Whose introduction was the best?
Nick37
Posts: 270MI6 Agent
I thought I'd make up my own list, and see who agrees, or has their own ideas. This is based on their first appearance.
#6. George Lazenby. The hiding of the face was alright, as was the sleuthing he does watching Tracy make plans to kill herself, but his delivery of "My name's Bond, James Bond, is just cornball. Overall, he's an ok Bond, but that line reading was bad, and I'm surprised it made the final cut.
#5. Roger Moore. Ahh, Roger, we definitely got a taste of what we were in for in Roger's outing from his intro in LALD. Funny, to be sure, but a bit demeaning for the Bond character to have to hide his latest conquest from M in the closet like a boyfriend hiding his date from a nosy parent.
#4. Pierce Brosnan. The whole sequence leading up to the reveal is well done, and I even kind of like the fact that we start off with him socking a guy in the toilet. The following shot of him actually right side up is also well done. He definitely has the movie look of James Bond.
#3. Daniel Craig. Much like Roger Moore's intro let us know what to expect, so did Daniel Craig's. He's definitely a Bond that means business. The interplay between himself and Dryden, intercut with his first kill, is well done, and I like the brief shot we get as Dryden falls of a picture of him and his family. Not even a wife and kids at home are enough to deter 007 from doing his duty. And "Yes...Considerably" is a nice bit of levity after the intense scene.
#2. Timothy Dalton. From the moment he turns, he's the character. He earns some props as well for not really having a single line all through the opening sequence until the phony 00 is dead. Much like Daniel Craig, it's easy to see his Bond means business, from taking the phone to making himself at home on Linda's yacht. And his "Bond, James Bond". is one of my favorite deliveries of the line. Nobody can put the pause in and get away with it like Connery, so his brusque method, again fitting the man-of-action tone set up by the Gibraltar sequence works for me.
#1. Sean Connery. No question. His reveal started it all. From the casual way he lights his cigarette to the way he introduces himself to Sylvia Trench, he's created a character that has audiences hooked. We find out just about everything we need to about James Bond and his lifestyle and his tendencies towards pursuing lots of women from that opening scene in the casino. It takes a hell of a presence to be able to pick up a woman you just won several thousand pounds off of. He's my second favorite Bond, but when it comes to introductions, he created the one that was the most iconic and created the template that all the subsequent actors had to follow, and weather being compared to.
#6. George Lazenby. The hiding of the face was alright, as was the sleuthing he does watching Tracy make plans to kill herself, but his delivery of "My name's Bond, James Bond, is just cornball. Overall, he's an ok Bond, but that line reading was bad, and I'm surprised it made the final cut.
#5. Roger Moore. Ahh, Roger, we definitely got a taste of what we were in for in Roger's outing from his intro in LALD. Funny, to be sure, but a bit demeaning for the Bond character to have to hide his latest conquest from M in the closet like a boyfriend hiding his date from a nosy parent.
#4. Pierce Brosnan. The whole sequence leading up to the reveal is well done, and I even kind of like the fact that we start off with him socking a guy in the toilet. The following shot of him actually right side up is also well done. He definitely has the movie look of James Bond.
#3. Daniel Craig. Much like Roger Moore's intro let us know what to expect, so did Daniel Craig's. He's definitely a Bond that means business. The interplay between himself and Dryden, intercut with his first kill, is well done, and I like the brief shot we get as Dryden falls of a picture of him and his family. Not even a wife and kids at home are enough to deter 007 from doing his duty. And "Yes...Considerably" is a nice bit of levity after the intense scene.
#2. Timothy Dalton. From the moment he turns, he's the character. He earns some props as well for not really having a single line all through the opening sequence until the phony 00 is dead. Much like Daniel Craig, it's easy to see his Bond means business, from taking the phone to making himself at home on Linda's yacht. And his "Bond, James Bond". is one of my favorite deliveries of the line. Nobody can put the pause in and get away with it like Connery, so his brusque method, again fitting the man-of-action tone set up by the Gibraltar sequence works for me.
#1. Sean Connery. No question. His reveal started it all. From the casual way he lights his cigarette to the way he introduces himself to Sylvia Trench, he's created a character that has audiences hooked. We find out just about everything we need to about James Bond and his lifestyle and his tendencies towards pursuing lots of women from that opening scene in the casino. It takes a hell of a presence to be able to pick up a woman you just won several thousand pounds off of. He's my second favorite Bond, but when it comes to introductions, he created the one that was the most iconic and created the template that all the subsequent actors had to follow, and weather being compared to.
"I've had a few...Optional extras installed."
Comments
IMO.
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
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#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
1. GoldenEye 2. Goldfinger 3. Skyfall 4. OHMSS 5. TWINE
Moore got gypped big time in the introduction department. kinda like when you forgot to introduce someone at a party and feel embarrassed about it later. LALD and TMWTGG tried to downplay the fact that a new actor was playing Bond by not drawing too much attention to him.
However, they made up for it in TSWLM by giving Roger a great pre-title sequence. "So does England!"
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
-Casino Royale, Ian Fleming
I can recall seeing it in the Cinema and thinking 'Christ it's him' it was palpable and achieved with a single look, and followed by 'she will call you back' was just perfect.
