Timothy Dalton or Pierce Brosnan

Q and M

thought this wud b interestin 2 talk about. both are pretty much from the same generation, not a huge age gap(64 and 57). who was the best? wud dalton have been gud in goldeneye, wud brosnan have been gud in the living daylights or license to kill. i have always been a bigger dalton fan myself as imo he was the closest to portraying flemings bond. still wud be interestin to hear others opinions

Blackleiter

This one is harder for me than I thought it would be. A few years ago I would have said Dalton off the bat. But upon reflection I think Brosnan was a more well-rounded Bond. He definitely had the suave sophistication, the charm, the intelligence, and even the physicality. He could also toss a quip as well as Roger Moore, although that is my least favorite aspect of the cinematic version of James Bond. (Except when Connery did it - somehow it seemed more fitting and restrained when he did it). Dalton, on the other had, was a no-nonsense, purer Bond, closer to Fleming's creation. But the all-serious, all-the-time demeanor diminished his natural charm and ultimately made the two Timothy Dalton Bond movies a little less enjoyable than Brosnan's, although they were generally better written and better acted. Had Brosnan been given better scripts to work with, I think Brosnan would be my choice without hesitation. Right now, I would still give a slight edge to Brosnan, but I am a fan of both.

Alessandra

Both, thanks. ) If I was forced to pick, I'd say Brosnan because I prefer his style to Dalton's. But I like both.

CJ007Goldeneye

Brosnan. No doubt

superdaddy

Brosnan, for some reason I find watching Dalton a tad tiresome.

darththorpe

id have to say brosnan

Ricardo C.

Dalton IMO. He needed to lighten up a bit but he did a great job overall The Living Daylights. I loved his attitude toward the Koskov mission in the beginning because it was SO Bond. He was tired of the killing and was in no hurry to take yet another life.

mrbain007

Id say Brosnan. However cudos to Dalton, who I think was an under-appreciated Bond.

The edge I think goes to Pierce though. To me he just seemed slightly more rounded, particularly for the cinematic character (I know others might disagree). He was someone who enjoyed the finer things in life, however he was also a serious, determined, slightly world-weary agent.

CmdrAtticus

One must not forget that the reason Dalton's peformances didn't quite fit exactly was due to the scripting and not his acting. Dalton was trying to capture Fleming's Bond from the novels - he stated so on many occassions. Unfortunately, the script writers were still trying to keep the lightness of the earlier Bond scripts, but the balance didn't work in TLD and LTK as well...they would have been fine with Brosnan though. If they had made Casino Royale and Quantum then, Dalton would have fit the part just fine. I can picture him in any of the scenes from these two Craig efforts. Brosnan did a splendid job of carrying off the lighter moments as well as giving levity to the darker ones in his films. I'm not so sure he would have worked as well in the last two films. Besides, by the time he had finished DAD, it was obvious he was going to be to old for the character in the rebooted franchise.

Q and M

ive mentioned this on numerous occasions but u sud prob judge bond on appearence. wud u suspect dalton or brosnan were spys if they walked down the street. u wud not suspect dalton at all, not so sure about brosnan. A spy sud not b noticable, roger moore once said that he is the worlds best known spy, every1 knows who he is, every bar man knows what drink he wants and how he wants it.

Thunderpussy

I'd have to go with Dalton,Pitty he didn't get better scripts.

DEFIANT 74205

Q and M wrote:

thought this wud b interestin 2 talk about. both are pretty much from the same generation, not a huge age gap(64 and 57). who was the best? wud dalton have been gud in goldeneye, wud brosnan have been gud in the living daylights or license to kill. i have always been a bigger dalton fan myself as imo he was the closest to portraying flemings bond. still wud be interestin to hear others opinions

X-( I really hate it when ppl typ lyk dis! It's irritating trying to decipher your post.

But to answer your question, I'd say Dalton, by a mile. Of all the Bond actors, Dalton's portrayal of Bond was the closest to Fleming's Bond. That alone, for me, is enough to rate Dalton ahead of Brosnan.

Peppermill

DEFIANT 74205 wrote:

Q and M wrote:

thought this wud b interestin 2 talk about. both are pretty much from the same generation, not a huge age gap(64 and 57). who was the best? wud dalton have been gud in goldeneye, wud brosnan have been gud in the living daylights or license to kill. i have always been a bigger dalton fan myself as imo he was the closest to portraying flemings bond. still wud be interestin to hear others opinions

X-( I really hate it when ppl typ lyk dis! It's irritating trying to decipher your post.

I agree!

On topic: I think both actors did a good job as Bond. But I have to say I liked the way Dalton portrayed Bond better than Brosnans version.

DaltonFan1

Dalton easily. He was the closest to Fleming's Bond and he really gave an impression of independence. His Bond didn't simply follow orders but would do things his way. I think EoN tried to cover QOS' threadbare story by having Bond act independently like LTK, but they were very lazy in doing this.
I think Brosnan was just too much of a generic Bond that feels like an imitation or even a caricature of previous actors.

Andy007

Dalton. He made such an impact in his 2 films. I agree with the point on Brosnan being a slighty generic Bond. i think Brosnan was a mixture of Moore & Connery which makes him a good Bond. A bit like a tougher Moore, but felt he lacked an edge. He doesn't have that edge which Connery, Dalton & Craig had. it's hard to describe. I think he's a bit casual, doesn't quite give you that sense of danger or tension which Connery, Dalton & Craig all performed. i think these 3 were all unpredictable at times, especially Dalton who made Bond so realistic but Brosnan and Moore lacked this. So anyway Dalton is the answer.

SilentSpy

I vote for Dalton. I love his two Bond films.

alexeberlin

dalton without a doubt

Alessandra

I have to add, while I like both, that I do agree Brosnan's Bond was more well-rounded than Dalton's. Also of course if it comes to saying which of the two I preferred in terms of looks and style, then Brosnan no doubt. I did enjoy Dalton's Bond but I think like BlackLeiter said that Brosnan did have a more well-rounded portrayal of Bond as a whole.

Blackleiter

Thanks for the "props", Alessandra!

Alessandra wrote:

I have to add, while I like both, that I do agree Brosnan's Bond was more well-rounded than Dalton's. Also of course if it comes to saying which of the two I preferred in terms of looks and style, then Brosnan no doubt. I did enjoy Dalton's Bond but I think like BlackLeiter said that Brosnan did have a more well-rounded portrayal of Bond as a whole.

Dalton is king of the hil

Timothy Dalton without a doubt. Brosnan was also good but maybe not serious enough.... His movies were not very good. The only reason why GoldeneEye was a masterpiece was because the script was made for Dalton. TWINE was okay but Brosnan was too dependent on his gadgets and yes he had charm - but maybe too much. Dalton was way better at being Ian Flemings Bond. Dalton had a lot of influence on the scripts. Brosnan must have has too so my question is, Why didn't anyone say anything when they saw "Invisible car" in the script...? I simply don't get it.
Both The Living Daylights and Licence To Kill are way better than every single one of Brosnans movies. Dalton is also a much better actor, but there is a danger that he can be too theatrical. I don't know. I still think Dalton is the best 007 so far. Way better than Connery and Craig.

Matt S

Brosnan was better as Bond but Dalton's movies were much better. Brosnan was gives crap to work with. I think Brosnan would have been excellent in TLD and LTK. All of Brosnan's movies were amongst the worst in the series but that wasn't his fault. It's like putting Jeff Gordon in a Daewoo, it still won't win the race.