"New Bond or Old Bond?" Topic

My sentiment lies with Connery. Craig is better than Pierce Brosnan, but he doesn't have Sean's charisma. The old guy wins.

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Old Bond for me. I know its not a popular stance but I always like Roger Moore as James Bond.

I'm with chuck05 – give me Roger Moore any day. Old Bonds always had something notable about them – Little Nellie, skiing off a cliff, underwater cars, Jaws, etc. The new ones seem very conventional in comparison.

The new bond is too much action hero, not enough smooth talking secret agent. There is a place for dead hard action heroes and Bond movies are not it.

I like Craig as an actor. I've enjoyed the Bond movies he's been in but they haven't been Bond movies.

I'm not even trying to say that the old Bond movies were amazing spy movies with clever twists and turns or spy action, they were pretty much action flicks with hot chicks too, but the actors played a different James Bond.

Craig is definitely a good Bond. Dalton was good also, as was Connery. Given an equal story I think they all match well against each other.

I can appreciate them all. Connery had the style and the swagger right. Moore brought a playfulness to the character, while Brosnan did an OK job, but the films were stuck in an archaic formula.

Craig's Bond is much closer to the literary Bond as a killer and a hard man, but the next film would do well to explore the connoisseur and the ladies man Bond.

Daniel Craig is the first fully rounded, skilled actor to do the role. Connery was an up and comer when cast, and his acting skills were/are limited. Lazenby doesn't count, Moore was a TV actor of limited ability, Dalton was a stage actor who never really made the leap to screen acting and Brosnan's barely an actor at all.

Which is the best? Flip a coin between Connery and Craig, the first defined the role but the second truly owns it.

I'll still take Sean Connery… and all pulpy weirdness of that era.
I've liked all the actors portraying him though… except Roger Moore, who I like fine as The Saint. Those movies just felt too jokey to me and Moore seemed wrong for some reason.

Connery please. Suck it Trabeck!

Sean's still the best, with Roger a close second.

Roger Lazenby!!!!!

I like the Craig version as his portrayal seems closer to the Ian Fleming book version (I ignore the Bond stories written by others, as they mostly suck), but then I liked the Roger Moore and Sean Connery versions equally. I guess all the actors each played up certain parts better than others.

The only Bond I didn't like was Dalton. Ugh.

Rob

As a fan of the Ian Fleming novels, I agree with Katzbalger that Daniel Craig's portrayal is closest to Fleming's Bond. out. Connery next, then Dalton. Never got used to seeing Moore as Bond – to me he was always Simon Templar although Live and Let Die did have my favourite Bond girl – Solitaire / Jane Seymour. While I did like Brosnan, he was, imho, just a little too "pretty" and too polished to be Bond.

Perhaps a poll on favourite Bond girls…or has it been done?

Connery

Roger Moore will always be my favourite for sentimental reasons. For Your Eyes Only was the first Bond film I watched with my father in a theatre. I was thrilled and have been a fan ever since. Sean Connery's my second choice as I like the quirky pulp quality of the films. And, Daniel Craig's my third choice as he's a fine actor but I'm not overly interested in the gritty, bleak, and ultra-violent aspects of the newest films; they're almost depressing.

Craig is the best Bond since Connery. Moore could have been a decent Bond if the films he had to appear in hadn't been so friggin awful. Lazenby is in a class of his own as he was the worst actor in one of the best Bond films. Brosnan was my #2 until Craig came along and the less said about Dalton,the better for everyone.

I'm with altfritz. Having recently reread several of the Fleming novels, it struck me how close to that Bond Dalton was in his two movies, especially in his second one with his run-the-villain-to-the-ground determination. However Craig definitely portrays the gritty, violent aspect of Bond better than Dalton. But Connery will always be the movie Bond to me as I grew up watching his Bond movies with Goldfinger being the epitome.

Recommended reading for any Bond fan: link

Although I have my favorites -- Connery, of course -- each of them has brought a different perspective to the character. Roger Moore's tongue in cheek perspective made some of his earlier movies my favorites, while Craig, playing the character so differently from the others makes his movies different from the others.

