Number 1 of My Sean Connery James Bond Movies : While investigating a gold magnate’s smuggling ring, 007 uncovers a plot involving the Fort Knox gold reserve : Guy Hamilton’s GOLDFINGER is the embodiment of every James Bond movie that followed, from Connery’s exquisite self assured turn as British Secret Agent 007, the entertaining set pieces, Lois Maxwell’s familiar Miss Moneypenny, it’s wonderful & catchy John Barry score, those infamous Bond puns, recognisable villains, in Goldfinger it was Harold Sakata’s Oddjob and of course those marvelous Bond Women and in 1964 it was Honor Blackman’s iconic Pussy Galore that clawed the screen : in the Sean Connery 007 era Goldfinger has no equals, it’s an exciting spy thriller from start to finish and one that still holds up well today ★★★★★

Number 2 of My Sean Connery James Bond Movies : 007 goes head to head with an eccentric scientist, Dr No, who is determined to ruin the US space programme : DR. NO will always hold a place dear to my heart, it’s the first movie in the Bond franchise but it also has this incredible Jamaican backdrop including a place I’ve visited Dunn’s River Falls, Jack Lord’s best screen portrayal of Felix Leiter, the gorgeous Ursula Andress who’s scintillating turn as Honey Ryder and her infamous beach scene made quite the impression on a much younger me and of course it’s memorable music including Three Blind Mice that was used during it’s opening scene ★★★★★

Number 3 of My Sean Connery James Bond Movies : 007 heads to the Bahamas to recover two nuclear warheads stolen by S.P.E.C.T.R.E. : THUNDERBALL is the fourth film in the franchise and won an Academy Award for it’s special effects : the film itself is quite exhilarating containing all the trappings of a great spy thriller : Claudine Auger’s Domino dazzles, Adolfo Celi who plays Emilio Largo makes for a good 007 adversary, his eye-patch gives him added menace and those underwater assault scenes are truly magnificent to watch ★★★★★

Number 4 of My Sean Connery James Bond Movies : 007 gets involved with a naive Russian beauty in order to retrieve a Soviet encryption device that was stolen by S.P.E.C.T.R.E. : Robert Shaw’s Red and Lotte Lenya’s Colonel Rosa Klebb are just two of many reasons I love revisiting Terence Young’s highly entertaining FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE : the fight scene between 007 and Red in the carriage of the train is certainly amongst the film’s highlights and upon it’s release in 1963 the movie was a box office hit, almost doubling the takings of Dr. No that was released in the previous year ★★★★★

Number 5 of My Sean Connery James Bond Movies : 007 and the Japanese Secret Service must work together to stop a series of space hijackings, before war is declared between Russia and the US : YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE was written by Roald Dahl and directed by Lewis Gilbert who later delivered the superb Moonraker & The Spy Who Loved Me : primarily filmed in Japan and with a volcano set that could be seen from three miles away You Only Live Twice is one of those movies that took me a while to warm too and now I just love revisiting : I find it’s story one of the more interesting Bond outings that sees James team up with the Japanese Secret Service, the characters are interesting and at times the action is breakneck with one of my favorite moments coming 25 minutes in when Bond finds himself fighting this huge henchman in Osato’s office, it’s one helluva scene : although he would later hunt Michael Myers in Halloween what came before was a magnificent Donald Pleasence performance as Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Pleasence capturing the calculating madness of this iconic Bond Villain and putting his own stamp on the Bond franchise ★★★★

Number 6 of My Sean Connery James Bond Movies : A diamond smuggling investigation leads 007 to the bright lights of Las Vegas, where he uncovers an evil plot involving the Evil Mastermind Blofeld : don’t ask me why but growing up DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER was easily my most watched of the Sean Connery 007 movies : maybe it was the enchanting and sadly underused Plenty O’Toole played by Lana Wood or maybe it was Blofeld’s henchmen Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd who stole all the scenes they were in or possibly it could have been the Las Vegas backdrop that wowed me growing up…. but whatever the reason Guy Hamilton’s second Bond movie is a crazy mixed cocktail containing beautiful women, menancing & attractive villains, a Shirley Bassey intro song and Sean seeming to have fun with his last official outing as 007 ★★★★

Number 7 of My Sean Connery James Bond Movies : A S.P.E.C.T.R.E. Agent has stolen two American warheads, and it’s down to 007 to track their targets before they are detonated : not only is NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN a blotch on Sean Connery’s career it was also a terrible movie to direct by Irvin Kershner who had previously directed the great Empire Strikes Back : for Bond fans this unofficial outing of 007 is still a stinker with Connery looking old and disinterested, it’s humor & action incredibly bland, an awful & frankly quite annoying film debut by Rowan Atkinson and the movies villains are poorly written and carried out by their respective actors with a whimper : the only positive in the movie was the fight scene between Bond and Lippe played by Pat Roach : a huge misfire ★★★