Greatest Bond Moments

The James Bond films are the most successful movie series of all time. They are truly an international film phenomenon. Over 40 years old, the series shows no signs of slowing down. And over those 40 years, there have been many classic moments from the series. Here is a look at my choice for the top ten best moments.

Pleased to meet you
"Bond, James Bond", three little words that will live in movie history. Sean Connery uttered them for the first time in Dr. No,the very first Bond movie, and no one has ever said it quite like it since. Seated at a poker table, "Bond," light the cigarette, snap the lighter closed. "James Bond." It stands as one of the greatest character introductions of all time.

Under the mango tree
Like Venus Rising, Ursula Andress' stunningly beautiful Honey Ryder strode out of the ocean wearing a white bikini with a knife strapped to her thigh, creating the phenomenon we now know as the Bond Babe. She set the standard that all future women in the Bond series would have to live up to.

But does it come with a cup holder?
1964's Goldfinger, the third Bond movie, perfected the formula and is one of the greatest of them all, but it was Bond's gadget-laden Aston Martin that stole the show with its hidden machine guns, oil slicks and built in tracking device. Its greatest moment was of course when Bond used the built-in ejector seat to propel one of Goldfinger's nameless henchmen through its roof. With the press of that red button, the series was changed forever.

That must be why diamonds, and not gold, are a girl's best friend
Her part was small, but Shirley Eaton lives on as an icon of movie history for a scene in which she had no lines and was in fact dead. The image of her nude corpse covered in gold paint is quite possibly the most lasting image from the entire series.

Rule Britannia
Of the many classic pre-credit sequences, Roger Moore's The Spy Who Loved Me contains one of the best moments of them all. He is chased on skis down a snowy mountain. A cliff is approaching, but instead of turning, he flies over the edge, only to reveal that he is wearing a parachute that when it unfurls turns out to have the Union Jack emblazoned upon it.

Under the sea
Although Connery's Bond had his fair share of gadgets, it was Roger Moore who took them to the extreme as exemplified in The Spy Who Loved Me when Bond's Lotus Esprit turned into a submarine. The capper to the scene and perhaps the moment that truly marked Moore's Bond coming into his own was when after driving out of the water, he opened his door to let the water and even some fish cascade out of the car. His expression to the people watching was one that dared you to laugh.

For Your (and anyone else watching the credits) Eyes Only
The theme song has always played a big part of the Bond epoch, but it wasn't until 1981's For Your Eyes Only that the singer of one of the songs actually appeared in one of the movies, when sexy Sheena Easton appeared singing the title song over the opening credits.

Women Drivers
In Goldeneye, Pierce Brosnan got caught up in a driving duel with Famke Janssen on the twisting turning roads above Monte Carlo. The way she handled a stick proved too much for the new Bond and he had to watch her rear moving quickly away from him.

Always have an escape route
Women come and go, but the one constant in Bond's life, and the person who has saved his life multiple times, is none other than gadget master Q. Although Desmond Llewelyn, who portrayed Q for many, many years has passed on, at least he was able to say good-bye in The World is Not Enough.

Tradition be Damned
Daniel Craig moves swiftly to put his mark on the Bond franchise in Casino Royale. When a bartender asks him if he'd prefer his martini shaken or stirred, he snaps back, "Do I look like I give a damn?"