1. Moore - brilliant bloke, very funny and generous with his work for charity
2. Brosnan - got me into bond with my first bond film, GE
3. Craig - great bond, all time nice guy though very professional
4. Dalton - a good bond and he made me laugh in Hot Fuzz many times
5. Connery - famous pompous arsehole
6. Lazenby - unfamous pompous arsehole
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
1. Craig - although likely a current-era infatuation; but I can imagine no previous Bond in the CR torture scene. If they do the blowtorch from the MR novel, or the broken finger from the LALD novel, Craigger's the man for it. Bond's more than a hair colour and a specific height, in my opinion.
2. Connery - What else need be said? Fleming made Bond Scottish because of him...after condemning him as a 'lorry driver.'
3. Dalton - Very Fleming. Given short shrift because of some old dinner theatre jokes the producers forgot to throw out when writing his scripts; the RSC actor clearly wasn't comfortable with the tomfoolery.
4. Lazenby - Great promise, for a non-actor. Brilliant final scene in OHMSS. Unrealized potential.
5. Brosnan - Not slagging him by his placement here; a 'Greatest Hits' Bond who did some very good work but got lackluster scripts. Very "down the middle," which is a pity, as he was capable of so much more.
6. Moore - A great humanitarian. A favourite of many, and good for him/them.
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Excellent list and reasoning, Loeffs. . .though Connery will always be #1 in my Bond book. . .
I'm certainly not ruling out coming back to Connery when Craig doffs the tux...but for now it is what it is (for me) -{
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
1.Roger More *prepares for anti-moore rants*
2.Sean Connery
3.Timothy Dalton
4. Daniel Craig
5. Peirce Brosnan
6. George Lazenby
7. Barry Nelson (worst Bond ever...)
1. Connery (Tough to beat a classic)
2. Craig (The most believable "secret agent" on screen yet)
3. Brosnan (Looks, charms, and some believable action scenes)
4. Dalton (An edgier version, very suitable for the 80's)
5. Moore (Liked his charm, didn't buy his action)
6. Lazenby (He's a model, not a Bond)
-{
Just kidding. In retrospect, he was great in his day IMO. Anyone who dislikes TSWLM just doesn't like the 'comic book' Bond that ultimately entertained so many back then. I have great respect for the man, and his personal take on Bond.
When Dalton wasn't doing 'intense', he really did nail Bond. Perhaps even better than Connery. But Connery's real strength was his easy charm & rugged good looks.
BIG TAMWrexham, North Wales, UK.Posts: 773MI6 Agent
1. Sean Connery - Sheer star power with wry wit & a fine aura of menace. You simply mess with this chap at your peril. Even overweight with an ill-fitting toupe you want to be him. And as a bald overweight bloke myself I cling to this with a passion )
2. Daniel Craig - On paper the guy simply shouldn't work as Bond, exhibing none of the traits one associates with 007. But casting against type & choosing an actor sufficiently different to the previous incumbent has paid off. He exudes an air of danger & insouciance that for me makes him hugely watchable.
3. George Lazenby - Brings a vulnerability to the role that still surprises plus marvellous physicality in action scenes. How might the '70s Bonds have turned out if he'd just signed that contract...?
4. Timothy Dalton - Perhaps there's an argument to be made that he's the one who actually acts the role rather than inhabits it. Or perhaps I'm running out ways to differentiate between the six chaps His theatrical air (one half expects him to turn out in doublet & hose rather than dinner jacket) lends itself quite well to the Jacobean revenge tragedy that is LICENCE TO KILL.
5. Roger Moore - Now it gets difficult. I should like Pierce Brosnan more than Moore in a way but there's something about Roger I can't help but like. A jovial chap. If I were to have a pint with any Bond down my local, it would be with Roger's.
6. Pierce Brosnan - Now I have to justify sixth position to an actor who doesn't altogether warrant it. Let's say it's not the case that I particularly dislike Brosnan but that I like the others that little bit more.
1.) Daniel Craig - He's not a pretty boy (James Bond in the books wasn't either), but he doesn't need to be because he has the one trait that makes him the best from the rest, even Connery: INTENSITY!
2.) Sean Connery - All the men wanted to be like and all the women wanted to be with. He made wanting to be a
government spy cool. He was truly one of a kind.
3.) Pierce Brosnan - His films were hit or miss and he was a bit too smug at times, but he is underrated now. He was very much like Connery. Tough, suave, and believable all at once.
