Best of Each Bond?

[Iceman]

Connery was wearing a wig right? From the beginning or after a couple of films?

 

[Mandon Knight]

Connery was wearing a wig right? From the beginning or after a couple of films?

A hair-piece, from Goldfinger onwards I think, he was already 'thinning' from the start, which was 32 when Dr No was completed.

 

[Mandon Knight]

Ages and Bond's....

Ages of each James Bond in first and last appearances from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig | Metro News

In respect of discussing Connery in DAF, Dalton was the same age when cast for TLD, that's how bad Connery looks in comparison of the two men.

 

[Iceman]

Thanks for that. Was exactly what I was looking for. Lazenby was a mature-looking 30.

 

[Mandon Knight]

I think Lazenby's performance was top-notch personally, absolutely nailed the physical side and he showed at the film's end, he got the 'human' side too.

 

[Dark Raven]

Connery is 41 at the time of DAF (he looks way older) and you are right, he aged very quickly from his last of the 'main' section of films to doing Diamonds, however then when he did get 'age appropriate', he's looked spot on, Last Crusade and The Rock for example.

But Connery didn't look as old in Never Say Never Again.

And also, later in life, Roger Moore did end up looking far more elderly than Connery. Connery still looked strong and tough, like in the Rock or even the Avengers or The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Roger Moore looked more like a pensioner in films like SpiceWorld.

 

[Iceman]

Connery aged facially quickly and then didn't age much more after that plus his physicality kept him looking younger, and vice versa from Moore.

 

[Schlosser85]

Connery looked better when he got a little older.

 

[Dark Raven]

Ages and Bond's....

Ages of each James Bond in first and last appearances from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig | Metro News

In respect of discussing Connery in DAF, Dalton was the same age when cast for TLD, that's how bad Connery looks in comparison of the two men.

This article really doesn't start off on the right foot.

It’s been reported that Damien Lewis is the favourite to take over the role of James Bond from Daniel Craig when he finally departs the 007 franchise. As a white actor, Damien’s casting would certainly appease those bigoted fans who believe talented black actors like Idris Elba or Chiwetel Ejiofor couldn’t possibly play the British spy.

So people wanting Bond to be white because he has always been that way in the books or films suddenly makes them bigoted?

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

In respect of discussing Connery in DAF, Dalton was the same age when cast for TLD, that's how bad Connery looks in comparison of the two men.

And Brosnan was older.

But Connery didn't look as old in Never Say Never Again.

And also, later in life, Roger Moore did end up looking far more elderly than Connery. Connery still looked strong and tough, like in the Rock or even the Avengers or The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Roger Moore looked more like a pensioner in films like SpiceWorld.

True. I'm referring more about the 70s when they were in the James Bond age range.

 

[Golgo-13]

Connery - You Only Live Twice
Moore - The Spy Who Loved Me
Dalton - The Living Daylights
Brosnon - Goldeneye
Craig - Skyfall

 

[Aximili86]

I don't know you can really blame Brosnan for his era (post-Goldeneye, anyway) feeling a little more over-the-top and at times dorky, Raven. He's pretty consistently cited Goldeneye as his favorite of his movies, and from memory he was the one pushing to retain some of the darker elements that actually made it into the other three movies (even DaD).

The dude can do "dark" when the material's supporting it, that's pretty evident from his resume beforehand (check out The Fourth Protocol for one, cool 80s spy flick where he's this hardcore Soviet infiltrator trying to set off a nuke in England). I think it was more just the producers taking a different tack with the series after Dalton not being responded to all that well with the public at the time.

I'm with you that Brosnan did feel sort of like a cynical mish-mash of all the Bonds that had come before though, sort of "Connery/Lazebnby arrogance, Moore stylish playboy, and a somewhat-neutered Dalton", but not sure that's exactly Brosnan's fault. To be honest, Lazenby aside Brosnan probably had the least power over the movies he was in, of all of them, kinda seemed like he was the "least favorite" among the studio bigwigs, as evident by how they treated the dude.

Kinda seems like the whole point in 94/95 onward was just an edict from on-high of "Mix Connery & Moore, press the update-for-the-90s-button, bing bang boom".

 

[Dark Raven]

I don't know you can really blame Brosnan for his era (post-Goldeneye, anyway) feeling a little more over-the-top and at times dorky, Raven. He's pretty consistently cited Goldeneye as his favorite of his movies, and from memory he was the one pushing to retain some of the darker elements that actually made it into the other three movies (even DaD).

The dude can do "dark" when the material's supporting it, that's pretty evident from his resume beforehand (check out The Fourth Protocol for one, cool 80s spy flick where he's this hardcore Soviet infiltrator trying to set off a nuke in England). I think it was more just the producers taking a different tack with the series after Dalton not being responded to all that well with the public at the time.

I'm with you that Brosnan did feel sort of like a cynical mish-mash of all the Bonds that had come before though, sort of "Connery/Lazebnby arrogance, Moore stylish playboy, and a somewhat-neutered Dalton", but not sure that's exactly Brosnan's fault. To be honest, Lazenby aside Brosnan probably had the least power over the movies he was in, of all of them, kinda seemed like he was the "least favorite" among the studio bigwigs, as evident by how they treated the dude.

Kinda seems like the whole point in 94/95 onward was just an edict from on-high of "Mix Connery & Moore, press the update-for-the-90s-button, bing bang boom".

I didn't say anything about Brosnan's era being over the top or dorky. I said that Brosnan's era was a paint-by-numbers type of era. I wouldn't really call it over the top, except for Die Another Day.

But I like the Moore era with some of the over-the-topness. I like Moonraker. I don't like Die Another Day though. It's not that it's over the top but that it's poorly written and the characters are bad, and the cinematography sucks, and so does the action and all the lines... and just about everything else about it.

