Casino Royale (2006) voted best James Bond movie of all-time

Nothing changes, the Bond franchise continues to cause furious debate, which is fine of course, though that statement is pretty far and away ill informed.

How about then, for counter point measure >

It happens to be essential Fleming's Bond

The gadget malarkey of the latter Connery movies were gone and now was a Bond who had a heart with real emotions and used brain and brawn to fight with real aggression 

It's a stunning action film in its own right, the opening fist fight is high quality as men get punched off their feet and drop kicks send them spinning backwards. Then to helicopter attacks, bobsleigh pursuits (resplendent with punches and flinging bodies), ski chases and a car chase in the middle of a stock car race: on ice! There's enough pulse pumping action here to fill out two Bond movies.

Lazenby has a wonderful physicality and he throws a mean punch, he cuts a fine figure of a man

Lazenby is matched by Rigg as Tracy, the best Bond girl of them all, she's no bimbo, she's tough (fighting off a guy with a broken bottle), smart yet vulnerable, funny and heart achingly beautiful, her interplay with Lazenby is brilliantly executed, so much so that when the devastating finale arrives it has extra poignancy. A scene that closes the film on a downbeat note and remains the most emotional scene ever put into a Bond movie.



Savalas finally gives us a villain who can compete with Bond on a physical level, making the fight between them an evenly matched and believable one. He lacks Pleasance's sinister fizzog, though the bald pate and Grecian looks marks Savalas out as an imposing foe as well.

The Swiss Alps setting is gorgeous, with the scope captured magnificently, while some of the colour lensing in the interiors soothe the eyes considerably.

Barry's score is one of his best, lush romantic strains accompany Tracy and James, operatic overtures dart in and out of the Swiss scenery and the James Bond theme is deftly woven into the action sequences. Louis Armstrong's beautiful "We Have All The Time In The World" features prominently, perfectly romantic and forever to be thought of as part of the Bond Universe.

Finally it's the great writing that gives us the best sequence involving the trifecta of Bond, Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell) and M (Bernard Lee). 5 minutes of class that gives Moneypenny an acknowledged importance in the relationship between the two men in her life.

I'm not trying to convert you, we all like what we like and should stick to it, but I felt the need to point out a few things on why it is actually loved by so many above being about marriage and a devastating finale.