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Rank the actors

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  • ColonelSunColonelSun
    Posts: 1,493
    1/ Connery
    2/ Craig
    3/Lazenby
    4/ Moore
    5/Dalton
    6/Brosnan

    Connery and Craig are pretty equal for me. Connery perhaps has the slight edge for being the original and setting the standard and for having the classic Fleming stories/novels behind his films. Craig is a superb Bond for out modern times.
  • Mathis1Mathis1
    Posts: 7,430
    Don't think my list has changed.
    1) Dalton
    2) Craig
    3) Connery
    4) Moore
    5) Lazenby
    6) Brosnan
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    1. Brosnan
    2. Moore
    3. Connery
    4. Lazenby
    5. Dalton
    6. Craig
  • Slazenger7Slazenger7 Gothenburg, Sweden
    Posts: 1,344
    1. Connery
    2. Moore
    3. Craig
    4. Dalton
    5. Lazenby
    6. Brosnan
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    edited January 2020 Posts: 5,131
    1. Connery - What Connery offered in his seven-film tenure (counting the non-canon Never Say Never Again) is a near-perfect balance between all subsequent imperfections and a command of the role that prompted either substandard impressions or a significantly different approach so as not to overlap with Connery’s sizable footprints – footprints deep enough to scare off Burt Reynolds, Clint Eastwood and Timothy Dalton.

    This isn’t to say that Connery’s successors don’t have their rightful admirers, but can a convincing case be made for any of them as the best Bond, the Form from which all other performances can be judged?

    No. Connery, lest we forget, was deemed so integral to the role that he was brought back in the wake of Lazenby’s failure, returning to a desperate paycheck of £1.25m (about £17.2m today). In Diamonds Are Forever, amongst all the camp, a bruised, weathered and even jaded Bond was ready to do his duty and call it a career. The film was a hit. The faltering franchise was saved.

    Yet it could have all been so different. “An overgrown stunt man” was the assessment from Ian Fleming upon first seeing Connery standing two inches taller than the eponymous character and delivering lines with that singular Edinburgh accent. His mind was changed after one film, and having watched Dr. No, Bond was retconned to have Scottish ancestry. Not only did Connery define Bond on screen, he did so on the page too.

    Not that he had to put much effort in. Moonraker sees Bond so described: “certainly good-looking… a bit cruel in the mouth, and the eyes were cold”, a man who spent his evenings “making love, with rather cold passion”. In Diamonds Are Forever, his scent is described as “slightly salty”, a “masculine aroma”. Connery captured that innate sense of a character already played across hundreds of pages and made it his own.

    Really, when it comes down to James Bond it comes down to martinis, gambling, casual sexism, racial caricatures, and a figure who can pour himself into a tuxedo as easily as he can a martini. To hear “Bond, James Bond” is to hear it in the same voice as “do you expect me to die?” and as “Martini. Shaken, not stirred.” That voice is Sean Connery’s – the perfect Form, the first, the essential, the best.

    Ultimately, the numbers never lie. According to Forbes, Connery's Bond films grossed a total of 4.5 billion dollars (adjusted to inflation). Craig's films (as an example) have grossed 3.6 billion. There were also fewer theaters in the '60s and '70s than there are now.

    2. Craig.
    3. Moore
    4. Dalton
    5. Lazenby
    6. Brosnan
  • ColonelSunColonelSun
    Posts: 1,493
    suavejmf wrote: »
    1. Connery - What Connery offered in his seven-film tenure (counting the non-canon Never Say Never Again) is a near-perfect balance between all subsequent imperfections and a command of the role that prompted either substandard impressions or a significantly different approach so as not to overlap with Connery’s sizable footprints – footprints deep enough to scare off Burt Reynolds, Clint Eastwood and Timothy Dalton.

    This isn’t to say that Connery’s successors don’t have their rightful admirers, but can a convincing case be made for any of them as the best Bond, the Form from which all other performances can be judged?

    No. Connery, lest we forget, was deemed so integral to the role that he was brought back in the wake of Lazenby’s failure, returning to a desperate paycheck of £1.25m (about £17.2m today). In Diamonds Are Forever, amongst all the camp, a bruised, weathered and even jaded Bond was ready to do his duty and call it a career. The film was a hit. The faltering franchise was saved.

