The 1970s marked the first period of true and extensive transition for the instantly iconic, now-historic 007 franchise. The series had premiered in 1962, swiftly launching itself and Scottish actorSean Conneryto international fame. For years, the Connery pictures steadily expanded in both financial terms and in terms of mystique and far-reaching exposure. The ’70s Bond pictures struggled a bit beforeRoger Moorefully, and very much to his credit, made the character his own, propelling the series toward new eras of prosperity. The following ranks every ’70s entry in the James Bond film series according to how purely entertaining and rewatchable they are.
5’The Man With the Golden Gun' (1974)
Directed by Guy Hamilton
This might be the closest the greatest film franchise of all time has come to producing an actively bad motion picture.The Man With the Golden Gunboasts one of the franchise’s most fleshed-out villains inChristopher Lee’s enthusiastic, methodical Francisco Scaramanga, and a tantalizing central premise (a tête-à-tête in line withGoldfinger), but it’sa dour and joyless affair that nearly ended the series.
This was Moore’s second outing as Bond, andThe Man With the Golden Gunsees theSaintstar struggling to form a new and consistent take on the character, in the still-looming shadow of Connery. This is thetonally inconsistent moviewhere Moore’s Bond hits a woman, and that should be a marker of how confused and lacking in confidence the whole thing is. Fortunately, producers would take the film’s failure quite seriously, hibernating for three years before the returning withThe Spy Who Loved Me. All would be right once again.
The Man with the Golden Gun
James Bond is pitted against the world’s most expensive assassin, Francisco Scaramanga, who uses a distinctive golden gun. Bond’s mission to retrieve a crucial solar energy device leads him to a deadly duel on Scaramanga’s private island, where he must outsmart and outshoot the lethal adversary.
4’Diamonds Are Forever' (1971)
FollowingGeorge Lazenby’s willing exit from the franchise, and the relatively tepid reception ofOn Her Majesty’s Secret Service(a great film, and a moderate financial success), Bond producers paid Sean Connery a record salary of $1 million to step back into the tux. It would appear that’s where most of the budget went, asDiamonds Are Forever, which sees Bond apparently give up on seeking vengeance against Blofeld (now played byCharles Gray) before stepping into a convoluted plot concerning smuggling and a space laser, is easilythe trashiest, sleaziest of all Bond movies.
Some of this is pretty fun, especially the Bond Girls:Jill St. Johnis quite amusing as Tiffany Case, andLana Wood’s Plenty O’Toole deserved more screen time. ButDiamonds Are Foreveris plagued with awful special effects and a campiness that just goes way too far. One movie before this, Blofeld had a menacing intellect, and killed the love of Bond’s life. Here, Blofeld wears full drag.It’s undeniably diverting at times, butDiamonds Are Foreveris a featherweight.
Diamonds Are Forever
James Bond infiltrates a diamond smuggling ring, uncovering a plot by his arch-nemesis Blofeld to build a space-based laser weapon. From Amsterdam to Las Vegas, Bond faces off against Blofeld’s henchmen and foils the plan, ensuring the diamonds return to their rightful owners.
3’Moonraker' (1979)
Directed by Lewis Gilbert
The end credits ofThe Spy Who Loved Me(a runaway hit and shot in the arm to the series) promised Bond would return inFor Your Eyes Only. However,Star Wars.That’s all, just:Star Wars. George Lucas' scrappy space opera exceeded the expectations of literally every human and became the biggest movie ever, revitalizing interest in sci-fi.Bond producers took some names and little else fromIan Fleming’s third novel, and henceforth shot cinema’s most famous spy for the first, and to-date only, time.
A man who murders people for a living whilst sleeping around and drinking like a fish, James Bond isn’t a character who should be in a kids' movie. Though there’s still plenty of violence and sex, Moonraker is the closest the Bond movie came to swinging at outright family fare. Apart from a woefully misplaced and gruesome Bond Girl death in act one, the picture is uniformly lighthearted, long before the action in space. Still, the production values on display here are generally outstanding, andMoonrakerholds a soft spot for some in the fandom. It was an enormous success, the highest-earning Bond film (unadjusted for inflation) beforeGoldenEyein 1995.Fans of Moore’s very specific take on Bond tend to enjoy re-watchingMoonrakerquite a bit.
2’Live and Let Die' (1973)
Following the one-off return of Connery inDiamonds,Live and Let Dieis one of a few critical moments in the franchise where things had to go right lest the series could very well have ended. Though the picture has some rough edges, things undeniably went very right overall.Live and Let Dieis often considered Moore’s second-greatest outing, and it’s among the more rewatchable films in the entire canon.
Co-starring a wonderfully calculated and menacingYaphet Kottoand a rapturously beautiful, 20-year-oldJane Seymourin an early role,Live and Let Diesought to emulate the blaxploitation action pictures of the day. It does this successfully while never losing sight of the slick and funny tone fans had come to expect from Bond. It’s a distinct yet breezy entry that’s quite inviting to revisit, boosted byPaul McCartney’s roaring title tune that ranks among the series' finest.
Live and Let Die
1’The Spy Who Loved Me' (1977)
The best and most rewatchable Bond film of the 1970s, far and away, isThe Spy Who Loved Me.There’s a case to be made for this beingthe best and most rewatchable Bond film ever, period.AfterThe Man With the Golden Guncame in way under expectations,Cubby Broccoliand company put everything into a Hail Mary installment that saw Bond trotting the globe to uncover a rich madman(Curd Jürgens)’s plot to murder millions, all while 007 falls for a competing Russian agent inBarbara Bach’s tough, alluring Agent ‘XXX’ Anya Amasova.
Roger Moore also clearly gave this enterprise everything he had, resulting inan admittedly lighter but entirely confident, commanding embodiment of James Bondthat was entirely his own. He deserves more credit for this than he gets to this day. Everything from the stunt work, to the jokes, to the disarming piano ballad “Nobody Does It Better” byCarly Simon, to the uncommonly fleshed-out romance, works perfectly inThe Spy Who Loved Me. Yeah,damn near nobody ever did this better.
