Who is the greatest James Bond of all time?

[Matua]

Ohhh bro… you gotta watch it from start to finish…

so many memorable scenes in that movie as far as his run is concerned…

From that ugly little bulldog paperweight…

To that kinda awkward gay moment between Bond and Silva…

but the end of Skyfall actually links it all up with the regular Bond mythology…

The rest of it wasn't good enough to make me want to hunt out the final 20 odd minutes I missed, I doubt that last section would have been so good for me to completely flip.

 

[PJ]

Daniel Craig easily IMO… as he actually looks like the only one that i would actually think twice about getting in a fight with…

I hope going forward they bring in a guy like Tom Hardy or maybe even Charlie Hunnam.
,
I know they’d never go black… and he’s probably too old now… but Idris Elba would have been a bad ass bond imo…

Hardy would be great, but Hunnam is a terrible actor. If he was Bond it would be the first movie I miss.

Idris would have been great, but as you say he is a bit old now. Maybe they can give him a run as a villian.

For mine Craig was the best Bond, but had some terrible material.

Connery the best overall combination of actor and material.

Moore I liked at the time, but only the early ones hold up.

Brosnan had some good material but just didn't fit the role for me.

 

[shiznit]

Hardy would be great, but Hunnam is a terrible actor. If he was Bond it would be the first movie I miss.

Idris would have been great, but as you say he is a bit old now. Maybe they can give him a run as a villian.

For mine Craig was the best Bond, but had some terrible material.

Connery the best overall combination of actor and material.

Moore I liked at the time, but only the early ones hold up.

Brosnan had some good material but just didn't fit the role for me.

Interesting… I think Hunnam’s a pretty good actor…

his issue is he’s Geordie… and I’m pretty sure James Bond can’t be a f**king geordie…

Even on the gentleman his character was supposed to be a cool, calm and calculated type gangster… but his natural Geordie accent just doesn’t scream sophistication..

but I certainly think he has the chops for it… I just don’t know if he would commit to it…

Henry Cavill would be pretty good also…

 

[horrie hastings]

I haven't seen Lazenby's one so can't rate him.

Lazenby was good and could have had a successful career playing Bond but he more or less dissed the franchise saying he wanted to be a serious actor and not play fantasy crap like Bond, he had all the attributes to play James Bond and really shot himself in the foot when he dissed the franchise ( right fully or wrongly who knows ), he could have made millions if pride didn't get in his way.



His co-star Diana Rigg was among many who commented on this decision:

The role made Sean Connery a millionaire. It made Sean Connery ... I truly don't know what's happening in George's mind so I can only speak of my reaction. I think it's a pretty foolish move. I think if he can bear to do an apprenticeship, which everybody in this business has to do – has to do – then he should do it quietly and with humility. Everybody has to do it. There are few instant successes in the film business. And the instant successes one usually associates with somebody who is willing to learn anyway.

 

[PJ]

Lazenby was good and could have had a successful career playing Bond but he more or less dissed the franchise saying he wanted to be a serious actor and not play fantasy crap like Bond, he had all the attributes to play James Bond and really shot himself in the foot when he dissed the franchise ( right fully or wrongly who knows ), he could have made millions if pride didn't get in his way.



His co-star Diana Rigg was among many who commented on this decision:

Didn't Fleming say Laxenby was how he pictured Bond?

 

[Wizardman]

Didn't Fleming say Laxenby was how he pictured Bond?

The Lazenby movie was well received by critics. Lazenby's downfall as someone alluded to earlier was his own ego. He never appeared in a movie as well known as his Bond appearance. Im sure he'd regret it every day for the rest of his life.

 

[horrie hastings]

Didn't Fleming say Laxenby was how he pictured Bond?

I read that Cubby Broccoli made a comment like that.

 

[Timbo]

Lazenby was a natural at the physical side of being Bond because he spent his youth getting into brawls in pubs in Golburn. Connery’s fighting style never looked natural. Lazenby actually knew how to throw a punch.

 

[Wizardman]

Lazenby was a natural at the physical side of being Bond because he spent his youth getting into brawls in pubs in Golburn. Connery’s fighting style never looked natural. Lazenby actually knew how to throw a punch.

Roger Moore was probably worse.....we forgive them both because they were so good at everything else.

 

[Matua]

I assume both Connery and Moore did a bit of boxing/fighting in their basic training when they were national service conscripts so not sure it was them we can blame completely for their fight scenes. I think Connery would have got into brawls in Glasgow too, not Goulbern but probably pretty tough back in the day.

 

[Wizardman]

I assume both Connery and Moore did a bit of boxing/fighting in their basic training when they were national service conscripts so not sure it was them we can blame completely for their fight scenes. I think Connery would have got into brawls in Glasgow too, not Goulbern but probably pretty tough back in the day.

The fight choreography in most movies from the seventies and before then was not very good and natural. Bruce Lee and Slyvester Stallone in the 70s forced the movie business to up their fight choreography game. When you think about it, to make a fight look real in a movie would not be easy.

