How to watch the James Bond movies in order: chronological and release date

Daniel Craig as James Bond holding a gun

Watching the Bond movies in order will eventually lead you to Daniel Craig (Image credit: Universal Pictures/Danjaq)

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Release date order
Chronological order
Ranking order
Actor order

With 27 thrilling films in the franchise, it's no surprise you've found yourself here, pondering how best to enjoy them all. How to watch the James Bond movies in order is a big question to navigate, but don't be discouraged, we've done the hard work for you. Over 60 years, 7 Bonds, and countless of the best James Bond gadgets featured across the Bond franchise, it all began with Dr No and, for now, ends with No Time to Die. Though, there's a multitude of ways to watch them.

From release date, to chronological order, to actor (which begs the question, who is the best James Bond?), to Rotten Tomato rankings, we've really wrestled with each choice. And, luckily, watching the Bond movies in order is easy considering they're available across a number of the best streaming services. Whichever option you choose, we've detailed below exactly how to execute the perfect movie-watching mission.

How to watch the James Bond movies in order of release date

Sean Connery as James Bond holds a gun upwards — If only we could look as suave when pondering our 007 decisions (Image credit: MGM)

Other movie franchises have nothing on 007 when it comes to longevity. 2021’s long-awaited No Time To Die marked the 25th official James Bond movie (in other words, those produced by long-term rights holders Eon Productions), and there are two additional non-canon Bond movies: 1967 spoof Casino Royale, and Sean Connery’s 1983 comeback Never Say Never Again (the latter released the same year as Octopussy). Due to some quibbles over rights, Never Say Never Again is effectively a remake of Thunderball.

James Bond movies in chronological order, including the Daniel Craig films

Scene from James Bond film with Pierce Brosnan — Pierce Brosnan’s Bond has his regular appointment with Q branch (Image credit: Eon Productions/007.com)

Want to know how to watch the James Bond movies in order of chronology? Here's how:

Daniel Craig continuity

Casino Royale
Quantum of Solace
Skyfall
Spectre
No Time to Die

Original run

Dr. No
From Russia with Love
Goldfinger
Thunderball
You Only Live Twice
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Diamonds Are Forever
Live and Let Die
The Man with the Golden Gun
The Spy Who Loved Me
Moonraker
For Your Eyes Only
Octopussy
A View to a Kill
The Living Daylights
Licence to Kill
GoldenEye
Tomorrow Never Dies
The World is Not Enough
Die Another Day

This is where things gets really complicated and confusing, because there is no definitive Bond timeline as there is for a saga like Star Wars – indeed, some elements of 007’s long screen life are actually contradictory.

Bond usually exists in a Simpsons-like state of suspended animation, where the man stays more or less the same age (give or take a decade or two) while the world evolves around him. One long-standing fan theory attempts to explain this – and the secret agent’s ever-changing appearance – with the idea that James Bond is not actually one man, but an alias for a succession of spies with the 007 codename. We think that’s unlikely, however, because various elements of Bond’s personal history continue between agents – and Skyfall quite explicitly shows us the Bond family home.

It’s probably better to look at the Bond series as two distinct continuities. The original saga began with Dr. No, and runs all the way through to Die Another Day, released 40 years later. Although it’s never explicitly stated, you can comfortably assume that these films run in sequence. In fact, there are several key continuity elements that appear to confirm this.

The most compelling piece of evidence is the fact that in several movies released after On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Bond refers to the fact he was married once – his wedding turned into a wake when Bond’s wife was assassinated by Blofeld in that film. This is most explicit in For Your Eyes Only, where we see 007 visiting his late wife Tracy’s grave, before going on a revenge mission against Blofeld. Blofeld never appeared again in the original continuity, so it’s safe to deduce that being dropped into a chimney did actually kill him.

We also know that The Man with the Golden Gun takes place after Live and Let Die because 007 meets Sheriff JW Pepper for the second time. The same reasoning can be applied to super-sized henchman Jaws in The Spy who Loved Me and Moonraker, or Valentin Zukovsky, the former KGB agent played by Robbie Coltrane in GoldenEye and The World is Not Enough.

The second continuity began with origin story Casino Royale (2006), and runs all the way to No Time to Die. This is the beginning of James Bond’s double-0 story – based on Ian Fleming’s first Bond novel – as we see him qualifying as a government assassin and embarking on his first mission. The movies that followed have all been part of the same chronology, much more serialized than we ever saw in the original Bond run – particularly with evil organizations Quantum and Spectre providing a throughline between each movie.

Whether the events of the five Daniel Craig films take place before Dr. No is open to debate. On the yes side, we do see Bond’s first encounter with Ernst Stavro Blofeld in Spectre – and it’s there that the bad guy gets his famous scars. On the against side, in No Time to Die, Craig is nearly 20 years older than Sean Connery was in Dr. No, while the fact Bond takes his classic Aston Martin DB5 out of storage in Skyfall suggests that Goldfinger is in his past. Maybe Craig’s films just exist in a parallel timeline like J.J. Abrams’ Trek movies…

The 1967 Casino Royale and Never Say Never Again exist entirely separately from the official continuity.

See, we told you it was confusing.

