Connery and Craig’s physique briefly contrasted
osris
Posts: 558MI6 Agent
Just thought I’d mention an article that very briefly contrasts Connery’s and Craig’s physique. It says the following:
“Sean Connery, who is widely regarded as the definitive movie James Bond, was certainly in great shape in the early 1960s. But no more so than, say, an ordinary construction worker or ranch hand. Leap ahead to Daniel Craig, today’s Bond, and you’ve got the body of a world class athlete."
It also looks at the pressure on modern male film actors to be well built and have a six-pack, things that never used to be the case until very recently. Could this mean that Bond from now on has to be overly muscular because of this sort of pressure, rather than be true to the character’s “actual” physique, as described by Fleming?
See:
“Hollywood’s Changing Male Ideal"
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/hollywoods-changing-male-ideal/
“Sean Connery, who is widely regarded as the definitive movie James Bond, was certainly in great shape in the early 1960s. But no more so than, say, an ordinary construction worker or ranch hand. Leap ahead to Daniel Craig, today’s Bond, and you’ve got the body of a world class athlete."
It also looks at the pressure on modern male film actors to be well built and have a six-pack, things that never used to be the case until very recently. Could this mean that Bond from now on has to be overly muscular because of this sort of pressure, rather than be true to the character’s “actual” physique, as described by Fleming?
See:
“Hollywood’s Changing Male Ideal"
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/hollywoods-changing-male-ideal/
Comments
I think SC's physique is just perfect for a role like that.
I always found DC's Bond must be so blessed, doing nothing in Turkey besides drugs, alcohol and here and there a woman and he still looks like a greek god
Any bloke who takes his shirt off in a movie these days has to have
a six pack and perfect pecks etc. This is just Hollywood expanding
their perfect body doctrine, which women have had to put up with
for years.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Connery had a perfect body for Bond of any era. Then again, all the others until Craig did more or less as well. I totally get it what it the article says, and would most likely enjoy Craig's portrayal more if he wasn't forced (or chose) to rely on steroids, HGH and whatever else they make him inject.
Remember, these were the days after WWII and Korea, and during the early stages of Vietnam. Audiences knew what real heroes looked like. And they didn't look like cartoonish narcissists who rather than defend their country or work a hard job somehow had huge amounts of time to oil themselves and hang out at the gym. Those were the people in the back of comic books kicking sand in some poor guy's face. Watch the TV shows and movies of the era: The over-muscled and defined man was a meathead, a bully, a dope.
Today, where more people work in retail and offices rather than in blue collar jobs, we have a class of people who actually do have the time to hang out at the gym. And movies and TV of the past 30 years have created more and more fantastic expectations of the physicality of the heroes. If in the past they might get into a bar fight, now they're blown across rooms by explosions, pounded relentlessly by even bigger meatheads, fall 20, 30, or 40 feet and walk away without injury, or scale buildings or even the outside of racing aircraft with nothing but their fingernails to cling with. No amount of injury or physical punishment seems to result in anything more than some temporary bruising and catching of breath. It's silly, juvenile, outrageous, and unrealistic, but audiences unhesitantly accept it without question, and so the hero, too, has become a caricature rather than person.
You are kidding right?? He is not exactly a bodybuilder, just works out and looks after himself.
I'm sorry but that latter statement is just pathetic to read. What an absolute load of guff. So because Craig is in good shape, works out well & follows a strong nutritional programme, he's pumped full of PEDs? What complete & utter garbage. Offer some proof if you're going to post such a strong assassination of his hard work. Look at his physique in the likes of Tomb Raider & Layer Cake - any semi decent PT worth their salt could put lean muscle on that.
+ 1 Glad I didn't have to say it; thanks.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
I think you miss the point of why people who spend the majority of their days sitting in offices make time to work out. For instance, I seldom spend less than ten hours at the office each day, yet I make an effort to get into the gym 2-3 times per week because, otherwise, my lifestyle would be very sedentary. You are correct that if I worked a blue collar job that required me to be on my feet all day, then perhaps I wouldn't feel the urge to exercise in the evenings or on the weekends. But I don't exercise because I am the member of a "class of people who have time to hang out at the gym" or because I feel societal pressure to do so; I exercise because I desire to be healthy and as active as possible.
Further, this isn't the 1960s where the real heroes you mention smoked and gave little regard to diet and exercise. To the contrary, most military and even law enforcement personnel tend to be in excellent physical condition. So, while your statement about the physical norms of the Connery-Bond era is true, it has now been flipped. Audiences today would find the character of Bond less believeable if he wasn't in top shape. I will concede that if Bond was less of an action hero and more of a spy, this wouldn't be an issue, but that that's not the directio the last 20 years of Bond have taken, so it's a moot point for the purposes of this discussion.
