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Comments
(Yes, I am joking in what I hope is a nice enough way ... hard to tell from text sometimes perhaps ...)
:D
I'm in no doubt @Getafix hates Brosnan, but I think he needs to let him go.
Dalton's Bond is suave (okay, not AS suave as Connery, but then who is?).
He's handsome without being too pretty.
He's physically in shape & not too bulging muscularly, as I would expect the literary Bond to be.
He has an electric & commanding presence and voice.
He totally engages the people around him.
When he does 'the look' women respond.
As he said in The Rocketeer, he does his own stunts.
Dalton's never relied on his looks or his sheer nature to portray Bond; he works at every scene.
He handles his gun like a tool, not an instrument of drama.
He never 'winks' at the audience, even when some one-liners come off weak.
Dalton was almost single-handedly responsible for ending Bond's silver age on the highest of notes.
:)
Usually overlooked in favour of LTK, but TLD is an absolute corker. I don't rank the films at all, but if a non-fan were to ask, I'd recommend it as a classic.
Sorry about the Brosnan bashing - as you all know I just find it too hard to resist sometimes, although I do try. For me my visceral dislike of Brosnan's Bond (though as I'm endlessly pointing out, not Brosnan the man, who I like, including some of his non Bond performamces) is completely wrapped up in love of Dalton's performance. TLD was the first Bond I saw at the cinema and I was just blown away Dalton's performance. I think he nailed it from the first scene. I liked Moore, but Dalton had suddenly made Bond exciting again. The 15 certificate on LTK meant I didn't see the next film until years later when it came out on TV. Then came 5 years of waiting for Dalton's return, only for him to drop out and be replaced by the masively inferior Pierce. Imagine how gutting that was for a young Bond fan. I didn't know how bad Brosnan was until GE came out and I actually saw him acting for the first time - up until that point I was just as excited as everyone else about a new Bond coming out.
So you can see for me, the Brosnan era feels a bit like the Star Wars prequels, or Bourne Legacy do to those series' hardcore fans - just draw droppingly bad and disappointing. So bad it felt like a betrayal, especially as there was no practical reaso for Dalton not to have come back for at least ome more. And in my mind, it was sort of Brosnan who 'pushed' Dalton out, even though he himself was the one denied in the role by Dalts in '87.
Any way, I just think Dalts outclasses Brosnan on every front. I am much more relaxed about Brosnan since DC took over though - I just avoid watching any of his films and sort of pretend they don't exist. The series goes straight from LTK to CR in my mind. I can even take a disappoinment like SF because I know we have a really good actor in the main role and there is every chance the next film will mark a big improvement. During the Brosnan era I just felt that couldn't happen, because Brosnan never really took the role seriously enough - not even to the extent that Roger did - and lacked the acting ability to make up for his failure to ever really develop a particular 'take' on Bond. Brosnan just seems to turn up and do his lines. He is there on screen as Bond in body, but not in mind or spirit. As someone else said, Dalton was never complacent like that. He didn't rely on his looks alone - he gave everything he had as an actor and it reallly shows. The quality is there on screen for posterity.
"I WANT THE TRUTH"
The more I think about it the more I feel Dalts gives a better performance in TLD.
Yes, I also think TLD is the better film. I have not been that big a fan of LTK in the past, but rewatching it after a really long time I found I appreciated it a lot more than previously. As you say, Davi is fantastic, and Del Toro a nice, if underutilised, bit of casting. The Bond girls, particularly Pam, are actually better than I remember. And I have to say that I actually feel LTK fits into the 'formula' a lot more than I used to think as well. A lot of the key ingredients and elements are there, just done in a slightly new and different way. I think it works pretty well.
Any way, to answer your question, I think Dalton just gives a really good performance. Nothing showy or flashy - just a strong central performance. I probably agree that I 'enjoy' his performance more in TLD, but it's a very different tone of film. I think he conveys some the world wearyness and disillusionment with his job and the world he occupies very well - when he confronts Pam in the hotel he looks sick, exhausted and almost finished. It's all very human and believable. A million miles away from someone else's performance.
Okay, I get it now. After being introduced to the best, any follow up is a let down. Especially with a return to a small bit of 'Moorishness', eh?
I am a big Moore fan as well, so it's not the return to a lighter tone that I objected to, just that I didn't think Brosnan's performance was very good. I'm not saying it would have been good casting, but you can imagine, for instance, a better actor, like Sam Neil, bringing a lighter tone, and making it work much better. But Brosnan doesn't take all the blame. His scripts and directors were bad too.
But no - I am much more open to a bit of Mooreishness than a lot of people on here. There is space for lots of different takes on Bond - I just want whichever direction they take to be done really well and with conviction. Rog made what he did look really easy, when it's actually really hard to pull off his blend of humour and seriousness. I just always felt Brosnan underestimated the role, or perhaps was actually just overwhelmed by it.
Never really took to Moore, rejected Lazenby when I did see him, merely luke warm over Dalton, THEN CAME BROSNAN! At last, a suave, handsome dude with the funny here & there!
But, in reading the Fleming books I realised that Dalton had nailed it, possibly even better than Connery in DN.
At THAT point I decided that even though Dalton was new my favourite, ALL the actors had great input into the franchise...
I love Connery, because, well..CONNERY.
I love Lazenby because of his earnestness & physicality.
I love Moore for his Saintly Bond.
I love Brosnan for his Steelely Bond.
I love Craig for his "Do I look like I give a damn" Bond.
Now, their individual films as films is another debate.
It's all good. B-)
(But nobody did it better than the Daltonator)
On the TV series CHUCK Dalton proved that he could do an older Bond if he wanted to, but he's so damn faithful to Fleming that he'd never do it. Hell, he bowed out because he turned 50, and back then he looked 40....
Check out Dalton in a moment on CHUCK:
:P
Dalton rocked CHUCK.
Much like he rocked Bond.
(end of tirade)
From my perspective I just think it's sad he hasn't set his sights a bit higher. He could have matured into one of the elder statesmen of the British stage and screen, but mainly does pretty average to poor stuff. The highlight of his post Bond career is pretty much Hot Fuzz. i just think he could have done at least as well as Patrick Stewart, but just seems not that bothered.
:-<