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Connery's swagger, self confidence
Lazenby's ... fighting ability, sure
Moore's lightness of touch & elegance
Dalton's intensity
Brosnan's overall cool
Craig's depth & physicality
"charm" for me - all had it except Lazenby ... and also Dalton, slightly less (mind you, I love Dalton's Bond)
That's an aspect I really enjoyed in Bond movies, which has been absent for some time now, and hasn't been delivered by the last 3 actors quite as well as by Connery and Moore.
I fully agree on everything that's been said. I even like Lazenby in the role. He isn't really 'good', but most of the film he did quite allright.
As I'm reading Colonel Sun right now, it struck me that this incarnation only does one thing Bond in my eyes would never do (halfway through the novel) and that is someone outside the service about his personal background (beeing half Scot, half Swiss). But more then that he indeed is a sort of clean slate. Handsome, ruthless, powerful in his movements and purpose, but still a closed book to the outside world. A bit of an enigma.
As the for next Bond actor (keep in mind I am still hoping Craig does one more), it would be nice to have someone with strong enough capabilities (good acting is a given) but not per se a "pretty face." I liked Brosnan's looks from the beginning but also I enjoyed his Bond a lot. I don't mind someone good looking ... but it's not a major requirement for me.
What are the 2 main qualities, you all feel are MOST important to you, for the actor to have? (again, being a decent actor is a given) ~
For me, I'll say the ability to portray solid self assurance/inner strength ... and the ability to handle light humor smoothly. So for today, those are my two main qualities I want to see, whoever is after Craig.
All that has been said above are good points, though. B-)
I don't really care too much about the humour. His self-assuredness is the main character trait, and his ability to fight without beeing bulky or a martial arts specialist. I think the rest could follow from that.
So for you, @CommanderRoss, 2 most important traits are: self assuredness and a good ability to fight without being bulky or a martial arts specialist.
OK, who's next? Like we can narrow it down to 2 things ... but give it a go ~ :>
I think my favorite Craig fight scene is the stairwell fight in Casino Royale. That was magnificently done (actors, editing, camera work, all of it).
:(
That uneasiness dissipated fairly quickly. Amis' mimics Fleming's prose quite well, but with giving it his own writing spin. Amis' descriptive writing is good, but it seems to be something of a fetish with him, as opposed to Fleming who made it all quite natural.
Curiously, I haven't pictured my Fleming Bond – a combination between how Fleming described Bond, i.e. tall, lean, dangerous etc - kinda like a Dalton type character, I always felt that he looked the way Fleming described Bond - with a rather shadowy person, allowing me to fill his face in with various Bond actors, such as when the films depict them in familiar scenes a'la Fleming, like Dalton and the Wavekrest warehouse or Moore and the keelhauling.
For Colonel Sun Bond's, I've been picturing a similar Bond to Moore in FYEO. Amis' Bond and Moore's FYEO Bond have a certain world weariness to them. Also Amis' has set his novel in Greece. :)
Anyway, I highly recommend you getting this book. It's a fascinating experiment, writing with great respect to Fleming's legacy.
:-B I'd like to hear from a few more people on this. Cheers!
The talk of Idris Alba is a fun discussion and he would make a strong case but so many knuckleheads would go dogshit crazy...maybe some assholes would slit their wrists....so be it. Same goes for a female 007. Its a fun discussion but it probably will never happen.
Makes me wonder if and when the Bond franchise will ever end? Dr Who is still going strong and who knows. Another 50 years?
Idris would be a wonderful Bond if younger, as I've said before.
I think they will opt for someone unlike Craig, and more traditional in Bond looks, so to speak, @OHMSS69. I agree. I just do not know if the right candidate is on the radar now. And still Craig IS Bond. And to have him one more time would be the perfect ending.
So, for after Craig's tenure - in the looks department, we think not a huge departure from Fleming description or the previous (pre-Craig) Bonds. Anyone else think differently?
In the books Bond has dark hair and blue eyes...Connery , Brosnan(?) and Laz has brown eyes and Dalton the other dark haired chap has green eyes. The two blue-eyed Bonds Moore and Craig has brown and blond hair.
Also of the six only Moore and Craig are true Englishmen. will they cast a non-English actor this time around?
Don't shoot me if I got Brozza's eye color wrong. I never looked that closely at him.
Brosnan's sex appeal and good looks.
Sean Connery's confidence from the very beginning.
all his succesors got the confidence at their third film but only Sean had it perfectly done since his very first film.
Daniel Craig's physicallity.
Well, if we look at the most successful actors in the role, what is it they bring to the table?
Connery was very masculine, very cool and totally in control. Moore was easy going, self-mocking at times. Craig was also masculine but edgier than Connery, deeper emotionally.
In all cases they had charisma. And that Is what makes an actor Bond-worthy. Sheer, undiluted charisma.
Doesn't matter if they are not Cary Grant handsome (as Craig surely isn't) or Clint Eastwood tough (as Moore isn't), as long as they light up the screen and own the role.
Dalton gets heralded by the fan community for being the most Fleming-like of all the actors (although I could never see that myself) but an actor needs to be the central point of any film. You mustn't be able to take your eyes off him. Connery was in control, you watched him all the time. This simply wasn't the case with Dalton.
Of the actors being mentioned I'm semi-impressed with Tom Hiddleston. I'm almost convinced he could carry a big budget movie for 2 hours. If he is successful it really won't matter if he is or isn't like Fleming's Bond, as long as women fancy him and men admire him.
I do think charisma is important. That can take many forms.
I was with you, CommanderRoss, until you went all pro Hiddleston on me. ;) No, I feel a strung aversion to him. More than most, I'm sure. Zero appeal.
Dalton has charisma - however, I think his was less than Sean, Roger, and Pierce. Daniel has his own sort of magnetism. Dalton may have had less of that as Bond, yes. Yet I still enjoyed his Bond very much. I especially liked his Bond's interaction with Kara. That seemed real to me.