James Bond is arguably the most famous spy in cinematic history. Created by British author and journalist Ian Fleming in the early 1950s, the always-suave character with a license to kill has been at the center of 26 films, with the 27th, directed by Danny Boyle, planned for 2019.
Even the most devoted Bond fan would have to admit that not every Bond film is of equal quality. The series uses a winning combination of fast cars, cool gadgets, exotic locales and theme songs sung by top artists of the day, including Paul McCartney, Adele, and Carly Simon. And let's not forget the beautiful Bond girls.
Still, in some Bond films, plots can be stale, jokes can fall flat, and acting can come across as contrived, tired or uninspired.
To determine the best Bond films of all time, 24/7 Wall Street created an index based on each film’s Rotten Tomatoes average critic rating, Rotten Tomatoes average audience rating, and IMDb average user rating.
More: Daniel Craig confirms he'll be back as Bond, restores order to universe
Ranked: All seven of Roger Moore's James Bond performances
Related: 'Forgotten' James Bond actor says he had a fan in Roger Moore
We averaged the user ratings from Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb, weighted by the number of votes for each. The combined user rating was averaged with the Rotten Tomatoes critic rating. Domestic box-office data comes from IMDb and is not adjusted for inflation. Favorable reviews refers to the percentage of users that rated each film a 3.5 out of 5 or above on Rotten Tomatoes.
> Starring: David Niven, Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress
> Favorable reviews: 35% of audiences
> Domestic box office gross: N/A
Originally conceived by producer Charles K. Feldman as an entry to Eon Productions' James Bond series, which had already released four Bond films, 'Casino Royale' was instead released as a satirical spy comedy by the now-defunct Famous Artists Productions after Eon rejected the project. Despite starring Peter Sellers, Woody Allen and Orson Welles, the movie is generally regarded as the worst Bond picture and — for many — isn't considered a Bond picture at all.
> Starring: Roger Moore, Christopher Walken, Tanya Roberts
> Favorable reviews: 40% of audiences
> Domestic box office gross: $50.3 million
'A View to A Kill' is the final Bond film to star Roger Moore, who was 57 during the shooting. The film is the first to show Bond travel to France — which would go on to be a popular destination in the franchise — despite being the 16th of the series, including the 1967 'Casino Royale' and 1983's 'Never Say Never Again.'
> Starring: Sean Connery, Kim Basinger, Klaus Maria Brandauer
> Favorable reviews: 37% of audiences
> Domestic box office gross: $55.5 million
'Never Say Never Again' is the second film adaptation of author Ian Fleming's novel 'Thunderball.' It is one of two James Bond films not produced by Eon Productions, which released the more popular 'Octopussy' the same year.
> Starring: Roger Moore, Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale
> Favorable reviews: 43% of audiences
> Domestic box office gross: $70.3 million
Eon Productions originally planned to release 'For Your Eyes Only' after 'The Spy Who Loved Me.' However, because of the success of 'Star Wars,' which came out in 1977, the company reconsidered and instead made the space-themed 'Moonraker.' The movie was the highest-grossing Bond film until the release of 'GoldenEye' in 1995.
> Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Sophie Marceau, Robert Carlyle
> Favorable reviews: 49% of audiences
> Domestic box office gross: $126.9 million
'The World Is Not Enough' is the final movie to feature actor Desmond Llewelyn in the role of Q, putting an end to a 17-film streak. It's also the first film in the series to feature a female character as one of the lead antagonists: Sophie Marceau as Elektra King.
> Starring: Roger Moore, Maud Adams, Louis Jourdan
> Favorable reviews: 47% of audiences
> Domestic box office gross: $67.9 million
'Octopussy' was released approximately four months before the independently produced 'Never Say Never Again,' starring Sean Connery. The film grossed $12 million more in the U.S. than the latter release.
> Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry, Rosamund Pike
> Favorable reviews: 41% of audiences
> Domestic box office gross: $160.9 million
Pierce Brosnan played the role of James Bond in four films, completing his tenure with 2002's 'Die Another Day.' The film, which is the 20th Eon-produced Bond movie, was released 40 years after the first Bond film, 'Dr. No.'
> Starring: Roger Moore, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland
> Favorable reviews: 56% of audiences
> Domestic box office gross: $21 million
Another Roger Moore turn as 007. This time, Bond faces the imperious Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee), who plans to sell solar cell technology to the highest bidder. The movie is memorable for Scaramanga's alluring hideout — an island redoubt off the coast of Thailand — and colorful supporting characters such as Scaramanga's diminutive henchman Nick Nack (Herve Villechaize), and tobacco-chomping Sheriff J.W. Pepper (Clifton James).
> Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Jonathan Pryce, Michelle Yeoh
> Favorable reviews: 53% of audiences
> Domestic box office gross: $125.3 million
The 18th Bond movie made by Eon Productions features Jonathan Pryce as media titan Elliot Carver, who has his sights set on breaking into the Chinese media market. After he is rebuffed by the Chinese, Carver tries to instigate a conflict between China and the West. Worth noting: The minister of defense in 'Tomorrow Never Dies' is played by 'Downton Abbey' creator Julian Fellowes.
> Starring: Timothy Dalton, Robert Davi, Carey Lowell
> Favorable reviews: 60% of audiences
> Domestic box office gross: $34.7 million
'License to Kill' is the second and final film to star Timothy Dalton as James Bond. Being generally more violent than other films in the series up to that point, it is the first Bond film to receive a PG-13 rating in the U.S. There was a gap of six years until the next Bond film, 'GoldenEye,' was released — the longest gap between Bond movies.
> Starring: Roger Moore, Yaphet Kotto, Jane Seymour
> Favorable reviews: 65% of audiences
> Domestic box office gross: $35.4 million
'Live and Let Die,' the first of Roger Moore's seven appearances as the British agent, takes Bond to the bayou after the mysterious deaths of several British agents within 24 hours. There he encounters Mr. Big (Yaphet Kotto), a major heroin dealer, and voodoo master Baron Samedi (Geoffrey Holder). The comic relief is provided by good ol' boy Sheriff J.W. Pepper (Clifton James). The movie is also known for its theme song, performed by Paul McCartney and Wings.
> Starring: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric
> Favorable reviews: 58% of audiences
> Domestic box office gross: $168.4 million
The second Bond film starring Daniel Craig is both violent and fast-paced, with many critics such as Roger Ebert criticizing it as being too much of an action film. Yet the film has many supporters who believe it to be an exciting, modern take on Bond. It's gritty, engaging, and, at 106 minutes — the shortest film in the series — exceedingly to the point.
> Starring: Timothy Dalton, Maryam d'Abo, Jeroen Krabbe
> Favorable reviews: 66% of audiences
> Domestic box office gross: $51.2 million
'The Living Daylights' is the first of two Bond films to star Timothy Dalton, following Roger Moore's departure from the series. While some at the time criticized Dalton's portrayal as moody and humorless, others were highly impressed, including 'The Washington Post' film critic Rita Kempley who, in 1987, described Dalton as the 'best Bond ever.'
> Starring: Sean Connery, Jill St. John, Charles Gray
> Favorable reviews: 58% of audiences
> Domestic box office gross: $43.8 million
'Diamonds Are Forever' is the final Eon Productions James Bond film to star Sean Connery, although the actor would return to the role once more in the independently produced 'Never Say Never Again.' The film is highly regarded for its humor, including a number of comical sight gags.
> Starring: Roger Moore, Carole Bouquet, Topol
> Favorable reviews: 64% of audiences
> Domestic box office gross: $62.3 million
Following 1979's space-themed 'Moonraker,' Roger Moore returned two years later as Bond in 'For Your Eyes Only,' a more grounded entry in the series that was shot in England, Italy, Greece, and the Bahamas. The film follows Agent 007 as he attempts to retrieve a stolen automatic targeting attack communicator that can be used to control British military submarines.
> Starring: George Lazenby, Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas
> Favorable reviews: 64% of audiences
> Domestic box office gross: $22.8 million
This is the only film in which George Lazenby played 007, and the first Bond movie that did not star Sean Connery. When the movie was released, critics were not kind to Lazenby, a model who had never acted in a movie before. More recent assessments of the movie have shown a greater appreciation of Lazenby as a more vulnerable Bond. In 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service,' Bond battles Spectre leader Blofeld (Telly Savalas), who plans to use women from various countries to contaminate the world's food supply. The film is remembered for Blofeld's henchwoman Irma Bunt (Ilse Steppat) and for Bond love interest Teresa 'Tracy' Draco (Diana Rigg), who marries Bond and is killed by Bunt.
> Starring: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux
> Favorable reviews: 61% of audiences
> Domestic box office gross: $200.1 million
'Spectre' is the most recent Bond release and the fourth to star Daniel Craig as 007. It's the first film to feature criminal organization Spectre and its leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld since 'Diamonds Are Forever' in 1971. The organization's first appearance was in 1962's 'Dr. No.'
> Starring: Sean Connery, Akiko Wakabayashi, Mie Hama
> Favorable reviews: 69% of audiences
> Domestic box office gross: $43.08 million
'You Only Live Twice' is the last of the first five Bond movies starring Sean Connery, who sought to get out of Bondage and avoid typecasting. Like the previous four Bond films, 'You Only Live Twice' was a rousing success. In the movie, American and Soviet spacecraft vanish in orbit, and each nation blames the other. Bond travels to a Japanese island to confront Blofeld (Donald Pleasence), the head of the crime organization Spectre that is behind the disappearance of the spacecraft.
