All The Sean Connery Bond Movies Ranked

As Hollywood searches for whoever will be the next James Bond, I'm having fun going back through the filmographies of the other men who have played the role and picking out which ones did it best.

It feels like my James Bond rankings change with whatever mood I'm in, but I still think the best guy to be in the movies was Sean Connery, who set the standard for everyone who has followed.

Today, I wanted to go back through his films to discuss

Let's dive in.

1. Goldfinger (1964)

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• Director: Guy Hamilton
• Writers: Richard Maibaum, Paul Dehn (based on the novel by Ian Fleming)
• Cast: Sean Connery (James Bond), Honor Blackman (Pussy Galore), Gert Fröbe (Auric Goldfinger), Harold Sakata (Oddjob), Bernard Lee (M), Lois Maxwell (Moneypenny), Desmond Llewelyn (Q)

I think it would be hard to pick a better Bond or a better Bond movie than this one. It put every single trope to use and gave us maybe the most memorable Bond Villain as well. We have the gadget-laden Aston Martins to iconic henchmen. And we certainly have great Bond gals as well. Connery will live forever thanks to this movie.

2. From Russia with Love (1963)

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• Director: Terence Young
• Writers: Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood (based on the novel by Ian Fleming)
• Cast: Sean Connery (James Bond), Daniela Bianchi (Tatiana Romanova), Robert Shaw (Red Grant), Lotte Lenya (Rosa Klebb), Pedro Armendáriz (Kerim Bey), Bernard Lee (M), Lois Maxwell (Moneypenny)

I actually think this has the most mature Bond story. We're basically seeing a deconstruction of love for country versus love for another person. It earns its reputation as a Hitchcockian thriller that showcases Connery's penchant for action and drama. Plus, a helluva train chase!

3. Dr. No (1962)

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• Director: Terence Young
• Writers: Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, Berkely Mather (based on the novel by Ian Fleming)
• Cast: Sean Connery (James Bond), Ursula Andress (Honey Ryder), Joseph Wiseman (Dr. Julius No), Jack Lord (Felix Leiter), Bernard Lee (M), Lois Maxwell (Moneypenny)

Kind of a lean Bond, that's all action and cool set pieces. It's the first one, and we get the character, but I don't feel like he really came into his own until Goldfinger. Still, the cool spy who loves the ladies was there from the start.

4. Thunderball (1965)

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• Director: Terence Young
• Writers: Richard Maibaum, John Hopkins (based on an original story by Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham, and Ian Fleming)
• Cast: Sean Connery (James Bond), Claudine Auger (Domino Derval), Adolfo Celi (Emilio Largo), Luciana Paluzzi (Fiona Volpe), Bernard Lee (M), Lois Maxwell (Moneypenny), Desmond Llewelyn (Q)

It's funny, just a few years after the first Bond, we get a groundbreaking Bond that shows how popular the character got. This is all explosions, femme fatales, and massive underwater sequences. The Bahamas' location feels exotic, too.

5. You Only Live Twice (1967)

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• Director: Lewis Gilbert
• Writer: Roald Dahl (based on the novel by Ian Fleming)
• Cast: Sean Connery (James Bond), Akiko Wakabayashi (Aki), Mie Hama (Kissy Suzuki), Donald Pleasence (Ernst Stavro Blofeld), Tetsurō Tamba (Tiger Tanaka), Bernard Lee (M), Lois Maxwell (Moneypenny)

One of the weirder Bonds that just goes for it, and you can kind of see why Austin Powers cribbed so much from this movie. From the Volcano lair of the bad guy to the script by... checks notes.. Roald Dahl...this was what Bond became, and it was fun but kind of goofy, too.

6. Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

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• Director: Guy Hamilton
• Writers: Richard Maibaum, Tom Mankiewicz (based on the novel by Ian Fleming)
• Cast: Sean Connery (James Bond), Jill St. John (Tiffany Case), Charles Gray (Ernst Stavro Blofeld), Jimmy Dean (Willard Whyte), Bernard Lee (M), Lois Maxwell (Moneypenny), Desmond Llewelyn (Q)

The 70s tried to ground Bond more, and this was Connery's last go as a real Bond. We're in Vegas, and it's a little campy; we don't have a ton of tension. But I always like seeing Bond on the strip.

7. Never Say Never Again (1983)

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• Director: Irvin Kershner
• Writers: Lorenzo Semple Jr. (screenplay), Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham, Ian Fleming (story)
• Cast: Sean Connery (James Bond), Klaus Maria Brandauer (Maximillian Largo), Barbara Carrera (Fatima Blush), Kim Basinger (Domino Petachi), Max von Sydow (Ernst Stavro Blofeld), Bernie Casey (Felix Leiter), Edward Fox (M)

So this is not a true Bond movie, as it is the remake of Thunderball produced outside EON Productions. But it got Connery playing Old Bond, and it kind of works on that level. It gave us a taste of an alternative universe for these films.

Summing It All Up

Connery was an awesome Bond, and it was so fun revisiting these movies to rank them. I genuinely think all Bond movies are pretty fun, so I tell people to watch all of them anyway.

These are my personal favorites, but I bet you have arguments for a different order, and I want to hear them.

Let me know what you think in the comments.