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True. Still, I think they would have made more Moore-bond but with Brosnan and he would have ended up being considered a poor man's Moore. Well, he is for many still, but it may have been worse.
Agree with this. Although Dalton is, like Craig, a very good stage trained actor, there was something about Dalton that I found too intense in his interpretation of Bond, somehow wound too tight. Craig's Bond was intense but still came off more natural and confident in the role (not in person, but on film). Maybe the arrogance and confidence was due in part to the better CR script and contributed to that, but Craig just appears more natural as Bond. There are so many variables that go into a successful film and series of films, it's really hard to pin point why Craig's films are doing better. Different times, bigger budgets, better script with CR, better directors othan than Forster, but then again Craig's Bonds have much more spy film competition, so who knows. A screen writer (think it was William Goldman) once said wisely about the film business, "nobody knows anything" when it comes to making a successful film.
I really like Craig in the role. He nailed it like no other in CR. I think that, to date, was his high water mark. I hope he surpasses it in SP.
However, the first hour and a half or so of TLD is sublime. Dalton is damn magnificent, particularly in Bratislava, the UK safehouse, Vienna, and Tangier. Just brilliant imho and he really looked the part (height, build etc.). I actually like the character that Dalton portrayed - his Bond felt real - he took that to new levels in LTK and it might have been too much, but it was a consistent, real portrayal - a real person.
Craig does the same but I like his Bond more in some areas and less in others- they have different strengths.
Bottom line, I really can't say. They're both excellent and I'd be happy with either.
http://reflectionsonfilmandtelevision.blogspot.ca/2012/09/james-bond-friday-licence-to-kill-1989.html
I think Tim's a great Bond but the whole package was always his problem, he was great at being suave and ruthless but that stiffness seeped in now and then.
Craig displays a confidence in all areas, just look at that TV spot released yesterday, that "Bond... James Bond" is masterful.
I agree about Dalton's occasional stiffness. However, much as I love Craig, he has a different problem in my eyes....which is a slight, occasional thuggishness.
That's why I said earlier that I can't pick between these two. They both have different strengths. A combo of Dalton/Craig would likely be the perfect Bond.
Absolutely agree with this. I grew up with Brosnan and still think GE is one of the best 10 or so films in the series, and I personally love the first half of TND (its everything after Paris Carver is killed that sinks TND). The scripts and casts in the Brosnan era were what ruined the films from being critically successful as well as commercially successful. Brosnan was oftentimes by far and away the best thing about each his movies.
I also think both TLD and LTK are some of the better films in franchise history (particularly TLD), but think that the main area that Craig has succeeded in that Dalton didn't is that Dalton didn't portray the suaveness that it takes to play the role. Dalton was great, but there were certain instances where I think he played the role a bit too hard. Part of that had to do with the script (LTK) and part of it I think had to do with him trying too hard to distance himself from Moore. LTK in particular really lacked the class that I think one would expect from a Bond film, the hotel in Isthumus City was ugly, the score sounded like it was straight out of Miami Vice, etc. Craig doesn't have that problem (see the final Bond...James Bond line from the latest SPECTRE TV spot). Even in QoS I think the film had the right amount of class mixed in with being one of the series grittier entries.
If I could 're-do' the franchise timeline I'd put Dalton in 4 films from '85-'91, Brosnan in 6 films from '93-'03 (with markedly better scripts than what he was given to work with) and then have Craig take over in '06 with CR.
He is not the best thing in his 4 movies imho. I don't think that he transcended those movies whatsoever, but rather existed within them. In the case of TWINE in particular, I think he was among the worst things in it with his affected acting (just my opinion of course).
Craig on the other hand, did transcend QoS. Very few people criticized his performance, even though the film took flack. In fact, he cemented his reputation as Bond in a film that had its detractors. Brosnan never did that in any of his movies from my perspective, except maybe in DAD ironically, where he gave his most confident portrayal as 007.
Dalton was undoubtedly too heavy handed in LTK, but that is the direction they were headed in with that film. Everything about it was violent and gritty and gutsy. Personally, I love Kamen's score (he's no Barry, but he is certainly better than what has come since).
You are one bitter Dalton fan!
I find him funny by now. So utterly predictable and partly he really needs to stretch logic more then a little to make his point. <:-P good old Major, he never disappoints. ;)
I'm not saying all but Major continually criticises the Craig era, if Dalton would have had the same story lines and Tim's on record as saying he's most envious of what Craig got it would be a different story.
