Which Bond actor is the closest to Ian Fleming's Bond?
raptors_887
CanadaPosts: 215MI6 Agent
When I read the novels I am picturing Sean Connery the whole way but I've seen people on here say Its Timothy Dalton. Who do you think is the closest and why?
1: Casino Royale 2: Goldeneye 3: Skyfall 4: Octopussy 5: Goldfinger 6: Tomorrow Never Dies 7: The World Is Not Enough 8: The Living Daylights 9: From Russia With Love 10: The Spy Who Loved Me
Comments
I always picture Connery too when reading the novels. Connery, Dalton and Brosnan are all variations on the Fleming vision, ie black hair parted on the left, firm jaw, straight nose, and approximately the same height and weight.
Equally Brosnan has the blue-grey eyes, Dalton has (had) a hint of a comma of black hair over his right eye, and Connery had the Scots heritage, so I guess all are equal contenders.
Moore is also a contender with the right height, weight, jaw, nose etc - just not the right colour hair.
So far no-one's quite gone as far as getting a three inch vertical scar on the right cheek though... Now THAT would be method-acting...
But I think each actor Brings something of the
literary Bond to the role.
Perhaps ( Much as I love him ), Not so Much
Sir Roger.
Mabey not a scare on the right Cheek, But Moore did
get his "Cheeks" Burned from the exploding chair stunt
in TSWLM.
And didn't Brosnan get a scar on his upper Lip from a stunt.
It's not all Glamour playing Bond.
Lazenby also captured key elements of the blue-print to my mind.My vote however would go to Dalton though with the full ranking: Dalton, Connerry, Lazenby, Brosnan, Moore, Craig (Brozzer lacked the latent toughness otherwise he might rank higher, also Craig and Moore's position is a close call and could be reversed)
Yes my bad for forgetting to include Lazenby, sorry ;%
Can't say I ever thought about Dalton being constantly pissed off throughout his two films ?:) And he does change the champagne brand in the hamper he picks up for Koskov, saying the original brand was "questionable"...so I'd disagree with you there too....but opinions are opinions -{
Don't mention it old man
Agree.Also displays some knowledge of classical music and that " all Stradivarius have names" so I think that essence was there in Dalton's Bond, perhaps could have been developed more, but it is there.
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
As good as Connery was at a lot of things, he never came across as all that conflicted about what he had to do for his job. Same with Moore in many ways, though worse since he was more of a joker than other Bonds. Brosnan comes close, especially with how he deals with Elektra in TWINE. If he could have had more moments like that he might have ousted Dalton. And Craig had a chance, still might, but Skyfall did some damage to his Bond. CR and QoS really seemed almost equal to both of Dalton's portrayals, but then Skyfall came along and amped up the darker, grittier side to where Bond become more of an unlikeable fool than a conflicted spy. I can't blame Craig since it was the writer's botching that.
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He's not all that no nonsense. Unlike Craig's Bond who had to be dragged into a suit and taught more about the higher scale drinks, Dalton carried himself well in sophistication and proved he had a deep knowledge of what is considered upper class. It's just that wasn't the sole focus of the character like it had been with Moore and Connery... they rightly shifted the focus to the fact that he might have some expensive tastes, but he is still an MI6 operative that has to kill and do some nasty things for the job... and he tries his best to cope with that. Connery and Moore never had that conflict. They weren't terrible Bonds, but they just didn't perfectly emulate Ian Fleming's Bond.
I don't get pissed off the whole time either. He's more no-nonsense in LTK, but there are still welcome moments of calm and levity, Pam and Bond on the boat, him giving her a once-over in her skivvies when they're planting the money on Krest's boat, the first meeting with Q where she locks him out of the bedroom, His and Lupe's seduction, and the friendly, conspiratorial wave they give each other after she helps him out by dousing Perez and the other guys with crop dust.
I also like The style sense his Bond has. He seems equally at home in a tuxedo, and in a member's only jacket and boat shoes. He dresses more for the job than some of the other Bonds. "Hmm, I'm about to fake an assassination of General Pushkin. I also may be running. I should probably ditch a suit and tie." And when he wears a tuxedo, it makes sense. Connery looks totally out of place in a white dinner jacket at the casino in DAF. He's literally the only person in a tuxedo during that entire film sequence. So does Roger Moore in a tuxedo during the Rio Carnivale in "Moonraker". You can tell the writers were like, "Bond has to wear a tuxedo in this movie. Ok, we'll put it here." The transition in the PTS of Goldfinger was more believable than the DAF sequence.
And as I said before, Dalton's Bond isn't afraid of black tie. He wears not one, not two, but three different tuxedos over the course of TLD. I'm pretty sure that's a record, I don't think even Roger Moore's Bond was dressed in three tuxedos in the course of one film, all of them in situations where it makes sense for him to wear one.
Dalton's easiest to picture in the novels, because, as others have said, he has the style and grace needed for the character, but also the conflicted nature of a man who sometimes hates what he does, but can do nothing else, and a man who has to detach himself from the job so as not to entirely hate himself.
And also, Bond of the novels had a huge Achilles Heel when it came to ladies who needed a knight in shining armour, sometimes putting their safety above the mission. Dalton gets to take care of three Bond girls who all fit this category, Kara, who's lover wants to kill her, Pam, whom Sanchez is trying to kill, and Lupe, who is hurt and threatened by Sanchez, and who can never get away.
Connery and Brosnan both have the look. Brosnan especially. But Dalton's Bond had more time, even in two films, to have the look, and develop the psychology of Fleming's character. So Dalton FTW from me.
Agreed. Often described with the dark and lean face, and even more often than that, handsome, any of those three fit with each having the better quality over the others in different areas, but to capture the most of the Bondian qualities it would be Dalton. However, with that said I think he could have done a better job in feeling comfortable with his suaveness and having confidence in his bearing...understanding of course that he chose to emphasize more of Bond's underdog nature. Also regarding the physical features, the slim body of Bond fits well with Brosnan and Dalton, so it seems Dalton hits most of the marks.
I think it's relevant to mention here even though I've brought it up many times, Christopher Lee mentioned how he discussed the character a lot with Fleming, his cousin by marriage and based on those conversations he surmises that Fleming would have considered Brosnan as the closest had he lived to see all the Bond actors so far.
If Brosnan could have gotten the same scripts for the other movies that he got with Goldeneye, he may have overshadowed Dalton for my list, but they became too Roger Moorish in spots. Still, IMO, Even though he's my fifth favorite Bond, I'd put him right behind Dalton for most Fleming like, with Connery in 3rd.
I can't see too much from that in the Dalton movies - he's more 'the good friend'
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
normally one (on occasion two) per novel, so not quite the lothario of the movies.I think it's Amis who points out that Bond's tally is no more than any reasonably attractive well traveled single man could hope for.
You keep referring to how Dalton behaves more than his looks. Being serious about the mission should
not be confused with being pissed off. Dalton (and the writers) were trying to make his version more serious hence more like the novel Bond in order to get away from the "Bond Lite" Moore's version brought during his tenure. Combine that with Dalton's dark, dangerous look made him closest to the novel Bond for me. Dalton didn't "display" Bonds fine tastes as in the novels only because they were not written into his scripts - not his fault. However, everyone is entitled to their opinion. Personally, I can picture Dalton when I read the novels, but
before he came along, I actually pictured Stewart Granger rather than Connery.
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