Once considered a misfire, OHMSS ranks among the very best of the series.Īvailable on Amazon, Hulu and Pluto TV, available to rent or buy on Amazon UK Diamonds are Forever (1971)Ī pale echo of the earlier Goldfinger (from the same director, Guy Hamilton), Diamonds are Forever is remembered as the movie that lured Sean Connery back for one more turn in the tuxedo (until 12 years later, that is). Lazenby manages to acquit himself nicely despite being the first actor to follow Connery, while Diana Rigg and Telly Savalas are outstanding as, respectively, the love of Bond’s life and the instrument of her death. Six credited directors, a bevy of screenwriters and a boatload of international stars couldn’t salvage this infamous mess of a movie.Īvailable to rent or buy on Amazon and Amazon UKĪustralian model-turned-actor George Lazenby made his sole appearance as Bond in this sixth film, an exceptionally faithful adaptation of the emotionally devastating Fleming book it’s based on. He subsequently produced this spoof of the 007 series, which bears only the title of the book and the name of the Bond character (who is played by David Niven).
Feldman acquired the rights to the first Bond novel before the official series from Eon Productions was launched. It was also the first Bond movie to stray wildly from the source novel, a decision that in this case didn’t work.Īvailable on Amazon, Hulu and Pluto TV, available to rent or buy on Amazon UK Casino Royale (1967) Although the movie finally introduces long-lurking nemesis Blofeld and takes Bond to a massive secret lair disguised as a volcano in Japan, the series started to feel flabby and the star seemed visibly bored. The final entry of Connery’s initial run as 007 proves that bigger isn’t always better. And with the recent passing of original James Bond Sean Connery at the age of 90, you might want to revisit his work, as well.Īvailable on Amazon, Hulu and Pluto TV, available to rent or buy on Amazon UK You Only Live Twice (1967) Wherever you get your Bond, the exploits of 007 remain a sure bet to whisk you away for a while it’s only a shame that we couldn’t send Bond to defeat the coronavirus as easily as he takes out his enemies. Of course, you can also watch a lot of them (with commercials) on Pluto TV’s dedicated Bond channel, or on demand there as well. A number of titles are free to stream on Hulu or Netflix.
Amazon has many of them streaming for free for Prime members, with almost all available to rent or buy. That’s why it’s so heartening that - even though the new film, No Time to Die, has been delayed due to the COVID-19 crisis - most of the Bond catalog is available to watch via the major streaming platforms. Personally, we’ve found the James Bond franchise to be among the best forms of such entertainment: the movies are pure adventure and fantasy, they have a comforting template that they mostly follow, and you can dive into the series - or even an individual film - without having to catch up on anything that came before. In times of great stress it’s natural for us to all find some sort of escapism – and movies are the perfect way to forget about your problems (or the world’s) for a couple of hours.