 

[Wizardman]

Dalton. Dalton's two Bonds are top shelf. The Living Daylights is my favourite movie of the whole franchise - it's also the last proper cold war thriller.

Do you want to know something that really sucks? Dalton was about to start filming his third Bond movie, which was to be called 'The Property of a Lady'. In this story, Bond was to investigate a wealthy British industrialist in Hong Kong who was trying to start a war using a Soviet superweapon between the UK and China. In this mission, he was to be helped by an aging spy who was about to retire and who had been 007 before Bond was assigned the number. It was going to turn out that this aging spy was actually the bad guy and pulling the strings behind closed doors.

If these plots sound familiar, its because they recycled them - half (the Russian superweapon 00 agent who is actually the bad guy) became GoldenEye, and the attempts to trick the UK and China into war became Tomorrow Never Dies.

This movie never happened because of a lawsuit that the studio became embroiled in which delayed filming. By the time it was sorted out, Dalton felt he was too old to be James Bond, so they moved on.

But the thing that really sucks about this? The traitorous 00 agent (who would become Sean Bean's Alec Trevelyan in GoldenEye) had been narrowed down to two actors to play against Dalton - Alan Rickman and Anthony Hopkins. We missed out on a world where either Hans Gruber or Hannibal Lecter were Bond villains. And that is some bullshit right there.

I watched both of those movies over the last few days. Both, I liked a lot more this time round than when I watched them years ago. I agree with you that both are among the better Bond movies of the series.

Dalton was pretty serious for a Bond but the movies were still bloody good. Robert Davi was excellent.

 

[Wizardman]

Lazenby was good and could have had a successful career playing Bond but he more or less dissed the franchise saying he wanted to be a serious actor and not play fantasy crap like Bond, he had all the attributes to play James Bond and really shot himself in the foot when he dissed the franchise ( right fully or wrongly who knows ), he could have made millions if pride didn't get in his way.



His co-star Diana Rigg was among many who commented on this decision:

I watched "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" last night. Certainly different to any other Bond movie ever made.....and not in a bad way either. In terms of character development, probably among the best. I liked Lazenby and felt he well could have been a success if he stayed on.
A bit slow in parts but a very decent watch.

 

[PJ]

I watched both of those movies over the last few days. Both, I liked a lot more this time round than when I watched them years ago. I agree with you that both are among the better Bond movies of the series.

Dalton was pretty serious for a Bond but the movies were still bloody good. Robert Davi was excellent.

Isn't one of the Dalton ones the one where they dropped a chained Felix in to be eaten by a great white and he survived?

 

[horrie hastings]

I watched "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" last night. Certainly different to any other Bond movie ever made.....and not in a bad way either. In terms of character development, probably among the best. I liked Lazenby and felt he well could have been a success if he stayed on.
A bit slow in parts but a very decent watch.

Even though i haven't watched it in many years i remember Lazenby had all the right attributes for Bond, a real rugged charisma, he really shot him self in the foot, he could have had a success full career as Bond and even if he didn't like the fantasy of it all it could have a been a real learning curve for him to go onto bigger and better things. Such a lost and wasted opportunity.

 

[Captain Apollo]

Didn't Fleming say Laxenby was how he pictured Bond?

I doubt it. Lazenby was not cast until 1968 and Ian Fleming died on 12 August 1964. Lazenby was a model with no acting experience (bar some commercials) prior to being cast as Bond.

When they were casting for Dr No, Ian Fleming indicated one of his preferences was David Niven. Broccoli and Saltzman originally wanted Cary Grant, who turned it down as he would only sign to do one film.

 

[Captain Apollo]

Even though i haven't watched it in many years i remember Lazenby had all the right attributes for Bond, a real rugged charisma, he really shot him self in the foot, he could have had a success full career as Bond and even if he didn't like the fantasy of it all it could have a been a real learning curve for him to go onto bigger and better things. Such a lost and wasted opportunity.

Lazenby admitted years after he'd listened to some very stupid people he had surrounded himself with, who had advised him to not do another Bond film.

 

[PJ]

I doubt it. Lazenby was not cast until 1968 and Ian Fleming died on 12 August 1964. Lazenby was a model with no acting experience (bar some commercials) prior to being cast as Bond.

When they were casting for Dr No, Ian Fleming indicated one of his preferences was David Niven. Broccoli and Saltzman originally wanted Cary Grant, who turned it down as he would only sign to do one film.

Yeah, Horrie corrected me on that earlier in the thread, twas apparently Broccoli who said it.

 

[Evil Emperor Zurg]

I can’t believe nobody has mentioned Mike Myers.

 

[Timbo]

Lazenby admitted years after he'd listened to some very stupid people he had surrounded himself with, who had advised him to not do another Bond film.

He got really involved in the counterculture movement. His girlfriend at the time of production told him that James Bond was a dinosaur and not ‘hip’ and it would be killing his career to do any more. He showed up to the premiere with long hair and a beard not looking at all like Bond and the producers started looking for a back door to shove him out of.

He’d signed a deal for five movies. He widely acknowledges his decision was one of the worst in cinema history when they offered him a release after the premiere and he said yes.