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Why We Love Every Bond Actor
chrisisall
Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
Sean gifted us with Fleming's creation on screen for the first time, and he proceeded to form a template that others would be measured by.
George didn't try too hard, and as a result gave us near Connery-esque experience in his ease & physicality.
Roger entertained us endlessly, and turned in some supremely Fleming-esque moments along the way.
Tim wowed the Fleming fans with a very literary version of Bond, despite a few of the gadgetary trappings the producers of the day felt the need to include.
Pierce brought a Shakespearian approach, playing to the masses, as it were. He truly gave the public what they wanted, and it was fun.
Dan is no nonsense, no funny-stuff Bond. Very Fleming, yet very much his own Bond as well.
Welcome to the Bond actor LOVE thread! \m/
George didn't try too hard, and as a result gave us near Connery-esque experience in his ease & physicality.
Roger entertained us endlessly, and turned in some supremely Fleming-esque moments along the way.
Tim wowed the Fleming fans with a very literary version of Bond, despite a few of the gadgetary trappings the producers of the day felt the need to include.
Pierce brought a Shakespearian approach, playing to the masses, as it were. He truly gave the public what they wanted, and it was fun.
Dan is no nonsense, no funny-stuff Bond. Very Fleming, yet very much his own Bond as well.
Welcome to the Bond actor LOVE thread! \m/
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Comments
Connery is the originator. Defined cool and made every man want to be Bond.
George gave an inspired effort and showed a side of Bond that hadn't been seen before.
Moore proved their could be life for Bond after Connery with his own unique style.
Dalton gave us the literary Bond and possibly improved upon it by adding some tenderness.
Brosnan gave us thrills, some of the classic charm, and showed us Bond was nowhere close to done yet.
Craig brought a ruthlessness that goes back to the roots of the series and has been phenomenal performing his own stunts.
George - the rookie actor who happened to be in one of the best films
Rog - the smooth gentlemanly Bond.
Tim - the admirable Bond
Pierce - The definitive Bond of my youth.
Dan - the brutal Bond
I do appreciate all of the Bonds, and I value very much that the series has changed, grown, given us different interpretations - it keeps this series alive, fresh, and far from being over. Which makes me very happy indeed! :>
I very much appreciate George's lone take on Bond because I doubt OHMSS would have turned out the same without him. And what a fantastic film it is. He brought a vulnerability and physicality that was vital for this particular entry. He showed great potential and we'll always wonder what would have happened if he had stayed on.
I'll always have a place in my heart for Roger as he was Bond when i was first introduced to the series. He has since remained my favorite Bond and I don't see that changing anytime soon. I love the subtle variations of his portrayal from film to film. He obviously had a natural gift for humor but it's often underrated just how well he could play it straight when he chose to. His wit and charm are unparallelled.
I really enjoy that Timothy brought an intensity and emotional depth to the character that we had never seen before. At least not to this extent. I can dig how it was important to him to take Bond back to his literary roots even though that's not what the general public wanted at the time. He was a very passionate actor and it's unfortunate that he didn't make a third film.
I appreciate how Pierce's enthusiasm for playing Bond shines through in all of his performances. He helped to resurrect the franchise in one of it's darkest hours. He was very smooth and handled the romantic scenes very well. I also like how he could show us glimpses of a darker and harder edged Bond now and then. It's unfortunate that he got stuck with some of those scripts and how he exited the franchise.
I think the thing that I appreciate most about Daniel is how he rekindled my Bond fandom during a time when I had lost interest in the series. I love how complex his version of the character is. He's absolutely relentless and can use all raw emotion or be extremely cold and calculating. The emotional maturity he showed in SF proves that his character is continuing to grow from film to film. I can't wait for the next one.
I quite like George Lazenby. For me, he's the closest to Fleming's Bond. Craig's Bond comes close but he doesn't have the vulnerability that George does. For example look at the bit in OHMSS after the ski chase when Blofelds men are hunting him. He looks scared. When has Daniel Craig (or any other Bond actor) looked properly scared during an action scene. Dalton's Bond also comes close to Fleming but he's too cold blooded and ruthless, Fleming's Bond hated killing in cold blood and Lazenby (and Craig) show this. So that's why I think George was great: he was the closest to the Bond from the books. And he was great in the fight scenes and the emotional scenes.
Roger Moore is a legend. He's the funniest Bond, great at one liners, and you could tell he was always having fun in the role. What I love about the Moore era is how bat shit insane it seems when you write it out on paper. Assassins with third nipples and midget sidekicks, space Nazis, underwater cars, voodoo, gondola hovercrafts, etc. But Roger Moore, the suave charming playboy in the middle of it all, makes you buy it. If Daniel Craig jetted off to space or Pierce Brosnan drove off in an underwater car then it'd seem stupid. With Roger Moore, it was dumb, but it somehow worked. With him in the role you buy it and go along for the ride and that's why he was great. He was pulling fit girls that were half his age and beating bad guys until he was nearly 60. Legend.
Timothy Dalton is my favourite James Bond. He was the first one I saw and he's always been my favourite. A world weary cold blooded burnt out assassin. He was basically the Bond from the TLD short story and he pulled it off brilliantly. But he wasn't just constantly brooding and miserable. There were lighter moments and his Bond had a softer, warmer side. You can see this in the scenes with Kara. The relationship with him and Kara actually felt real, something I don't think happens often in Bond films. Dalton's Bond to me felt the most human and real and I think that's because he wasn't just a blunt instrument like the others were. He questioned his orders and he had a conscience. He was a flawed, fleshed out and real character. And he was so badass. Roger Moore, great as he was, couldn't compete with 80s action heroes. While Indiana Jones was dangling from the back of speeding trucks and Rambo was jumping off cliffs and using trees to break his fall, James Bond had his stunt double snowboarding down the mountain to the beach boys. Dalton changed all that. His Bond jumped onto moving trucks, water skiied from the back of planes, dangled from cargo nets on a massive plane really high in the air, jumped from a plane onto a moving oil tanker, etc. Dalton did a lot of these stunts himself which makes it even cooler. He was badass in the quieter moments too, like interrogating Pushkin and preparing to kill Sanchez with the sniper rifle. And while he wasn't great at the one liners, he could be funny. I think the best moments of comedy in his films came from him being a grumpy bastard ("piss off" "I hope you don't snore Q"). Dalton was amazing, he'll always be my favourite and it's a tragedy that he didn't do more.
