4. Spectre<\/b><\/h2>\n $\""James\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Danjaq, LLC and Columbia Pictures Industries<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\nAvailable on Amazon Prime Video<\/a>, Sky Store, YouTube, Google Play and Microsoft<\/strong><\/p>\n
Star Trek fans used to swear by a rule that all odd-numbered films in that franchise disappointed and something similar applies to the Daniel Craig Bond movies, with the Casino Royale\/Quantum of Solace double being followed first by the sublime Skyfall and then the bloated Spectre, which stumbles in its efforts to implausibly link the events of the four prior movies via Christoph Waltz\u2019s Blofeld (now reinvented, for some reason, as Bond\u2019s long-lost foster brother) and sees a subdued Craig \u2013 who sustained a serious injury during filming \u2013 appear to struggle with the film\u2019s more fantastical tone and limp climax. Originally envisioned as his exit from the franchise, Craig deserved better for his final appearance as Bond \u2013 and though it took longer than planned, he eventually got it.<\/p>\n
3. No Time to Die<\/b><\/h2>\n $\""No\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
MGM \/ Eon<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\nAvailable on Amazon Prime Video<\/a>, Sky Store, YouTube, Google Play and Microsoft<\/strong><\/p>\n
Perhaps the most controversial entry in the franchise\u2019s history, with fan reactions to its explosive ending ranging from outrage to those who felt killing off Craig\u2019s 007 provided a fitting send-off to his tragic take on the hero, No Time to Die<\/a> didn\u2019t quite reach the heights of the actor\u2019s very best outings as Bond but was a marked improvement on its baggy predecessor.<\/p>\n
Though, like Spectre, some of its more outlandish elements don\u2019t integrate wholly successfully into the more grounded world of Craig\u2019s Bond, where this climax to his era really soars is in digging deeper than ever before into the secret agent\u2019s humanity and his vulnerability, even giving him a family \u2013 something at last to fight for, and to live for, and to die for, beyond just Queen and country. Once you\u2019ve seen it, it\u2019s sort of difficult to imagine how else the Craig era could\u2019ve ended \u2013 just having the tortured spy ride off into the sunset with L\u00e9a Seydoux\u2019s Madeleine (again), this time with little Mathilde (Lisa-Dorah Sonnet) in tow, wouldn\u2019t have been anywhere near as satisfying.<\/p>\n
That being said, let whoever comes next reinvent Bond in their own way<\/a> \u2013 and maybe even reintroduce a little more tongue-in-cheek humour. This is a franchise that\u2019s always thrived on reinvention, after all.<\/p>\n
2. Skyfall<\/b><\/h2>\n $\""Daniel\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Skyfall \u00a92012 Danjaq, LLC, United Artists Corporation, Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All rights reserved. \u00a9 MGM<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\nAvailable on Amazon Prime Video<\/a>, Sky Store, YouTube, Google Play and Microsoft<\/strong><\/p>\n
The Craig era didn\u2019t always successfully manage to fuse 007 tropes of old with the franchise\u2019s new, more modern outlook, but arguably the most successful attempt was 2012\u2019s Skyfall, which saw this Bond back behind the wheel of his Aston Martin DB5, once again appearing alongside the likes of Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) and Q (Ben Whishaw), and going up against a wonderfully grotesque villain \u2013 in the form of Javier Bardem\u2019s Raoul Silva \u2013 but in a story that still felt like it wouldn\u2019t have fit any other Bond era, exploring our hero\u2019s roots as well as themes of moral ambiguity and great personal loss (RIP, Judi Dench\u2019s M).<\/p>\n
All that and it\u2019s got a shotgun-toting Albert Finney barking \u201cWelcome to Scotland!\u201d after eliminating two thugs encroaching on his turf. What\u2019s not to love?<\/p>\n
1. Casino Royale<\/b><\/h2>\n $\""Daniel\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
2006 Danjaq, LLC and United Artists<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\nAvailable on Amazon Prime Video<\/a>, Sky Store, YouTube, Google Play and Microsoft<\/strong><\/p>\n
It\u2019s a tight contest between this and Skyfall \u2013 you\u2019ll find advocates in Bond fandom for either to have taken the top spot here \u2013 but the impact that Casino Royale had on release in 2006 marks it out as the more important movie, the one which absolutely defined Daniel Craig\u2019s era as 007.<\/p>\n
Following a lukewarm reception to both the previous film in the series \u2013 2002\u2019s Die Another Day \u2013 and (initially at least) Craig\u2019s casting as Bond, this was a pivot point for the franchise, a juncture at which it needed once again to reinvent itself dramatically or face being consigned to the dustbin of history.<\/p>\n
We all know what happened next \u2013 Bond rebuked the critics once again and re-established itself as a major player in the world of modern blockbuster cinema by stripping away all that might\u2019ve once seemed sacrosanct (the quips! The gadgets! The \u2018007 family\u2019 of Moneypenny, Q et al) and unleashing a revitalised version of the character played by a steely but sympathetic Craig \u2013 ably supported in his 007 debut by a sensational turn from Eva Green as Vesper Lynd and the absolutely magnetic Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre.<\/p>\n
Taking the skeleton of Ian Fleming\u2019s first Bond novel and building around it an action thriller that felt genuinely dangerous and unpredictable at points, this was the most exciting and challenging the franchise had felt for years. Never mind the Craig era, Casino Royale is one of the best Bond movies ever, period.<\/p>\n
Visit our Movies<\/a> hub for more news, interviews and features, or check out our TV Guide<\/a> to find something to watch now.<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n
The latest issue of Radio Times is on sale now \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0to get each issue delivered to your door. For more from the biggest stars in TV, l<\/strong>isten to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a> with Jane Garvey.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/body><\/html>\n
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By Morgan Jeffery Published: Wednesday, 02 March 2022 at 12:00 am Daniel Craig\u2019s era as James Bond 007 is officially over \u2013 and while we wait for news on who his replacement might be, we can reflect on his tenure as Ian Fleming\u2019s spy, which radically changed the face of one of cinema\u2019s most enduring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Morgan Jeffery Published: Wednesday, 02 March 2022 at 12:00 am Daniel Craig\u2019s era as James Bond 007 is officially over \u2013 and while we wait for news on who his replacement might be, we can reflect on his tenure as Ian Fleming\u2019s spy, which radically changed the face of one of cinema\u2019s most enduring…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/11669"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}