The HMSS Editor's Survey of the James Bond Films

Like fans of any other stripe, James Bond fans are inveterate list makers. We here at HMSS are sort of Bond fans ourselves -- just a little bit, mind you. At any rate, we thought it might be fun to have all our senior staff "grade" the movies and write up some comments on each one. Converting the grades into a point system gives us an opportunity for a little statistical analysis, i.e. some serious fanwanking. In an effort to keep the system (and our thinking) transparent, here's how the grade/point system breaks down:

A+ = 5 points B+ = 4.33 points C+ = 3.33 points D+ = 2 points

A = 4.9 points B = 4 points C = 3 points D = 1 point

A- = 4.66 points B- = 3.66 points C- = 2.66 points D- = 0 points

F = -1 point

As serious fans with at least some critical faculties, we've been pretty conservative with both the "A pluses" and the "F"s. We've also tried to allow for some shades of gray by being able to assign an extra third or two-thirds of a point. We don't know how scientific our grade weighting is, but the fun we've had with the project more than makes up for any lack of efficacy.

We hope you have fun with it too. Please click on any of the film titles to go to a "Comments Page" for that individual movie.

Enjoy,
the HMSS senior staff

Click on film titles
for Comments Pages Paul Baack Robert Cotton Bill Koenig James McMahon Michael Reed Ed Werner Tom Zielinski AVERAGE

4.33 points 4.66 points 4.90 points 4.00 points 4.51

5.00 points 4.97

3.66 points 4.57

4 .00 points 4.67

2.66 points 1.00 points 3.00 points 3.33 points 3.14

4.66

2.00 points 3.28

Negative 1 point 2.09

1.00

3.33

Zero points 0.90

4.33 points 4.90 points 4.00 points 3.28

2.43

3.00

0.67

4.66 points 4.41

3.71

4 .00 points 3.66 points 4.09

1.00 points 3.33 points 2.66 points 3.00 points 3.11

4.22

3.90

4.9 points 5 points 4.91

AVERAGE 3.64 3.23 3.92 3.30 3.03 3.56 3.36

graphical representation of Bond film rankings by average grade

FILM RANKINGS

RANK TITLE AVERAGE GRADE

1 From Russia with Love
1963 -- Terence Young
Sean Connery A    (4.97)

2 Casino Royale
2006 -- Martin Campbell
Daniel Craig A   (4.91)

3 Thunderball
1965 -- Terence Young
Sean Connery A-   (4.67)

4 On Her Majesty's Secret Service
1969 -- Peter Hunt
George Lazenby A-   (4.66)

5 Goldfinger
1964 -- Guy Hamilton
Sean Connery B+   (4.57)

6 Dr. No
1962 -- Terence Young
Sean Connery B+   (4.51)

7 The Living Daylights
1987 -- John Glen
Timothy Dalton B+   (4.41)

8 The World Is Not Enough
1999 -- Michael Apted
Pierce Brosnan B   (4.22)

9 GoldenEye
1995 -- Martin Campbell
Pierce Brosnan B    (4.09))

10 For Your Eyes Only
1981 -- John Glen
Roger Moore B-   (3.98)

11 Die Another Day
2002 -- Lee Tamahori
Pierce Brosnan B-   (3.90)

12 License to Kill
1989 -- John Glen
Timothy Dalton B-   (3.71)

13 The Spy Who Loved Me
1977 -- Lewis Gilbert
Roger Moore C+   (3.33)

14 Diamonds Are Forever
1971 -- Guy Hamilton
Sean Connery C   (3.28)

15 You Only Twice
1967 -- Lewis Gilbert
Sean Connery C   (3.14)

16 Tomorrow Never Dies
1997 -- Roger Spottiswoode
Pierce Brosnan C   (3.09)

17 Never Say Never Again
1983 -- Irvin Kershner
Sean Connery C   (3.00)

18 Octopussy
1983 -- John Glen
Roger Moore D+   (2.43)

19 Live and Let Die
1973 -- Guy Hamilton
Roger Moore D+   (2.09)

20 The Man with the Golden Gun
1974 -- Guy Hamilton
Roger Moore D   (1.00)

21 Moonraker
1979 -- Lewis Gilbert
Roger Moore D   (0.90)

22 A View to a Kill
1985 -- John Glen
Roger Moore D   (0.67)

AVERAGE GRADE      C+   (3.43)

AVG. FILM GRADES
BY DECADE

1960s 4.42

2000s 4.41
1990s 3.80

1980s 3.03

1970s 2.12

AVG. FILM GRADES
BY ACTOR
"There are lies; there are damn lies;
and there are statistics."

Daniel Craig 4.93

George Lazenby 4.66

Timothy Dalton 4.06

Sean Connery 4.02

Pierce Brosnan 3.83

Roger Moore 2.06

AVG. FILM GRADES
BY DIRECTOR

Peter Hunt 4.66

Terence Young 4.57

Martin Campbell 4.51

Michael Apted 4.22

Lee Tamahori 3.90

Roger Spottiswoode     3.09

John Glen 3.04

Irvin Kirschner 3.00

Guy Hamilton 2.74

Lewis Gilbert 2.46

FILM WITH WIDEST
RANGE OF GRADES:

Moonraker

Range: 3.66
(-1.0 to 2.66)

FILM WITH MOST
CONSISTENT
RANGE OF GRADES:

Casino Royale

Range: 0.10
(4.90 to 5.00)

LARGEST AVG. GRADE
INCREASE BETWEEN
SUCCESSIVE FILMS:
3.75

A View to a Kill 0.67

The Living Daylights 4.41

LARGEST AVG. GRADE
DECLINE BETWEEN
SUCCESSIVE FILMS:
2.43

The Spy Who Loved Me 3.33

Moonraker 0.90

MOST CRITICAL HMSS EDITOR

EDITOR AVG. GRADE/SCORE

Michael Reed C (3.04)

Robert Cotton C (3.23)

James McMahon C (3.30)

Tom Zielinski C+ (3.36)

Ed Werner C+ (3.56)

Paul Baack C+ (3.64)

Bill Koenig B- (3.92)


Click on film titles for Comments Pages								AVERAGE
								4.51
								4.97
								4.57
								4.67
								3.14
								4.66
								3.28
								2.09
								1.00
								3.33
								0.90
								3.28
								2.43
								3.00
								0.67
								4.41
								3.71
								4.09
								3.11
								4.22
								3.90
								4.91

AVERAGE	3.64	3.23	3.92	3.30	3.03	3.56	3.36