Pierce Brosnan I think gets a lot of unfair flack. I loved his Bond, I thought he was brilliant and I was sad when it was announced that he wasn't coming back. He was the coolest James Bond. Everything he did was effortlessly cool. Flicking his head to the side casually while bullets slam into the wall next to him, adjusting his tie during a tank chase, escaping the bankers office in TWINE, etc. He could even make something as simple as walking away look really cool and badass (love it when he rolls under the door and then strolls away from the printing press in TND). He had the charisma of Connery and like Moore he was great with the quips. He also had a more vulnerable side though. Underneath the cocky, suave superspy persona there was a killer who was tired of killing but carried on because it was all he knew. You can see this in GE (on the beach with Natalya) and TWINE (Elektra brings out his softer side and he struggles to kill her). I've always thought in TWINE, when he kills Elektra, he kills his last bit of humanity, and all that's left is a remorseless killer. He was really charismatic, great with the flirting, and he was more of an action hero than any of the others. He was always running around with a machine gun gunning down bad guys like a badass. A suave, charmismatic badass action hero with depth. Brosnan was great. Great with the girls, great with the gadgets, great with the quips, great with the action. The perfect cinematic Bond.
I think Daniel Craig, while not the best Bond, is the best actor to ever play Bond. He's extremely talented and he's doing a great job. He helped inject new life into the franchise with Casino Royale and he's created his own fantastic interpretation. He's got the emotional vulnerability of Flemings Bond and he's really badass. The fight scenes in CR and QoS are brutal and brilliant; when Craig beats the shit out of bad guys, you believe it. He's also funny. He's good at quips and his Bond has his own sarcastic, cynical sense of humour which is fun to watch. His Bond, like Dalton, feels like a real person. He's a flawed, fleshed out character. He has depth. His Bond has also developed over time. We've seen Bond's origin story, his journey from a rookie wondering if this is the right job for him to an emptional wreck mourning the death of his girlfriend to the badass spy we all know and love. Daniel Craig has pulled this off brilliantly. He's an amazing actor and he's given three brilliant performances. He's good in emotional scenes, he's good in fight scenes, he's a great James Bond and I can't wait to see more of him.
Great stuff guys! Thanks! Well done.
And I agree with so much of what was written by you two.
Sir Sean Connery was the definition. Classy, styled, a cold blooded killer, cynical, womanizer, totally self-confident, cool ... The all time reference. It's not hazardous if Fleming payed him a tribute making the character half Swiss, half Scot.
George Lazenby gave the character more humanity and weaknesses (probably the most interesting interpretation) and he had the best fighting skills. Hands down.
Sir Roger Moore was the British gentleman that Fleming first considered and he was right about the life style and living standard. His jokes were sometimes too much but some among best in the entire serie.
Timothy Dalton did a great perf as a Professional one. He had the Bond style without a doubt even if he lacked some glamour Connery and Moore had before him and Brosnan after him. His serious and dark approach brought us back closer to the books roots. And to the genre "action in espionnage". Which was needed.
Pierce Brosnan made his own Bond style (looking the part 99%) while being a wonderful medley of Connery's class and charisma, Moore's charm and wit, Dalton's serious and sensitivity and Lazenby's humanity. The best actor among these and most complete interpretation to date.
Daniel Craig is a derivation, in the positive way, of Dalton's interpretation, while being more brutal, more modern. "The Girl or the mission?" -The mission then the girl. He's got the acting skills, the psycho of the character and some kind of charisma improving with time.
Each actor gave something great to the character (faithful to the book description or just adding some unexpected skills) and I enjoyed them all in their own ways. This said, I still have my favourites and least favourites ones. I truly wish the serie will still thrive with years.
Sean was super
Laz was lovely
Rog was a rogue
Tim was tip-top
Brosnan was the best (not) and made of sugar and spice, and all things nice
... and Dan is divine
Yawn. This thread makes me sleepy. Zzzzz.
I love all 6. Some might have some similarities to one another, but for the most part, they are all unique and I deeply appreciate what they've brought to the role.
Nice diplomatic response. I agree.
:bz
You know, there's an alternate Earth where Dalton was persuaded to take the role after Roger's TSWLM, and there, MR is straight from the Fleming novel? Brosnan only took over after Dalton had made eight films.
Damn. It sucks to be in this reality.... [-(
Besides, Moore was great...
Although there is one thing I cannot let slide - no way was Brosnan as cool as Sean Connery :D
He's an Icon.
Tim was just too young back then i.m.o. See 'The Lion In Winter', he is, of course, superb, but he looks like a student :>
Yes, deep down I do realize that, and that turning the offer down was the correct decision on his behalf. Quite an honourable thing to do actually, he showed a nice bit of respect for the character...
But its a tantalizing thought anyway, the prospect of two theater legends doing that film together. If there ever was an ideal actor for Majesty's it was Dalton, but timing wasn't on our side...
But parallell universes don't always follow the logic of real life, and in mine, Dalton is in perfect age by 1969 ;)