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I've no problem with his LALD performance though.
Dalton was probably the closest of them all, his coldness, cynicism, found killing quite distasteful, will do anything for his job, played it like a spy more than an assassin, blunt instrument thing.
Yes, the rogue thing wasn't a thing in the books, but he did that once in You Only Live Twice, where he'd killed Blofeld without any orders from MI6.
He could go rogue, but only once like Dalton, but not constantly like Craig.
Lazenby was also close, because he's unsure about some of his actions, he's quite not confident to himself, and he didn't played it like an assassin, more like a spy like Fleming wrote Bond in the books.
Here's I would rank them based on their closeness to the literary character:
1. Dalton
2. Lazenby
3. Craig
4. Brosnan (His performance in both TWINE and TND speaks to this, his soft treatment of women, him putting his gun under his pillow, the St. George trait thing, and him easily falling in love, also, the banter between him and M I think also played up more closer to the M and Bond relationship in the books).
5. Connery (He had his own version of Bond, Terrence Young even admitted it by himself, he created Connery's Bond as a wish fulfilment for himself, Cary Grant being behind the inspiration and Connery also admitted that he didn't liked the Bond in the books, so he created his own version of character too).
6. Moore (He got the Britishness of the character and the snobbery a bit, but that's just about it).
I think it's in CR (the novel), where he tells Vesper he loves to indulge in fine foods and wines (and of course love making), because he doesn't expect to live a long life.
Yes, Bond would get grumpy and melancholic, but if he was like that all the way through, he wouldn't have made a very compelling hero.
I found that Dalton leaned too heavily into grumpiness, frumpiness (some of his clothes were too dull and ill-fitting), and anger, rather than balancing it with a healthy dose of indulgence and hedonism.
Alternatively, when watching the films, the spirit of the books is best seen in the first four Connery movies for me, without a doubt. And that's because they're the nearest to the novels, obviously. And they're in the same era. I realise Dalton took the novels seriously, and certainly his 'ruthless gentleman' Bond is close to the literary Bond more than Connery's sometimes waggish playboy, but I'd offer offer up FRWL or, say, GF as two of the best examples of Bond movies that capture the glamour and suspense of the books, and reflect the cold war era better than the others, (which they obviously would).
These days, they can't really put Fleming's Bond on screen for a broad audience. A sixty a day smoker who thinks women are for recreation, chomps benzedrine with his vodka and shags married women because there's no complications. But I do give the scriptwriers credit for at least alluding to these traits in the the a few of the Craig era films, ("smart?", "single" etc).
No way would I have Connery so far down the list. In Dr. No and FRWL that is far closer to Fleming Bond than Brozza ever got. As much as Connery had his own swagger (which really came into play by GF), in the first 2 films he has Fleming's Bond pretty much nailed on.
Grumpiness and melancholic fell largely into Craig's performance too. I never saw much of the Fleming Bond indulging and living the high life in his movies either.
And I think Dalton did show a few lighter moments - laughing as he throws Sanchez money out of the plane, the romance scenes in TLD, the quips during the Aston Martin car chase. I never saw too many lighter moments throughout all 5 of Craig's films. Dalton only did 2 films, so never got chance to really extend his performance.
Well, you have to remember this was the mid 80's, with AIDS being so prevalent. The clothes idea was certainly Tims, as he wanted Bond to be less fashion conscious, more realism, ( though Tim rocks the tuxedo better than any of them imo!) John Glen did say in his book, that he and Dalton clashed over things like this! I do like little throwaway moments like Bond choosing a better i.e. more expensive wine for Koskov, to Ms horror, and theres thst lovely little moment, probably ad libbed, where Bond meets Saunders in the cafe, and winces after taking a sip of the inferior coffee! The whole humour thing never bothered me, its not as important as some of the other traits, but Dalton could do comedy ( witness 'Hot Fuzz')
In fairness, the literary Bond's clothes weren't quite as eclectic or as extravagant as they are in the films. In fact, his wardrobe could be described as minimalist as he essentially wears the same dark blue suit, the same white cotton shirts, an old houndstooth jacket for golfing etc. It is true he liked his drink and food, but really only when on assignment with that ethos that he may not come back. His diet in England is described as simple (for the time anyway) with his scrambled eggs, grilled fish, roast beef, along with the occasional meal with Tanner at Scott's. So in spirit Dalton was probably not wrong if it was his decision to make Bond's wardrobe slightly more paired down.
