For Your Eyes Only (1981)
The Bond: Roger Moore
The Babe: Carole Bouquet as Melina Havelock
The Baddie: Julian Glover as Aristotle Kristatos
The Gadget: Grappling suspenders
The Song: ‘For Your Eyes Only' by Sheena Easton
Summary: Bond races against the Soviets to retrieve a transmitter that can send submarines to attack anywhere in the world with ballistic missiles. After the sci-fi feel of "Moonraker," this movie returns to Bond's roots: classic baddies with plans to blow things up.
Skyfall (2012)
The Bond: Daniel Craig
The Babe: Helen McCrory as Clair Dowar
The Baddie: Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva
The Gadget: Walther PPK/S 9mm short
The Song: 'Skyfall' by Adele
Summary: After Bond's apparent death, the identities of every active MI6 agent are leaked onto the Internet. As questions rise over M's ability to run the service, she grows more unstable in her position. But then someone attacks the service and — surprise! — Bond reappears. In pursuit of Silva, a man who claims to have ties to Bond and M, Bond finds his loyalty to M challenged by secrets from her past. Directed by Sam Mendes, Oscar-winning filmmaker of "American Beauty," expect this one to be a winner.
Quantum of Solace (2008)
The Bond: Daniel Craig
The Babe: Olga Kurylenko as Camille Montes
The Baddie: Mathieu Amalric as Dominic Greene
The Gadget: Quantum Earpiece
The Song: ‘Another Way To Die' by The White Stripes and Alicia Keys
Summary: Bond seeks revenge for Vesper Lynd's death, and is joined by Camille Montes, also seeking revenge for the murder of her family. And wouldn't you know it? The same bad guy is involved. Despite Craig's excellent performance, the explosions, and the symbolism — the colors in this film are hard and bleak; interpret that as you will — this film is a rather disappointing follow-up to "Casino Royale."
Casino Royale (2006)
The Bond: Daniel Craig
The Babe: Eva Green as Vesper Lynd
The Baddie: Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre
The Gadget: Aston Martin DBS V12
The Song: ‘You Know My Name' by Chris Cornell
Summary: This film introduces the most attractive Bond (Daniel Craig) and establishes a new Bond narrative. We see the grittier side of Bond, far more inexperienced, and more emotionally selfish and complex than any Bond to date. Though the plot is essential — Bond must stop a terrorist financier who makes money from poker and attacking his competitors' firms — Bond's character development is far more important. We see Bond come out of his cold, hard shell and learn to convey human emotion, only to be left bloodied, weeping, and completely broken. How many other Bond films have done that?
Die Another Day (2002)
The Bond: Pierce Brosnan
The Babe: Halle Berry as Giacinta ‘Jinx' Johnson
The Baddie: Toby Stephens as Gustav Graves
The Gadget: Sonic ring
The Song: ‘Die Another Day' by Madonna
Summary: This film has, by far, the coolest building of any Bond movie to date. Bond investigates the illegal trade of African conflict diamonds in North Korea in exchange for weapons. After being captured and tortured for 14 months, MI6 arranges a trade: Bond in exchange for Zao, the right-hand man in the illegal diamond trade. As if the tardy rescue wasn't enough, MI6 informs Bond that he's suspended from duty, as he may have leaked information under torture. Of course, Bond's suspension isn't permanent. Soon, he is back on the trail of Zao and the diamonds, and learns just how far gene therapy has come.
The World Is Not Enough (1999)
The Bond: Pierce Brosnan
The Babe: Denise Richards as Christmas Jones
The Baddie: Robert Carlyle as Renard and Sophie Marceau as Elektra King
The Gadget: Credit card lockpick
The Song: ‘The World Is Not Enough' by Garbage
Summary: Bond is assigned to protect heiress Elektra King, but really doesn't do a great job of it, because she is quickly kidnapped while overseeing an oil pipeline. In order to get her back, Bond disguises himself as a Russian nuclear scientist to get into the silo where he believes Elektra is being held. There, he meets Christmas Jones (how is that even a name?), and the two learn Elektra is more than she seems, having her own plans for the plutonium kept in the silo. Keep an ear out for the terribly crass joke Bond cracks in the final scene with Christmas. Face in palm.
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
The Bond: Pierce Brosnan
The Babe: Michelle Yeoh as Colonel Wai Lin
The Baddie: Jonathan Pryce as Elliot Carver
The Gadget: Walther PP9, Ericsson cell phone
The Song: ‘Tomorrow Never Dies' by Sheryl Crow
Summary: Bond is sent to spy on a terrorist arms bazaar at the Russian border, where known American terrorist Henry Gupta is buying a GPS encoder. Things would have gone smoothly, if a British admiral had kept his cool, and not fired missiles at the arms bazaar. Gupta escapes and reveals his plans to provoke a war between England and China. This doesn't sit well with MI6, who sends Bond out to stop him. Along the way, he teams up with the super cool Wai Lin, a Chinese agent on the same case. The film also introduces Bond's new favorite gun, the PP9.
