Dalton didn’t resonate with audiences because he didn’t play Bond with swagger (which was by design). That’s why Craig succeeded more. He fused Fleming’s cynicism with Connery’s machismo.
The James Bond Film Discussion Thread (With Bonus Lazenby!)
- Thread starter cooleddie74
- Start date
I think Craig is just a better actor. Sorry, Dalton-Stans!
Craig does swagger better. Dalton just has a more intense emotional range. Both are really good actors but I just appreciated Dalton's show of agony, sadness and regret in LtK more than I do Craig's in all the films save for when Vesper dies in Casino Royale.
Absolutely. Tracy drives as well as Bond, skis as well as Bond, fights as well as Bond...The most well rounded Bond girl by far.
And you won't be the last...
You can go off posters you know.
Craig couldn't act his way out of an upside down porta-potty.
You’re all wrong.
Lazenby was the worst. I love OHMSS, but thank goodness there’s so much great about it to offset Lazenby’s stilted acting and poor line delivery.
Lazenby was the worst. I love OHMSS, but thank goodness there’s so much great about it to offset Lazenby’s stilted acting and poor line delivery.
Oh, I'm the same. OHMSS is peak James Bond and I like George Lazenby a lot - he's an endearing and giving man who loves the fans - but he is the worst cinematic Bond actor.
But damn, does he nail a few of his scenes.
I appreciate that Dalton was trying to do Fleming's Bond justice, but something that Lapis Exilis posted around here many years ago stuck with me and informed my view of him in relation to the other Bond actors...the thing that he and Lazenby had in common is that they didn't have that "It" factor that the other Bond actors each had in their own way. Dalton was a solid thespian who was playing the part of James Bond as portrayed in the novels...but he didn't own and embody the part the way that Connery, Moore, Brosnan, and Craig did.
Yet the RPG gave her substantially lower stats.
Watch THE ROCKETEER and you can see that Dalton could have easily turned up the swagger and charm that people associate with Bond. He simply wasn’t going for that. It makes me wonder if had he done his third film he would have been asked by Cubby to lighten up his Bond but in a way that felt consistent with his Fleming approach, the same way Roger Moore was recalibrated in TSWLM after they tried toughening him up in TMWTGG.
Dalton was bangers in Chuck.
Including the most important one of all.
And I don't think Connery could have pulled that scene off.
He would have just slapped her.
Too soon?
Too soon?
Would have been the equivalent of Austin Powers after Vanessa was killed. "Hang about, I'm single again!"
Connery was not a good actor for emotional depth and tenderness. When Aki the Japanese agent was poisoned to death he just went: "She's dead" and went on with his mission even though he'd displayed affection for her in previous scenes. Lazenby may not have been much of an actor but he got it right when it counted, and his pained expression and body language after Tracy is shot dead is all that scene needed short of maybe a few tears.
And Peter Hunt said: "James Bond doesn't cry" so he didn't use the take wherein Lazenby shed tears over Rigg's crumpled form.
And Peter Hunt said: "James Bond doesn't cry" so he didn't use the take wherein Lazenby shed tears over Rigg's crumpled form.
I doubt this will be for Craig as he will be properly placed when history looked back at his work. I think now, viewers have made a proper assessment of Pierce Brosnan's tenure because we have viewed his movies with more of an objective eye as the new Bond reigned. When the next OO7 has his run I think Craig's body of work as Bond will have a lot more criticism than the rose colored approval he continues to receive. Dalton was a good Bond in an off movie; "Licence to Kill" has never felt like a Bond movie - it's more of chasing trends the Broccoli's has shamefully continued to do I think the movie was spawned from the popularity of the Lethal Weapon, and Die Hard movies which were very lucrative back then. I wouldn't doubt the casting of Robert Davi was a reflection of their appreciation of the trend in the late 80's early 90's. The movie just doesn't fit as a Bond flick so Dalton's performance felt off all over the picture.
The one thing Craig and Dalton will always have was how they appeared in their first outing as OO7; their first appearance as James Bond was so magnetic and interesting I'm dumbfounded their sequels were sooooooooooooooooooooo subpar.
What I was talking about isn't about long-term critical appraisal of the actors or the films that they appeared in. It's about how the actors sold themselves in the role and how audiences responded to them. Did they own the role / make it their own? Is their Bond somebody that men want to be and women want to be with? History already tells us that Lazenby and Dalton fell short in these areas with general audiences.
And it's amusing how the campiest and most fun-loving Bond became arguably the most popular Bond with movie audiences. Moviegoers in the 1970s and '80s wanted a Bond who could kick a lot of ass but also knew how to quip, joke and lighten the mood with human behavior that put viewers at ease in the middle of a film about world domination, nuclear blackmail or an espionage battle. "Hey, Roger is joking and smiling and he's making funny quips. We're gonna be alright."
Roger Moore may be the least Bond of cinematic Bonds in some respects but he gave audiences what they wanted even when his films didn't.
Roger Moore may be the least Bond of cinematic Bonds in some respects but he gave audiences what they wanted even when his films didn't.
I do like Dalton’s flinty and icy Bond persona and obviously he looked far more convincing in the action scenes than dear old Rog did by the end. But there are times when he’s either very self consciously ACTING or else totally over-acting and those have lessened my enjoyment of his performances over the years, especially in LTK.
Similar threads
