#3 Goldfinger starring Sean Connery (1964): Rating 007

Bond pursues Goldfinger after the murder of Bond girl Jill Masterson, showing off the skills of his Aston Martin DB5 but failing to avoid the clutches of Goldfinger's quirky assistant, Oddjob. Goldfinger plans to contaminate Fort Knox's military and devalue the United States' gold supply through operation Grand Slam, but Bond's persuasion has allied him with Goldfinger's chief pilot, Pussy Galore. While the action doesn't end here, Bond's battle with Oddjob within the vault at Fort Knox proves to be a definitive moment in Bond lore (following the giant laser scene, of course!).

#4 Thunderball starring Sean Connery (1965): Rating 005

Blofeld once again orchestrates the action from the background, as SPECTRE hijacks two atomic bombs for the ransom of one hundred million pounds sterling. Bond chases the bombs and Emilio Largo of SPECTRE, using Largo's mistress Domino in the process. The plot is less smooth or sophisticated than some of the others, but the host of assistants make the interplay worthwhile. There are plenty of hokey fight scenes, reminding viewers of the Adam West-Burt Ward Batman television shows, but the shark pool is frighteningly realistic. Bond will tangle again with sharks in later films, but the way he navigates the female "sharks" in and out of bed sets a standard for womanizing that few films will match.

#5 You Only Live Twice starring Roger Moore (1967): Rating 004

Written by another author of well-known children's books, Roald Dahl, this Bond opens the action by dying spectacularly in Hong Kong. While world powers contemplate WWIII over a missing American space station, Bond fights ninjas, flies around in a goofy-looking helicopter and pursues Blofeld (Donald Pleasance) of SPECTRE. Blofeld does pull out the line that has been spoofed once or twice now, "allow me to introduce myself," but the funniest moment is also the first time that smoking ever saved a life.

#6 On Her Majesty's Secret Service starring George Lazenby (1969): Rating 004

The strangest pickup move ever? Bond stops Tracy, daughter of Marc-Ange Draco, head of European criminal syndicate, from killing herself and ends up "dating" her. Draco pays Bond to romantically pursue her in exchange for information about Blofeld (Telly Savalas). Looking like a cross between Clive Owen and Vinnie Jones, Lazenby's Bond really does fall for Tracy, and we find out that Bond's family motto means "the world is not enough." In his first excessively pompous disguise, Bond ends up in Blofeld's mountaintop experimental laboratory, trying to stop a mass assassination of sorts. Bond professes love to Tracy and marries her, only to lose her to a Blofeld assassination.

#7 Diamonds Are Forever starring Sean Connery (1971): Rating 003

Bond chases Blofeld (Charles Gray) all over the world, and explores diamond smuggling through a funeral home with humorous results. Two assassins, Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd, chase smuggler Tiffany Case (Jill St. John) and Bond in the shadows, while Bond deals with a moon buggy escape and a Dukes of Hazzard-like chase through Vegas. There are encounters with multiple Blofelds and a battle with martial arts models, climaxing stupidly in a final battle on an oil rig.

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