GoldenEye (1995)
The Bond: Pierce Brosnan
The Babe: Izabella Scorupco as Natalya Simonova
The Baddie: Sean Bean as Alec Trevelyan/Janus
The Gadget: Grenade pen
The Song: ‘GoldenEye' by Tina Turner
Summary: Bond watches his best friend and fellow agent, Alec Trevelyan a.k.a. Boromir, die at the hands of the Soviets — only to find out nine years later that Trevelyan faked his own death. He wants to create a crime syndicate to seek revenge on the British government for its involvement in his parents' deaths. Trevelyan's master plan? Steal all the money from the Bank of England, and erase its records, plunging Britain into economic collapse. (In retrospect, that really might have been a more exciting, faster alternative to the 2008 meltdown.)
Licence to Kill (1989)
The Bond: Timothy Dalton
The Babe: Carey Lowell as Pam Bouvier
The Baddie: Robert Davi as Franz Sanchez
The Gadget: Detonating toothpaste
The Song: ‘Licence to Kill' by Gladys Knight
Summary: Bond goes rogue in order to avenge the murder of his CIA friend Felix Leiter's wife, and the attempted murder of Leiter himself (being maimed by a great white shark is no joke). He uncovers a grand drug scheme of dissolving cocaine in petrol, which is then sold to Asian drug lords. And wouldn't you know it? The man responsible for the attack on the Leiters is in charge of it all.
The Living Daylights (1987)
The Bond: Timothy Dalton
The Babe: Maryam d'Abo as Kara Milovy
The Baddie: Jeroen Krabbé as General Georgi Koskov
The Gadget: Multi-use keychain
The Song: ‘The Living Daylights' by A- Ha
Summary: Timothy Dalton makes his debut as the second most attractive Bond (behind Daniel Craig). Bond is sent to aid KGB defector Koskov, but, as it turns out, Koskov is faking his defection in order to kill Pushkin, the man standing between he and an arms deal. Bond teams up with Koskov's girlfriend and Russian cellist, Kara Milovy, to stop Pushkin's murder and save the world from the threat of yet another Soviet attack.
A View To Kill (1985)
The Bond: Roger Moore
The Babe: Tanya Roberts as Stacey Sutton
The Baddie: Christopher Walken as Max Zorin
The Gadget: Razor butterflies
The Song: ‘A View To Kill' by Duran Duran
Summary: Bond is sent to retrieve a microchip designed to withstand an electromagnetic pulse from a dead agent's body. Upon inspection, it's discovered that the microchip is actually a copy of the one MI6 wanted, and was made by Zorin industries. Bond, naturally, investigates — and finds that Zorin plans to create an earthquake that will flood Silicon Valley, wiping out all his competition, thereby leaving him free to create and sell microchips for as much as he wants. You would think he'd just put all that energy into developing a better microchip.
Octopussy (1983)
The Bond: Roger Moore
The Babe: Maud Adams as Octopussy
The Baddie: Louis Jourdan as Kamal Khan
The Gadget: High-tech rope
The Song: ‘All Time High' by Rita Coolidge
Summary: What begins with the death of MI6 agent 009 and a fake Faberge egg, quickly leads to the threat of nuclear annihilation (thank you, Soviets). But, this time, there's a circus! And a group of empowered women! Maud Adams makes a Bond Girl comeback, this time as the sexy title character with an adorable, lethal blue-ringed octopus.
By Carolyn Bick, WTOP Intern
Dr. No (1962)
The Bond: Sean Connery
The Babe: Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder
The Baddie: Joseph Wiseman as Dr. No
The Gadget: Walther PPK 7.65 mm
The Song: "James Bond Maine Theme" by John Barry and Monty Norman
Summary: This is the very first Bond film, which introduces our favorite agent and his beloved Walther PPK 7.65 mm. Bond tracks the murder of a fellow agent to a Jamaican Island, where he learns of Russian SPECTRE terrorist agent Dr. Julius No's plot to disrupt an American rocket launch with a deadly radio beam.
Moonraker (1979)
The Bond: Roger Moore
The Babe: Lois Chiles as Holly Goodhead
The Baddie: Michael Lonsdale as Hugo Drax
The Gadget: Wrist dart gun
The Song: ‘Moonraker' by Shirley Bassey
Summary: Bond investigates the airborne hijacking of a space shuttle, only to discover its maker, Hugo Drax, plans to use his shuttles to poison the people of Earth, and repopulate the planet with a race of superior humans, hand-picked by Drax himself. This is a marginally better plan than Blofeld's. There is still the problem of inbreeding, but at least Drax's people won't suffer radiation poisoning, or have to wait a literal million years before they can go back to Earth.
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
The Bond: Roger Moore
The Babe: Barbara Bach as Anya Amasova
The Baddie: Curd Jürgens as Karl Stromberg
The Gadget: Ski pole gun
The Song: ‘Nobody Does It Better' by Carly Simon and Marvin Hamlisch
Summary: Submarines! Ski poles that double as guns! The first appearance of the hulking Jaws! Roger Moore in a slightly silly-looking snow suit! (But, let's face it: who does look good in a snow suit?) The film starts with Bond just trying to figure out who stole a couple nuclear submarines, but quickly turns into much more. The man who stole the subs actually has an underwater base, Atlantis, where he plans to repopulate the Earth after global nuclear war on land.
