Bond, Bourne or Hunt who's your favorite?

[Batmannerism]

Hey gang, the 21st century has 3 great secret agent franchises ( sorry I don't count Jack Ryan in the same league) based around a strong central character:

James Bond ( Daniel Craig)
Jason Bourne ( Matt Damon)
Ethan Hunt ( Tom Cruise)

So, who's your favorite ? Feel free to discus debate the relative merits of these characters ( yes, if people want to go there, who would win in a fight ?). If you want to talk about which is the better film series, or anything else go for it - it's all up for discussion.

As for me, well Bond has history on his side, but I lost interest in him ages ago. And, until Rogue Nation and Fallout I would have gone with Bourne as best, as I thought the trilogy was really well crafted and slick.

However, the last 2 MI films have been absolute stunners - I'm not sure if they can be topped. Ghost Protocol was also pretty impressive, particularly the Burj Khalifa climb.

So, my vote goes to Hunt, he's really grown on me- in part because of Tom Cruise's willingness to do more and more insane stunts.

As for who would win in a fight, IMO in a fair fight Bourne pretty handily.

 

[Mandon Knight]

Films Themselves - Bond overall

As a Singular Character - Bourne - the sense of identity or loss of, remains the best 'hook' of the 3, plus the films explore his flaws more in depth than the others.

In a Fight - A 'From Russia with Love' era Bond would give Bourne a run for his money but a Craig Bond would beat Hunt but loose to Bourne.

My favourite of those 3 though is Daniel Craig's interpretation of Bond.

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

Not a fan of Cruise so that rules him and his movies out pretty easily for me.

As for Bond and Bourne;

Films -- Connery and Craig movies over the Bournes, the Bourne films over the rest.
Character -- Connery and Craig Bonds more interesting than Bourne, Bourne more interesting than the rest.
Fight -- I'd give prime (FRwL) Connery-Bond a 50 - 50 chance against Bourne. Same with Craig-Bond; he may not appear as 'technical' a fighter as Bourne but he's full-on, controlled, focused aggression. But Moore-Bond, Dalton-Bond, and Brosnan-Bond are all toast!

 

[CJ]

Confession: I have never watched a James Bond film.

So, my vote goes to Bourne.

 

[Schlosser85]

I'm not a Tom Cruise fan and the only Bond I really like is Daniel Craig, so I'll vote Bourne.

 

[Batmannerism]

Films Themselves - Bond overall

As a Singular Character - Bourne - the sense of identity or loss of, remains the best 'hook' of the 3, plus the films explore his flaws more in depth than the others.

In a Fight - A 'From Russia with Love' era Bond would give Bourne a run for his money but a Craig Bond would beat Hunt but loose to Bourne.

My favourite of those 3 though is Daniel Craig's interpretation of Bond.

I lost interest in Bond decades ago.

I suppose I'd have to agree that Bourne is the most compelling character of the three, and his trilogy ends on such a high note - I really wish they'd stopped after Bourne Ultimatum !

Honestly, I don't think even Connery Bond is up to fighting Bourne - he's a killing machine

 

[Schlosser85]

Bourne could kick anyone else’s ass, even Craig’s Bond.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Any chance I can get to post this vid... I do.

 

[Batmannerism]

Bourne could kick anyone else’s ass, even Craig’s Bond.

Any chance I can get to post this vid... I do.

First, that's awesome for a number of reasons, not the least of which that it's a Chris Cornell song ( RIP - my favourite rock singer ever).

Second, if you wanted someone dead you'd go with Bourne, no question. But I wouldn't count on either him or Bond to save my life in a pinch - whereas I would with Hunt, especially if it invovled a difficult climb. I guess both Bond and Hunt routinely save the world whereas Bourne is on a more personal journey.

Bourne is almost unkillable but the people he befriends aren't so lucky.
Bond has the whole "sex for dinner, death for breakfast" thing, a good way to improve your survival odds is not to sleep with him.

Bourne and Hunt both have a lot of foot chase scenes, not sure who would win in a foot race.

Hard to say who's a better shot, Hunt's marksmanship is a bit inconsistent ( lethal sometimes, other times not), I would say it's between Bourne and Bond - maybe a slight edge to Bond.

In hand to hand, I still can't see Bourne losing to either of these guys - give him a rolled up newspaper or a towel and you're dead.

 

[Schlosser85]

Yea definitely one of Bourne’s strengths, the guy can make a weapon out of anything.

 

[jolldan]

I feel like the third one should have been Bauer to keep it in the B's lol.

Bond for me.

