#8 Live and Let Die starring Roger Moore (1973); Rating 004

The villain in this one sets new highs for complexity and evil. After three British agents are killed within a twenty-four hour period around the world, Bond is sent to find out why, echoing Dr. No. He tracks down the drug-smuggling ring of Mr. Big and his mistress fortune teller, Solitaire, only to find that the mystery continues to deepen. Trapped by Mr.Big, Bond battles alligators, "Baron Samedi," sharks again, and a sidekick villain named TeeHee, who is as crazy as he is evil.

#9 The Man With The Golden Gun starring Roger Moore (1974); Rating 002

Thankfully, Christopher Lee lived to make better films than this one, about the assassin Scaramanga who repeatedly assembles his foolish-looking golden gun, while his dwarf manservant, Knick-Knack, looks on. Scaramanga thinks Bond is his one-and-only equal, and stalks him through Japan. The special effects look pathetic and Bond's partner, Goodnight (Britt Ecklund) is the dumbest of the Bond girls by far. Scaramanga echoes the speech of Dr. No, and that is not the last thing the script rips from Dr. No's storyline.

#10 The Spy Who Loved Me starring Roger Moore (1977); rating 005

Taking only the title from the Fleming novel, the action exceeds the first person narrative of Fleming's narrator Vivienne Michel. Here, Russian KGB XXX Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach) is easily Bond's match, as they jointly pursue Karl Stromberg (Curt Jurgens). The aquatic madman has stolen a submarine with his underwater monster of a vehicle, The Liparus, and killed everyone involved. Moore's travels include a Lawrence of Arabia-like send-up, a yellow ski suit, ridiculously feeble fight scenes, an amphibious Lotus Esprit and the villain Jaws (Richard Kiel), he of the silver teeth.

#11 Moonraker starring Roger Moore (1979); Rating 003

The Moonraker space shuttle is hijacked and Jaws reemerges. Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale) buys the Eiffel Tower, power-mad with a desire to control all of space and everything on earth that he can. Lonsdale plays Drax as a pretty goofy villain, the fighting/action scenes still look awful, and CIA operative Dr. Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles) lacks screen presence. As if wanting to be the Bond-meets-Star Trek version is not bad enough, Bond and Drax play a poorly conceived game of "I know you know that I know but we're pretending we don't know." Yawn.

#12 For Your Eyes Only starring Roger Moore (1981); Rating 005

In the opening scene, we share a personal moment with our British agent as he lays flowers on Teresa and James Bond's grave. Bond is kidnapped by Blofeld in a helicopter in a strange sequence but then turns the tables of course, to pursue a transmitter that controls submarines. Bond chases two women, including an ice-skating protègè who does most of the chasing, becoming the only woman Bond ever rejects. There is a car chase in a Volkswagon bug before a Zamboni battle, and then a rappelling assault on the villain's lodge. The absurd moments are equally dispersed among the more engaging ones.

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