Here is something interesting. I was reading author Max Allen Collins' blog and came across an entry where he ranks the Bond films.
Ranking the James Bond Films « Friends/Family/Fans of Max Allan Collins
I have no great heartburn with the first, oh, 15, except that I'd take Diamonds Are Forever and The World Is Not Enough down a ways on the list. Diamonds is an afterthought with the Connery curtain call, and World just wasn't all that good for my tastes. (Thankfully, he leaves the first Casino Royale, an alleged satire but an actual steaming pile of wasted celluloid, off the list entirely.)