Casino Royale

In 2006, one of cinema's longest-running action franchises underwent a radical 180-degree transformation. Agent 007 gained a new image with Daniel Craig's raw elegance, and audiences experienced a far grittier version of Bond than they had known before. The immortal superhero who threw himself off cliffs while lighting a cigarette became a humanized, nihilistic killer in service to Her Majesty, whose greatest weapon is his own vulnerability.

Alongside the femme fatale played by Eva Green and Bond's nemesis played by Mads Mikkelsen, a film emerges that differs markedly from the previous installments in the series.