Rank the Bond actors

[J.T.B.]

The Man Who Would Be King is a classic, though you don't hear much about it these days. He was excellent in The Great Train Robbery, too. Plenty of good non-Bond-ish performances on Connery's resume.

Justin

[sidious618]

gblews wrote:

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And Connery is the only one of the bunch who has an Oscar -- and not from playing Bond.

I'm well aware. Just because someone wins an Oscar doesn't mean they're some amazing actor.

[Starkers]

Halle Berry has an Oscar...case closed...

[Naira]

Craig and Connery, then Dalton, then the others.

[Trekker4747]

Connery, no contest.

[Admiral2]

Worst to Best:

Lazenby
Dalton
Brosnan
Moore
Craig

And the number one best Bond ever, period, end of story:

SEAN CONNERY

[trevanian]

Connery had the magic, to be sure (there's a line from a kid in WIND & THE LION where he talks about the Raisuli and sez, 'he has the way about him' and it is as much about Connery as the character), but Dalton is who I most often see when rereading Fleming, and Dalton's two pics, divergent as they are from one another, really encompass Bond and Fleming's universe of Bond for me.

so Connery and Dalton are it.

If Brosnan had had a director like Boorman do a Bond, it would have made people reassess him, because he is a total bastard in TAILOR OF PANAMA and it is exactly how he probably would have liked to play Bond.

Moore is Bond's gay uncle, Lazenby is just too damned happy as well as lacking acting chops ...

To my eye, Craig is just utterly miscast, he should be Felix Leiter after the shark attack or second villain from the left, he is way too ugly to play Bond unless the character has lost an acid fight (possible, since this version of Bond IS a loser, if you consider that in both CASINO -- where QUANTUM makes off with the money -- and SKYFALL Bond FAILS, making him one for three.)

Between Craig and the producers, they've taken the character so far afield it isn't even Bond at all anymore, especially in CR and SF. I'm thinking they may have actually killed off my interest in future Bond, which is a helluva achievement given that my second memory in life is seeing GOLDFINGER in the theater before I turned 4 years old and that the first amateur films I made were Bond parodies.

[Gary Mitchell]

^Many people haven't yet seen Skyfall yet including me so why don't you put your "subtle" spoiler in spoiler tags? Thanks a lot.

[FPAlpha]

It's a toss up between Craig and Connery.

Connery made the role famous and defined it.. he's the first Bond and had some of the most iconic movies in the franchise.

Craig is very different partly because the movies are so different. The reboot was in dire need and so the focus shifted from mainly babes, gadgets and over the top villains to a more down to earth style and Craig played that part really well because he looks more like a bruiser than a gentleman.
However when he put on the tailored suit before the game in Casino Royale my eyes popped.. somehow he managed it to make me believe he always was destined to wear such attire. That's good acting and so i'd rate him as the best.

My list

Craig
Connery
Brosnan (perfect for the role and played it well, to bad his movies were shit scriptwise)
Moore
Dalton/Lazenby - equally bad

[Admiral2]

BTW, I notice no one's even included David Niven on their lists, even though he played Bond in the spoof version of Casino Royale. It's like that's the Galactica 1980 of bond films.

[Captaindemotion]

^The OP specifically said that Niven and Barry Nelson, who played 'Jimmy Bond' in the 1950s telemovie of Casino Royale, weren't included - he was keeping it to the official Eon series of movies.

[T'Baio]

After just seeing Skyfall and being really "meh" about it, I realize that I want something in my Bond movies that most people don't. Skyfall is a really well made film, not bad in any way whatsoever...but it's so dour and grim, and true to the character in the books or not, I don't care, I like my Bond fun. So I'll be one of the first to say that Roger Moore is my favourite Bond. It's who I grew up with in the part, and how I came to understand Bond movies.

Roger Moore
Sean Connery
Pierce Brosnan
George Lazenby
Daniel Craig
Timothy Dalton

[Ian Keldon]

trevanian wrote:

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Between Craig and the producers, they've taken the character so far afield it isn't even Bond at all anymore, especially in CR and SF.

do you mean CR and QS? Because by the end of Skyfall, "classic" Bond is most definitely back.

My list has changed radically in the last few hours having actually been able to see Skyfall.

My list now would be

Connery/Brosnan tie
Craig
Moore (but only losing out to Craig by a hair) at this point
Lazenby
Dalton

Pre-Skyfall, Craig would have been down below Lazenby but above Dalton

[Captrek]

Ian Keldon wrote:

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do you mean CR and QS? Because by the end of Skyfall, "classic" Bond is most definitely back.

"With pleasure" is 007's version of "My friends, we've come home." That may be a bad omen for the next film.

[Ian Keldon]

captrek wrote:

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"With pleasure" is 007's version of "My friends, we've come home." That may be a bad omen for the next film.

I agree that that's the sentiment expressed, but why do you call that a "bad omen"? Because Trek V was an underperformer (arguably because the final product wasn't what it should have been), or because you are a fan of the "harsh and gritty " Bond we've had the last couple of films?