Please don't tar us all with the same brush. I'm a Dalton fan, and I'm also a fan of Craig's take on the character. I think it pretty obvious that Dalton didn't really get a fair shake; with a third or even fourth go at the role who knows how things might have gone? Certain forces at MGM wanted Brosnan from the git-go but his contractual obligations prevented Pierce from taking the job at first. Eon had been interested in Dalton when he felt himself too young to take the role, when he felt too old after the long hiatus between LTK and GE he excused himself from consideration and Brosnan finally got the role he'd hoped for a decade earlier. I think it clear that Dalton conducted himself as a class act(or) regardless of how one feels about his own performance in the role or those of his successors.
I was big advocate of Dalton during TLD & LTK and after and I can assure you I defended him many times but I just find Craig is able to deliver the full package.
Dalton is a fine actor if not a bit stagey at times, Craig seems a more natural cinematic actor to me.
I said earlier that a combo of Dalton/Craig would likely be the perfect Bond. I thought more about it.......from my point of view, that is actually Sean Connery.....
I thought Brosnan was dealt a bad hand. LTK was a train wreck, as were SF and QoS. CR was decent only because it came after DAD. MHO, I am sorry if my opinion offends the Craigy Boppers.
I'm not suggesting PB wasn't dealt a bad hand. That's clear, as EON had its head up its rear at the time, not to mention MGM fiddling etc. However, the man did not do what he should have done with the role he coveted in my opinion. He should have been better as Bond.....that has nothing to do with scripts....it has to do with him imho. I just did not find him credible on many an occasion.
Craig on the other hand, has exceeded my expectations. He's not perfect by any means, but he is very good at making his Bond believable, real & dangerous......for me
I don't know why Dalton is being brought into it, I didn't mention him. And for a "bitter Dalton fan" I can complement most other Bond actors, including his direct successor, whose second film I have enjoyed (and defended) since I first saw it in the cinema in 1997). I am aware of Dalton's shortcomings. But I don't think that is the problem here...
Talk about predictability. Still, that isn't the worst thing that has been said to me, just for voicing my opinion against Craig. I will give you 6/10, must try harder next time.
I think I may have said this before, so I will say it again. I don't post as much as I used to. After 10 years I feel like most of what I want to say, I have already said. I post fewer still about Bond (anything Bond related). I mention Craig very rarely. Much less so than he is appreciated (shouldn't be surprising considering I am but 1 fan). So why is it then, that I can't mention Craig, without such a response. I don't mention Craig a fraction of what everyone else does, yet I can't give my own opinion on him. And while I have never denied strongly disagreeing with them, I certainly don't belittle the opinions of those do who appreciate Craig. Yours included, actually, @GermanLady.
=D>
Yes, you said that before. What makes you unbelievable as someone, who just dislikes something/someone to me, is - that I have read NEVER EVER one positive thought from you. Its not possible, that someone hates just about everything out of 3 films, which consist of many more layers then just one actor, you dislike. To me, someone who does that is just a hater and as such I call you out. No more, no less. Sorry...
Brosnan was dealt the best of hands in fact: everyone or almost wanted him at the time. Never a Bond actor been accepted so easily as Bond before a single scene was ever shot. Not even Moore I think. He didn't have to earn the role the way the others did.
You might not have read anything positive about Craig, from me on this forum. I don't know if you are aware or not, but this isn't the first MI6 forum. On the original forum, I joined on July 20th 2005, before Craig was cast. Believe it or not, but the day Craig was cast, I was actually supportive. And remained so up until after QOS, when I started to form an opinion on Craig. Those posts are now gone, and that is why you wont have seen me say anything positive about him.
No, as I said, I post less because most of what I wanted to say about Bond, I have already said. And I now tend more to avoid posting in threads that are centered around Craig. I could just not mention Craig, but that is dodging one bullet to walk into the path of another.
I am no more a hater of Craig, than you are of Dalton. And for what it is worth, you have mentioned Dalton (or rather, his fans making him out to be a the ultimate Bond) more than I have Craig. On July 1st, you wrote....
I have never seen anyone claim Dalton to be a sex bomb. I certainly have never called him that. I personally, have always said that while Dalton wasn't as outwardly charming as Connery or Moore, he could be charming, and made up for it with other qualities. Such as his ruthless edge.
That occasional thuggishness serves in adding points to Craig for me. Whereas you see that as a problem I see it as a good thing and a necessity. Being suave and charming are all valued traits but in the cold, brutal, bloody and murky world of spies, terrorists, murderers and despicable people; smirking, drinking and pleasentries aren't enough. The thuggishness adds credibility and a reasonable realism.
You need to really look at the context within which he's saying it. Where is he? Who is he with? What's he doing? I find it to be obvious that him having Lucia up against a wall, invading her personal space, being that intimately close to her and despite her concern for possibly being caught and killed, the scene clearly shows a very confident and relaxed Bond who's so at ease with the situation he's in that his response is said by way of seduction. Now, he's not going to say it the same way he introduced himself to Mr. White because the scenario and circumstances are very different.