Money for old rope is not always a bad thing

Depends what you do with the rope, doesn't it?

The Boy didn't fully understand what was being done to Daniel Craig during the torture scene until I explained it on the way home in the car. Then he was writhing.

Anyway. Casino Royale.

Best. Bond. Ever.

It has acting. It has characterisation. The plot is not silly. The credit sequence is not boring and semi-pornographic. And when you finally get to hear the classic Bond theme right at the end, you actually feel it's because Bond has earned it.

Ben's Best Bonds By Bond:

Sean Connery

• From Russia With Love
• Goldfinger

George Lazenby

• On Her Majesty's Secret Service. (This being the only Lazenby it has to be the best and the worst of his offering. It's actually a darn good Bond movie, let down by a not very good Bond. Think of it as The One with Louis Armstrong and Diana Rigg.)

Roger Moore

• For Your Eyes Only (also with acting and characterisation, and the best line of all the Moores, as a teen nymphette tries to seduce him: "put your clothes on and I'll buy you an ice cream.")

Timothy Dalton

• The Living Daylights

Pierce Brosnan

• The World is Not Enough (finally giving M something to do; in fact, I'll be heretical and say Judi Dench brings more to the role than Bernard Lee did.)
  

You may gather I incline more towards strong story lines featuring international espionage and acts of derring-do rather than scenery chewing megalomaniacs who want to rule the world. Again. So that's where I'm coming from when I repeat - Best. Bond. Ever.