4.) Timothy Dalton - He was a good Bond, but my problem is he was too damn serious. Even the guys above him would crack a joke once in awhile to lighten the mood.
5.) Roger Moore - I couldn't stand him. He did seven films and I only liked one of them (FYEO). Had he cared about the source material and played Bond seriously throughout his tenure instead of treating everything like it was one big joke because it was just a paycheck to him, he would be much higher on my list.
6.) George Lazenby - He had potential even after being given the unfortunate task of trying to fill Connery's shoes, but unfortunately he was dumb enough to give up the role after one movie and that makes him the forgotten Bond and he deserves to be an afterthought.
Really you need a frame of reference to judge the bonds. Do you consider just the actors portrayal (in which case lazenby ranks low and dalton very high) or do you consider the films as well (which would arguably increase lazenby and drop dalton down). You could add the Flemings bond perspective to the equation and the order could change once again. IMO without looking at the films it would be: dalton/Craig, Connery/brosnan, Moore, lazenby. With the films: Connery, Craig, lazenby, dalton, brosnan, Moore.
Add the Fleming factor in and the only actor that can be discussed is Dalton.
When all is said and done though ranking bonds in order is like trying to choose your favourite sexual position. You may have a favourite but they're all pretty awesome!
1. Roger Moore: Not my first Bond, but always my favorite. He played the role to his strengths and is a proven success with the most official Bond films to his name. Perhaps his dry humor and lighter approach was a deviation from what Fleming had intended, but it served the series well for twelve years.
2. Pierce Brosnan: His films went from brilliant (GoldenEye) to progressively worse (Die Another Day), but I felt he suited role nicely. Even in the sub-standard The World Is Not Enough, you can see that he's really giving it his all. I wish he had stayed on for longer.
3. Daniel Craig: It's taken me a while to get used to Craig as 007, but I understand why many consider him to be the best actor to play Bond. His performance in Casino Royale was brilliant, and he was about the only thing remotely watchable in the sub-standard Quantum of Solace.
4. Sean Connery: The classic Bond. In my opinion, Connery came away with two perfect Bond films: From Russia With Love and Goldfinger. Had I enjoyed his performances in You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever, I might have rated him higher. For now, he sits at #4. Criminally low, hey?
5. George Lazenby: Lazenby lucked out at his one shot -- On Her Majesty's Secret Service -- and by all means it's a fine performance (though his real strength was in his fighting style). Unfortunately he had large shoes to fill with Connery out of the role, and trying to emulate his predecessor was ultimately to his detriment.
6. Timothy Dalton: He played it close to Fleming, and lots of fans enjoy his tougher, cynical portrayal of Bond, but count me out. I feel like Dalton kept his audience at arms' length, and totally lacked the suave charm of Connery and Moore.
"The secret agent. The man who was only a silhouette..." -- Ian Fleming, Moonraker
1) The Spy Who Loved Me 2) On Her Majesty's Secret Service 3) GoldenEye 4) Casino Royale 5) Goldfinger
6. Timothy Dalton: He played it close to Fleming, and lots of fans enjoy his tougher, cynical portrayal of Bond, but count me out. I feel like Dalton kept his audience at arms' length, and totally lacked the suave charm of Connery and Moore.
You just described why he is my favourite Bond... -{
6. Timothy Dalton: He played it close to Fleming, and lots of fans enjoy his tougher, cynical portrayal of Bond, but count me out. I feel like Dalton kept his audience at arms' length, and totally lacked the suave charm of Connery and Moore.
You just described why he is my favourite Bond... -{
He was a fine Bond overall, and I even enjoyed his movies (especially Licence to Kill, which is really tailor-made for his portrayal). I guess I prefer Bond to be tongue-in-cheek as opposed to "man-on-the-edge".
"The secret agent. The man who was only a silhouette..." -- Ian Fleming, Moonraker
1) The Spy Who Loved Me 2) On Her Majesty's Secret Service 3) GoldenEye 4) Casino Royale 5) Goldfinger
1. Sir Sean Connery
For many, myself included, he is still the quintessential Bond. Some might argue that he wasn't the most Fleming-esque, but I disagree: in his first two films at least, he managed to pull off the darker, brooding, serious side of Bond very well, but on top of that, he had charm in spades. I would argue that Connery's Bond is the most "well rounded" of the six. Connery's subsequent performances haven't quite been as "Fleming-esque" as his first two, probably because Goldfinger saw the birth of the cinematic version of Bond, a role which Connery also played extremely well.