Brosnan's era was bland and he didn't really have any character of his own. Goldeneye was better, because it felt more classic, but Brosnan felt like Remington Steele trying to be someone tougher, but still coming across as a bit of a dandy.

But I don't really enjoy the Craig era either. I haven't really enjoyed a Bond film for over 25 years.

I hate the "this time it's personal (yet again)" schtick they've been doing since 1989. It was okay the first time round, but now it's become the rule rather than the exception.

 

[Aximili86]

But why would the blandness of the Brosnan era be on Brosnan? That's all determined by everyone else - they say jump, he jumps. I don't really have any doubt that had the writers & producers & directors wanted to continue the Dalton feel, that Pierce could pull that off. Seems like they probably encouraged the idea of a "Moore for the 90s, with elements of the others mixed in" from on-high.

Agreed on the personal nature of the majority of the recent stories getting really grating though. It was sort of a novelty with License To Kill, leaning that heavily into it in a way they haven't before, but basically everything in the Craig era since the third act of Casino has been that. They need to branch out a bit.

 

[Dark Raven]

But why would the blandness of the Brosnan era be on Brosnan? That's all determined by everyone else - they say jump, he jumps. I don't really have any doubt that had the writers & producers & directors wanted to continue the Dalton feel, that Pierce could pull that off. Seems like they probably encouraged the idea of a "Moore for the 90s, with elements of the others mixed in" from on-high.

Agreed on the personal nature of the majority of the recent stories getting really grating though. It was sort of a novelty with License To Kill, leaning that heavily into it in a way they haven't before, but basically everything in the Craig era since the third act of Casino has been that. They need to branch out a bit.

Brosnan is bland by nature. That is quite apart from the writers of Bond.

I said he felt like a cardboard cutout figure and not a real person you could relate to. He was like that even in non-Bond things such as TV films, shows, interviews and the odd few big screen movies he made. None of those other things told him to play it like Bond as such.

And it hasn't just been in the Craig era that it's been "this time it's personal". It was that way in Goldeneye, TND, TWINE and DaD as well.

Brosnan's era was all about that, and peeling back the onion layers, as they were so fond of saying.

It wasn't really Moore for the 90s either. If he had played it that way, where he would've been playing to his strengths, then it would've been less bland. But he was trying to be Connery, Lazenby and bits of Dalton too, and that isn't him. He's more Moore than the others. He should've just played it that way.

 

[Schlosser85]

lol, Brosnan didn't have any onion layers

 

[Mandon Knight]

I personally, don't know where or how these 'Brosnan was a great Bond' come from, his films were awful, as was he. For me, his reputation appears to stem from the opening stunt to Goldeneye.

 

[Dark Raven]

lol, Brosnan didn't have any onion layers

He didn't, but he kept using that metaphor all the time about his Bond for some reason.

 

[Hunter Rider]

I think you mean Barbara Jefford. Bianchi was dubbed. This was a common practice in the early Bond films which had a lot of foreign actors. It was hit and miss. I think undoubtedly the best example of it working was Michael Collins as the voice of Goldfinger.

I knew Goldfinger and Largo were bubbed but I didn't know Tatiana was as well, was Domino also dubbed in Thunderball? I was really surprised when I found out Goldfinger was dubbed, who knew early Bond and the Dollars trilogy had something in common!

The vehicle chases certainly do. Live and Let Die is still the standard for boat chases, IMO. The on foot scenes and fights are what are lacking in the Moore years. But I do think the Jaws fights are fun, if goofy. Action-wise, Octopussy is by far my favorite of the Moore films. There is a lot of good stuff there despite Moore being rather old by then.

The Live and Let Die boat chase is good I agree, and there's the car chases in The Man with the Golden Gun and Octopussy, the 2 classic Ski chases and the Lotus Esprit sequence, plus the pre-credits Helicopter sequence in FYEO is pretty cool

 

[Hunter Rider]

I loved Brosnan as Bond, I think he had all the elements and in Goldeneye he has one of the top 3 Bond movies ever IMO, but he was let down by the diminishing quality of the material in the three that foillowed.

 

[Mandon Knight]

he was let down by the diminishing quality of the material in the three that followed.

Die Another Day is possibly, if not, the worst Bond film of them all.

 

[KevTravels]

Probably a tad off-topic but how popular or well-received is Bond in the UK? I've only a few British pals, but like JB is a non-issue for them. It always seemed to me that more attention for Bond is in the US or Asia or Latin America than in the UK itself.

 

[KevTravels]

Die Another Day is possibly, if not, the worst Bond film of them all.

A View to a Kill and Octopussy say Hello

 

[KevTravels]

I personally, don't know where or how these 'Brosnan was a great Bond' come from, his films were awful, as was he. For me, his reputation appears to stem from the opening stunt to Goldeneye.

Maybe it's a hangover from the 90's. When he was chosen and Goldeneye premiered in '95; it was huge.

 

[KevTravels]

Why would you want an American playing Bond, though? Like what do you gain?

It's not an impossibility, if you can find someone who can nail the accent and understands all the cultural intricacies and stuff. But seems a little counterproductive risking it, just go with a Brit (pretty much counting all the non-North-American colonies as "Brit" here, haha - Australian/New Zealander/South African seems a little more doable).

They've toyed with the idea a couple of times though, James Brolin was considered at one point (in the Lazenby casting sessions I think? May have been Moore though), and Mel Gibson was considered the first time they were looking at Brosnan, where they eventually landed on Dalton.

A South African Bond might be appealing. Or maybe simply have the film taking place in SA.

I can't even name a single white SA actor (besides the guy who was in The Mummy)/