    Yet it could have all been so different. “An overgrown stunt man” was the assessment from Ian Fleming upon first seeing Connery standing two inches taller than the eponymous character and delivering lines with that singular Edinburgh accent. His mind was changed after one film, and having watched Dr. No, Bond was retconned to have Scottish ancestry. Not only did Connery define Bond on screen, he did so on the page too.

    Not that he had to put much effort in. Moonraker sees Bond so described: “certainly good-looking… a bit cruel in the mouth, and the eyes were cold”, a man who spent his evenings “making love, with rather cold passion”. In Diamonds Are Forever, his scent is described as “slightly salty”, a “masculine aroma”. Connery captured that innate sense of a character already played across hundreds of pages and made it his own.

    Really, when it comes down to James Bond it comes down to martinis, gambling, casual sexism, racial caricatures, and a figure who can pour himself into a tuxedo as easily as he can a martini. To hear “Bond, James Bond” is to hear it in the same voice as “do you expect me to die?” and as “Martini. Shaken, not stirred.” That voice is Sean Connery’s – the perfect Form, the first, the essential, the best.

    Ultimately, the numbers never lie. According to Forbes, Connery's Bond films grossed a total of 4.5 billion dollars (adjusted to inflation). Craig's films (as an example) have grossed 3.6 billion. There were also fewer theaters in the '60s and '70s than there are now.

    2. Craig.
    3. Moore
    4. Dalton
    5. Lazenby
    6. Brosnan

    What you say about Connery is very true. And which other Bond actor could pull off a tango with such class?

  • JamesCraigJamesCraig Ancient Rome
    Posts: 3,497
    Connery
    Craig
    Dalton
    Moore
    Brosnan
    Lazenby
  • Max_The_ParrotMax_The_Parrot ATAC to St Cyril’s
    edited January 2020 Posts: 2,426
    1. Moore Moore Moore, that’s how I like it, that’s how I like it ...🎼
    2. Brosnan - for me, he has a little bit of everything that I like in Bond - he may not be the best at humour, coolness, looks, serious, dark, brooding, violence but I find him ‘good enough’ at all those that together it makes for a great Bond
    3. Dalton - loved the dark broodiness of TLD. It also had just enough of the feel of Moore’s Bond left over to make a great package. The Moore-ism’s were gone by LTK which meant he could never be ‘my Bond’
    4. Connery - I can see why for many people he’s the definitive, and I do enjoy his performances
    5. Lazenby - Really enjoyed OHMSS, but this probably has more to do with the actual film than Lazenby’s performances. However I think with more films under his belt he could have been great.
    6. Craig - it’s all too depressing for me. No sooner has he burst on the scenes as a fresh newborn 00 then he’s resigning, off-duty, out for revenge, dead, not dead, retired, not retired, fed up, burnt out, worn out, given up .... I just wanted one film where he was happy being a 00
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    edited January 2020 Posts: 5,131
    Max_The_Parrot wrote: »
    1. Moore Moore Moore, that’s how I like it, that’s how I like it ...🎼
    2. Brosnan - for me, he has a little bit of everything that I like in Bond - he may not be the best at humour, coolness, looks, serious, dark, brooding, violence but I find him ‘good enough’ at all those that together it makes for a great Bond
    3. Dalton - loved the dark broodiness of TLD. It also had just enough of the feel of Moore’s Bond left over to make a great package. The Moore-ism’s were gone by LTK which meant he could never be ‘my Bond’
    4. Connery - I can see why for many people he’s the definitive, and I do enjoy his performances
    5. Lazenby - Really enjoyed OHMSS, but this probably has more to do with the actual film than Lazenby’s performances. However I think with more films under his belt he could have been great.
    6. Craig - it’s all too depressing for me. No sooner has he burst on the scenes as a fresh newborn 00 then he’s resigning, off-duty, out for revenge, dead, not dead, retired, not retired, fed up, burnt out, worn out, given up .... I just wanted one film where he was happy being a 00

    “No sooner has he burst on the scenes as a fresh newborn 00 then he’s resigning, off-duty, out for revenge, dead, not dead, retired, not retired, fed up, burnt out, worn out, given up .... I just wanted one film where he was happy being a 00.”......... This take on Bond is very very Fleming. Daniel Craig gives us the 007 from Fleming's early novels, a blunt instrument filled with morose purpose and self-doubt.

