Every James Bond Finale Ranked
22. Spectre - The Ruins Of MI6
Apparently the makers of Spectre were struggling with the film's third act before release and judging by the finished result, they didn't actually manage to fix it.
Like The Man with the Golden Gun, Spectre is let down by its finale being far too small. In it, Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) takes Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux) hostage and imprisons her inside the ruins of MI6's headquarters, which are imminently set to be destroyed by a bomb. Bond (Daniel Craig) is only given three minutes to save her.
It's mildly tense and the visuals in the ruins of MI6 are good, but after such a long action film loaded with huge set-pieces, something as low-key as this just felt like an unacceptable anti-climax - in fact, it might be the biggest of the whole series.
Furthermore, the ending to this finale is simply dire. After Bond shoots down Blofeld's helicopter (after escaping the collapsing building), he randomly decides to spare Blofeld's life and retires with Madeleine for no clear reason.
This was obviously intended to serve as an ending if Craig chose not to return, so it's a huge relief he did. Imagine if this entirely unearned conclusion had actually been the end for the best incarnation of Bond to date.