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Just because they both read of all Fleming and tried to go "darker" (a vastly over-used word since 1989's Batman IMHO) doesn't mean that they give similar performances. Moore and Brosnan both worked the "lighter" aspects of Bond but their performances are quite different. The same with Michael Keaton's Batman/Bruce Wayne and Christian Bale's. Just because Keaton's performance was considered so much closer to the source material than Adam West's doesn't mean that he and Bale give similar performances.
I love both Dalton and Craig in the role but Dalton didn't have the Connery-esque swagger that Craig has and he was also a bit too theatrical and forced for my tastes. Craig is much more believable in the action scenes but as someone said, that's more of movie Bond than Tim's Fleming Bond. Both men display vulnerability with their performances but in different ways - Craig's Bond can blend chivalry with also using women (such as Solange or Fields) and it doesn't come off as contradictory. Dalton's Bond is also chivalrous but wouldn't seem credible using a woman like Craig does. Dalton does a great "coiled rage" (such as when M orders him to assassinate Pushkin) that others don't do - yet, he still follows orders.
Each Bond is unique even though they share some similar basic traits. But just because any two actors try to embrace or include a certain aspect of the character doesn't mean that the performances are similar.
Quite agree - and Dalton really (to my mind) looks like Bond. Still think Craig is superb though. TD will always be the best Bond for me.
Dalton doesn't treat his boss like his mum.
TD Bond was that of Flemming and the Cold War. A RN Officer who like Flemming would have done a lot of desk work prior to active 00 statues. He would have had to rely in equal measure on both brain and brawn.
DC Bond is a modern warrior. Most likely a RN Special Forces veteran (SBS) who saw service in Bosnia,Afghsnistan and Iraq. He'd have relied more on brute strength (blunt instrument) than the more mundane detective/intelligence work of Cold War Bond. You can see him struggling with this in CR and also in QOS when he throws the special branch officer off the roof. I personally felt uncomfortable with DC doing that scenes so soon in his 00 career.
TD in LTK is therefore most faithful to Flemings Bond but DC is very close.
Fair enough :) Well lets just say parent then.
As for Craig, and I know it's tantamount to treason when speaking out against him, but he's the greatest hits of Bond vol 2. There's nothing to his 'style', that has not allready been done before. My expectations for Skyfall have Skyfallen the more i've heard about it.
I think Craig is like Brosnan, he's taken bits from past Bond actors and mashed them up to make something new. With Brosnan it was Connery and Moore, with Craig it's Lazenby and Dalton (some people say Connery but I don't see it at all).
I think you wrong about this myself. For one, Connery's presence in the first 4 films was more commanding than anyone's. Two, any opinion you have of Craig can't be taken seriously if you've already made up your mind about him before seeing the film.
I don't think you can attribute a good percentage of Craig's success to what Dalton did, they are very much their own Bond to me. Yes Dalton did do the darker more serious 007 first but Craig's is an entirely different animal.
They both approach the more Fleming Bond, Dalton definitely looks like he means business but his delivery of the quips are mixed, some are tailored for him, like "why didn't you learn the violin" or "you should have bought lilies" (that whole Pushkin sequence is one of Dalt's finest) though "better make that 2" or "he got the boot" just sound forced.
Craig never feels like he's uncomfortable with the quips, " Yes considerably", "What if I felt compelled to", "Time to get out" or one of my all time favourites " I don't think he smoked" they are all delivered with a deadpan style but not with an awkwardness, couple that with we know he can look lethal and he can charm the ladies and spar with them with a light-hearted charm.
Dalton does have a great chemistry with D'abo in TLD and you do feel they are very fond of each other ( in love is a little strong we are talking Bond here) but I don't feel it at all with Lupe or Pam in LTK.
I just feel that although Dalton has his strengths, that Craig can do the darkness but he can be playful and charming, something you rarely see from Dalton plus there is something going on behind Craig's eyes and his movements that none of the previous actors can touch, Craig for me is outright the most gifted actor to play Bond, Dalton's a great actor but I think where he excels is on the stage, cinema never sees the most comfortable medium for him, Craig is undoubtedly far more relaxed and confident from a cinematic point of view.
Also and I'll get flamed by the Daltonites for this but it's a real sense of sour grapes that he's getting excepted as a more Fleming Bond than their favourite and is getting the props for that with the critics and I have to say this after the comment above Craig is nothing like Brosnan at all.
Another big difference: Dalton's Bond smokes!
Like it said, it does rub me the wrong way a bit. Doesn't stop me enjoy Craig though, I just prefer Dalton.
They're nothing like eachother with how they play Bond, but they both mixed up traits from past Bonds.
Connery was at his peak in DN & FRWL but i'm fond of YOLT as well. But I don't rate Connery much as an actor, and I don't think he has that much presence, certainly not as much as Dalton.
It's not that I have made up my mind, it's my expectations. Isn't it better to go in expecting little, than to go in gushing?
As for sour grapes, water off a ducks back. I know Dalton captures Fleming's Bond to an unmatched degree, and that's all that matters.
Really? The other day I rewatched both FRWL and TLD the same day (thanks to the Bond movie channel). I enjoyed both but I can easily say that Connery had a more commanding, striking and engaging presence than Dalton. Tim is commanding but not all that striking - strange because physically he's probably the tallest of all the actors who have played the part.
Craig can also do "playful" better than Dalton could. Dalton just didn't seem comfortable in that department (the Bliss/Dalton Moneypenny is, in my book, the worst scene of its kind in a Bond film - yep, I'd even take the VR scene over that. At least the star looked like he was having fun).
Dalton did have his moments (the Pushkin scene was great) but Craig has a more confident, natural manner about him overall.
It's not sour grapes... it's... sadness, that Dalton wasn't able to continue. I'm aware that he was not as popular at the time as previous Bonds, but I still think he deserved a chance to grow in the role.
Regardless of what some might say I don't think Dalts delivered perfect performances. I prefer him in TLD because he's more restrained. In Kill he goes a bit over the top. He ultra grimaces through the scenes in the casino and I didn't like the way he said "TAKE ME TOO HIM". His movement and line delivery there was a bit too exaggerated IMO.
Regarding Connery, I actually think his best performance was Goldfinger. He's perfect there ("Oh no you don't - thish ish no time to be reshcued").
Well said. I agree with most of everything you've just said here.
I'm amazed anyone would seriously think that. Physically I'd agree Dalton is quite impressive but he doesn't glow off the screen like Connery does.
I reckon Thunderball.
^^^This. I like every Bond actor, I think every single one has done a great job, I just like some more than others. And for me, Dalton tops all the others.
I like the Dalts, but even I wouldn't claim he is better than Connery. That's just being silly.
And Connery simply commands the screen. Not something Dalton ever sets out to do I think - he is a totally different type of actor.
Dalton, like Craig, could blend in to a degree, and then explode when necessary. The other Bond actors may have been just a bit too 'leading-man-movie-like' in their visages.
But then, we ARE discussing movies, heh heh.
:P
I was talking to a friends dad the other day and he said "Craig's quite "blokey" in CR". I get what he means.
Hmm...I suppose I do get what you mean. Fleming did want Bond to be anonymous after all.