I find that Craig is far more nuanced and that's why he connected with global box office more so than Dalton did. He was and is able to play different dimensions, whereas Dalton's acting could and would veer to a staginess (acting with a big A); I say this as a fan of Dalton (who I'm sure would settle in as my third favourite Bond if he was afforded one more film).
Dalton was best when he played against an actor of strength, like Robert Davi.
1. Connery in DN-TB
He's missing some of Fleming-Bond's cynicism and fatalistic nature but everything else is on point, particularly his style of dress, physicality, and aggressive way with women, something that really hasn't been seen since for obvious cultural reasons.
2. Dalton in TLD and LTK
Put Dalton in the 60s movies and he'd be unanimously declared the best Bond ever. However, he ended up being a great Bond in two decent movies that lacked the oomph of the classic entries. Also the world had already greatly changed since Fleming's time so Bond was already a fish out of water by this time, whereas Connery-Bond, like Fleming's character, was a product of his time.
3. Brosnan in TWINE
The movie is flawed but Brosnan nails Bond's professional-but-wary nature here. It's his least foppish and most assertive performance in the role.
4. Lazenby in OHMSS
Stiff line readings aside, Lazenby's natural charisma makes it work. He's probably the closest any actor has come to actually being like Bond in real life, at least if the stories about him being a tough guy/ladies man are true and not gossip.
5. Moore in TMWTGG
Like Brosnan in TWINE, Moore's performance here is overlooked because of his overall reputation of being a lighter Bond. He was always good at doing the icy scenes, so it's odd how the filmmakers didn't take advantage of that more.
There are many reasons why Bond mania happened, but one of the biggest ones is that the producers found a diamond in the rough who happened to also have oodles of charisma and movie star magnetism...
Timothy Dalton doesn't have that kind of star power, or anything that comes close to it-- not many people do!
Once the scripts were written, Connery was the face of the series and he elevated what was on the page so that "men wanted to be him, women wanted to be with him".
Dalton has never had that appeal.
Anyone else think Bond and Paloma should have danced when mapping spectre in Cuba. instead of walking around like in the casino in Skyfall.
My god, style over story. What has happened to the James Bond films?! :))
Yet it wasn't even very stylish. Spectre was despite its flaws.
Felix dying or being mutilated will become a meme next time it happens like Kenny in South Park.
Yes, agreed. I don't think any of the other actors had the same amount of stardust, sex appeal and charisma that Connery had, to be fair. It's why he has been pretty much irreplaceable, and is still the one to beat, all these years later.
Connery was masculine and suave, Roger was posh and humorous, Dalton was kind and intelligent, Pierce was a pretty playboy and Craig was physically imposing.
If Dalton had been more cheeky we would all be hailing him.
I wonder how the next actor will niche himself.
I'd also say Connery was physically imposing. Apparently when he walked in a room everyone knew.
Everyone of them was physically imposing albeit in different ways.
At that time sure
I think it was something that wasn't bound only to him in the 60's. You hear the likes of Basinger in the 80's, Zeta Jones and Ormond in the 90's gush about his sex appeal, and the fact that he was voted sexiest man alive when he was in his late 50's says it all.
I think he had this magnetism in abundance even when he was old.
Older. People don't get "old" anymore. ;-)
But yeah, Connery certainly remained a good-looking man for most of his later days. I'm willing to bet that Clooney is headed there too.
Age can’t rob magnetism (ill health, as he suffered in the latter years, that’s a different story, sadly).
To be honest, I think all the aging Bonds are of have been doing rather well, except Roger, whose unfortunate "construction works" somewhere between OP and AVTAK didn't do him any good. But look at the classy appearance of Tim, George and Pierce today!
Yes, they are still looking good!
They're able to keep their bodies fit.
TBH I wasn't expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised. Of course it wasn't flawless, but I thought it a fitting ending to the Craig era (though where the character goes from here is anyone's guess).
That reminds me, at least six months have passed since I saw it so it's due another airing.
Not at all mate, there's a lot of members on here who really enjoyed it. I have my complaints about it, but it's very well made
I feel the majority of people are in this camp to be honest. It's clearly well made and has some very well crafted, entertaining scenes. That said there are many who can't get beyond their dislike/frustration about some of the more 'bold' creative decisions (Bond's death, the daughter etc.) which I actually sympathise with somewhat.
It has its share of dodgy moments - 'die Blofeld die!' being one - but most Bond films do anyway. I personally don't think all of the script holds together as well as it should, but it's not the worst Bond film. At least for me.