With Casino Royale now out on DVD, we look back at some great moments in the 007 series. By Bryan Reesman


Few film series are as celebrated as the James Bond saga, which encompasses 21 official movies, from the famous 1962 debut Dr. No to last year's fantastic Casino Royale. Adapted from and inspired by the spy novels of Ian Fleming, the cinematic adventures of British Secret Service agent 007 have left audiences shaken and stirred bysinister nemeses, stunning "Bond women," cool cars and contraptions, exotic locales, pithy one-liners, and nail-biting action sequences. And there are the inevitable debates over who's better. Sean Connery? Roger Moore? Pierce Brosnan?

The series got an upgrade last year when it brought lesser-known actor Daniel Craig into the fold. The dark-horse contender quickly won audiences over with his gritty portrayal of a young Bond who has just been promoted to 007 status. We see him make his first kill and how it transforms him, watch him nearly get killed, and witness him having his heart broken. Based on the first Bond novel, Casino Royale is bloody good entertainment, and it returns the series to more character-driven situations and subtler moments, which had been overwhelmed by gadgetry during the flashy Brosnan era.

 MGM honored the return of Bond with the re-release of all his movies in four box sets last fall, and I went back and watched them all again to pull out some golden moments. Following are what I consider to be the high points in the series. You'll no doubt have your own. But that's the fun of it: so many great scenes, so many memorable one-liners, so little space …

SPYING'S A GAS