10 Best James Bond Movies Of All Time

2. Skyfall

Under the helmsmanship of Sam Mendes, Skyfall is perfectly pitched somewhere between the realism of Craig-era Bond, the cool bombast of the old 007 stories, and the introspection of a Mendes movie. Then it throws in shuddering action and a gonzo villain in Javier Bardem, and you have what some reasonably refer to as the greatest James Bond movie ever made.

Numerous superlatives can be thrown at Skyfall: it has the best cast (Bardem, Ben Whishaw, Albert Finney and Ralph Fiennes join the returning Craig and Judi Dench), the best cinematography (Roger Deakins does some of his finest work here), and the best single-take monologue ("Now, they only eat rat..."). As the 50th anniversary movie, it delivers as the sum of half a century of 007, and then some.

Though it doesn't quite top Casino Royale for soul-searching angst - there are too many great set-pieces going on for all that - Skyfall is unique in that it makes reference to a noticably older Bond. Here, Bond is fallible, broken down and less effective than he once was. That doesn't stop him winning in the end, but no other Bond movie makes you question the longevity of 007 quite like Skyfall.