Is there a greater giant of cinema than Sean Connery? From the 1960s to his retirement in the early 2000s, he was never anything less than a superstar. It’s a run of length, quality and commercial success that can only really be rivalled by his one time co-star and friend, Harrison Ford.
Though he appeared in more than 60 films across six decades, Connery will never not be James Bond, the role that ignited his career and brought his vast presence, complete with the shoulders of a heavyweight boxer, a toupee and his unmistakable and oft imitated voice to the world.
Coincidentally, he would play 007 seven times on screen over a period of 20 years but with an ambition and drive befitting his rise from working class childhood in Edinburgh to milkman to lifeguard to Hollywood icon.
During his lifetime, some critics could be sniffy about Connery’s acting, forever linking him to his most famous role but over his career, he would work with the likes of Alfred Hitchcock, Brian De Palma, John Huston, Sidney Lumet (five times) and Steven Spielberg.
Connery had many phrases to his career. From his Bond heyday to his determination to tackle more complex material throughout the back half of the '60s and all of the '70s before maturing into playing mentor like figures in the '80s and '90s. He would ultimately bag an Academy Award in the late 1980s.
Below, we have ranked Sean Connery’s 10 greatest films.
10. Dr No (1962)
In terms of cinema, there is before Dr No and after Dr No. The unexpected success of the first James Bond film in 1962 did not just birth the multi-billion pound franchise that is still ongoing but it was the earnest start of his film career after a decade of hustling in small roles and in regional theatre, the former bodybuilder went from a nobody to the biggest star in the world overnight.
In his first outing as 007, Connery already has his trademark confidence, wit and poise to go with his incredible physical presence.
Where to watch in the UK: Available to rent and buy from various platforms
Where to watch in the US: Available to rent and buy from various platforms
9. The Anderson Tapes (1971)
Connery’s first film after he said goodbye to Bond for good, The Anderson Tapes – complete with a funky Quincy Jones score – is a pretty prescient movie about electronic surveillance, pre-dating The Conversation and Three Days of the Condor. Connery isn’t too far away from his Bond persona here as a charming thief, complete with his womanising charm and imposing cool, but The Anderson Tapes and director Sidney Lumet, ask more of the Scot, especially with its downbeat ending.
Where to watch in the UK: Plex
Where to watch in the US: Plex
8. The Hill (1965)
View Green Video on the source websiteComing amidst Connery’s mid-'60s push to diversify his roles at the height of Bond mania, The Hill is a gruelling prison war drama, the antithesis to lightly toned capers such as The Great Escape and Von Ryan’s Express. Amid a fascinating ensemble that included Ian Hendry, Michael Redgrave and Ossie Davis, Connery portrays an imprisoned soldier raging against the machine as he and his fellow inmates are subjected to relentless abuse by commanding officers. Connery is remarkably restrained (not something that could be said often) as a man on the edge in this striking, visceral film about fear and justice.
Where to watch in the UK: Available to rent and buy from various platforms
Where to watch in the US: Available to rent and buy from various platforms
7. The Rock (1996)
In just his second film, Michael Bay somehow earned the trust of Sean Connery with the legend’s name power central to the success of The Rock. Expertly cast as an MI6 agent long held captive by the US government, The Rock is an endless sugar rush that has come to synonymise both Bay’s irrepressible style and the '90s action bonanza in general. Connery’s chemistry, both with Ed Harris’s earnest and Nicolas Cage’s typically offbeat chemical super freak is a hoot and a holler. The absolute best of its kind.
Where to watch in the UK: Disney+
Where to watch in the US: FXNOW
6. From Russia with Love (1963)
Connery’s second outing as 007 is a darker, more complex affair than Dr No, with its tone much closer than Ian Fleming’s books than virtually all of the adaptations. Despite a relatively mixed contemporary reception, From Russia with Love has endured as one of the most beloved Bond’s and was seen by Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson as the benchmark for the series.. A particular highlight is watching Connery face off against the film’s marvelously crafted villains in the forms of Robert Shaw’s SPECTRE assassin and Lotte Lenya and her poison tipped shoes as Rosa Klebb.
Connery’s personal favourite from his time in the role.
Where to watch in the UK: Available to rent and buy from various platforms
Where to watch in the US: Available to rent and buy from various platforms
5. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
The centrepiece of Connery’s later career role as playing a mentor character in a broad action-adventure film, the combination of Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford brought out something fresh in the actor. Playing Indiana Jones’s equally rambunctious father, Connery is an abundance of charm, humour and rascally adventure. These days, The Last Crusade feels from another planet, with its large scale on multiple exotic locations shoot, light caper tone and centrally, two synergistic performances from two behemoths of cinema. “She talks in her sleep,” remains one of the funniest line delivers you’ll ever hear.
Where to watch in the UK: Prime Video
Where to watch in the US: Disney+/Paramount+
4. Marnie (1964)
View Green Video on the source websiteAt the height of his Bond fame, Connery was admittedly a touch fed up of both the pressure that the role brought and its limitations on him as an actor. So Connery set out to broaden his horizons and willed into existence a collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock on Marnie. A brilliant, if controversial mystery and an example of Hitchcock’s films getting more explicitly darker towards the end of his career, Marnie also served as a fitting example of Connery’s early ambition and determination to work with best directors.
Where to watch in the UK: Available to rent and buy from various platforms
Where to watch in the US: Available to rent and buy from various platforms
3. The Offence (1972)
Across the course of his career, Connery collaborated with Sidney Lumet five times, the most he worked with any director. On each film, Connery would inhabit a very different role but none darker than in The Offence. One of the lesser known works in both men’s careers, The Offence was a passion project of Connery’s and saw him go to the greatest depths he found as an actor, playing a tortured police veteran, haunted by years on the murder beat. A startling, unforgettable film.
Where to watch in the UK: Prime Video
Where to watch in the US: Prime Video/MGM+
2. Goldfinger (1964)
Mention Sean Connery to anybody and there’s a very high chance that their brain will immediately flash up images of Goldfinger – whether that’s his garishly stylish round of golf with the titular villain or his discovery of Jill Masterson suffocated in gold paint.. In many ways, the quintessential Bond film, it’s the first one to lean in more on the humour that would become more prevalent in the series during Roger Moore’s stint as 007. Goldfinger is also the first Bond film Connery utters the now immortal line: “A martini. Shaken. Not stirred.”
Positively shocking.
Where to watch in the UK: Available to rent and buy from various platforms
Where to watch in the US: Available to rent and buy from various platforms
1. The Untouchables (1987)
View Green Video on the source websiteConnery finally won an Oscar for his portrayal of a supposedly Irish incorruptible cop that helps Elliot Ness take down Al Capone. The non-accent aside, it’s a mighty performance as Connery eats the screen up from Kevin Costner, relishing in David Mamet’s punchy, endlessly quotable script. Connery’s real tour de force comes in his climactic death scene – a trademark Brian De Palma set piece – it’s all fury and fear and an amazing showcase for the proud Scotsman, whose actual acting abilities could be overlooked in favour of his star quality.
It’s the Chicago way.
Where to watch in the UK: BBC iPlayer/Paramount+/Netflix
Where to watch in the US: Kanopy/Hoopla
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