The best and worst of Bond

He's had a turbulent history, old 007. Moments of cinematic gold dust, swiftly followed by apparent sweepings from the cutting room floor, mashed up into a fourth-rate thriller and released to a ravenous and undiscerning public.

Some would argue that, like your shaken or stirred Martini, it's all a matter of taste, which is why we've had a whip round the office and assembled our own list of Bond's high-flyers and nose-divers.

Disagree violently? Want to fight it out with us? Leave a comment at the bottom.

The best:

Casino Royale
The 'blond Bond' is one tough cookie. Within minutes of the credits he's chased some poor bastard to the tiptop of a teetering construction site then executed him in the middle of a consulate. Gets big ticks for a more vulnerable, less superhuman Bond (overlooking of course that hilarious resuscitation bit), that torture scene, and one of the most intense Bond girls of all time.

Thunderball
A suave Sean Connery sets out for the Bahamas, armed only with his charming wit, a Walther PPK and a spear gun. Includes such plot gems as villains undergoing major plastic surgery, nuclear weapons, boat chases and a shark pool. Also, for Dark Knight lovers – the skyhook stunt made its debut in Thunderball. A classic.

The Living Daylights
Ah, Timothy Dalton. Out with the cheap gags, in with the serious business of saving the world. Follows Bond tradition by having a braindead leading lady and a baffling plot – defecting, un-defecting, arms dealers, drug smuggling, and the Mujahideen all feature. But it boasts some top set pieces: the mountainside cello race, the plane fight, and the one man assault on an MI6 safehouse are pure gold.

The worst

Die Another Day
Should have been something special – instead it's a two-hour lesson in abject silliness. The ridiculousness includes an invisible car, an ice palace, a resurrected Korean, Madonna's acting, and some (terribly) computer-generated kite surfing. But all this daftness is eclipsed by the suicidally terrible finale – a giant laser made from sunbeams? Sounds more Austin Powers than 007.

Tomorrow Never Dies
The most forgettable film of Pierce Brosnan's stint as James Bond. The Bond girls lack va-va-voom, and the idea of a villainous Rupert Murdoch-alike attempting to ignite hostilities between Britain and China just to get a scoop is pretty far-fetched. Though there was that bit where Brosnan and Yeoh jump from a one building to another on a motorcycle... over a flying helicopter.

A View To A Kill
Alright, so we'll give you Grace Jones and Christopher Walken, and the Duran Duran title track is a big hitter, but seriously, Roger Moore must have been eagerly awaiting his letter from the Queen by the time this one rolled around. We still have flashbacks to those deeply dubious final moments, which find Q perving on the old rascal as he's getting busy in the shower.

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