Rank the Bond actors

[Skywalker]

gblews wrote:

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This again?

There'll be threads like this one every time there's a new Bond movie.

1. Connery
2. Craig
3. Brosnan
4. Dalton
5. Moore
6. Lazenby

[Venardhi]

Mr Light wrote:

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Craig is a good actor and the movies are well made, but I don't feel like the last three movies were really James Bond. He's too dour and serious and grim. Bond is supposed to be suave and dashing and funny.

There are hints of it here and there, but overall I agree. I haven't seen Skyfall yet, but there is a definite lack of opportunities for his Bond to enjoy himself thus far. We may enjoy watching his adventures and his action and whatnot, but he never seems to be having a good time and it brings the character down.

For me the top two are Connery and Brosnan, Craig and Dalton would stand a bit above Moore and Lazenby in my book.

[Lonemagpie]

Mr Light wrote:

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Craig is a good actor and the movies are well made, but I don't feel like the last three movies were really James Bond. He's too dour and serious and grim. Bond is supposed to be suave and dashing and funny.

He only became that in the 70s, because Moore made him that in the public eye.


Ian Fleming's creation is very different.

[Venardhi]

Connery's Bond always seemed to be having a good time until the final act when things got serious. It wasn't just a result of the more light-hearted Moore-era scripts. It is that sort of casual confidence in knowing you have a few aces up your sleeve, and it let him enjoy the job rather than be consumed by it like Craig's portrayal so often is.

[BillJ]

Venardhi wrote:

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It is that sort of casual confidence in knowing you have a few aces up your sleeve, and it let him enjoy the job rather than be consumed by it like Craig's portrayal so often is.

But weren't the last three films suppose to make Bond a more realistic character?

[Venardhi]

Sure, but at least in the case of Quantum of Solace, it meant taking pretty much all of the fun out of the premise, and I don't see that as a good thing.

[Gil T.Azell]

Craig
Connery
Brosnan
Dalton
Moore
Lazenby

[the G-man]

As actors:
Connery
Brosnan
Dalton
Craig
Moore
Lazenby

[lurok]

Having just seen Skyfall, Craig has now gone waaay up in my estimation. But that's probably due more to film/script.

[J.T.B.]

Lonemagpie wrote:

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He only became that in the 70s, because Moore made him that in the public eye.

Ian Fleming's creation is very different.

True, but Connery's Bond is different from the literary Bond, too. He was introduced in Dr. No as suave and super-competent, but he also had a sense of humor and could be light as well as serious, singing back to Honey on the beach for instance.

One of the underlying themes of the original Bond movies was: The US may have become the world military superpower, but only the British had the sophistication and subtlety to really fight the crafty bad guys effectively in the covert Cold War. Bond was supposed to be comfortable and confident in every situation, from hand-to-hand combat to the drawing-rooms of highest society. Connery was the best at covering that whole range, I think. And he has to get bonus points for defining the role and bringing it brilliantly to life.

Irrespective of how I like their movies:

Connery
Craig
Brosnan
Dalton
Moore
Lazenby

[Kai "the spy"]

Brosnan
Connery
Dalton
Moore
Craig
Lazenby

[Rush Limborg]

Connery/Craig--Connery is the coolest, and set the standard for all Bonds to follow...but Craig IS the James Bond of Flemming's original novels, charming and suave but gritty and internally bitter at the injustice in the world.

Brosnan--suave, slick, smooth

Moore--while he can get TOO lighthearted at times, I will always love The Spy Who Loved Me, especially his solemn speech to Anya about why he killed the man she loved...and his ticked-off reaction to Anya bringing up the late Mrs. Bond.

Lazenby--his "serious" wasn't particularly charismatic or compelling, his "lighthearted" bordered on goofy (the less said about his interactions with the "allergy patients", the better)



I haven't seen The Living Daylights yet, and only a little of License To Kill...so I haven't seen enough of Dalton to give much of a judgement. When I do, I'll get back to you.

[Harvey]

1. Craig -- he's a terrific actor and I've liked the most recent take on the franchise.

2. Connery -- in many ways, the de facto screen Bond (and not simply because he was first), but his disengagement with the role manifested itself in his last two or three films to an unfortunate degree.

3. Dalton -- I liked his grittier take on the character, but he didn't last long enough in the role to place any higher on the list.

4. Brosnan -- he's an excellent actor and did very well in the role, but he was saddled with three scripts that were okay, and one that was awful.

5. Lazenby -- I've always disliked his lone entry into the series, but, to be fair, he didn't have long to make an impression.

6. Moore -- the nadir of the franchise, Moore never was able to grant the character the dark edge it needed, and he was too old for the part the first time he played it.

[Lonemagpie]

Rush Limborg wrote:

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Moore--while he can get TOO lighthearted at times, I will always love The Spy Who Loved Me, especially his solemn speech to Anya about why he killed the man she loved...

I love TSWLM as it's the first one I saw in the cinema, but that scene bugs me as an adult cos the correct answer would have been "Well I killed somebody there, but never saw his face, so I've no idea if it was him or not..."

[Orac Zen]

1. Connery. No contest.

2. Dalton.

3. Brosnan and Craig (tied).

4. Lazenby. Not a particularly good actor (although he had his moments), but as he was in what is by far the best Bond movie he gets away with it.


Moore is in an abyss somewhere. Unwatchably, awfully, atrociously bad.