Any successful film franchise will inevitably be self-criticized, like some sort of cinematic postmodern expression.  For instance, one only compares James Bond films with each other:  This one was good, but that one was better.  The same can be said for not only the actors who portray Bond, but also for the ones who portray the Bond villains.

It’s a franchise that has earned the right to feed itself.  Here are ten of the most memorable, and important, moments from the James Bond films.  Some might be familiar from other lists; hopefully a few are new ones.  These are in chronological order:

1. Dr. No (1962): The dinner scene with Bond, Honey Ryder, and Dr. No is the first of many from the franchise.  Established here is the now classic moment when hero and villain square off across a table, trading wit and words as a set-up to when they will trade fists and bullets.  (Bond:  “Tell me, does the toppling of American missiles really compensate for having no hands?”)
2. From Russia with Love (1963): I’ve written it before, and I’ll write it again.  The fight onboard the Orient Express between Red Grant and James Bond is the fight against which all other Bond fights must be compared…no, against which all other cinematic fights must be compared.
3. You Only Live Twice (1967): Blofeld’s volcano hideout is impractical, ridiculous, illogical and totally awesome.  A villain’s lair never looked so incredible.
4. The Man with the Golden Gun (1973): Christopher Lee portrays Scaramanga as Bond’s foil.  He is Bond’s mirror image, working for profit rather than country.  That’s interesting, and neat.
5. Moonraker (1979): The pre-credits sequence, with Bond thrown out of a plane mid-flight wearing no parachute, is the best part of the film and among the best opening Bond sequences.
6. For Your Eyes Only (1981): None of his Bond films before prepared audiences for Roger Moore’s Bond in this film.  Locque, the silent assassin, is trapped in his car as it dangles over a high cliff.  Bond, exercising his license to kill, vengefully kicks the car, sending it and Locque onto the rocky cliffs below.  It’s the darkest moment from the Moore years, and it’s pitch perfect.
7. Licence to Kill (1989): After Bond sabotages Sanchez’s underwater cocaine shipment, henchmen surround him and sever the breathing tube to his scuba tank.  In a real moment of frantic improvisation, Bond harpoons a tether to the bottom of a ski-plane, water skis behind the plane, hijacks it and then flies away with millions of dollars in drug money.  It’s a thrilling moment made breathless by the precise timing of the Bond theme.  Great stuff.
8. Goldeneye (1995): Like Scream (1996) for slasher films, here’s a Bond film that knows it’s a Bond film.  When captured by Russian Security, Bond expects his rival to monologue.  Instead, the Russian jumps right into questioning, at which point Bond asks, “What, no small-talk?  No chit-chat?  That’s the trouble with the world today.  No one takes the time to do a really sinister interrogation anymore.  It’s a lost art.”
9. The World is Not Enough (1999): Bond kills the beautiful, sinister Elektra King.  Granted, he gives her every opportunity to surrender and comply.  But he actually shoots her, point blank, right there on the movie screen.  Then, with only a momentary emotional pause, he dives into the sea and saves the world.
10. Casino Royale (2006): The chase in Miami from the art exhibit through the international airport and then onto the runway is great cinema.  It’s large scale, thrilling, and edited and directed with such skill that the audience never loses sight of where the action takes place.  The parkour chase after the opening credits is equally well-done.