2. Timothy Dalton
Dalton could easily be equal first. His portrayal of Bond is the closest to the original Fleming character, and I love him for it. Some say he was too serious, but the dark, brooding, self-doubting Bond is the sort of character that Fleming created. As a Fleming purist, Timothy Dalton IS James Bond.
3. Daniel Craig
One of the major drawbacks of Craig's Bond for me is that he doesn't look anything like the character that Ian Fleming described. Bond has dark hair, is six feet tall, and has a slim build. Craig fits neither of those descriptions. His portrayal of the character, while Fleming-esque in the sense that he plays a darker Bond than some of the actors before him, he is also far fitter and better built than the literary Bond has any right to be. I'm not entirely sure that he has the 'English gentleman' look about him either.
4. George Lazenby
It's probably unfair to place him above Brosnan, but Lazenby had only one film and that one film happens to be one of the best films of the franchise (in my view, the second best film) while Brosnan's four has been rather mediocre, including what I'd consider to be the worst Bond film ever. Lazenby didn't fare too badly in his one and only outing, but it looked to me as though he was trying too hard to be somebody else.
5. Pierce Brosnan
There's definitely some of Fleming's character in Brosnan's portrayal, which is evident in The World is not Enough and GoldenEye. But Brosnan is handicapped by having played Bond in the worst film of all time. The only one of Brosnan's films in my personal top 10 is GoldenEye.
6. Sir Roger Moore
I dislike Moore's Bond. He was far too jovial for my liking. The films were too far removed from the original source material that the only thing that remains of the character Fleming created was the name.
Really you need a frame of reference to judge the bonds. Do you consider just the actors portrayal (in which case lazenby ranks low and dalton very high) or do you consider the films as well (which would arguably increase lazenby and drop dalton down). You could add the Flemings bond perspective to the equation and the order could change once again. IMO without looking at the films it would be: dalton/Craig, Connery/brosnan, Moore, lazenby. With the films: Connery, Craig, lazenby, dalton, brosnan, Moore.
Add the Fleming factor in and the only actor that can be discussed is Dalton.
When all is said and done though ranking bonds in order is like trying to choose your favourite sexual position. You may have a favourite but they're all pretty awesome!
Brilliant Post
1.On Her Majesties Secret Service 2.The Living Daylights 3.license To Kill 4.The Spy Who Loved Me 5.Goldfinger
Really you need a frame of reference to judge the bonds. Do you consider just the actors portrayal (in which case lazenby ranks low and dalton very high) or do you consider the films as well (which would arguably increase lazenby and drop dalton down). You could add the Flemings bond perspective to the equation and the order could change once again. IMO without looking at the films it would be: dalton/Craig, Connery/brosnan, Moore, lazenby. With the films: Connery, Craig, lazenby, dalton, brosnan, Moore.
Add the Fleming factor in and the only actor that can be discussed is Dalton.
When all is said and done though ranking bonds in order is like trying to choose your favourite sexual position. You may have a favourite but they're all pretty awesome!
In my book, Bond has to fill two criteria:
1) he has to fit this definition: men want to be him, women want to be with him.
2) he needs to have the perfect balance between brutality and class. Two seemingly contradictory qualities.
Simple... but pretty hard to pull off!
According to that, here's my ranking:
1. Sean Connery: He defined the role. Ian Fleming may have created the character but Connery set the standard for the Bond that everyone knows. He not only fulfilled the criteria, he came up with them. And since he's the first one, he did it with no role model, no template. Connery IS Bond. At least, the 20th century, cold war version...
2. Daniel Craig: He REdefined the role. Made it relevant to the 21st century. I still think he's got a somewhat rather ugly face but that seems to work with today's female audience who I think are more attracted to his virility than his looks. And even though he still lacked charisma in Casino Royale (in my opinion), he definitely nailed the part in Skyfall.
3. George Lazenby: Probably the toughest, most intimidating Bond. The one that made you think you shouldn't mess with him. But he lacked sophistication. Maybe he would've acquired that with subsequent shots at the role. Sadly, we'll never know.
4. Roger Moore: I absolutely loathe his films, but the guy undoubtedly had extreme confidence, which is definitely an alpha male quality, and Bond is the ultimate alpha male. If only he hadn't tried to inject humor in the character... Nothing lamer than an unfunny guy trying to be funny.
