Fully Bonded
There has been a debate for years over who the best James Bond is. Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton or Pierce Brosnan. Now I know that a lot of you will first jump up and say “what about George Lazenby”; well what about him? He was Bond once and that was it… he was a filler for Sean. According to the Ian Fleming books, Lazeby was closer to the original concept of the character then any of the others, but we all know that writers don’t know anything about their own characters when it comes to adapting them to film. So Lazenby is immediately disqualified.
That leaves four. Dalton did a couple Bonds and the franchise barely survived. He came across as a dispassionate thug, not a suave super-agent. Dalton is at his best as a villain. He was wonderful as Prince Baron in Flash Gordon and as the Nazi backed movie star in The Rocketeer. But Bond should be someone to emulate, someone every man wants to be and every woman wants to do. Dalton is a good actor, but he’s not Bond. So for lacking style, Dalton is eliminated.
Roger Moore had three strikes against him. First, he got into the series right at the time “campy” was in; so the movies became more about what Q could make then what Bond could do. Second strike was that he was coming in after Sean Connery, a very tough act to follow. Where Connery was a tough guy, Moore played it aloof and in control. The problem is that it was the same way he played what turned out to be his third strike, The Saint. Moore was Simon Templar not James Bond. People wanted to see him with the halo over his head, not a license to kill. So since Moore is British I will translate… three strikes and your out.
That leave us the last two, and I think this is where the biggest debate is. Besides the fact that the audiences for the two are years apart in age, both the actors bring something special to the role. Connery defined Bond, made him who we thought he was. He was tough, sexy and dangerous. But Brosnan brings us the same feeling we got from Connery, but with a steely control that Dalton had and the fun Moore showed us. Plus, he brings something more… a look in his eye that beneath it all he is very serious. We saw it when Teri Hatcher’s character was killed in Tomorrow Never Dies and we see it again when he killed the girl in The World is Not Enough.
I enjoyed just about all the Bond movies (except maybe Moonraker) and I think the actors have all done something unique with the characters. But If I had to pic a favorite, it would be Brosnan. For a lot of people, Connery will always be James Bond… but for my money, I am very happy see Pierce Brosnan as 007 and I hope it stays that way for a while.
There has been a debate for years over who the best James Bond is. Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton or Pierce Brosnan. Now I know that a lot of you will first jump up and say “what about George Lazenby”; well what about him? He was Bond once and that was it… he was a filler for Sean. According to the Ian Fleming books, Lazeby was closer to the original concept of the character then any of the others, but we all know that writers don’t know anything about their own characters when it comes to adapting them to film. So Lazenby is immediately disqualified.
That leaves four. Dalton did a couple Bonds and the franchise barely survived. He came across as a dispassionate thug, not a suave super-agent. Dalton is at his best as a villain. He was wonderful as Prince Baron in Flash Gordon and as the Nazi backed movie star in The Rocketeer. But Bond should be someone to emulate, someone every man wants to be and every woman wants to do. Dalton is a good actor, but he’s not Bond. So for lacking style, Dalton is eliminated.
Roger Moore had three strikes against him. First, he got into the series right at the time “campy” was in; so the movies became more about what Q could make then what Bond could do. Second strike was that he was coming in after Sean Connery, a very tough act to follow. Where Connery was a tough guy, Moore played it aloof and in control. The problem is that it was the same way he played what turned out to be his third strike, The Saint. Moore was Simon Templar not James Bond. People wanted to see him with the halo over his head, not a license to kill. So since Moore is British I will translate… three strikes and your out.
That leave us the last two, and I think this is where the biggest debate is. Besides the fact that the audiences for the two are years apart in age, both the actors bring something special to the role. Connery defined Bond, made him who we thought he was. He was tough, sexy and dangerous. But Brosnan brings us the same feeling we got from Connery, but with a steely control that Dalton had and the fun Moore showed us. Plus, he brings something more… a look in his eye that beneath it all he is very serious. We saw it when Teri Hatcher’s character was killed in Tomorrow Never Dies and we see it again when he killed the girl in The World is Not Enough.
I enjoyed just about all the Bond movies (except maybe Moonraker) and I think the actors have all done something unique with the characters. But If I had to pic a favorite, it would be Brosnan. For a lot of people, Connery will always be James Bond… but for my money, I am very happy see Pierce Brosnan as 007 and I hope it stays that way for a while.
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