Throughout its history, the James Bond franchise has had highs and lows, and according to Rotten Tomatoes, the best entry in the franchise was released exactly 60 years ago. Based on Ian Fleming’s James Bond books, the 007 series began way back in 1962 with the release of Dr. No. Since then, there have been a further 25 installments, all of which have varied in quality.

Over the past six decades, the Bond films have continually proven to be commercially successful. Altogether, the 25 official movies have a combined worldwide box office total of just under $7.7 billion (via The Numbers), and with Bond 26 on the way, that amount is only set to increase. Despite this, when it comes to critical reception, the 007 franchise is far more of a mixed bag. Nevertheless, according to online review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the best James Bond movie of the bunch is clear.

Rotten Tomatoes Names 007: Goldfinger As The Best James Bond Movie

The 1964 Hit Is One Of The Best-Known Installments In The Series

As it stands, the highest-rated James Bond movie on Rotten Tomatoes is 1964’s Goldfinger, which has a near-perfect score of 99%. The third film in the series, it’s also the only 007 movie to make it onto a list of the 300 greatest movies of all time, as decided by Tomatometer-approved critics and Rotten Tomatoes users, where it currently sits at 116. Goldfinger sees Sean Connery’s James Bond tasked with bringing down gold magnate Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe), whose villainous scheme involves blowing up the gold bullion stored at Fort Knox.

Upon its release, Goldfinger garnered positive reviews for its action sequences and the performances of the cast and went on to make $125 million on a $3 million budget (via The Numbers). The movie narrowly beats out its predecessor, 1963’s From Russia With Love, to be the best-rated installment in the series. Goldfinger is also one of twenty entries in the franchise to attain a Fresh rating (a score of 60% or higher). However, none of the others have made it onto the list of the top 300 movies.

Why Goldfinger Is The Best James Bond Movie

The 60-Year-Old 007 Film Has Stood The Test Of Time

Of course, Rotten Tomatoes is just one metric for measuring a movie’s quality, and while it’s a pretty solid system, it’s certainly not perfect. Nevertheless, when it comes to the James Bond franchise, it’s hard to argue that the online review aggregator has got it right. In many ways, Goldfinger is the quintessential Bond film. While Dr. No and From Russia With Love both introduced elements of the classic 007 formula, Goldfinger perfected it and, as such, has served as the template for pretty much every installment in the franchise since.

From the image of Shirley Eaton slathered in gold paint to the laser sequence to Bond’s Aston Martin DB5, Goldfinger is filled with iconic scenes that have gone down in history as some of cinema’s greatest moments. Yet, at the center of Goldfinger is an intriguing and wickedly enthralling plot that manages to hold up to this day. Throw in a truly menacing antagonist, a henchman with a neat party trick, and a Bond girl who gives 007 a run for his money, and the result is an epic espionage film that is deserving of all the praise it receives.

Though some will disagree with Goldfinger‘s status as the very best the James Bond series has to offer, few will argue that the movie is deserving of a high position. After all, not only does it hold the highest Rotten Tomatoes critics score of every entry in the 007 franchise, but its audience score is very impressive as well. In fact, Goldfinger currently holds a Rotten Tomatoes Audience score of 89%, the second highest in the series behind 2006’s Casino Royale, which demonstrates just how beloved the 60-year-old movie is.

Sources: Rotten Tomatoes, The Numbers