3. Goldfinger (1964)
Riding the wave of success that Bond had endured since its inception (with Dr. No and From Russia with Love going down a treat both critically and commercially), Goldfinger is another expertly-crafted Bond flick, and easily one of the best and most memorable in the entire series. Though Connery delivers another live-wire performance as Bond, the lion's share of the praise this time really goes to Gert Frobe, who plays the unforgettable villain, Auric Goldfinger, and does so in a way that lovingly references Ian Fleming's source material. Who can forget the immortal line, "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!". Goldfinger also introduces us to what would become many of Bond's mainstays, such as the Aston Martin DB5 (which appears again in Skyfall), and Q's gadget-filled lab. If all this wasn't enough, it's also got probably the best henchman in the entire series, in hat-hurling cronie Oddjob, and the most absurdly-named Bond girl to date - though Denise Richards' one comes close - Pussy Galore. With so many elements, it would have been easy for Goldfinger - like some of the later-day Brosnan films - to become too silly and messy, but here everything is perfectly-balanced, engaging the right amount of OTT-ness with genuinely thrilling action sequences and strong characterisation.