Netflix‘s complete collection of James Bond movies is set to leave the streaming service this month. That means both Bond newcomers and die-hard fans of the franchise alike have only a few weeks left to enjoy retro classics like “Dr. No” and “Thunderball” as well as more contemporary hits like “No Time to Die” before they are gone from Netflix. Unfortunately, that window does not leave much time for newbies to actually make their way through all of the franchise’s 25 films.
With that in mind, here are the seven essential James Bond movies you should watch before they leave Netflix on April 20.
“From Russia With Love” (1963)
The word “essential” suggests that 1962’s “Dr. No,” which was not just the first James Bond movie to star Sean Connery but the franchise’s first big-screen installment, would demand a spot on this list. But “Dr. No” is just not as good as Connery’s second Bond outing, 1963’s “From Russia With Love.”
Director Terence Young’s breezy blockbuster is based on Bond author Ian Fleming’s 1957 novel of the same name and follows Connery’s 007 as he is sent to assist in the defection of a Soviet clerk only to run, once more, into the nefarious agents of Spectre. It’s charming, colorful and, frankly, just a whole lot of fun.
“Goldfinger” (1964)
There is no more iconic James Bond movie in the franchise’s history than “Goldfinger.” Director Guy Hamilton’s 1964 spy thriller follows Connery’s 007 as his investigation into a corrupt gold magnate (Gert Fröbe) who plans to irradiate Fort Knox with a dirty bomb leads him into numerous, increasingly close calls with death.
The film has some of the Bond franchise’s most iconic lines (“Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!”), images (the gold-covered body of Shirley Eaton’s Jill Masterson) and details (007’s modified Aston Martin DB5) and it has not lost an ounce of its charm or cinematic power in the 60+ years since its release. It is, perhaps, the most essential of all of Connery’s big-screen Bond adventures.
“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” (1969)
The title for the most underrated of all Bond films goes to 1969’s “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.” The first Bond movie not to star Sean Connery, this Peter Hunt-directed gem features George Lazenby’s one and only turn as 007.
A stylish, wintery blockbuster, the film mines shocking emotional depth out of the relationship between Lazenby’s Bond and Diana Rigg’s Countess Tracy di Vicenzo, who ranks as one of the few female leads in the Bond franchise’s history who actually gets the mercenary womanizer to settle down a little. That fact only makes the film’s third act all the more haunting and unforgettable.
“The Spy Who Loved Me” (1977)
Before Daniel Craig, no actor had played James Bond longer on screen than Roger Moore. Most of the films that Moore made, unfortunately, would not classify now as “essential.” But “The Spy Who Loved Me” does. Director Lewis Gilbert’s 1977 blockbuster follows Moore’s cheeky, charming Bond as he teams up with a Soviet KGB agent (Barbara Bach) to stop a megalomaniac (Curt Jurgens) who plans to destroy the world and create a new society under the sea.
The film is, like many of Moore’s Bond movies, over the top and silly, but it manages to make that work better than any other. Richard Kiel’s Jaws remains one of the Bond franchise’s most visually memorable antagonists, and the film itself is overflowing with pitch-perfect details and show-stopping action sequences. This is Silly Bond at its absolute best, and that is to say nothing, either, of the film’s all-time great Carly Simon theme song.
“GoldenEye” (1995)
“GoldenEye” is the best James Bond film that actor Pierce Brosnan ever starred in. Directed by Martin Campbell and released after a six-year franchise hiatus in which Brosnan predecessor Timothy Dalton decided to step away from the 007 role, the film pits Brosnan’s Bond against ex-MI6 agent Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean) in an intense battle to prevent the latter from using a dangerous weapon against the citizens of London.
Brimming with memorable performances from supporting stars Famke Janssen, Robbie Coltrane, Alan Cumming and Minnie Driver, among others, “GoldenEye” saw Judi Dench become the first woman to play MI6 head M, a role she would go on to thoroughly redefine. In case all of that was not enough, “GoldenEye” additionally inspired one of the best video games ever made, and that only adds to its already sterling legacy.
“Casino Royale” (2006)
Few James Bond actors have ever faced as much public scrutiny heading into their screen debut as 007 as Daniel Craig did in 2006, and even fewer have so quickly proven their doubters wrong. “Casino Royale” brings back “GoldenEye” director Martin Campbell to tell the story of author Ian Fleming’s first Bond novel, and the result is a straight-faced, grounded thriller that has all the sex, action and blood that viewers had come to expect from the Bond franchise up to that point, as well as more depth, intelligence, emotional power and stirring, tragic romance than anyone could have seen coming.
The only criticism one could make of the film is actually a further testament to it, and that is that Eva Green’s Vesper Lynd makes such a lasting impression in “Casino Royale” that none of the Craig movies that followed it were ever really able to get fully out from her shadow.
“Skyfall” (2012)
You can take your pick between which of Daniel Craig’s two greatest James Bond outings — 2006’s “Casino Royale” and 2012’s “Skyfall” — is best, because you can’t go wrong either way. “Skyfall” is, in almost every way, a counter to “Casino Royale.” Where the latter is a gritty, purposefully rough exploration of Bond’s MI6 beginnings, “Skyfall” is a painterly, Roger Deakins-photographed dive into a Bond who already feels like he’s been doing the whole spy thing too long.
Littered with visually stunning images and quietly powerful emotional grace notes, “Skyfall” has the best Bond song of the modern era, a show-stopping opening sequence and a villain in Javier Bardem’s Silva that stands as, perhaps, the franchise’s greatest-ever antagonist.
