Utterly iconic, James Bond (whoever that may be at the time) walks to the center of screen. A barrel of a gun follows him as he casually moves towards the middle. His accompanying theme plays smoothly as the tuxedoed spy turns towards the screen, and just like that, he murders us point-blank.



While Dr. No didn’t have a pre-title sequence (a cold open), it did introduce this legendary gun barrel sequence. A cold open has become a staple for Bond, with every single James Bond movie after Dr. No containing an introductory scene before the gun barrel. These cold opens are a setting up of what is to come; perhaps a villain’s grand plan is playing out for the first time, or James needs to stretch his muscles and remind us exactly of what the double-oh agent is capable of.

These cold opens would also reflect which Bond viewers were getting: Connery’s intros were cool and assured. Lazenby’s single entry was straightforward, yet meta. Moore’s 70s and 80s outings were comic, goofy, and sometimes psychedelic. Then Dalton came in and brought a violence, an anger to his sudden bursts of an entrance. Brosnan and the 1990s was a fresh start, with cold opens featuring new villains and a bigger emphasis on sex. And finally, Craig’s cold opens were realistic and white-knuckled, with incredible action sequences.

If there’s one thing we’ve noticed writing this list, it’s that with each new iteration of Bond, their very first cold open has to count. As an introduction to a new take on England’s greatest spy, you need to know you’re getting your money’s worth from the ticket fee, and these great openers certainly assure that.

6 Casino Royale (2006)

Casino Royale would present this new Bond as a somewhat green agent. Rough and ready, hands on, perhaps too gung-ho even. Rugged was the name of the game here, as this new Bond showed his physicality. No crazy gadgets, no nice cars, just this new guy lumping through a chase on foot after an incredibly slippery terrorist.

Related: Why James Bond Should Expand Into a TV Series

Taking a leaf out of fellow spy Jason Bourne’s book, this update felt modern and gritty, and the villains’ Parkour skills versus Bond’s physicality as he smashes through dry walls reflected the old vs new. Exhausting by its conclusion, the jump from one crane to another is genuinely breathtaking, truly signaling a thrilling new era.

5 Live and Let Die (1973)

As one of the few additions to completely exclude Bond from its opener, Live and Let Die packs so much into its first five minutes. Jet-setting from the United Nations to New Orleans and then the Caribbean, a man watches a funeral procession through the streets. A brass band plays in jazzy New Orleans fashion and mourners cry. Asking a local whose funeral it is, they reveal a switchblade and tell him “Yours!” The man is carted away in the casket and the mood immediately improves, with the band swinging and swaying to an upbeat number. This opener would reflect the rest of Live and Let Die‘s 70s fun and violence (three men are murdered across three separate parts of the world in this cold open) and Paul McCartney’s theme is epic.

4 From Russia With Love (1963)

It’s late at night. Bond sneaks around a darkened garden as a large blond hunts him. With so little sound to speak of, aside from the footsteps, crickets and bird calls, this is a fearful addition to this list. Immediately, the hero we recognize is on the back foot and physically being stalked in an unknown location. Usually so sure of himself, our superspy hero looks genuinely fearful of this set up. Taken by surprise, he is strangled by his predator, and Bond is killed in front of us.

And then: misdirection! The lights come up, and a crowd have been watching the whole event, just like we have. The man who had been killed is wearing a mask of James Bond as a test for their killer. 007 lives… for now. This intro in From Russia With Love would set up the rivalry and the matching of wits for one of the series high’ points in the train segment much later in the film. 1967’s You Only Live Twice would repeat the trick and “kill” Bond in its first scene as well.

3 Skyfall (2012)

Skyfall doesn’t give you a second to acclimatize to what’s going on. You have no idea where we are, or who the villain is. We’re told how important this piece of tech is and how vital it is to be retrieved, but nothing more. In this non-stop intro, Bond and Moneypenny chase a criminal with a vital hard drive and tell the audience to strap themselves in. You’ve known these characters for multiple movies now, and this intro demands you just sit back and drink it in. A chase from A to Z, this one doesn’t give you a moment of breath as the action transitions from every kind of vehicle out there, from a cool car to a massive digger.

In an example of how big the Bond series’ scope really is, this cold open alone is more expensive and grand than the entirety of most movies. Finally giving Moneypenny something to do, her misfire hitting Bond shows that he is at the end of day but a tool for their devices and perhaps now his usefulness is finally up. Craig sorting his cuffs after boarding the train (after being shot) is effortlessly cool.

2 Goldeneye (1995)

In a chilly Mother Russia, a silent Bond clothed entirely in black infiltrates a heavy military base with a thrilling bungee jump; Bond’s drop off of the dam would set a record for “highest bungee jump off a fixed structure.” Once inside, 007 and 006 fight their way through the base on a mission to destroy, slinging bullets and puns along the way. As the introduction to Pierce Brosnan’s Bond, and a return after a six-year gap since the previous License To Kill film had alienated some viewers, Goldeneye had to make an impact from its very first second. Fortunately, the film’s intro has all the hallmarks of a great cold open, give or take a ridiculous freefall off a cliff and into an airplane. Sean Bean as the overly patriotic 006 is a fantastic touch to compliment James’ Bond’s rugged cool.

Related: The Best James Bond Villains, Ranked

Credit where its due, check out how fantastic the sound design is from start to finish across this almost ten minute long cold open — the silence in the wind as Bond bungees down the dam, the squeaky wheels of the canister cage to break up the tense shootout and the diesel of the motorbike engine transitioning so naturally into the whir of the plane’s rotor blades.

Stunt performer Wayne Michaels jumped the dam and got the shot in a single take… and would pass out by the end of the cord. This cold open in particular is so good that the legendary Goldeneye game on the N64 would base its set up and hours of gameplay on this intro alone.

1 The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

Reeking of the groovy 70s, Bond has just bedded a woman in a log cabin. The fire blares and the two make out atop a bear skin rug. With the sudden news of a nuclear sub having gone missing, the 007 agent is needed for Queen and country.

Dressed in bright yellow ski-wear, Roger Moore is chased down the Austrian mountain by thugs close behind him. Machine guns in tow, he dodges and weaves his way down the cliff face until chased off the precipice… his skis drop from his feet and then nothing. Silence as Bond drops. A parachute emerges in the colors of the Union Jack and the Bond theme plays, leading to Carly Simon’s classic song Nobody Does It Better.

Martin Campbell, director of two titles on this list (Casino Royale and Goldeneye), would openly admit to this also being the best stunt in any Bond film. The stunt performer, Rick Sylvester, wrote about the day in his wonderful piece for Moonshine Ink:

To my amazement I, a humble stunt double, was given an opening credit in The Spy Who Loved Me, something that to my knowledge was unprecedented in the history of cinema. I also got invited to a sneak preview of the film at a theater in Westwood a block or so from the UCLA campus. When the stunt screened, I heard a woman whisper to her companion in the row behind us, “How do they do that?” Her friend answered, “They use dummies.” My mother, who was with me, swiveled around and said, “Yes, my son, the dummy.”

With the introduction of Jaws as one of Bond’s finest villains, alongside the underwater car, not only does The Spy Who Loved Me rank highest on Best Bond Intros but is simply one of the best Bond movies altogether.