5. Timothy Dalton: I completely disagree with his claims of being closer to Fleming's character. Dalton wasn't dark, he was DULL. Zero charisma, zero charm. The only good thing about him was that he was tall. And that's it. Dalton was just a Bond that more people could relate to because he was kind of more realistic. But that's a problem. Bond should not be relatable. He should be some ideal that inspires you to be like.
6. Pierce Brosnan: Talk about TRYING TOO HARD! Brosnan was completely fake. He was clearly intimidated by the part and that showed in his voice and expressions. Brosnan, just like Dalton, was a beta male and that's why they were both wrong for the part.
I like all the bonds, but here is my list for today:
1 - Roger Moore - I know a lot dislike him in the role. But I view him as a different bond, and I enjoy him for different reasons to the others. He's so suave.
2 - Sean Connery - Had a great balance between seriousness and humour. The manliest bond IMO.
3 - Daniel Craig - Skyfall confirms his position for me. A human bond and I think he's doing great.
4 - Timothy Dalton - He was really good in his 2 and only roles as bond. Shame he didn't do more.
5 - Pierce Brosnan - I don't dislike Brosnan. But I just found him ok. Good at what he did, but just preferred others.
6 - George Lazenby - It's hard to judge when he only did 1. He was ok, but I would have formed more of an opinion if he'd have done another film.
Hmmm....except for our difference of opinion about Moore (and it's a HUGE difference), our views on the Bond actors are surprisingly similar. I learn something new about my fellow Bond fans every time I visit this site! -{
I like all the bonds, but here is my list for today:
1 - Roger Moore - I know a lot dislike him in the role. But I view him as a different bond, and I enjoy him for different reasons to the others. He's so suave.
2 - Sean Connery - Had a great balance between seriousness and humour. The manliest bond IMO.
3 - Daniel Craig - Skyfall confirms his position for me. A human bond and I think he's doing great.
4 - Timothy Dalton - He was really good in his 2 and only roles as bond. Shame he didn't do more.
5 - Pierce Brosnan - I don't dislike Brosnan. But I just found him ok. Good at what he did, but just preferred others.
6 - George Lazenby - It's hard to judge when he only did 1. He was ok, but I would have formed more of an opinion if he'd have done another film.
Comments
2. Brosnan - got me into bond with my first bond film, GE
3. Craig - great bond, all time nice guy though very professional
4. Dalton - a good bond and he made me laugh in Hot Fuzz many times
5. Connery - famous pompous arsehole
6. Lazenby - unfamous pompous arsehole
Vive le droit à la libre expression! Je suis Charlie!
www.helpforheroes.org.uk
www.cancerresearchuk.org
2. Connery - What else need be said? Fleming made Bond Scottish because of him...after condemning him as a 'lorry driver.'
3. Dalton - Very Fleming. Given short shrift because of some old dinner theatre jokes the producers forgot to throw out when writing his scripts; the RSC actor clearly wasn't comfortable with the tomfoolery.
4. Lazenby - Great promise, for a non-actor. Brilliant final scene in OHMSS. Unrealized potential.
5. Brosnan - Not slagging him by his placement here; a 'Greatest Hits' Bond who did some very good work but got lackluster scripts. Very "down the middle," which is a pity, as he was capable of so much more.
6. Moore - A great humanitarian. A favourite of many, and good for him/them.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
2. Craig
3. Dalton
4. Brosnan
5. Lazenby
6. Moore
1. Craig
2. Connery
3. Dalton
4. Brosnan
5. Lazenby
6. Moore
I'm certainly not ruling out coming back to Connery when Craig doffs the tux...but for now it is what it is (for me) -{
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
2.Sean Connery
3.Timothy Dalton
4. Daniel Craig
5. Peirce Brosnan
6. George Lazenby
7. Barry Nelson (worst Bond ever...)
2. Craig (The most believable "secret agent" on screen yet)
3. Brosnan (Looks, charms, and some believable action scenes)
4. Dalton (An edgier version, very suitable for the 80's)
5. Moore (Liked his charm, didn't buy his action)
6. Lazenby (He's a model, not a Bond)
-{
Just kidding. In retrospect, he was great in his day IMO. Anyone who dislikes TSWLM just doesn't like the 'comic book' Bond that ultimately entertained so many back then. I have great respect for the man, and his personal take on Bond.
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
2. Daniel Craig - On paper the guy simply shouldn't work as Bond, exhibing none of the traits one associates with 007. But casting against type & choosing an actor sufficiently different to the previous incumbent has paid off. He exudes an air of danger & insouciance that for me makes him hugely watchable.
