James Bond turns 50 - a half-century of 007 films

[zoogs]

1 - Sean Connery; Far and away the best.

(huge gap here)

2 - Daniel Craig; I like the grittiness of his Bond. I like the edge they put on the series with him, and he pulls it off well.

3 - Roger Moore; Most of his movies were pretty campy, but that was part of the fun. You knew it was just male-oriented sexy silliness.

4 - Pierce Brosnan; I wanted him to play Bond for a long time. I felt he was a natural for the role. He was OK, but he never hit the highs like I thought he would.

(Tremendously large gap here)

5 - Timothy Dalton; Not much to say about him. I think I maybe saw his films once each. May not have seen all of them.

6 - George Lazenby; Just... no. He didn't fit the role to me at all.

This is a good list knapp. I watched most of the original Bond movies at one point, but I didn't grow up on them and Connery wasn't the first Bond I saw (Brosnan was). While Connery must have defined Bond as the first actor to portray him in a movie, I'm not entirely sure the style back in those days was the most fitting for the books.

The books I've never read, of course.

But from some other analyses I have read on the subject, it seems that Craig's grit and brutishness are more true to the character than even Connery. So I have to say that Craig tops the list for me, and it isn't because he is the most recent. I did not like him at first.

1. Daniel Craig - for the reasons above

2. Sean Connery - he set the stage for all his later imitations, but I do think he did the best job of all of them.

3. Timothy Dalton - I feel Dalton's pretty underrated. I like his background as a Shakespearean actor, and he brought a measure of seriousness back to the role. I felt he did quite a good job, even if he is not as iconic as many of the others.

4. Pierce Brosnan - the first Bond I saw. He defined James Bond for me, the silly, suave, unfailingly effective superhero that Daniel Craig is not. I much prefer Craig's interpretation. And while Goldeneye was excellent, Die Another Day is still too embarrassing to even comprehend.

5. Roger Moore - ick. Moore was far too silly for my tastes. I also felt like he was far too old - whether he really was, or whether he just acted and came off that way. I know, he's one of the favorites and tops many lists.

6. Lazenby - OK, I don't think I ever saw his one shot at a Bond film. So I'll defer to an excellent series of youtube videos detailing the history of the Bond series:



I watched this series too back around the time I went on my Bond movies blitz, so I am probably basing a lot of my other opinions on this guy, whom I find myself agreeing with frequently:

 

[knapplc]

I've heard that Craig's Bond is closer to the book version than Connery's. I guess I just find Sean Connery so utterly cool that he could play Bond just about any way he wants and I would like it. Funny you say you didn't like Craig at first - neither did I, but he quickly grows on you.

Speaking of Connery, if you've never watched him in The Wind And The Lion, I highly recommend it. Good popcorn flick.

 

[Landlord]

I love me some Daniel Craig. Maybe it's my youth, or maybe it's my relative disdain for Pierce Brosnan, but I think Craig absolutely kills it as 007.

 

[knapplc]

I love me some Daniel Craig. Maybe it's my youth, or maybe it's my relative disdain for Pierce Brosnan, but I think Craig absolutely kills it as 007.

I don't think it's youth. I think Craig just does a good job.

As for Brosnan, I wanted him to be Bond for a long time. He just seemed like a natural. But his Bond was more of a dandy than anything else. I was greatly disappointed.

 

[bhamHusker]

3. Timothy Dalton - I feel Dalton's pretty underrated. I like his background as a Shakespearean actor, and he brought a measure of seriousness back to the role. I felt he did quite a good job, even if he is not as iconic as many of the others.

I agree. I think Dalton's perception suffers from License to Kill, which I think was more of a story/script issue than one of Dalton's performance. I was never a big Moore fan, and Dalton's darker, grittier Bond was a much welcomed change for me. The legal wrangling that resulted in Dalton never making the 3rd film of his contract didn't do any favors to his legacy as Bond, even though none of that was his fault. Whenever I get into a Bond discussion, I invariably wonder how things might have been different if he'd accepted the role when it was originally offered to him for On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Lazenby's one-off). He says he felt he was too young to convincingly play the role, but if he'd been successful, there would have probably been 1 less Sean Connery Bond film, and we may have been spared from 7 of Roger Moore's creepy/cheesy/campy performances.

My list: Connery > Craig > Dalton > Brosnan > Moore > Lazenby

I liked Brosnan in the role quite a bit, but none of his movies are among my favorite Bond films. As was the case with Dalton's License to Kill, this was an issue with the stories than him as an actor.

 

[ZRod]

Hard to choose just one choice for the categories since the movies are so different. But my list for Bonds would be like this;

1a. Sean Connery: He was the original, he just made the roll his own and was damn cool doing it.

1b. Daniel Craig: Love Daniel Craig in just about any movie and he really owns the roll in his Bond films. I always feel like Layer Cake is kind of his first Bond film even though it's not even close to a Bond film, but a great film none the less if you haven't seen it.

2. Pierce Brosnan: Probably because he's the one I grew up with, but I always felt like he had the Bond look to a tee. He's films were just too cheesy sometimes, and Dennis Richards was just god awful in The World Is Not Enough, which kill an decent movie for me.

3. Roger Moore: Always a nice change up with the more comedic styles but I've only really watched The Man With The Golden Gun and Moonraker.

4.Timothy Dalton and George Lazenby: Can't really comment on these two because I never really watched the movies but I do like Dalton as an actor.

Bond Girls, I'll just give my favorite and worst because there are too many.

Worst: Dennis Richards, sure she is good looking but some of the worst line delivery I have ever heard in my life. I can't even call it acting, because it just wasn't.

Favorite: At the moment I would have to say Eva Green. She was Simply elegant in Casino Royale and sexy at the same time. She's not a 10 in the looks department but the way she carried herself and the confidence she exuded she might as well have been. Really sad that they killed her off in her first movie because I thought her and Craig had a great chemistry and she is an excellent actress as well.