Albert R “Cubby” Broccoli said that “From Russia With Love”, “Goldfinger”, and “The Spy Who Loved Me” were his favourite Bond films. He hedged when asked his least favourite but admitted that he`d like to change parts of “The Man With The Golden Gun”. In interviews he claimed that “Moonraker” and “A View To A Kill” were tops among his output, though this might have been good PR since this was immediately prior to those films`s release.

Sean Connery said that Thunderball” and “From Russia With Love” were his favourites, while Roger Moore chose from amongst his own “The Spy Who Loved Me” and, as runner-up, “Octopussy” (Sean Connery praised the action sequences in that particular film). Timothy Dalton said that of his two, he preferred his first “The Living Daylights”, but admitted that his second, “Licence To Kill” had a better story. Pierce Brosnan`s favourite Bond film is “Goldfinger”, but “You Only Live Twice” has his favourite scene: the men scaling down into the mountain.

Bond director Terence Young considered “Thunderball” to be his weakest Bond film, while fellow Bond director Lewis Gilbert apparently once said that “OHMSS” was the worst Bond film.

Bond screenwriter Richard Maibaum considered “Moonraker” to be the worst (he once told an interviewer point blank that he “didn`t like” screenwriter and Bond novelizer Christopher Wood`s writing). He wasn`t much kinder to either “Live And Let Die” or “The Spy Who Loved Me”. He considers “OHMSS” to be his best Bond screenplay, and “A View To A Kill” his worst (he jokingly said that even Shakespeare had written “Two Gentlemen From Verona” by way of explanation). He considered “For Your Eyes Only” a failure, but a step in the right direction and liked both Dalton Bond films (though felt that the tanker chase at the end of “Licence To Kill” was overdone; he said that sometimes less is more). He considered “OHMSS” Fleming`s best novel, and “The Spy Who Loved Me” Fleming`s worst.

Lois Maxwell (Miss Moneypenny until the mid 80`s) chose “From Russia With Love” as the best, and “Moonraker” as the worst. She was also less than complimentary about the “slash and cut” approach of “Licence To Kill”.

Guy Hamilton regrets the Bond films he directed with Roger Moore (“Live And Let Die”, “The Man With The Golden Gun”).

Kim Basinger hated “Never Say Never Again”. In an interview she did with Adam Pirani in July 1989 to promote BATMAN, she said: “The worst experience I`ve ever had, except I got to live in Europe for a year. But that was it. It was absolutely horrible. Even Sean`ll tell you that. It was terrible and if it hadn`t been for Sean Connery, the film would never have happened. He had people telling him how to play James Bond. It was just pathetic.”

Lorenzo Semple, Jr. wrote Never Say Never Again, but lived to regret it. “I remember the panic that was starting just as I was leaving, so i`m very happy not to be further involved in Never Say Never Again. If I seem to be blaming Kersh (the Director, Irvin Kershner), I am. I think he`s extremely undisciplined. The script problems wouldn`t have occurred if we had a director who was a craftsman.” Kershner had directed Sean Connery in 1966`s A Fine Madness but even Connery didn’t trust Kershner or his sense of humor.