Roger Moore's Best James Bond Moments, Film by Film

Roger Moore
Sean Connery may have been the best Bond, but he never skipped across a row of alligators like Roger Moore. Getty Images

Roger Moore died on Tuesday at the age of 89. The British actor, who was knighted in 2003, was best known for playing James Bond in seven films, from 1973's Live and Let Die to 1985's A View to a Kill. Though Sean Connery will always be remembered as the original and greatest James Bond in the movies, Moore was the longest-tenured, both in years and number of films.

Bond has always been known for his daring stunts and improbable escapes, and in the Roger Moore era, 007 negotiated his way out of sticky situations with an almost comical flair. Some of his escapades seem better suited for a cartoon than a live-action British intelligence officer, and it's these over-the-top hijinks that set Moore apart from other Bonds. Here are the most memorable moments from each of his Bond films.

Live and Let Die (1973)

While Bond is in the Louisiana bayou, Tee Hee Johnson—right-hand henchman of Kananga, the film's villain—strands Bond on a small island in the middle of a pond of hungry crocodiles. As the crocs take to the island and close in on Bond, he skips to safety across the backs of a row of them still in the water.

The Man With the Golden Gun (1974)

In a scene straight out of The Dukes of Hazzard, Bond, with a panicking Sheriff J.W. Pepper in the passenger seat, floors a muscle car over a warped, diplaidated bridge. It corkscrews perfectly onto the other end of the bridge, because of course it does.

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

In the opening scene from The Spy Who Loved Me, Bond is bedding a blonde in a mountain-top chalet when he gets a message from headquarters requesting his presence. He hops on his skis and heads down the mountain, but the blonde tells the men she is working with to pursue Bond. A chase scene ensures. Bond blows away a bad guy with a ski-pole gun in mid-slalom, does a flip off a cliff and flies off a much larger cliff before deploying a parachute and gliding to safety.

Moonraker (1979)

Thrown from a plane with no parachute, Bond nose-dives after a parachute-packing bad guy, catches him and wrestles the chute away in mid-air. He's not safe yet, though. One of the great Bond villains, Jaws, is on his tail, and just as the metal-mouthed giant is about to chomp into Bond's leg, Bond deploys his chute and, once again, glides to safety.

For Your Eyes Only (1981)

After getting thrown off a mountain, Bond finds himself dangling from a rope, his fate suspended by a few flimsy carabiners. Almost immediately, he de-laces his boot and fashions a MacGyver-esque pulley system to hoist himself up the rope. Once he reaches the top, he knifes the guy who threw him off the mountain. Right in the jugular.

Octopussy (1983)

Dressed in a full clown getup, Bond frantically tries to warn Octopussy and a circus full of people that a bomb is about to go off in 90 seconds, causing a riot. They eventually realize this clown with perfect bone structure isn't joking, and he deactivates the bomb one second before it is set to detonate.

A View to a Kill (1985)

Bond disarms an ax-wielding Christopher Walken on the Golden Gate Bridge. That's all you really need to know. Then, as usual, he saves the girl. A fitting end to Roger Moore's decade-plus run as the world's most famous special agent.

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About the writer


Ryan Bort is a staff writer covering culture for Newsweek. Previously, he was a freelance writer and editor, and his ... Read more

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