10 Best Film Sequels By Different Directors

The Sequel To: Die Another Day (Tamahori, 2002)

The Director: Martin Campbell

Taking Over From: Lee Tamahori

Not so much a sequel as a reboot (but a still sequel in the way that all Bonds are ostensibly sequels to one another), Casino Royale presented the series' most drastic tonal shift. Director Martin Campbell had already overseen one successful franchise redirection when he took on Goldeneye (six years after its predecessor, Licence To Kill) but he was charged with something wholly different here as he attempted to save the series from the throes of the woeful Die Another Day.

But, with a new, blonde, hard Bond (Daniel Craig), Campbell took the series back to its roots, stripping 007 down and paring away the kitsch to leave a streamlined, tough, 21st century incarnation that serves as the best example of Ian Fleming's iconic character since the early Sean Connery days.

Royale is easily a top five Bond, not only for Craig himself, who now has legitimate claim to being one if, if not the, best Bonds, but also for the supporting cast (Eva Green is a great Bond Girl), the locations (Montenegro dazzles), the set pieces (two of which are absolute classics) and the dialogue, the best example of which sees Bond answer that he doesn't give a damn how his Martini is made—a new direction if ever there was one.