> Starring: Sean Connery, Claudine Auger, Adolfo Celi
> Favorable reviews: 73% of audiences
> Domestic box office gross: $63.6 million
By the time 'Thunderball' was released in 1965, Connery had played the unflappable James Bond three times and was becoming concerned about being typecast. Still, the moviegoing public couldn't get enough of 007, and 'Thunderball' was a huge hit. In it, Bond goes to the Bahamas to try and keep Spectre villain Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi) from holding the world hostage with stolen nuclear warheads. The movie is remembered for its underwater battle between scuba divers firing spears at each other.
> Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean, Izabella Scorupco
> Favorable reviews: 83% of audiences
> Domestic box office gross: $106.6 million
'GoldenEye' is the first Bond film to star Pierce Brosnan, who replaced Timothy Dalton in the role of James Bond. It is also the first film to feature Judi Dench in the role of M, a character never before portrayed as a woman. James Bond personally kills 39 people in the film, the second highest body count behind only 'Octopussy.'
> Starring: Roger Moore, Barbara Bach, Curd Jurgens
> Favorable reviews: 76% of audiences
> Domestic box office gross: $46.8 million
There are highlights aplenty in 'The Spy Who Loved Me,' from the breathtaking skiing sequence at the beginning of the film to the conversion of the Lotus sports car into a missile-firing submarine. There is also one of the great Bond assassins in Jaws (Richard Kiel), a large man with metal teeth who chomps a shark to death. Jaws is employed by madman Karl Stromberg (Curd Jurgens), who tries to provoke a nuclear holocaust and then create a civilization under the sea. Bond reaches a detente with Russian spy Anya Amasova to try and stop Stromberg.
> Starring: Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Bernard Lee
> Favorable reviews: 82% of audiences
> Domestic box office gross: $16.1 million
'Dr. No' is the movie that launched the franchise. Producers Harold Saltzman and Albert Broccoli considered Cary Grant and James Mason, among other actors, to play the British agent, while Bond author Ian Fleming preferred David Niven. But once Connery won the role, he put his stamp on the character. The plot of 'Dr. No' revolves around a deranged scientific genius, Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman), who wants to disrupt the U.S. space program.
> Starring: Sean Connery, Robert Shaw, Lotte Lenya
> Favorable reviews: 83% of audiences
> Domestic box office gross: $24.8 million
'From Russia With Love' is one of the few Bond movies whose plot addresses Cold War tensions. Bond travels to Istanbul to try and get hold of a Soviet decoding machine before the crime organization Spectre gets it. The film is also remembered for Bond's fight with humorless former KGB agent Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya), who tries to dispatch Bond with poison in the toe of her shoe.
> Starring: Sean Connery, Gert Frobe, Honor Blackman
> Favorable reviews: 89% of audiences
> Domestic box office gross: $51.1 million
This might be the archetype of Bond movies. First, the characters and actors: Gert Frobe plays the formidable Goldfinger; Shirley Eaton is the gold-painted Bond girl Jill Masterson; and Harold Sakata portrays lethal villain Oddjob, who wields a deadly bowler hat. Of course, Bond drives the ultra-cool, tricked-out Aston Martin, equipped with bullet-proof shield and machine guns. And the over-the-top plot involves Goldfinger's plan to contaminate the gold at Fort Knox to boost the value of his own gold supply. Not to mention, it is in 'Goldfinger' that Bond utters his most famous line: 'A Martini. Shaken, not stirred.'
> Starring: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Judi Dench
> Favorable reviews: 89% of audiences
> Domestic box office gross: $167.5 million
2006's 'Casino Royale' is the first film to star Daniel Craig as James Bond. Fans and critics alike immediately took to the blond-haired Craig in the role. The film is considered a reboot of the series, and classic characters such as Q and Miss Moneypenny were absent from the script. Yet the focus on other characters, such as Bond himself, is strong compared to what was seen by many as an increasingly excessive focus on gadgetry in prior Bond films.
> Starring: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Naomie Harris
> Favorable reviews: 86% of audiences
> Domestic box office gross: $304.4 million
'Skyfall' is, according to fans and critics, the best Bond film of them all, a view is supported by the numbers. The film grossed more than $304 million at the domestic box office — $100 million more than 'Spectre,' which is the second-highest grossing film in the series. The film also scored five Oscar nominations (more than any other Bond film) and won two. It was also the first Bond movie to be filmed in China — an element that may have helped it become the first movie in the franchise to gross more than $1 billion worldwide.
24/7 Wall Street is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news and commentary. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.