In a departure from our normal favorites lists, we’re featuring a series list. Here is the complete list of James Bond films that starred Sean Connery as James Bond. Read on for the plot of each film, familiar features used for the first time, as well as the stars who played villains and Bond girls.
Dr. No (1962)
In the first Bond film, Bond travels to Jamaica to investigate the disappearance of a fellow agent. It turns out the disappearance is tied to a criminal organization named SPECTRE (Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion) trying to disrupt the U.S. space program. SPECTRE’s man in Jamaica is Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman) who using a powerful radio jamming device powered by a nuclear reactor on his private island. To stop Dr. No, Bond visits the island where he meets Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress) who appears from the surf in one of the most famous entry scenes in film history. Jack Lord, of Hawaii Five-O fame, appears as CIA agent Felix Leiter. Dr. No introduced several familiar Bond film elements including a master villain, the first Bond girl, the opening graphic filmed down a gun barrel, the distinctive James Bond theme music and Bond introducing himself as “Bond … James Bond.”
From Russia With Love (1963)
In the second installment of the Bond franchise, 007 searches Istanbul for a Russian decryption device before SPECTRE can get its hands on it. Meanwhile, the evil syndicate seeks revenge for the death of their agent Dr. No. Bond romances and helps clerk Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi) defect while dodging SPECTRE agents Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya) and Grant (Robert Shaw). From Russia with Love was made before the Bond “format” was perfected in Goldfinger. There is more focus on spy craft and less on gadgets and shootouts. Bond is not yet the indestructible wrecking ball that he becomes in later films. The film was an enormous success and is still considered by many to be one of the best of the franchise.
Goldfinger (1964)
Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe) loves gold and seeks to make his own stash the only viable gold supply in the world. His plan is to break into Fort Knox and detonate a nuclear bomb, making the U.S. gold supply useless for decades. Honor Blackman plays the most famous of bond girls, Pussy Galore. The third James Bond film was a huge success and ensured the franchise’s popularity and longevity. It also introduced several themes we have come to recognize in every Bond film. Like later films, Goldfinger started with a seemingly unrelated action sequence in which Bond wraps up an earlier mission and the mission around which the movie revolves concludes with a large-scale battle. For the first time, Bond banters with Q as he is equipped for his mission. Also, for the first time, the villain has a deadly sidekick, Odd Job played by Harold Sakata. In another first, the opening credits run with a theme song specifically written specifically written for the film and performed by a major recording artist. In this case, Shirley Bassey.
Thunderball (1965)
SPECTRE is back. They’ve stolen two nuclear warheads and are blackmailing NATO. Bond travels to the Bahamas to investigate where he matches wits with SPECTRE #2 Emil Largo (Adolfo Celi) and assassin sidekick Fiona (Luciana Paluzzi). Along the way, he romances Domino (Claudia Auger). Thunderball features a thrilling underwater battle as Bond tries to stop Largo from detonating one of the bombs just off Miami. Tom Jones sings the title theme.
You Only Live Twice (1967)
You Only Live Twice opens with a scene in which Bond is presumably killed by assassins in Hong Kong. The assassination is a ruse in order to throw his many enemies off his trail. Unfortunately, SPECTRE is once again threatening the world. This time, it is working from a secret base inside a Japanese volcano from which it launches spacecraft to hijack US and Soviet space launches. As the superpowers blame each other and prepare for war, Bond is sent to Japan to investigate. Donald Pleasance plays Ernst Stavro Blofeld who is directing the operation. The film concludes with an epic battle as Japanese ninja commandos descend into the volcano. SPECTRE is thwarted but Blofeld escapes to trouble Bond again. Nancy Sinatra sings the title theme.
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
As Diamonds Are Forever begins, Bond finally ends his arch enemy Ernst Stavro Blofeld just before Blofeld was about to get a new identity. Instead of a well-earned rest, Bond is sent to investigate a diamond theft and smuggling operation. He goes first Amsterdam to investigate where he meets Tiffany Case (Jill St. John) who is part of the smuggling ring. Assuming the role of smuggler Peter Franks, Bond and Tiffany travel to Las Vegas with the diamonds. Unfortunately, this is not a routine diamond smuggling operation. It is SPECTRE and Blofeld who are stealing the diamonds to use in the creation of a space weapon capable of threatening the world’s major cities. Putter Smith and Bruce Glover play an interesting pair of villains whose job is to kill anyone with knowledge of the diamonds. In an interesting twist, Blofeld is played by Charles Gray who had played a British agent in You Only Live Twice. Shirley Bassey returned to sing the title theme.
Never Say Never Again (1984)
After Diamonds Are Forever, Sean Connery, tired of playing the character and being typecast as James Bond, swore he would never play the character again. In the fittingly named Never Say Never Again, he returned to play an aging version of the famous secret agent, although he was several years younger than the current Bond, Roger Moore. The film was a remake of Thunderball with Klaus Maria Brandauer playing Largo and Kim Basinger playing Domino. Max Von Sydow is Blofeld, and Barbara Carrera plays assassin Fatima Blush. Lani Hall performed the title theme.