Christ I miss Dalton !
shocking, positively shocking. :007)
He said it like he was in a rush, which worked perfectly with him.
-Casino Royale, Ian Fleming
"Kara, we're inside a Russian airbase in the middle of Afghanistan."
from wikipedia: Following the release of Dr. No, the quote "Bond ... James Bond," became a catch phrase that entered the lexicon of Western popular culture: writers Cork and Scivally said of the introduction in Dr. No that the "signature introduction would become the most famous and loved film line ever".[68] In 2001 it was voted as the "best-loved one-liner in cinema" by British cinema goers.[69] In 2005, it was honoured as the 22nd greatest quotation in cinema history by the American Film Institute as part of their 100 Years Series.[70]
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
FRWL- spectre training on a fake Bond. Weak.
NSNA- another fake Bond death in a training mission that looked way too real.
DAD - virtual reality training where we think got Moneypenny killed. Lame.
Anyway, Dalton's PTS was basically a structural remake of the one we just saw in AVTAK. No dialog. Steep downhill chase. Ends with Bond on a boat with a girl. Seems like business as usual for 007. Come to think of it AVTAK would have been a great way to introduce Roger. Better late than never.
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
Roger Moore's is probably the worst and that's coming from a fan of Moore!
Number 1: Lazenby --- What guts to take over the role from the iconic Connery. I love not only the way he was introduced, but also the entire PTS is my favorite.
Number 2: Connery in Dr. No. Coolness...
Number 3: Connery in DAF. I could imagine being in the theater watching this for the first time every time I watch the movie. I was 6 in 1971, so didn't see it til I was an adult on VHS.
Number 4: Dalton in TLD. After the string of Moore films, Dalton didn't have to say anything. Just his look was enough to say he was 007.
Number 5: Craig in CR -- sitting in the shadows was cool...
Number 6: Brosnan in GE.
Number 7: Moore in LALD.
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
He was the same Bond. Mabey they were trying not to draw too much
attention to the change.
I'd have to go with Connery's iconic DN intro as the best; but, in the TLD PTS, Dalton's 'reveal' is superb - his first turn to camera in that well-acted reaction shot, dramatically scored by John Barry.
When I first saw the TLD PTS, I couldn't help thinking that the other two 00s parachuting down to the training exercise were, sort of, surrogate 'previous Bond' figures, as if the avatars of 'Connery' and 'Moore' were bowing out. The as yet anonymous new guy was the third parachutist (and if there was no fourth 00 as a 'Lazenby' surrogate, this was because, as a one-off previous Bond, Lazenby didn't really count). My reading of this was bolstered by the fact that the 00 hit by the SAS paint-baller as soon as he lands, with his comic/annoyed reaction, reminded me a little of Roger Moore - a redundant 'lightweight' 00, Dalton's immediate predecessor. But when the saboteur makes it all turn nasty, it's time for the new Bond to get cracking...
I remember reading that the other two 00s were supposed
to look like G Lazenby and R Moore.
So many Dalton fans!
My list goes:
6. Roger Moore - Was just weak, I wish they made his exit from New Orleans Airport his intro cause he looked the part there
5. George Lazenby - Moderately suspenseful, well shot and edited....gets the job done
4. Timothy Dalton - The look he gives signifies straight away that he is going to be a harder edged Bond. Good intro
3. Brosnan - The Dam jump, 2-3 shots just of his eyes leading to the toilet beating and the reveal - love it!
2. Craig - BAD ASS!!
1. The one and only Sean Connery - Most Iconic intro in Cinema history IMO. How can I not rank it #1 ???
6. Lazenby. I quite like the "other fella" line but the scene just makes no sense. Why does he follow Tracy onto the beach? Why are Draco's men watching and why on earth do they attack Bond? The scene was incomprehensible to me until I read the novel. Also, the overdubbing of Bond's voice in the car ("HMMM" etc.) and undercranking of the camera during the fight are awful (strange as it's such a very well made film otherwise). I honestly think that the film would be stronger without this scene.
5. Moore. It's very low key and the comedy actually borders on farce but it's an effective introduction to Moore's Bond and the introduction definitely achieves its goal: it's clearly a very deliberate effort to distance Moore from Connery.
4. Brosnan. The glimpses of Bond running and stalking the dam are great. The bungee jump is fantastic. Slightly let down because our first real look at Brosnan's bond is hanging upside down in a men's lavatory with a cheesy grin plastered across his face.
3. Craig. Sitting in the shadows in moody monochrome about to cold-bloodedly assassinate a slimy double agent.
2. Connery. The word "iconic" could have been coined for this scene.
1. Dalton. Just about as good an introduction as its possible to get for Bond. I really don't think they'll ever top this one. He's dangerous, awesome and incredibly cool.
Can you imagine how lame it would have been if the PTS of FYEO had been the introduction for Jayston or Billington's Bond?
11- TB. 12- OP. 13- LALD. 14- TMWTGG. 15- FYEO. 16- YOLT. 17- TND. 18- QoS.
19- TWINE. 20- AVTAK. 21- MR. 22- DAF. 23- DAD.