When it comes to James Bond, I’ve never been a big Roger Moore fan. While I was probably too young to appreciate Connery, Moore was the Bond with whom I really grew up – the one I saw at the drive-in when I was in high school. But I always thought of him as campy and unrealistic (as if any Bond could even be realistic). But I kind of enjoyed re-watching these movies, even though some of them were absolute clunkers.
So here you have my Roger Moore James Bond movies ranked in descending order. I’ve looked elsewhere and seen some who disagree with me – sometimes astonishingly so. But in the end, remember that I am the right one here…
7. Live and Let Die. Perhaps the worst Bond movie ever. I can’t even begin…so I won’t.
6. A View to a Kill. Started poorly, but improved enough to stay leaps and bounds ahead of Live and Let Die. But Grace Jones? Ugh (although she reminded me to watch “Demolition Man,” — the music video — and I dare anyone else to watch it). Not a terrible movie, but bad enough that even Christoper Walken couldn’t look good in it.
5. Moonraker. Yeah, a James Bond space movie…maybe only something Roger Moore could pull off. It’s gonna be a bit hokey, but not horrible.
4. Octopussy. See, now we’re getting into cold war stuff and the real bad guys. And the circus.
3. The Man with the Golden Gun. Christopher Lee could not not be one of the best Bond villains and his island hideout was the absolute coolest (that big mirror thing that came out of a rock? Awesome!). And Hervé Villechaize was a great sidekick. The only thing that kept this movie out of the top two was Sheriff J. W. Pepper.
2. For Your Eyes Only. Wow! A Bond movie where he hasn’t bedded at least three women within the first hour. This one was actually a tame and reasonable story that stayed away from the Roger Moore groaner moments quite well.
1. The Spy Who Loved Me. This movie had everything, and it was pretty well done (comparatively). C’mon, a submarine car? What’s not to love? Great villain, cold war, beautiful Russian spy…and of course, Jaws.