Every James Bond Pre-Title Sequence of the 60s, Ranked

Every James Bond film is packed with intrigue, suspense, violence and edge-of-your-seat action. The franchise shines a light on luxurious lifestyles and exotic locations which immediately transport the audience into the Bond universe. There is a list of things that happen in nearly every 007 film, including the character's iconic way of introducing himself, "Bond, James Bond," to having Martinis "shaken not stirred" to theme songs to Q's gadgets to the many Bond girls, and iconic chase scenes.

The pre-title sequence is another hallmark of the franchise, renowned for its audacious, wild and bombastic action. Bond fans know that you have to be in your seats and ready for launch when the lights go out. The opening sequence establishes the tone of the film, and is renowned for huge stunts, breathtaking action and loads of memorable moments. It usually finds Bond in the middle of a mission and, most of the time, doesn't really have much to do with the main plot. Whether it's Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, or Daniel Craig leading the way, the pre-title sequence delivers some dazzling action and memorable scenes. We have omitted the 1967 David Niven spoof Casino Royale, and Dr. No, because it is the only Bond movie to not have an action sequence prior to the titles. Here is every pre-title sequence from Bond movies of the 60s, ranked.

5 'You Only Live Twice' (1967)

You Only Live Twice opens with a U.S. spacecraft in orbit with an astronaut heading out on a space walk. Another ship comes by and swallows up the American craft and sends the astronaut floating in space forever. During the height of the Cold War, the Americans believe the Russians stole the craft, but British Intelligence learns that one of the crafts has landed in the Sea of Japan.

Meanwhile, Bond is on location in Hong Kong in a bedroom with Ling, his Chinese contact. She double-crosses Bond, leaving him trapped in a folded up Murphy bed, while two men come in with guns blazing. The police show up and pronounce Bond dead and say, "At least he died on the job. He would have wanted it this way." As the movie progresses, it's revealed that MI6 faked 007's death to Bond deep undercover to investigate the mystery of the stolen spacecraft. It's a good scene but doesn't have enough of the main character and kind of leaves one wanting more.

4 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' (1969)

On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the first, and only, James Bond film starring Australian actor George Lazenby. It begins with the new Bond, looking debonair, sitting in his car at Guincho Beach in Portugal. There he finds a suicidal Tracy, played by Diana Rigg, who he rescues from the ocean as two henchmen arrive to collect her. There is an action-packed fight scene as Bond takes on two men with oars, anchors and a boat by the ocean. While Bond is preoccupied, Tracy takes his car and drives up a hill before running out of Bond's car and hopping into her vehicle and storming off.

As Bond stands alone on the beach watching Tracy drive off, he drops one of the cheesiest lines in 007 history: "This never happened to the other guy." Lazenby's Bond showed more of a vulnerability than Connery's portrayal. On Her Majesty's Secret Service is by far the most romantic of the Bond films, as 007 falls for Tracy and the pair eventually get married. This sequence serves as a memorable, yet cheeky introduction to Lazenby's Bond.

3 'Thunderball' (1965)

Thunderball's opening packs a punch. The intro shows Bond at a funeral with the initials "JB" on the casket. Bond and his French contact quietly chat watching what looks like a widow grieve. The widow leaves the church and opens a car door and gets inside and they drive off. When the widow returns home, Bond is waiting to offer his respects and lands a shocking punch to the face. Quickly, viewers discover it's a man in drag, who is trying to kill Bond. An intense fist fight breaks out, involving a grandfather clock, chairs, vases and a fire iron that comes in handy for Bond.

As Bond makes his narrow escape from the second floor of a French château, he throws on a helmet and grabs a jetpack and flies away, just as henchmen begin to send gun fire in his direction. He lands next to his parked Aston Martin DB5 where his French contact is waiting, and they drive off after spraying henchmen with water out of the back of the car. It's a classic Bond opening with a memorable stunt and lots of action that still surprises people to this day.

2 'From Russia with Love' (1963)

From Russia with Love opens with a creepy and suspenseful scene featuring Robert Shaw as Grant, a SPECTRE assassin, who is quietly chasing Bond at night around a hedge maze. After a few jump scares, Grant sneaks up behind Bond, pulls a wire out of his watch and strangles him to death. At that moment, the floodlights turn on, showing a château and Walter Gotell who plays Morzeny, a SPECTRE trainer, says the only line in the scene: "Exactly one minute 52 seconds, that's excellent." He pulls a Bond mask off, revealing a dead mustached henchman.

The pre-title sequence of From Russia with Love began the trend of "killing off" Bond to keep us on the edge of our seat. Bond also had his death faked out in the beginning of You Only Live Twice and Skyfall. The opening sequence of From Russia with Love brilliantly shows off Bond's enemy and sets up one of the best action scenes when he fights Grant on the train.

1 'Goldfinger' (1964)

Goldfinger set the blueprint for the Bond pre-title sequence. It has it all: humor, romance, tension, explosions, death, double-crossing and electrocution. It opens at night in Havana with a duck scurrying across the water. Bond emerges from the water with a full wetsuit and breathing apparatus and that decoy duck on his head. He angrily throws his duck helmet into the water when he reaches shore. He gets right to work sneaking around and times a bomb to go off. As he heads to a local bar, he removes his wetsuit to reveal a full white tuxedo.

He casually lights a cigarette just as the bomb goes off in the distance, sending everyone scurrying. Bond then heads to a hotel room where he is double-crossed by a woman and ends up fighting a henchman and tossing him into a full bathtub and throwing an electric fan in the tub. Bond slyly says: "Shocking. Positively shocking." Goldfinger has the best pre-title sequence of the 60s and created the rulebooks for directors to follow moving forward.