Daniel Craig’s James Bond Films Ranked: 20 Years After 'Casino Royale'
By Elliot Lines - October 5, 2026
Twenty years ago, Daniel Craig ordered his first vodka martini and changed James Bond forever. When Casino Royale arrived in cinemas in 2006, Craig became the sixth actor to officially play Ian Fleming’s 007, stepping into a role carrying decades of expectations — and facing plenty of scepticism before audiences had even seen him in action.
What followed was a 15-year run spanning five films, taking Bond from his brutal beginnings as a newly minted 00 agent through betrayal, heartbreak and increasingly personal missions. Craig's era gave the franchise a greater sense of continuity than ever before, while delivering everything from grounded espionage to the extravagant spectacle traditionally associated with 007.
Now, as Casino Royale celebrates its 20th anniversary, we're looking back at Daniel Craig's complete James Bond era. From Casino Royale to his explosive farewell in No Time to Die, which of Craig's five 007 adventures comes out on top?
5 Quantum of Solace (2008)
Following Casino Royale was always going to be an unenviable task, but Quantum of Solace makes life even harder for itself by acting as an almost direct continuation of Craig's debut. Bond is still reeling from Vesper Lynd's betrayal and death, throwing himself into a mission that quickly becomes as much about revenge as it is stopping Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric). There's a genuinely interesting idea buried within that — a Bond who hasn't simply brushed off the events of the previous film — but Quantum of Solace rarely gives Craig enough room to explore it.
At only 106 minutes, everything moves at such a frantic pace that the film struggles to leave much of an impression. The action is plentiful, yet the rapid editing can make even its biggest sequences difficult to enjoy, while Greene never feels like a villain worthy of going toe-to-toe with this version of 007. Craig remains completely committed, and his colder, angrier performance makes sense after Casino Royale, but this is the one film of his era that feels more like an extension of something better than a memorable Bond adventure in its own right.
4 Spectre (2015)
After Skyfall seemingly found the perfect balance between Daniel Craig's grounded interpretation and everything audiences traditionally associate with James Bond, Spectre attempts to push that idea even further. The ingredients are certainly there. Christoph Waltz as Blofeld, Léa Seydoux as Madeleine Swann, the return of Spectre itself and one of the franchise's most impressive opening sequences as Bond makes his way through Mexico City during the Day of the Dead celebrations.
Unfortunately, Spectre becomes far too obsessed with connecting everything that came before it. The decision to position Blofeld as the man secretly responsible for Bond's suffering across the previous films feels forced rather than revelatory, taking individual villains and stories that worked perfectly well and unnecessarily tying them together. There is still plenty to enjoy — particularly Craig's increasingly effortless presence as 007 and some stunning locations — but after the confidence of Skyfall, Spectre feels like a film trying too hard to prove that everything was part of one grand plan.
3 No Time to Die (2021)
Daniel Craig's final outing as James Bond was never going to settle for a quiet goodbye. No Time to Die goes big in almost every possible way, bringing back Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), introducing Rami Malek's unsettling Lyutsifer Safin and giving Bond something he had rarely been afforded before: a life beyond MI6. Craig's Bond has always been more emotionally vulnerable than his predecessors, but here that vulnerability is pushed to the forefront as the character is forced to confront love, family and what he is prepared to sacrifice for both.
Not everything lands. Safin becomes increasingly underdeveloped as the film progresses and its hefty runtime can occasionally be felt, but when No Time to Die focuses on Bond himself, it delivers. Craig gives arguably his most emotional performance in the role, while the film still finds time for some excellent action, including Ana de Armas' far-too-brief appearance as Paloma. Then comes that ending. Killing James Bond was always going to divide audiences, but as the conclusion to Craig's unusually interconnected era, there is something fitting about allowing his version of 007 to do what none of the others could: definitively say goodbye.
2 Casino Royale (2006)
The pressure surrounding Daniel Craig's first appearance as James Bond is easy to forget now. Following his controversial casting, Casino Royale needed to do more than introduce a new 007; it needed to convince audiences that Bond could change. Within the opening sequence alone, any doubts quickly disappear. This is a younger, rougher and considerably more dangerous Bond, one who hasn't yet perfected the charm and sophistication we associate with the character. Watching him become that man is what makes Casino Royale such a compelling introduction.
Yet for all the brutality of the parkour chase, airport sequence and infamous torture scene, the film's greatest strength is the relationship between Bond and Vesper Lynd (Eva Green). Their chemistry gives Craig's debut an emotional weight rarely seen in the franchise, turning Vesper's eventual betrayal and death into something that genuinely reshapes Craig's character. Mads Mikkelsen's Le Chiffre is equally excellent, proving a Bond villain doesn't need a world-ending scheme to feel threatening. Casino Royale didn't simply reinvent James Bond for a new generation; it gave the character a vulnerability that would define Craig's entire tenure.
1 Skyfall (2012)
If Casino Royale successfully reinvented James Bond, Skyfall proved that Daniel Craig's version could still embrace everything that made the character an icon in the first place. Sam Mendes takes the grounded foundations of Craig's first two films and combines them with 50 years of Bond history, bringing back familiar ingredients without allowing the film to become consumed by nostalgia. The Aston Martin DB5, Q (Ben Whishaw) and Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) all return, but importantly, each feels like a natural part of this world rather than a box being ticked.
What really elevates Skyfall, though, is how personal it becomes. Javier Bardem's Raoul Silva is one of the Craig era's greatest villains, his history with M (Judi Dench) giving the conflict an intimacy that raises the stakes without needing another enormous world-ending threat. Roger Deakins' cinematography also makes this arguably the best-looking Bond film ever made, from the neon-lit Shanghai sequence to the burning Scottish landscape of its finale. Skyfall understands exactly what Daniel Craig's Bond had become while remembering what James Bond had always been. The result is the most complete film of Craig's tenure, and one that still stands among the very best the franchise has produced.
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Elliot Lines
Founder/Lead Editor
Elliot loves to surround himself with all things movies. Whether that be his movie related LEGO collection or enough Blu-rays to restart blockbuster.
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