Every James Bond Finale Ranked

Casino Royale's climax - which takes place in a Venice hotel that is slowly sinking into the canals, is an exceptional finale on two key levels.

Firstly, it's another enthralling and ferociously intense Casino Royale set-piece that delivers the kind of hardcore brutality normally reserved for R-rated action flicks, and benefits hugely from the fantastic special effects and Martin Campbell's punchy direction.

But secondly, and far more importantly, it represents the most powerful storytelling the Bond series has ever delivered. Vesper Lynd's (Eva Green) betrayal of Bond and subsequent suicide is not only incredibly sad, but it breaks Bond and turns him into a brutal killer who trusts no-one.

In the past Bond films, Bond was a charismatic and unstoppable hero but this ending adds dimensions to him that were never there before and turns him into an incredibly tragic figure, thus perfectly reinventing the character for the franchise's grittier, post-9/11 reboot.

This finale does suffer a bit from Casino Royale's pacing issues - in that all the biggest set-pieces are in the first half - but other than that minor issue, it's absolutely masterful.