    In what way is Brosnan dark and brooding? Apart from GE he is anything but this? Can you expand?
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    edited January 2020 Posts: 5,131
    Birdleson wrote: »
    I don't see Craig asa Fleming's Bond. He lacks the humility and finesse. He's more of a brute. Fleming's Bond never went rogue, he considered quitting twice (once to go off with Vesper, and once to get out of Operation Bedlam), but he was never obnoxious or disrespectful to M. He did break down towards the end of the series, but that was a culmination of horrible events that had effected his mind and body.

    I'd say the closest we get to Fleming's Bond is Moore in his first two (not all the insanity surrounding the character, but the portrayal itself).

    Bond tried to kill M in the Man with the Golden Gun the novel? He also threatened to quit in YOLT the novel and M went mental? In Dr No the novel he sends a rude memo to M about a ‘Smith and Wesson being ineffective against a flame thrower’ and actually admitted this was a cheap dig as his boss. This is actually very rude, especially in the 50’s/ 60’s?

    Fair point with Moore in LALD, but I still maintain that Dalton in LTK was a more faithful Fleming adaption. I will add that Moore May have been the best Bond if he had kept his performances ‘harder edged’ like LALD & TMWTGG.
  • Max_The_ParrotMax_The_Parrot ATAC to St Cyril’s
    Posts: 2,426
    suavejmf wrote: »
    Can you expand?

    Only from my point of view. I’m a Bond fan from a strictly cinematic perspective, I haven’t read Fleming so I don’t feel I can comment on what a Fleming Bond looks like, nor is my idea of an ideal Bond influenced by Fleming. As my formative Bond years were marked by Roger, he’s basically what I look for and enjoy most in a Bond figure. By extension I feel that Brosnan more closely resembles a ‘Roger-Bond’ than the other actors do.

    By dark and brooding I’d agree Brosnan doesn’t often display this side - apart from GE I’d include things like TND hotel, TWINE Elektra death and DAD imprisonment and torture scenes. What I was trying to say is that Brosnan has (in my opinion) a ‘little’ of all thowe facets - a little bit of brooding (but not as much, or as well done as say Dalton), ‘some’ humour (but not as obvious or effortless as Moore), some ‘harder edged action’ (but not as blunt or well executed as say Connery or Craig). But this ‘amalgam’ of aspects in Brosnan is one I enjoy, and which puts him in my second place.


  • Last_Rat_StandingLast_Rat_Standing Long Neck Ice Cold Beer Never Broke My Heart
    Posts: 4,589
    Connery
    Craig
    Moore
    Brosnan
    Lazenby
    Dalton

    All solid IMO. Even chubby Sean in DAF
  • WhyBondWhyBond USA
    Posts: 69
    1.Connery
    2.Brosnan
    3.Dalton
    4.Craig
    5.Moore
    6.Lazenby

  • GetafixGetafix
    edited January 2020 Posts: 11,425
    Fire_and_Ice_Returns wrote: »
    Connery
    Moore
    Dalton
    Lazenby (Being in a great film helps George)
    Craig
    Brosnan

    A few changes

    Yeah I'd go with this list. Laz might even pip Dalton to 3rd, but basically we are in agreement. The law of diminishing returns seems to apply.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,134
    1. Timothy Dalton
    2. Sean Connery
    3. Pierce Brosnan
    4. George Lazenby
    5. Roger Moore
    6. Daniel Craig

    It's an ever-changing list really, only Tim stands safe at the top.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    edited January 2020 Posts: 7,134
    Birdleson wrote: »
    GoldenGun wrote: »
    1. Timothy Dalton
    2. Sean Connery
    3. Pierce Brosnan
    4. George Lazenby
    5. Roger Moore
    6. Daniel Craig

    It's an ever-changing list really, only Tim stands safe at the top.

    Is that list based more on your personal affection, or their strength in the role, or both? I had to make two separate lists for it to feel right.

    I’d say this is how I would rank their performances. Though places 2-5 are all interchangeable. My favourite has always been Tim. I would say I am a fan of Sean, George, Rog and Pierce as well.
    Daniel, on the other hand, has been at the bottom for quite some time now. Even though I think he’s a good actor, I never warmed to the more brutish Bond he has been, with the exception of QOS.
  • RoadphillRoadphill United Kingdom
    edited January 2020 Posts: 984
    1. Roger Moore: While, if I look at it objectively Sean Connery was the best, Sir Rog is my personal favourite. He was 'my Bond' when I was a boy and he, more than any other left an indelible print on me. It helps that TSWLM is my favourite Bond film, of course! I also think Roger doesn't get the respect he deserves in terms of his craft. No one's tenure changes tone as wildly as his, yet he kept the ship steady moving from the likes of MR to FYEO effortlessly.