The best James Bond movies: ranking the 007 films

Scene from Skyfall with Daniel Craig — Daniel Craig’s *Casino Royale* sits high in the ranking, as opposed to the 1967 version (Image credit: Eon Productions)

Considering the Bond franchise has been running for over 60 years, 007 has headlined surprisingly few bona fide classics. Ranking the 27 existing films based on Rotten Tomato critical scores, however, it’s no surprise to see Goldfinger atop the list. The third instalment in the franchise, it's arguably the film that established the gadget-heavy, over-the-top villain template that Bond would follow for years to come.

The upper end of the list is clearly dominated by Sean Connery, with his first five outings in the tuxedo all sitting pretty in the top half. Roger Moore is defiantly midtable, while Pierce Brosnan (always a reliable 007) sees three of his four appearances languishing in the bottom 10 – the fun GoldenEye (which shot the franchise back into theaters in spectacular style after a six-year absence) is the exception. It’s also interesting to note that films called Casino Royale appear at opposite ends of the chart – though a title is pretty much the only thing the two Bond adventures have in common.

Goldfinger – 99%
From Russia with Love – 97%
Dr. No – 95%
Casino Royale (2006) – 94%
Skyfall – 92%
Thunderball – 85%
No Time to Die – 83%
The Spy Who Loved Me – 82%
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service – 81%
GoldenEye – 80%
Licence to Kill – 80%
You Only Live Twice – 74%
The Living Daylights – 73%
Never Say Never Again – 71%
For Your Eyes Only – 69%
Live and Let Die – 67%
Diamonds Are Forever – 64%
Quantum of Solace – 64%
Spectre – 63%
Moonraker – 60%
Tomorrow Never Dies – 57%
Die Another Day – 55%
The World is Not Enough – 51%
The Man with the Golden Gun – 42%
Octopussy – 42%
A View to a Kill – 37%
Casino Royale (1967) – 26%

James Bond movies by actor

Roger Moore as James Bond — With seven appearances, Roger Moore is a most excellent Bond (Image credit: MGM)

Sean Connery

Dr. No
From Russia with Love
Goldfinger
Thunderball
You Only Live Twice
Diamonds Are Forever
Never Say Never Again

David Niven

Casino Royale (1967)

George Lazenby

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Roger Moore

Live and Let Die
The Man with the Golden Gun
The Spy Who Loved Me
Moonraker
For Your Eyes Only
Octopussy
A View to a Kill

Timothy Dalton

The Living Daylights
Licence to Kill

Pierce Brosnan

GoldenEye
Tomorrow Never Dies
The World is Not Enough
Die Another Day

Daniel Craig

Casino Royale
Quantum of Solace
Skyfall
Spectre
No Time to Die

Like British TV stalwart Doctor Who, James Bond eras are defined by the actor playing him. This list would be identical to James Bond movies in release date order were it not for Sean Connery’s two departures and subsequent returns to the role.

With Connery having quit the gig after his fifth Bond movie, You Only Live Twice, George Lazenby briefly took over for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Connery was then tempted back for Diamonds Are Forever two years later, before leaving again – seemingly for the final time… Until he was tempted back as an older 007 over a decade later in the unofficial Never Say Never Again – directed by The Empire Strikes Back helmer Irvin Kershner.

While Connery was keeping the tuxedo warm, David Niven played Sir James Bond, a retired version of 007, in the unofficial spoof Casino Royale. He wasn't the only James Bond in the movie, either, as the plot revolved around the idea that there were numerous agents – played by the likes of Peter Sellers and Dr No’s Ursula Andress – using the famous name as an alias.

Despite being older than Connery, Roger Moore took over the famous role in 1973’s Live and Let Die, and would go onto play 007 in a record-breaking seven original movies. By the time the risible A View to a Kill rolled around in 1985, however, the years and mileage were starting to show, and Eon plumped for a younger model.

Timothy Dalton only managed two movies as a more politically correct ’80s version of the spy, as the franchise went on hiatus after 1989’s Licence to Kill. When James Bond eventually came good on his promise to return in 1995‘s GoldenEye, he was played by Pierce Brosnan, who'd previously missed out on the role thanks to his commitments to 1980s TV show, Remington Steele.

With its invisible cars and giant ice palaces, Brosnan’s final Bond movie, Die Another Day, had carried the series into the realms of parody. So, in response to the successful, rather grittier Jason Bourne movies, Eon took 007 back to basics with origin story Casino Royale. Daniel Craig was their man.

No Time to Die marked Craig’s fifth and final outing as the world‘s most famous spy. When he hung up his Walther PPK, he wasn't the oldest Bond – but he was the longest serving, having first played the role back in 2006. That's 15 years on Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

Now speculation is rife about who'll be the seventh actor to (officially) play the United Kingdom’s most iconic action movie hero on the big screen.

For more James Bond coverage, read our guides on the best Daniel Craig James Bond movies, best Sean Connery 007 films, best Roger Moore James Bond flicks, and best Pierce Brosnan 007 movies.

Richard is a freelance journalist specialising in movies and TV, primarily of the sci-fi and fantasy variety. An early encounter with a certain galaxy far, far away started a lifelong love affair with outer space, and these days Richard's happiest geeking out about Star Wars, Star Trek, Marvel and other long-running pop culture franchises. In a previous life he was editor of legendary sci-fi and fantasy magazine SFX, where he got to interview many of the biggest names in the business – though he'll always have a soft spot for Jeff Goldblum who (somewhat bizarrely) thought Richard's name was Winter.

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