Your current opinion of Daniel Craig as James Bond

[DACrowe]

Ah, it is difference of opinion. However, I would not accuse Goldeneye of having unnaturalistic diologue when we have seen imo no sense of realistic diologue in a Bond movie (something I hope CR will change since they are going for the darker tone).

Also, thank you for that small excerpt from the script. It seems MUCH better in that context than what seemed very XXXish or '80s cop movie to me. I still like the scenes in Goldeneye. It is self-aware but it is not apologizing for Bond, imo. I felt it was blunt. This is what the world thinks of Bond (which is true) and that today's world doesn't trust him (which would be true if he existed today) but he doesn't care. He shrugs it off and he venomously strikes back with a snide remark and goes out and proves that he is still worthy. Everyone tries to knock him down and not give him a peg but he is still the world's beset weapon at the end of the movie. I liked that. And I liked a female M of the '90s trying to take Bond down and he begrudgingly earning her respect out of neccessity over the years.

I'd also add that I really enjoy OHMSS but I thought it was incredibly melodrmaatic. Then again that may just be Lazenby's terribly wooden delivery but the scenes where he is courting Tracy and talks sto her father feels much more soap operaish than GE and most of TWINE (most), but I will not try and defend TND. You make a strong point about Paris, but I dislike that movie so much I did not even think of it (save for that scene I keep mentioning).

I think he has some feeling for Natalya but no connection. He was willing to sacrifice her if he could win but he did everything to make sure that would not happen. However, I think when he said she means nothing to him it is a half truth. Sure he chose to save her life, but he still tried to win and at the end she was nothing more than a screw. His sex with Jinx and Miranda Frost was completely for pleasure as was Christmas Jones.

But I think we are both fans of the franchise but we just view Brosnan's films differently. I felt Goldeneye reinvorated an aging franchise. I enjoyed TWINE but hated TND and look at DAD as what oculd have been a good camp fun old school Bond movie but a bad director and Bond girl ruined. And for the record if you dislike a pun defusing a high tension scene....why do you hold Moore in such high regard. If Brosnan was cynical in his puns and had a hint of soap opera, Moore was clownish with his puns and had a hint of the cartoon (c'mon Lawerence of Arabia references in TSWLM and I LIKE that movie! But that is something seen in a comedy. And Moonraker I have come to the conclusion was a comedy and a Bond parody far before Austin Powers was invented in Mike Myers' twisted little mind).

But this has been a good discussion.

 

[DACrowe]

Oh mine:

1. Sean Connery
2. Pierce Brosnan
3. Roger Moore

4. Timothy Dalton




5. George Lazenby

I made the gaps a wee bit more visible though.

 

[Agentsands77]

However, I would not accuse Goldeneye of having unnaturalistic diologue when we have seen imo no sense of realistic diologue in a Bond movie (something I hope CR will change since they are going for the darker tone).

Oh come on. The Connery films, while full of humor, were somewhat believable for the most part. It never felt so jarringly heavy-handed or corny (corny because it's trying to be dramatic, when it's really just over-the-top). Bond dialogue should never sound unrealistically pretentious - and that's the mistake the Brosnan films make (GOLDENEYE in particular).

Everyone tries to knock him down and not give him a peg but he is still the world's beset weapon at the end of the movie. I liked that. And I liked a female M of the '90s trying to take Bond down and he begrudgingly earning her respect out of neccessity over the years.

It was simply too much. It's fine to have a "Bond crosses into the post-Cold War world" Bond film, but they're referencing how Bond is outdated at every turn. Too self-referential.

I'd also add that I really enjoy OHMSS but I thought it was incredibly melodrmaatic. Then again that may just be Lazenby's terribly wooden delivery but the scenes where he is courting Tracy and talks sto her father feels much more soap operaish than GE and most of TWINE (most), but I will not try and defend TND. You make a strong point about Paris, but I dislike that movie so much I did not even think of it (save for that scene I keep mentioning).

Couldn't disagree more. There's nothing soap opera-ish about ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE. Nothing really melodramatic about it. Just romantic. There's a distinct difference.

I felt Goldeneye reinvorated an aging franchise.

So do I. Bond was passe in the 80s.

And for the record if you dislike a pun defusing a high tension scene....why do you hold Moore in such high regard. If Brosnan was cynical in his puns and had a hint of soap opera, Moore was clownish with his puns and had a hint of the cartoon (c'mon Lawerence of Arabia references in TSWLM and I LIKE that movie! But that is something seen in a comedy. And Moonraker I have come to the conclusion was a comedy and a Bond parody far before Austin Powers was invented in Mike Myers' twisted little mind).