 

[Deck Rickard]

This is a tough one! I really like all three characters and each of their respective franchises. Since they all have presence and the majority of their films are good, I'd probably rank them all equally, so I'll give the edge to Hunt simply because of the INSANE stuntwork that Cruise pulls off. I think Craig got a tooth knocked out in Casino Royale, but homeboy ain't got nothin' on this ****:

 

[Batmannerism]

This is a tough one! I really like all three characters and each of their respective franchises. Since they all have presence and the majority of their films are good, I'd probably rank them all equally, so I'll give the edge to Hunt simply because of the INSANE stuntwork that Cruise pulls off. I think Craig got a tooth knocked out in Casino Royale, but homeboy ain't got nothin' on this ****:

A couple of frames later in the film, where he pulls himself up, you can see that his right foot is broken as it pronates out at such an angle and he drags it when he stands and starts running........Tom Cruise setting new bar for celebrity grit !

The stunts in this film are very low in cgi and very high in insanity ( I'm thinking particularly of the fall from the helicopter onto the payload below, ouch !).

MI 6 was massively entertaining where as ( and I hate saying this) Jason Bourne was....meh. Spectre ? yawn.

I suppose if there were more films in the Kingsman series I would have included Eggsy and Harry Hart.

 

[childeroland]

Bond, because he's just the most fun and versatile. Bourne is relatively one-note (it's odd how Bond remains interesting after 24 films, many of them fairly weak). Hunt doesn't really work unless a particular installment (Fallout, Ghost Protocol, etc) is very strong. Also, nothing in Hunt or Bourne matches From Russia With Love and Goldfinger. All IMHO, of course.

 

[Spider-Fan]

Ethan Hunt I find to be more of a plot device than a character in the MI movies, honestly. So it comes down to Bourne vs Bond. I love Bourne, but I do find in Jason Bourne the forced nature of his past HAVING to be an issue hurt that movie and showed me a limitation the character has in film right now. He cannot grow outside of the "haunted past is coming for him!!!" plot element. Bond is way more versatile and has shown more range to grow in his respective films. So I choose Bond.

 

[LightDaggers]

James Bond for moi.

 

[Web-Head]

I'm a fan of all 3, but I gotta go with Hunt. I enjoy the MI films more than Bond and Bourne.I I've been watching a bunch of the old Bond films of late and I'm planning on watching the 4 Bourne films soon

 

[Deck Rickard]

A couple of frames later in the film, where he pulls himself up, you can see that his right foot is broken as it pronates out at such an angle and he drags it when he stands and starts running........Tom Cruise setting new bar for celebrity grit !

The stunts in this film are very low in cgi and very high in insanity ( I'm thinking particularly of the fall from the helicopter onto the payload below, ouch !).

MI 6 was massively entertaining where as ( and I hate saying this) Jason Bourne was....meh. Spectre ? yawn.

I suppose if there were more films in the Kingsman series I would have included Eggsy and Harry Hart.

Yeah Jason Bourne was kinda flat and (shudder) The Boring Legacy was terrible. Though neither can really be blamed on Damon; he brought the intensity in JB but the movie itself was just a waste. And the less said about that spin-off/sequel/cheap knockoff the better.

And Spectre was a poor attempt to bring Bond back to his goofy roots while simultaneously attempting to keep him grounded in the world that Craig’s Bond had cemented himself in. It didn’t work because both of those things just clashed terribly. Shame they wasted Bond’s most iconic villain (Blofeld) and a great actor like Waltz.

I might nominate Harry Hart and Eggsy if Kingsman: The Golden Shower hadn’t sucked so badly.

 

[Batmannerism]

I'm a fan of all 3, but I gotta go with Hunt. I enjoy the MI films more than Bond and Bourne.I I've been watching a bunch of the old Bond films of late and I'm planning on watching the 4 Bourne films soon

Dude. IMO . Spare yourself disappointment and just watch the original trilogy - the Bourne Legacy and Jason Bourne are let downs. Not bad films, but nowhere near the level of Bourne Ultimatum or Supremacy

 

[Web-Head]

Dude. IMO . Spare yourself disappointment and just watch the original trilogy - the Bourne Legacy and Jason Bourne are let downs. Not bad films, but nowhere near the level of Bourne Ultimatum or Supremacy

I've seen all of them before. Sorry, should have said "rewatch"

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Bond, definitely. Classic character. Maybe my favorite cinematic hero. Even in the bad Bond movies he's usually fun to watch. I like Bourne too, but I always found Hunt to be somewhat flat and uninteresting. The MI movies are good because of the action and plots, not the characters.

I would also say Bond if we are just talking about the movies themselves. Yes, the quality is more inconsistent than the other two with some stinkers in there. But the best Bond movies such as From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, and Casino Royale are superior to anything in the other two franchises.

 

[JimThompson]

Bond. Bourne is a nice take on the genre, but Bond is at the top.

 

[Samuron]

Though I do like Bourne, Bond was the original movie superhero.

Hunt is the character that made me despise Tom Cruise forever.

 

[Bayne]

Bourne had the best movies by far. Bond is the more fun and entertaining character - but also the more inconsistent character.

Hunt is boring and generic in movies that had nothing going for them other than crazy stuntwork.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Damn, you guys really hate Hunt. I personally love his character. I can’t wait for the next two films. I honestly think M:I is the best action franchise right now. The last three films have been damn near perfect.