Well put Miles Messervy
What's interesting about Bond -- though perhaps not as much with the Craig version -- is that if Bond were the gourmand he is traditionally presented to be, it would be tough for him to maintain a physique anything like Craig's. That includes drugs and heavy drink, which Craig's Bond never seems to tire of.
Nutritionists will tell you that if the choice is between diet or exercise in terms of controlling weight, that diet is the more effective of the two. Skipping dessert will shed calories a lot easier and faster than an hour at the gym. And all that exercise may actually yield fewer benefits. Studies keep showing that moderate exercise -- closer to the Connery era -- yields most of the same benefits as vigorous, long-hour exercise in many cases. In addition, exercising too much may actually be harmful. People are having joint and hip replacements at younger and younger ages these days, for instance, which is attributed to exercising too much.
The odd thing is the real heroes of Connery's era and before, with all their poor habits and less sculpted physiques, are living into their 90s and 100s, while the generation today is actually seeing a dip in their life expectancy. Lots of reasons can be attributed to this, but the buff, six-pack hero of today's movies still remains largely a fantasy figure.
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
As a big, strong man he was a reasonable contender in those days (the story is he came 3rd- perhaps it should have been held in Japan
Of course he works out, but just working out will not make you look like that (don't take my word, ask a good PT, and HGH is perfectly legal in some countries). As for looking after himself... Craig is a smoker, so I will disagree.
A real man! That's what a man who works out without injecting will look like even today (not sure about looking after himself - I think he was a smoker, and probably not a healthy eater, at least back then).
I work out with people who have far more muscle then DC - and believe me I live in a country where steroids and HGH don't exist! My gym is a British Military gym in the Falklands on a MOD base! Seen hundreds of squaddies in better shape!
Low carbs - high protein and hit the gym! Simple if you have dedication
He does not even have that much muscle - he is more toned then anything! I would whip him in a guns comp but he would whip me in a low fat contest!!
Seriously he is a very fit guy but nothing out of the ordinary if you go to a gym and eat clean
Now if you were talking about a wrestler or pro body-builder......
PS - smoking although not good for your health does not mean one is unfit! Ive seen military PTI's smoke in the pubs and have a drink on the weekend and still smash marathons etc All about moderation!
Is DC larger then the guy on the left (Right of Connery??) Nope!
Craig's physique as Bond is actually quite similar to Connery's from his body building days. Much different in terms of their height and bone structure, though.
Craig's Bond is certainly a drinker, although I think we can agree that that trait is in keeping with Fleming's character. As for the drugs, this is only referenced in Skyfall to my knowledge, and I took it as Bond self-medicating because he had shrapnel lodged in his shoulder.
In any event, Bond doesn't strike me as a character that plans to live to a ripe old age, so I think with his health, he's more interested in the short term.
To me, DC's body does look larger than the guy on the left, not much though, and I may be wrong. However, it's not about how lean someone is, or how much muscle he has. Back in the day bodybuilders had few substances to help them, so obviously had to work harder, but the result was that their muscles - no matter how big - looked much more natural. Now you get that bloated, unnatural look. There is a big pressure on actors to achieve a certain look nowadays, there are time constraints, so I don't blame the actors - they deal with it as best they can. Simple low carb - high protein (dangerous and unhealthy as it is) will only work if you spend a lot of your time exercising - which your military buddies probably do as part of their everyday regime.
That's precisely my point too, and I feel that actors are actually victims when they are pressured to go to such extreme lengths to achieve unnecessary ends.
;%
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
I suppose you feel that way about the Bond girls as well? The same logic certainly applies.
Daniel Craigs got arms nowhere near that size in my opinion! Hes prob more similar to Connery in that picture
is a sign of steroid use ? Which much explain my big belly
can't figure out how I'm getting the steroids.
All this bloated look etc talk is utter rubbish in my opinion & shows a very naive view of what can be achieved with the right nutrition, rest & training - especially considering the resources DC has to hand every moment of every day.
If the Bond girls are going through as much effort as Craig does, it's certainly unnecessary. But I don't recall any Bond girls who are visually ripped. To look as great as Ursula Andress they don't need to do anywhere close to the kind of work that Craig does.
The perfectly toned and sculpted Bond woman of the past several films with their nonexistent body fat may not spend hours each day pushing weight like Craig does, but I find it hard to believe that they are able to achieve that look without considerable effort related to diet and exercise.
But my broader point, like those stated above, goes to audience expectations: Several members in this thread have railed against the modern audience expectation that heroes be heavily muscled. This has been called "extreme" and "unnecessary." But no one seems to find the longstanding audience expectation that Bond women look unrealistically perfect to be extreme or unnecessary.
I wouldn't necessarily call myself a feminist, but the double standard in this regard is worth pointing out.