Poll: The Best James Bond

Who do you think is the best James Bond

  • Johnny Walker

  • Barry Nelson

  • Sean Connery

  • David Niven

  • George Lazenby

  • Roger Moore

  • Timothy Dalton (Jones the Bond)

  • Pierce Brosnan

  • Daniel Craig

Results are only viewable after voting.
Roger Moore for me although he shouldn't have done the awful View to a Kill. I lost interest in the Bond films after he finished although I have seen every one of them now. I wouldn't go out of my way to watch one though.
 
Hard for me to pick one as such, but for me the ones that stand out the most are Dalton, Connery, Moore & Brosnan - Moore & Brosnan used to be my joint favourite around 20 years back as I grew up watching those ones. Lazenby I don't really hold much of an opinion of, largely due to the fact he only ever did one Bond film and OHMSS is the one Bond film that I haven't truly watched all the way through yet - though will get around to it eventually. Not really a fan at all of Craig's films, Craig is a good actor but I feel they are yet to put out a great Bond film with Craig in it - though more than willing to give the latest upcoming one a go. As others have stated, his films appear to be too long / bland in my opinion

Dalton in recent years has probably been my personal favourite. Licence To Kill alone is one of the top five Bond films ever done in my opinion, and well worthy of the 15 rating... A departure from the usual MI6 committed Bond vs the villain who wants worldwide domination to a then Bond, burnt out, resigning from the service on a personal mission seeking revenge on his personal vendetta - no one else could pull off the performance that Dalton portrayed. Just simply unfortunate due to the whole MGM ordeal in the early 1990's that he only did two films. I'm sure I also read that Dalton, in Albert R. Broccoli's words in a certain interview was his closest vision to how Bond is in the novels - and largely puts it down to the way Fleming wrote the books on how Bond is as a character and his personality.

Liam.
 
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OHMSS is still in that awful era of action = sped-up playback that is just so artificial it's laughable. What's cool about the film is Blofeld's mountain top layer, which actually exists at the Schilthorn in Switzerland, and you can enjoy a good meal before skiing down the black-run from it into the ski plateau and then right down into the lower valleys in Lauterbrunnen et al if the snow is fresh. It's great fun. When I did it though I nearly had a heartattack as two skiers in front of me skiied off the mountain edge into the (stupidly ragged and deep gorge). Turns out they were paraskiers so all was well, but they could have let people know first. Anyway that restaurant and viewing platform is an absolutely cracking piece of engineering. No-one put their hand up my thigh to invite me to a late night rendezvous sadly. I had to content myself with chips and a hot chocolate. Probably for the best as I needed my concentration for the descent.
 
Do agree, the sped up action in OHMSS is a little OTT, I think it's the music, Diana Rigg, Blofeld's base, story make the film.

Don't get me wrong, Connery was pretty handy in the fight scene department (From Russia with Love, Diamonds are Forever). I think I read that according to Michael Caine, Connery was err, not one to be messed with in real life.

Anyway, OHMSS, whilst sped up, Lazenby looked leaner, fitter and the violence of the fights (like Daniel Craig following Brosnan) made the film.
 
Gray2233 said:
Sean Connery by a mile.

I don't like the newer Bond movies, they take themselves too seriously in my opinion and I find them a bit bland. I much prefer the older movies, and Connery was the pinnacle of them for me.

Mind you, I do think Brosnan did a fantastic job with Goldeneye.
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Ninco! said:
Do agree, the sped up action in OHMSS is a little OTT, I think it's the music, Diana Rigg, Blofeld's base, story make the film.

Don't get me wrong, Connery was pretty handy in the fight scene department (From Russia with Love, Diamonds are Forever). I think I read that according to Michael Caine, Connery was err, not one to be messed with in real life.

Anyway, OHMSS, whilst sped up, Lazenby looked leaner, fitter and the violence of the fights (like Daniel Craig following Brosnan) made the film.
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Yes, there is a great interview with Michael Caine talking about how Connery got into acting. They were doing South Pacific and the chorus were all too, I can't remember how he phrased it, stereotypically thespian(?), and so they went out into the local gyms and found, among others, Connery. I'll see if I can find the vid

Here you go:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqk0Y6TgRdw JayLeno (not sure why it's titled that - interviewer is not the Jay Leno i know, unless he suddenly put on a lot of weight and lost the scottish accent).

Turns out Caine and Connery used to socialise too for a while (as mentioned in that vid). Until Connery took up golf apparently! https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5hd1km

oh and sounds like you're not wrong about Connery being able to handle himself: https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/10/19/sean-connery/ (it could do with more source references but a good starting point for 10 I guess)

Lastly it also sounds like MC would favour Elba for the role next! https://www.radiotimes.com/news/film/2018-10-20/michael-caine-jonathan-ross-james-bond-idris-elba/
 
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Brosnan was the best for a single film with Golden Eye but it was only one good film out of a bunch of poor ones he was in.
Dalton for most grounded but again the films themselves weren't great.
Moore for the spectacle/stunts etc of most of his films and the more humorous quips but they got cartoony by the end where he was far too old.
Connery for the first few films he did which set the tone but, again, got too old for the role and his comeback was a bit meh.
Craig for, again, his first film but the quality dropped quickly and, again, he's just too old for the role now.
None of the others count for me.

Long story short - The vast majority had a great first film but the quality afterwards dropped and they got too old. Ideally a Bond actor should do just 3 films max, they should be in their early 30's for the first film and their last should be just over 40 at most (3 years per film).
 
Does a lot of this not come down to the films, so much as the actor.

Connery - Mostly fairly "classic" bond films.
Roger Moore - Started to get cheesy, with OTT stunds
Dalton - Perhaps too much of a change from the previous bonds and too serious compared to other 80s action films.
Pierce Brosnan - Goldeneye was excellent. Then it went Roger Moore with CGI.
Daniel Craig - Timothy Dalton 2 - but fit in nicely with the contemporary action films (Bourne etc).

A lot of it is about the films and competition IMO, rather than actually about the actor. Some were just lumbered with crummy/gimmicky films.
 
Sean Connery
Timothy Dalton
Roger Moore

My top 3. I loved the Timothy Dalton films, they were the closest to how bond should be imo and were really underrated in their time. It’s a shame they couldn’t make more with him. You can’t beat the old, corny, sexist bond though and Connery is an amazing actor and the films were great for their day. Moore had some great outings and him and jaws were something special. Live and let die is one of my childhood favourites.

I liked Craig in casino royale and sky fall was decent, but the rest have been pretty dire.

I mostly liked Brosnan at the time, but I can’t watch many of those films again - tomorrow never dies being one of the few exceptions.

Also, ‘do you expect me to talk?’ - absolute classic.
 
Grimley said:
I do want to actually. After hearing good things about the night manager, I managed to obtain a copy from a charity shop but never got round to reading it. Both the Night Manager & Tinker Tailor soldier spy are on Amazon prime Video right now, so they will end up being this weekends viewing! :D
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Tinker Tailor is ridiculously good. The movies OK and defo worth a watch, but if you enjoy the story enough I defo recommend you pick up the book at some point. IMO it is the quintessential spy novel, even amongst his own work.

I liked Night Manager well enough, but all his recent work pales in comparison to his first 10 books, especially those involving George Smiley.
 
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