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...and yet he's worked with the likes of Tim Burton, John McTiernan, John Boorman, Richard Attenborough, Roman Polanski, Susan Sarandon and Meryl Streep and is playing characters like Gerry Adams.
I admit he's far from the greatest of actors but to say that he hasn't successfully transferred from the small to big screen is really stretching it.
Dalton's the one who has stayed mainly in tv territory and appears rarely in films. When he does its usually small/lightweight roles.
I admire Dalton a lot for his genuine dedication to the role. He seemed to really study the character and tried to bring out the more interesting aspects of James Bond. Brosnan by contrast seemed to just be happy to be there and used Bond as a means to develop his own career. BUT I do think Brosnan has more screen charisma.
I also agree that you could sometimes sense Dalton pulling out his dramatic acting chops, which I think weakens him a bit.
Bottom line, I think Dalton is probably the "deeper" actor but he's also the more stagey actor of the two. His style doesn't translate well to film.
I've also noticed the way he annunciates certain words and syllables at times. He speaks maybe a little too clearly on occasions ("it was instinct, better make tha-T two, "sal-T corrosion" "Who's got your 500 mill-ion" etc)
Its a fact though that Brosnan is a more popular actor, star and person never mind Bond.
Whether you agree with it is another matter but you can't dispute the man has had his fair share of starring roles.
I've said many times I don't care that much for Dalton's non Bond stuff and that I've enjoyed Pierce in other stuff.
But as Bond Dalton is far more compelling.
So what if he's a bit stagey. He brings some conviction and danger to the screen.
Absolutely. Seraphim Falls, The Ghost Writer, The Matador.... Brosnan is a good actor. It's not his fault that he was miscast as James Bond in an era that saw the producers groping for a coherent direction with each new film.
I'm inclined to agree.
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It's funny, after watching Benicio Del Toro in Sicario (he also plays a vengeful character) it made me re-think Dalton's performance in LTK. Del Toro in this film makes LTK Dalton look weak in comparison.
For me, again, it just boils down to him 'acting' rather than exuding a sort of natural presence or menace in some scenes. Don't get me wrong he's excellent in others; alongside Thomas Wheatley in those openings scenes he's awesome.
I get your point. Essentially Dalton IS acting all the time.
Brosnan had 100% more presence than Dalton...he can command a screen when he needs to ,and his films since Bond have ,on the whole,been very good or at least entertaining.
Dalton needs to stay on the small screen and the theatre,that is where he is most suited.
I would grab a Brosnan film to watch over Dalton's any day of the week.
This is a good post. Yes Dalton was certainly understyled in the clothes department. But.....in terms of physicality......have you seen Brosnan running......its hilarious!!!
It is hard to match Sean, George and Dan, though. All three of them looked like they could kill, especially Dan. Some parts of his movies feel like snuff films for crying out loud.
Now when Dalton appeared I was one of the few that loved his portrayal and felt TLD was definitely a step up from what we'd had previously, then 2 years later when he returned I initially loved LTK but over the years that film has dated terribly.
Dalton does have a stagey feel to his portrayal, I think he actually seemed better in TLD in hindsight. Dalton fans have a tendency to fawn over his LTK performance but it's a real mixed bag, some moments when he's great and others where he feels awkward and there is something off.
You can go on about him ushering in the hard edged emotional Bond before Craig but there is a great distance between the confidence Daniel displays from the get go in CR to what Dalton did.
Craig never feels awkward or not confident, there is a conviction in his acting, he commands the screen like no other actor since Connery.
Craig for me is considerably a better Bond to Tim and I prefer Dalton to both Moore and Brosnan.
If Dalton had done Skyfall I very much doubt TD fans would be slagging it off like they do now, a lot of Dalton fans have sour grapes that their favourite never got the material Craig did.
Until then they hadn't found an actor dramatically confident enough that would be able to convey what Craig does, neither Dalton or Brosnan could have pulled those films off as well as Craig.
He does it so naturally that there is a tendency to think there is no effort but it's not just in the way speaks but the way he carries himself and those extraordinary blue eyes he has.
Neither Dalton or Brosnan had any of that.
That's not so say I don't rate DC's performance - just that I'd argue Dalton is underrated.
For me Dan's Bond has tended to lack vulnerability. Even Roger seemed more in peril than Dan does. Dan's Bond is confident, even when he's supposedly in the doldrums, that I find it hard to really get behind him.
To say he had more screen presence than Dalton is laughable! He was a lightweight, and as was said here, needed the Bond role more than it needed him, hence his moaning to the press when he was dumped!
You could even say that the more interesting acting work is now on TV/streaming services rather than film.
My first response to Brosnan as Bond was that he was lightweight, looked uncomfortable and was constantly overshadowed by other actors.
His entrance to Carver's party in TND still makes me cringe. It's like he doesn't really think he belongs there.
For me it's primarily that he was miscast, becuase he's serviceable in other roles. As the slimy secret agent in TTOP, he's actually very good.
Brozza has matured a bit over the years as well.
@BAIN123 is constantly banging on about Dalton being a TV actor or better on stage or some such. But for me, Brosnan as Bond, especially in GE, is the epitome of lightweight TV acting not translating onto the big screen.
Pretty interchangeable these days.