Les Roopanarine: Timothy Dalton's monogamous, deadpan 007 brings a more nuanced interpretation to the central character, whose relationships evolve in ways rarely seen in the earlier films

The darkness of the modern Bond is foreshadowed in what has come to be seen as one of the runts of the 007 litter

Anne Billson: Goldfinger has the most sinister villain and best soundtrack but it's the inept fumbling of 007 that truly sets this Bond film apart

Ben Child: The film that revived the franchise, bringing a dash of 21st-century realism with its brutalised, melancholy hero

Andrew Pulver: It was 1977, the year of jubilee and punk, but Roger Moore's smirking Bond was fully at ease with Britain's lameness

The glamour has lost its sparkle and Sean Connery's 007 is jaded and woozy, but that only makes the seventh Bond a rough Diamond for Xan Brooks

Tom Lamont: The lavishness of the villain's execution is enough to give this 1995 Pierce Brosnan outing the gilded edge over its 007 rivals

In the second of our Favourite Bond series, Philip French falls for the unselfconscious charm of Dr No: a modest thriller with Sean Connery as the tough, stylish hero