Lazenby over Moore?
Q and M
IrelandPosts: 171MI6 Agent
I wasnt around in 1969 so i must ask the question. why was lazenby picked for ohmss over moore. he wasnt an actor, not british, moore had just finished the saint, so why wasnt he picked after connerys first retirement! there would have been less people bickering about moores age had he started his stint here. many would have also preferred a young dalton.
finally lazenby was handed a 7film contract. if connery had not returned, would it be conceivable to think that lazenby would have remained and moore would never have got his stint as bond?
finally lazenby was handed a 7film contract. if connery had not returned, would it be conceivable to think that lazenby would have remained and moore would never have got his stint as bond?
Comments
As for why they cast Lazenby, it was clearly an attempt to make lightning strike twice: take an unknown actor, groom him to be Bond, and audiences will accept him. And we know how that turned out.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Prehaps if Moore had been tapped earlier, he would have tried harder. But it was never to be. At least he finally got to play his version of Blofeld in "The Spice Girls".
Bond’s Beretta
The Handguns of Ian Fleming's James Bond
I never thought RM lacked confidence. If anything he was a little TOO confident.
Surely his best work is The Cannonball Run?
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2. Irony.
3. Lists.
I certainly don't think he was "all wrong from the beginning". If you see him in The Saint, he is certainly the Bond "type" (as was Lazenby) in that he was "suarve and sophisticated" in an old fashioned way (much like David Niven - Fleming's choice for Bond).
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OHMSS is for me and many others a highligt of the series. it truly benefitted from an injection of youthful energy from GL and his physicality is critical. Moore could never have pulled that off in a million years, he just moves to badly and lacks believability in action scenes. I also seriously doubt that the final scene could be delivered by RM without him inevitably 'chewing the scenery'
Physically, I fully agree with you though. Moore was never a "natural fighter" in the way that Connery or Lazenby were.
I really think some fans exaggerate Moore's silliness in these films. They should blame the scripts and not how he handled them. When it comes to the more tense moments in films like Moonraker, FYEO and VTAK, he's fine as a Bond actor. The scripts of the 70s and late 80s were more commercial and satirical. You can't hate on him for doing his best with them. No other Bond actor, could have been as charming and funny throughout. Save for Sean, who is incredibly hilarious throughout DAF.
It's better than three of his Bond films, for sure!
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Yes, he's the least intimidating Bond of them all. But I think he came off well enough in scenes like his fight with the martial artist in Moonraker. I hate how they avoid any fight scenes in LALD. He was always more of a gun and gadget Bond anyway. But the fact that he isn't a great fighter doesn't effect how believable he is in a serious Bond film or in OHMSS. Daniel Craig is the most believable fighter thus far, but I think he would be wrong for certain films.
T Dalton is my favorite Bond yet I feel he looked arkward in his fight scenes,and wasn't as light on his feet as Connery/Lazenby. I also hate the way D Craig always pulls a face ( a grimace even ) when he throws a punch. or has to act Hard. As Peter Griffin pointed out to Meg at her first School play "I'm very aware I watching a play". I think he's trying too hard to be Jason Statham
I can live with the 'look how hard I am' grimace it's the pouting that bothers me 8-)
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That's a good one too; I'm just partial to his Sean Fynn in Geese. The scene where he makes the guy eat the poison-laced cocaine ticks all the right boxes for me -{
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
In a way his approach made sense however, because the stunts and plots had upped the ante to a point where a more serious approach such as in Sea Wolves would have seemed silly, like Bond isn't in on the joke.
Yeah, he did have a funny kicking style didn't he?
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I don't feel we need a scape goat, the market was flooded way before Roger Moore took on the role. James Bond films became a victim of their own success.
By the time DAF was coming round, Connery was looking tired and not particularly "dangerous". Also by DAF the humour was becoming a lot sillier ("I was looking for my pet rat and I seem to have lost my way")