3. George Lazenby - Brings a vulnerability to the role that still surprises plus marvellous physicality in action scenes. How might the '70s Bonds have turned out if he'd just signed that contract...?
4. Timothy Dalton - Perhaps there's an argument to be made that he's the one who actually acts the role rather than inhabits it. Or perhaps I'm running out ways to differentiate between the six chaps
5. Roger Moore - Now it gets difficult. I should like Pierce Brosnan more than Moore in a way but there's something about Roger I can't help but like. A jovial chap. If I were to have a pint with any Bond down my local, it would be with Roger's.
6. Pierce Brosnan - Now I have to justify sixth position to an actor who doesn't altogether warrant it. Let's say it's not the case that I particularly dislike Brosnan but that I like the others that little bit more.
1.) Daniel Craig - He's not a pretty boy (James Bond in the books wasn't either), but he doesn't need to be because he has the one trait that makes him the best from the rest, even Connery: INTENSITY!
2.) Sean Connery - All the men wanted to be like and all the women wanted to be with. He made wanting to be a
government spy cool. He was truly one of a kind.
3.) Pierce Brosnan - His films were hit or miss and he was a bit too smug at times, but he is underrated now. He was very much like Connery. Tough, suave, and believable all at once.
4.) Timothy Dalton - He was a good Bond, but my problem is he was too damn serious. Even the guys above him would crack a joke once in awhile to lighten the mood.
5.) Roger Moore - I couldn't stand him. He did seven films and I only liked one of them (FYEO). Had he cared about the source material and played Bond seriously throughout his tenure instead of treating everything like it was one big joke because it was just a paycheck to him, he would be much higher on my list.
6.) George Lazenby - He had potential even after being given the unfortunate task of trying to fill Connery's shoes, but unfortunately he was dumb enough to give up the role after one movie and that makes him the forgotten Bond and he deserves to be an afterthought.
Add the Fleming factor in and the only actor that can be discussed is Dalton.
When all is said and done though ranking bonds in order is like trying to choose your favourite sexual position. You may have a favourite but they're all pretty awesome!
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
2. Pierce Brosnan: His films went from brilliant (GoldenEye) to progressively worse (Die Another Day), but I felt he suited role nicely. Even in the sub-standard The World Is Not Enough, you can see that he's really giving it his all. I wish he had stayed on for longer.
3. Daniel Craig: It's taken me a while to get used to Craig as 007, but I understand why many consider him to be the best actor to play Bond. His performance in Casino Royale was brilliant, and he was about the only thing remotely watchable in the sub-standard Quantum of Solace.
4. Sean Connery: The classic Bond. In my opinion, Connery came away with two perfect Bond films: From Russia With Love and Goldfinger. Had I enjoyed his performances in You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever, I might have rated him higher. For now, he sits at #4. Criminally low, hey?
5. George Lazenby: Lazenby lucked out at his one shot -- On Her Majesty's Secret Service -- and by all means it's a fine performance (though his real strength was in his fighting style). Unfortunately he had large shoes to fill with Connery out of the role, and trying to emulate his predecessor was ultimately to his detriment.
6. Timothy Dalton: He played it close to Fleming, and lots of fans enjoy his tougher, cynical portrayal of Bond, but count me out. I feel like Dalton kept his audience at arms' length, and totally lacked the suave charm of Connery and Moore.
1) The Spy Who Loved Me 2) On Her Majesty's Secret Service 3) GoldenEye 4) Casino Royale 5) Goldfinger
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
He was a fine Bond overall, and I even enjoyed his movies (especially Licence to Kill, which is really tailor-made for his portrayal). I guess I prefer Bond to be tongue-in-cheek as opposed to "man-on-the-edge".
1) The Spy Who Loved Me 2) On Her Majesty's Secret Service 3) GoldenEye 4) Casino Royale 5) Goldfinger
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
Cheers to that! -{
1) The Spy Who Loved Me 2) On Her Majesty's Secret Service 3) GoldenEye 4) Casino Royale 5) Goldfinger
1) Lazenby
2) Dalton
3) Connery
4) Moore
5) Brosnan
6) Craig
For many, myself included, he is still the quintessential Bond. Some might argue that he wasn't the most Fleming-esque, but I disagree: in his first two films at least, he managed to pull off the darker, brooding, serious side of Bond very well, but on top of that, he had charm in spades. I would argue that Connery's Bond is the most "well rounded" of the six. Connery's subsequent performances haven't quite been as "Fleming-esque" as his first two, probably because Goldfinger saw the birth of the cinematic version of Bond, a role which Connery also played extremely well.