Moore was total camp, knew it, and went in that direction. Brosnan was trying to be camp and serious at the same time, and it doesn't work. You have to pick one or the other.

That's a *huge* issue with THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH. It wants it both ways. It wants a gritty, dark spy story, and then it wants all the campy humor and goofy gadgets. It's just wildly inconsistent in tone. You either make a FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE or you make a THE SPY WHO LOVED ME. You don't combine the two so it just doesn't work.

 

[DACrowe]

Interesting. I wouldn't say TWINE tried to be too campy other than bond's trademarks (drinking, puns, a camp scene in the casino and that is it). But then again it could be unintentional.

DAD feels much more like a mix. It starts dark but becomes fun (however I was still rolling with it) but then devolves directly into camp and goes further by movie's end than any Moore movie save for perhaps Moonraker. But I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.

Oh well.

 

[DACrowe]

Ooh for the record since I hadn't seen it in a while I put TWINE in. Yep, pulled out the old VHS (wow a whole 5 or 6 years ago I was in the archaic tape buying field).

I do agree it drags a bit and that the caviar scene was pretty dull (though a few moments are pretty cool within it) and the diologue did border on the melodramatic, it still kept an interesting story with some real twists and turns (though foreseeable) in it. I also enjoyed how Bond did some real snooping in this. He found out Davidov was a mole and then coldly murdered him with a smirk and took his identity. He then assumed a triple identity and was about to execute Renard down in the missile silo (which was actually the best and most exciting action scene in the film).

I also forgot little touches Brosnan had like sticking his finger in the hologram of Renard's head and following the path of the bullet. Those tuches were great and I noticed the tear one you mentioned. A lot less bad than you described but we would not see Connery or Moore do that. Dalton would probably try and wipe it off though and starat tearing up himself before growling. It is still quite entertaining though and I still enjoy Brosnan's confrontations with Elektra and still think his execution of her is one of the best scenes in the post-Connery (oh who am I kidding, post-Goldfinger) Bond movies.

Denise Richards was as bad as I remembered (though she still looks good). The ski scene also was not as bad as we had said, though not as riveting as in OHMSS it did evoke memories of that (as did Bond's connection with Elektra in it. And it did seem more of a connection and minor infacuation than love. He saw the same love of life he has in her and wanted to avenge her but realized she was a traitor and confronts her on it).

A good movie but not a great one, however I think only four or five Bond movies ever reached the level of "greatness" though.

 

[Agentsands77]

Dalton would probably try and wipe it off though and starat tearing up himself before growling.

Give Dalton some credit. He'd just look at the screen intensely. He wouldn't touch the tear.

A good movie but not a great one, however I think only four or five Bond movies ever reached the level of "greatness" though.

Eh... I'd say DR. NO, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, GOLDFINGER, YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE, THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, and MOONRAKER all reached greatness. But that's just seven of the 20 films.

 

[DACrowe]

The only ones I say reached greatness:

1. Goldfinger
2. Goldeneye
3. From Russia With Love
4. The Spy Who Loved Me
5. Dr. No

Honorable mentions of good quality go to For Your Eyes Only, The World is Not Enough, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and maybe a few others. From there it is varying degrees of bad but immensly entertaining (think Live and Let Die and The Living Daylights) or just plain bad (A View to a Kill for example).

Just my opinion though.

 

[Agentsands77]

I disagree. I think the majority of Bond films are actually good - with a few genuinely bad ones here and there. The only one I find actually just a genuinely *bad* film in that it doesn't entertain is TWINE.

And I consider putting GOLDENEYE so high on the list shocking. That film just gives Bond nothing to do - seriously, there's almost nothing to Bond's role in the whole thing. The first third drags incredibly, and despite having some of the strongest supporting characters in a Bond film in ages, it just doesn't all come together that perfectly. Brosnan, I also feel, is something of a non-entity in the movie (not his fault, the script gives him *nothing* to do, after all). It's a good Bond film, but there's just no way it has anything on FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, or ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE for that matter. I'd say it doesn't belong in the top ten Bond films (but then again, I'd say *none* of Brosnan's films belong in the the top ten Bond films).

 

[nbordj]

Wow, so they have cast a tramp as James Bond ! The guy has as much charm as a ice floe and is also ugly as h...
James Bond is dead.

