What I think Bond, I want Moore. Roger Moore.
As opposed to every other person who was walked this earth, I don't like Connery as Bond. While certainly, I acknowledge that he's not unfaithful to the source material, I find that he provides Bond with the least amount of nuance--or at least, the period in which he made his movies denied him the chance to inject any. I find Connery's Bond to be simply smug and irritating, although From Russia With Love and Goldfinger succeed in-spite of him. On my most recent rewatch, even Thunderball provided some enjoyment. But as a character, I don't ever get the sense that he really has any ethics or particularly cares about his missions. He just feels like he's out for a good time. There are occasional moments where they try to imply that he gives a damn--but I don't feel it in Sean's performance. Which, hey--it wasn't until OHMSS where they wanted to try to give Bond any sense of pathos, emotion or humanity, so I suppose I can't entirely blame Connery. I am so glad Connery didn't make it to OHMSS. I could have never believed that his Bond sincerely could love anybody.
Roger, although there were still moments where he was a know-it-all or fun seeking, balanced it out with not only a more natural sense of humor and charm, but also moments of conviction. Moore latched onto an aspect of the literary Bond--that he doesn't particularly enjoy killing--and let it fuel his performance. His Bond is a man who believes in his cause and does what must be done, while having a bit of fun along the way. Moore makes the quips feel natural and perhaps genuine. I always think of Connery's "I think he got the point" in Thunderball as an example of the quips gone wrong--it feels really tacked on for me, almost 4th wall breaking. When others have a laugh at Roger's lines in For Your Eyes Only and A View to a Kill, it feels like Bond is quipping to relieve the tension--either for others or himself.
If I were to look at things from a meta perspective (I'm aware that the films then weren't really made with a major sense of continuity in mind), by the time of Moore's era, Bond has come out the other side of the tragedy of Tracy's murder and, although he can never forget it, has tried to lean into his sense of duty and to try not to let darkness get the better of him, hence a freer personality. But when he's morally disgusted by his enemies (Max Zorin, General Orlov, Scaramanga), let no man stand in 007's way. When I got into the series the first time (as a new fan after Casino Royale), I watched them in no particular order, and it was when I got to the third act in Octopussy when I realized Roger was my favorite. His feels like the most genuinely heroic Bond. Raised on a steady diet of superheroes, that's always going to be a deciding factor for me.
Not to mention that I think Roger has the most entertaining run as the character. I would say, due to the strength of Casino Royale and No Time to Die, Craig has the objective best run... but Moore's 7 007 flicks (how perfect) are great, with tremendous spectacle and the best sense of fun.
