peak across different eras. The curated selection includes template-setting Connery classics, the emotional complexity of Lazenby, spectacular Moore entries, and Brosnan's successful revival.

These seven films represent the evolution of classic Bond cinema and include critically acclaimed and culturally influential entries that defined the character for generations of viewers.

1
Dr. No poster

Dr. No

19621h 50m4
Director: Terence Young
Cast: Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Joseph Wiseman, Jack Lord, Anthony Dawson

Agent 007 battles mysterious Dr. No, a scientific genius bent on destroying the U.S. space program. As the countdown to disaster begins, Bond must go to Jamaica, where he encounters beautiful Honey Ryder, to confront a megalomaniacal villain in his massive island headquarters.

AdventureActionThriller
2
Goldfinger poster

Goldfinger

19641h 50m4.3
Director: Guy Hamilton
Cast: Sean Connery, Gert Fröbe, Honor Blackman, Harold Sakata, Shirley Eaton

Special agent 007 comes face to face with one of the most notorious villains of all time, and now he must outwit and outgun the powerful tycoon to prevent him from cashing in on a devious scheme to raid Fort Knox -- and obliterate the world's economy.

AdventureActionThriller
3
On Her Majesty's Secret Service poster

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

19692h 22m3.7
Director: Peter R. Hunt
Cast: George Lazenby, Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas, Gabriele Ferzetti, Ilse Steppat

James Bond tracks his archnemesis, Ernst Blofeld, to a mountaintop retreat in the Swiss alps where he is training an army of beautiful, lethal women. Along the way, Bond falls for Italian contessa Tracy Draco, and marries her in order to get closer to Blofeld.

AdventureActionThriller
4
The Spy Who Loved Me poster

The Spy Who Loved Me

19772h 5m3.9
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Cast: Roger Moore, Barbara Bach, Curd Jürgens, Richard Kiel, Caroline Munro

Russian and British submarines with nuclear missiles on board both vanish from sight without a trace. England and Russia both blame each other as James Bond tries to solve the riddle of the disappearing ships. But the KGB also has an agent on the case.

AdventureActionThriller
5
For Your Eyes Only poster

For Your Eyes Only

19812h 8m3.7
Director: John Glen
Cast: Roger Moore, Carole Bouquet, Chaim Topol, Julian Glover, Lynn-Holly Johnson

A British spy ship has sunk and on board was a hi-tech encryption device. James Bond is sent to find the device that holds British launching instructions before the enemy Soviets get to it first.

AdventureActionThriller
6
The Living Daylights poster

The Living Daylights

19872h 10m3.7
Director: John Glen
Cast: Timothy Dalton, Maryam d'Abo, Joe Don Baker, Art Malik, John Rhys-Davies

After a defecting Russian general reveals a plot to assassinate foreign spies, James Bond is assigned a secret mission to dispatch the new head of the KGB to prevent an escalation of tensions between the Soviet Union and the West.

ActionAdventureThriller
7
GoldenEye poster

GoldenEye

19952h 10m3.9
Director: Martin Campbell
Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean, Izabella Scorupco, Famke Janssen, Joe Don Baker

When a powerful satellite system falls into the hands of Alec Trevelyan, AKA Agent 006, a former ally-turned-enemy, only James Bond can save the world from a dangerous space weapon that -- in one short pulse -- could destroy the earth! As Bond squares off against his former compatriot, he also battles Xenia Onatopp, an assassin who uses pleasure as her ultimate weapon.

AdventureActionThriller