Director: Guy Hamilton

Guy Hamilton directed four James Bond films, including Goldfinger, which is the entry that fixed the formula the rest of the series has been working from since 1964. The pre-title sequence, the gadget briefing, the henchman with a signature weapon and the villain explaining the plan all arrive fully formed there.

He also made Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun, which shifted the tone toward comedy as Roger Moore took over. Outside Bond his best work is war filmmaking, notably Battle of Britain and The Colditz Story, drawing on his own wartime service.

Hamilton reportedly turned down Superman and Batman, which leaves an interesting counterfactual behind the four films he did make.