The Man With The Golden Gun (1974)
The Bond: Roger Moore
The Babe: Maud Adams as Andrea Anders
The Baddie: Christopher Lee as Francisco Scaramanga
The Gadget: The Golden Gun
The Song: ‘The Man With The Golden Gun' by Lulu
Summary: Bond is pursued by a world-class assassin, who totes a phallic golden pistol and wants to test his skills against 007. Bond ends up saving the world from Scaramanga's dastardly plan to turn a solar plant into ... well, a very high-powered solar plant, capable of blowing things up. Did anyone tell Scaramanga that gold is a soft metal that would bend or dent when fired?
Live and Let Die (1973)
The Bond: Roger Moore
The Babe: Jane Seymour (no, not Henry VIII's doomed wife) as Miss Solitaire
The Baddie: Yaphet Kotto as Dr. Kanaga/Mr. Big
The Gadget: Trick coffin
The Song: ‘Live and Let Die' by Paul McCartney & Wings
Summary: Bond has a new face, but he's just as charming. Just ask Miss Solitaire, the film's psychic beauty. Bond must stop Caribbean dictator Dr. Kanaga (a.k.a. drug lord Mr. Big) from distributing two tons of heroin for free, in order to put other drug lords out of business. The film plays heavily on the "blaxploitation" movies of the era, so keep an eye out for stereotypes.
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
The Bond: Sean Connery
The Babe: Jill St. John as Tiffany Case
The Baddie: Charles Gray as Ernst Stavro Blofeld
The Gadget: Water sphere
The Song: ‘Diamonds Are Forever' by Shirley Bassey
Summary: Fear not, Sean Connery is back! With lasers. And diamonds. Bond again has to stop SPECTRE, which is involved in a smuggling operation, carting — you guessed it — diamonds to a research laboratory, where Blofeld plans to create laser satellites to blow up the nuclear weapons of China, Russia and the U.S., then auction off global nuclear supremacy.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
The Bond: George Lazenby
The Babe: Diana Rigg as Tracy di Vicenzo
The Baddie: Telly Savalas as Ernst Stavro Blofeld
The Gadget: Radioactive lint
The Song: ‘On Her Majesty's Secret Service' operatically composed by John Barry
Summary: Bond suddenly changes his face to George Lazenby, and bad guy Blofeld also has a new look. This time, Bond is trying to stop Blofeld from poisoning the world's food supply. Why? Blofeld wants to retire in peace, without anyone coming after him for his previous activities. Clearly, blackmailing the world to erase your bad record is the way to go. These rich villains just have way too much time on their hands.
You Only Live Twice (1967)
The Bond: Sean Connery
The Babe: Akiko Wakabayashi as Aki and Mie Hama as Kissy Suzuki
The Baddie: Donald Pleasence as Ernst Stavro Blofeld
The Gadget: Rocket cigarette
The Song: ‘You Only Live Twice' by Nancy Sinatra
Summary: Bond fakes his own death, and travels to Japan in order to find out who hijacked American and Soviet spacecraft. Turns out it's SPECTRE, yet again, but with a special treat: this is the first film in which we actually see Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the head of SPECTRE.
Thunderball (1965)
The Bond: Sean Connery
The Babe: Claudine Auger as Dominique 'Domino' Derval
The Baddie: Adolfo Celi as Emilio Largo
The Gadget: Bell rocket belt
The Song: "Thunderball" by Tom Jones
Summary: SPECTRE strikes again! This time, it's to the Bahamas with Bond, to stop evil playboy and deputy head of SPECTRE Emilio Largo from nuking the entire eastern coast of the U.S.
Goldfinger (1964)
The Bond: Sean Connery
The Babe: Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore
The Baddie: Gert Fröbe as Auric Goldfinger
The Gadget: Aston Martin DB5
The Song: "Goldfinger" by Shirley Bassey
Summary: A very rich, very bored, kinda petty German man named Auric Goldfinger wants to irradiate the entire supply of gold at Fort Knox, thereby making it worthless and increasing the value of his own gold. And he might have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for that meddling agent and his slick suits and shaken martinis. Gold-painted bodies and a killer theme song make this one a classic.
From Russia With Love (1963)
The Bond: Sean Connery
The Babe: Daniela Bianchi as Tatiana Romanova
The Baddie: Eric Pohlmann as Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Robert Shaw as Red Grant
The Gadget: Briefcase
The Song: "From Russia With Love" by Matt Monro
Summary: SPECTRE No. 1 Ernst Stavro Blofeld wants to steal a Lektor cryptographic device, profit from its sale back to the Soviet, and kill Bond as revenge for the death of Dr. No. Spotting Bond's weakness for pretty, young things, SPECTRE hires an unwitting young woman to play a defector to SPECTRE, in order to assassinate Bond.
Carolyn Bick, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – Today marks the 50th anniversary of Bond.
The 23rd installment, “Skyfall,” hits theaters next month.
So in case you missed any of the previous 22, or just feel like reliving some awesome trailers, here’s your chronological guide to everything Bond.
Click the gallery to the right.
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