 

[M.E.H.Z.E.B]

James Bond is dead.

So, is Elvis. Get used to it.

 

[nbordj]

Well, I have still the TRUE Bond movies. Hope that one day they will bring james bond back in action

 

[M.E.H.Z.E.B]

Well, I have still the TRUE Bond movies. Hope that one day they will bring james bond back in action

Which ones are actually TRUE?

Enlighten us.

 

[nbordj]

The ones produced by " Cubby " Broccoli ( and especially the Connery, Lazenby and Dalton ones ). Since he died, James bond movies has begun a terrible agonizing journey.
Refusing Brosnan ( a great Bond, maybe the last good one ) complains, the new EON direction has begun to make absolute Sci - fi crap ( understand : DAD ).

Now, discovering that the franchise is near dead due to her, the infamous barbara broccoli decided to bury it once and for all with the mockery known as Casino Royale.

Yes, Casino Royale is a mockery, an atrocity built to save the gold mine with as little common sense as they could.

Restart ? what an awful and lame idea for the james Bond franchise. Daniel Craig ? Is the guy a joke ? Well, he must have f....d barbara broccoli, I don't thing any other good explanation to such a stupid casting ! They couldn't have taken someone worst for the job.
It's the sixtee's Casino Royale movie, but made " seriously ".

 

[DACrowe]

So Diamons Are Forever, You Only Live Twice, Moonraker, The Man With the Golden Gun, Octopussy, A View to a Kill and License to Kill are all TRUE Bond movies and positively better than Goldeneye or what CR could be then?

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

Couldn't disagree more. I think he's quite handsome. I've said it before and I'll say it again - aside from Connery, Craig is the Bond I'd most want to look like.

C'mon...your being nice. He's got wierd shaped nose and just an un-pretty face.

It works for the whole "tough guy" look I guess, but as far as the BEST LOOKING Bonds.....this guy is not there.

If this isn't objective critisism... then i don't know what is...

Well.....the dude is. LOL....really. That it even matters really.

Well, Connery is the Bond I'd most want to look like. As for Craig, I'd better stay myself. I'm far from being the most handsome guy on earth ( expecially compared to every other bond actors ), but I'm definitively much more handsome than him.

Well, I'd actually say I'd rather look like Brosnan. Other than him though.....I'd stay just the way I am if I had to choose from any other of the Bonds (including Craig).

Connery was good. I liked Brosnan the best. Lazenby and Craig fall in the same catagory, and Dalton and Moore can share a space. Unless Craig pulls of a miraculous performance, I don't particularly see him leave a mark on the franchise.

Ya know....I too think Brosnan was the best.

I think Craig MIGHT be the third in the whole Brosnan-Connery debate...which would be great for him. He seems like he might be a good Bond. Again, the ONLY thing wrong with him is that he's not very handsome, which I always thought was a part of the role.

 

[Cinemaman]

He is Bond, whom I wanted to be.

He looks perfect in this role.

And he is really serious and strong as Bond.

 

[Matt]

He is a bit too ugly to be Bond. Its funny that they went with the "restart" and younger Bond, yet Brosnan looks more youthful than him. Can't say much on the acting based on the teaser...but he was good in Layer Cake, so hopefully that will make up for his face.

 

[Matt]

C'mon...your being nice. He's got wierd shaped nose and just an un-pretty face.

It works for the whole "tough guy" look I guess, but as far as the BEST LOOKING Bonds.....this guy is not there.

Agreed, he looks more like a boxer than James Bond.

 

[Chaos Bringer]

big thumbs up here. the right man for the job.

 

[Two-Face]

Agreed, he looks more like a boxer than James Bond.

I also agree.

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

As looks go, and talking about looks alone, the man is a horrible choise for the role.

Craig looks like a Russian Boxer.

 

[UltimateWarrior]

He is not the perfect Bond, I am sorry.... If anyone saw the DaVinci Code, what would you think about Ian McKellen's butler/driver guy that he ended up killing. I think he would make a pretty good Bond.

 

[Kritish]

I like him.

 

[M.E.H.Z.E.B]

The popular opinion here is that he looks more like a pro boxer, than Bond.

 

[OddBob]

I think he's the best, most interesting choice they could've gone with. He's a great actor and I think he'll bring something new and different to the role, rather than just being the "Brosnan 2" I imagine a lot of actors would've been.