    2. Sean Connery; Duh!

    3. Pierce Brosnan; Much maligned, but he pretty muched saved Bond in 1995, when a lot of people had declared it dead. I enjoyed his melding of the two actors above, and he kept his head admirably during the nonsense around him in his final two films. Good casting, bad writing.

    4. Timothy Dalton; Excellent actor, I am glad that history has been kinder to him than contemporary audiences. Whilst neither of his films where classics, they where both good and a third entry for him probably would have pushed him higher up the list.

    5. Daniel Craig; A very good actor, and his performance in CR was, along with the rest of the film, damn near perfect. I feel that the style of Bond he played should been over an done with in two films, though not dragged over 4 (likely 5) he was the right guy at the right time, but since CR I have struggled to take to him.

    6. George Lazenby: Somebody has to be bottom, right? Nothing against George, OHMSS is one of the very best of the series, and he played his part in that. He wasn't a great actor, though and it's tough to really judge him from one film, no matter how good.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,188
    1. Connery
    2. Dalton
    3. Craig
    4. Moore
    5. Brosnan
    6. Lazenby
  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 9,509
    1a. Connery
    1b. Craig



    2. Dalton (this used to be Moore's spot, but, when it comes down to it, I'd much rather watch one of Tim's two films than all of Moore's films (with the exception of LALD-- kinda obsessed with this film at the moment)
    3. Moore
    4. Lazenby



    5. Brosnan (I have said this time and again: I wished that I loved him more. I don't. He was a poseur. He posed for kissing. For punching. For pain. I feel he had so much more to give, but defaulted to posing for pain, posing for emotion... and he bored me, unlike the Bond's above him. I wish he was more).
  • OctopussyOctopussy Piz Gloria, Schilthorn, Switzerland.
    Posts: 1,081
    Birdleson wrote: »
    Like on a human level (basically, good vibes):
    Moore

    Still the Bond I would've loved to have met the most out of all of them.

  • ShakenNotStirredShakenNotStirred
    Posts: 1,398
    Connery
    Moore
    Craig
    Dalton
    Brosnan
    Lazenby
  • Mathis1Mathis1
    Posts: 7,430
    peter wrote: »
    1a. Connery
    1b. Craig



    2. Dalton (this used to be Moore's spot, but, when it comes down to it, I'd much rather watch one of Tim's two films than all of Moore's films (with the exception of LALD-- kinda obsessed with this film at the moment)
    3. Moore
    4. Lazenby



    5. Brosnan (I have said this time and again: I wished that I loved him more. I don't. He was a poseur. He posed for kissing. For punching. For pain. I feel he had so much more to give, but defaulted to posing for pain, posing for emotion... and he bored me, unlike the Bond's above him. I wish he was more).

    Echoes my thoughts exactly regarding Brossa! It pains me to even include him in lists like this. I really believe he was miscast as Bond! I understand how it influenced a lot of people who probably came into the Bond world through his era, but putting him alongside the others, (and Yes, I include Lazenby in this!) Brossa just never made the grade!
  • Daniel316Daniel316 United States
    Posts: 210
    1. Pierce Brosnan and Roger Moore: Both are easily the best and feel the most like Bond as well as the person you want to be like and to boot they have the most fun movies period.

    2. Sean Connery: Pretty dang good Bond but got dealt a bunch of crap movies

    3. Andrew Bicknell: Played Bond in the fantastic Bond game Agent Under Fire and he looked and sounded like Bond, he felt like a successor to Roger Moore which I always appreciate

    4. Timothy Dalton: Does a great serious Bond but overacts at times and only got 1 amazing movie in LTK while his other movie was flawed as heck

    5. David Niven: Sure he was in a Bond parody so to speak but he was classy as heck, sounded like a british gentlemen

    6. George Lazenby: Newbie actor, wasn't great as Bond as he looks and sounds nothing like him but he tried and he does emotional scenes really well.