2. Timothy Dalton
Dalton could easily be equal first. His portrayal of Bond is the closest to the original Fleming character, and I love him for it. Some say he was too serious, but the dark, brooding, self-doubting Bond is the sort of character that Fleming created. As a Fleming purist, Timothy Dalton IS James Bond.
3. Daniel Craig
One of the major drawbacks of Craig's Bond for me is that he doesn't look anything like the character that Ian Fleming described. Bond has dark hair, is six feet tall, and has a slim build. Craig fits neither of those descriptions. His portrayal of the character, while Fleming-esque in the sense that he plays a darker Bond than some of the actors before him, he is also far fitter and better built than the literary Bond has any right to be. I'm not entirely sure that he has the 'English gentleman' look about him either.
4. George Lazenby
It's probably unfair to place him above Brosnan, but Lazenby had only one film and that one film happens to be one of the best films of the franchise (in my view, the second best film) while Brosnan's four has been rather mediocre, including what I'd consider to be the worst Bond film ever. Lazenby didn't fare too badly in his one and only outing, but it looked to me as though he was trying too hard to be somebody else.
5. Pierce Brosnan
There's definitely some of Fleming's character in Brosnan's portrayal, which is evident in The World is not Enough and GoldenEye. But Brosnan is handicapped by having played Bond in the worst film of all time. The only one of Brosnan's films in my personal top 10 is GoldenEye.
6. Sir Roger Moore
I dislike Moore's Bond. He was far too jovial for my liking. The films were too far removed from the original source material that the only thing that remains of the character Fleming created was the name.
Brilliant Post
Brosnan was in A View To A Kill????
AVTAK is superior to DAD and that is a scientific fact
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby
1) he has to fit this definition: men want to be him, women want to be with him.
2) he needs to have the perfect balance between brutality and class. Two seemingly contradictory qualities.
Simple... but pretty hard to pull off!
According to that, here's my ranking:
1. Sean Connery: He defined the role. Ian Fleming may have created the character but Connery set the standard for the Bond that everyone knows. He not only fulfilled the criteria, he came up with them. And since he's the first one, he did it with no role model, no template. Connery IS Bond. At least, the 20th century, cold war version...
2. Daniel Craig: He REdefined the role. Made it relevant to the 21st century. I still think he's got a somewhat rather ugly face but that seems to work with today's female audience who I think are more attracted to his virility than his looks. And even though he still lacked charisma in Casino Royale (in my opinion), he definitely nailed the part in Skyfall.
3. George Lazenby: Probably the toughest, most intimidating Bond. The one that made you think you shouldn't mess with him. But he lacked sophistication. Maybe he would've acquired that with subsequent shots at the role. Sadly, we'll never know.
4. Roger Moore: I absolutely loathe his films, but the guy undoubtedly had extreme confidence, which is definitely an alpha male quality, and Bond is the ultimate alpha male. If only he hadn't tried to inject humor in the character... Nothing lamer than an unfunny guy trying to be funny.
5. Timothy Dalton: I completely disagree with his claims of being closer to Fleming's character. Dalton wasn't dark, he was DULL. Zero charisma, zero charm. The only good thing about him was that he was tall. And that's it. Dalton was just a Bond that more people could relate to because he was kind of more realistic. But that's a problem. Bond should not be relatable. He should be some ideal that inspires you to be like.
6. Pierce Brosnan: Talk about TRYING TOO HARD! Brosnan was completely fake. He was clearly intimidated by the part and that showed in his voice and expressions. Brosnan, just like Dalton, was a beta male and that's why they were both wrong for the part.
1 - Roger Moore - I know a lot dislike him in the role. But I view him as a different bond, and I enjoy him for different reasons to the others. He's so suave.
2 - Sean Connery - Had a great balance between seriousness and humour. The manliest bond IMO.
3 - Daniel Craig - Skyfall confirms his position for me. A human bond and I think he's doing great.
4 - Timothy Dalton - He was really good in his 2 and only roles as bond. Shame he didn't do more.
5 - Pierce Brosnan - I don't dislike Brosnan. But I just found him ok. Good at what he did, but just preferred others.
6 - George Lazenby - It's hard to judge when he only did 1. He was ok, but I would have formed more of an opinion if he'd have done another film.
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby