Not All James Bonds Are Created Equal

Between 1953 & 1966, Ian Fleming wrote several books and short stories detailing the adventures of one MI6 agent, Royal Naval Reserve Commander James Bond. In 1962, James Bond was immortalized in the visage of one Sean Connery in the movie Dr. No.

I've read Casino Royale, Fleming's first 007 novel, and enjoyed it thoroughly. With the recent announcement of the 24th MGM James Bond film, SPECTRE, I was curious what the world thought the best Bond film was.. and the worst.

To keep things simple, I used the ratings at IMDB.com.

First off, though, how do we rank the actors that played 007? I averaged the IMDB ratings of the movies to come up with this:

James Bond actors, rated by average rating of movies per IMDB:

#5 Pierce Brosnan, average score 6.5
#4 Roger Moore, average score 6.7
#3 George Lazenby, one film, 6.8
#2 Sean Connery, average score 7.2
#1 Daniel Craig, average score 7.5

I still think Connery is the penultimate cinema Bond.

Now, ranking the movies, from lowest rated to highest, with my personal ranking on the right (consider same score tied):

Die Another Day Brosnan 6.1 21 Moonraker Moore 6.2 23 A View to a Kill Moore 6.3 19 Tomorrow Never Dies Brosnan 6.4 18 The World is Not Enough Brosnan 6.4 15 Octopussy Moore 6.6 16 Licence to Kill Dalton 6.6 22 The Living Daylights Dalton 6.7 13 Quantum of Solace Craig 6.7 20 Diamonds Are Forever Connery 6.7 17 Live and Let Die Moore 6.8 14 The Man with the Golden Gun Moore 6.8 12 For Your Eyes Only Moore 6.8 11 On Her Majesty's Secret Service Lazenby 6.8 10 You Only Live Twice Connery 6.9 9 Thunderball Connery 7.0 5 The Spy Who Loved Me Moore 7.1 8 Goldeneye Brosnan 7.2 7 Dr. No Connery 7.3 6 From Russia with Love Connery 7.5 2 Skyfall Craig 7.8 4 Goldfinger Connery 7.8 3 Casino Royale Craig 8.0 1

Excerpt from The Infernal Isle

As promised, a small snippet from my upcoming novel, The Infernal Isle. The story is about a scribe's apprentice (Wick) and his fellow exiles trying to escape banishment by crossing a ruined island kingdom overrun by hellish denizens. A group sits around a fire, discussing what to do next as Wick draws a map of the Isle in the sand.

“What do you know about this place, boy? How could you know?” Nocke said.

“I’ve seen every map of this place, maps from the Olde Empire days and maps from the sailors in recent years. I’ve read everything there is to read about it. My father and uncle told me stories about it,” Wick said, now just adding small details here and there to his map.

“How does a mutt of a boy like you learn to read? What maps? Only place that would have that stuff is-” Nocke said before Skire cut in.

“The library. Scribe’s apprentice, were you?” Skire asked. Wick looked up at last and nodded.

“Been there three years, in Master Onik’s care. Until the royal guards purged it,” Wick said, voice dropping to a near whisper. “They killed Onik and banished me.”

The group fell silent again, all seeming to weigh Wick’s tale of woe against their own. The sun neared the horizon and lit up the sky and clouds in hazy pinks and oranges.

“Sorry about Onik, Wick. Most none of us deserved this, but putting a boy on this island tops it all. If I get a chance, I’ll put two knives in King Saedis’s eyes, one for each. For you and me,” Skire said with a grin. “Now, two leagues, you think?” Nocke sniffed but said nothing.

“Yes, I think so,” Wick answered.

“Too bad we can’t take that map with us,” Benno said.

“No need to,” Bear said, starting to stand. He tapped Wick’s head as he rose. “It all here.”

The Infernal Isle will be published in 2015.