    7. Barry Nelson: Really weird choice for a first on screen Bond but he wasn't that bad, he had life to him but the other bonds were definitely better

    8. Jason Carter: Played James Bond in The Video Game GoldenEye Rouge Agent, he appears briefly but he looks and sounds like Bond and I wanted to see more of him

    9. Daniel Craig: Absolute worst James Bond who makes the character look like a joke and a bad knockoff of Jason Bourne which was already terrible to begin with
  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 9,509
    2. Sean Connery: Pretty dang good Bond but got dealt a bunch of crap movies

    Forget everything else you said-- but this, this is... "dealt a bunch of crap movies"??? Okay. Best of luck. And from here on in I keep my big mouth shut.

    P
  • Daniel316Daniel316 United States
    Posts: 210
    Goldfinger, Thunderball, and You Only Live Twice are not what I would call great. All 3 have problems and are slow and boring for the most part tbh. They aren't bad but compared to other Bond movies made by Connery like From Russia With Love and Diamonds Are Forever as well as Dr.No they are quite crappy.
  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 9,509
    Interesting. I agree DN and FRWL are terrific films.

    But I adamantly disagree about GF, TB, and; YOLT is a better film (from a script through to production) than DAF (although DAF is by far the funniest Bond film).

    Since it's clear you have taste (DN, FRWL), with some questionable opinions (DAF> GF, TB and YOLT), I shrug and accept different strokes for different folks. Wish you weren't so alarmingly hard on some classic Connery films, and Craig as a Bond, but in the end, that's your opinion.
  • Daniel316Daniel316 United States
    Posts: 210
    Tbh the Connery ones mostly come to boredom and issues I find in them whether it be villains (in the case of YOLT and TB), Horrid Pacing (all 3 really), Or Bond being second fiddle (GF all the way in that regard) and a lack of a good Bond girl (Goldfinger and You Only Live Twice). They aren't bad but I just don't enjoy them as much as I would like to (Goldfinger used to be my number 2 actually and I enjoy most of YOLT). Craig is a different ballpark mainly due to the movies not really feeling like Bond movies, I do enjoy Casino Royale and Quantum Of Solace but only as regular movies cause imo they are pretty weak Bond movies. Just how I am I guess, I prefer movies that keep me intruiged and hooked for the duration of its run.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,134
    Think I’d have to rearrange slightly:

    1. Timothy Dalton
    2. George Lazenby
    3. Sean Connery
    4. Roger Moore
    5. Pierce Brosnan
    6. Daniel Craig

    Numbers 1 and 6 are pretty fixed, all the others are interchangeable, depending on my mood really.
  • OctopussyOctopussy Piz Gloria, Schilthorn, Switzerland.
    Posts: 1,081
    GoldenGun wrote: »
    Think I’d have to rearrange slightly:

    1. Timothy Dalton
    2. George Lazenby
    3. Sean Connery
    4. Roger Moore
    5. Pierce Brosnan
    6. Daniel Craig

    Numbers 1 and 6 are pretty fixed, all the others are interchangeable, depending on my mood really.

    Boom, baby! We share the same top 3, although in a different order. I used to rank Dalton above Connery, but since rewatching a number of the films Sean has moved into second position behind George with Tim in third. I feel that Lazenby and Dalton were Flemning's Bond, whereas Connery was the definitive cinematic Bond. I'm just placing Connery in second place now as I really appreciate what he brought to the character, but that being said Dalton may reclaim his position soon. Good to see another fellow Lazenby fan on the forum!
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,134
    Octopussy wrote: »
    GoldenGun wrote: »
    Think I’d have to rearrange slightly:

    1. Timothy Dalton
    2. George Lazenby
    3. Sean Connery
    4. Roger Moore
    5. Pierce Brosnan
    6. Daniel Craig

    Numbers 1 and 6 are pretty fixed, all the others are interchangeable, depending on my mood really.

    Boom, baby! We share the same top 3, although in a different order. I used to rank Dalton above Connery, but since rewatching a number of the films Sean has moved into second position behind George with Tim in third. I feel that Lazenby and Dalton were Flemning's Bond, whereas Connery was the definitive cinematic Bond. I'm just placing Connery in second place now as I really appreciate what he brought to the character, but that being said Dalton may reclaim his position soon. Good to see another fellow Lazenby fan on the forum!

    Yep, I have always been a Laz defender!! ;)

    I agree Dalton and Lazenby are closest to Fleming. Connery is also cinema tic Bond to perfection. People say he was bored in YOLT and DAF and that maybe true but the man is charismatic even when he doesn't try. What a difference with Craig in SP!
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