1.Connery/Craig toss up depending on my mood for the day
3.Moore yeah he's a bit cartoony but still likeable
4. Dalton he's gotta go somewhere on the list
5. Lazenby he's only slightly better than #6
6. Brosnan he suffers from way to many problems not all his fault. a BMW Bond car, Christmas Jones, there were redeaming parts to some of his movies but as a whole they sucked.

I liked Pierce Brosnan most, don't know why. And my fave film is the living daylights. Perhaps it's what you grow up with?

Cheers

Jaz
6sided.net – like blogspot, but only for wargamers!

Connery every time please !

Roger Moore in Live and let Die. The first bond film I saw at a flea pit of a cinema as a young nipper on a wet holiday somewhere. So many memorable moments – the chase while driving the bus and slicing the top off, the speed boat chase through the swamp, the scary voodoo man, the great sound track, the crazy sherrif, being stuck on the mini island surrounded by crocodiles etc. Forget acting capabilities. I cannot remember any one film having the same effect on me.

Hi,
Daniel Craig is a very good Bond and has potential to get better but I think he could be a bit too rugged (or ugly) to be Bond. He does the tenacious hard killer part of Bond well but so far has done less well in showing Bond's smoothness, style and sophistication.
Connery can do both both, especially in his third and best film, Goldfinger. He looks like a hard killer (in Dr No he kills in cold blood) but by the time of Goldfinger he's been in the role of Bond long enough to look comfortable and has the style and swagger of a man who, as well being able to kill with a single blow, can move easily in the world's best casinos and glamourous resorts and effortlessly seduce the most beautiful women (even lesbians!).
Craig might have the potential to be like that as he continues in the role as he's certainly a good enough actor and I felt that he had almost achieved it in the final (and one of the best) scene in Skyfall where he saunters into M's office and utters "007 reporting for duty). Right at that point I felt just like Gunfreak when he saw the film "he's back!".
All the best,
George.

Connery *IS* Bond. My favorite movie of the whole series was "The Spy Who Loved Me" though. Craig is OK, since I've never read the books, and never will, I don't care how well the actors might match the books…

All of them. Each one brings something new whilst remaining consistent with the series. I love them all and each actor has brought something to the part. I can't think of a single OFFICIAL Bond movie I didn't like: Sure, some are much better than others but as entertainment they can't be beaten.

I thought Skyfall was wonderful and full of depth in the storytelling. That movie proves, for me, there is no "new" or "old" Bond…just James Bond.

They all have something to offer,including Lazenby, and the films were produced over many years with very different styles.
Moore and Craig are excellent in their time and place, but you could not imagine either starring in each other's films.They seem to represent the opposite ends of the jokey/serious spectrum.

Which is the best? Flip a coin between Connery and Craig, the first defined the role but the second truly owns it.

Pretty much my thoughts, as well, with emphasis on the ownership.

Doug

Have not seen the latest movie so I will hold off judgement. But Craig is moving up fast on my list. Perhaps Craig is more a sign of the new 2010s man. Blow em up and get back to work before you get layed off.
VR
James Mattes

For me it will always be Connery and then Brosnan.

The early Bond films were much more creative. Brosnan imo was a little more suave than Graig. Moore was ok for the 70s. But this last Bond film ,Skyfall, did nothing for me. The two before it were much better. And the villan just didn't click with me at all. I'd put him up against Goldfinger anytime. Also how does a field agent, like Bond, become such a super hacker? Even better than the new Q who, to me, was Super Geeky. Not to mention he was able to build a super computer out of old Nintendo mother boards.

Nope I don't think so.

8\

Woody Allen as Jimmy Bond. "And afterwords we can run amok! Or if you're too tired, we can walk amok."

It also had David Niven, Peter Sellers, and Ursula Andress as James Bonds, how can you go wrong?

Connery fer me.

Connery for me as well. Craig is good as well. Heck, I'll watch any Bond film.

Old Bond and new Bond, each in his way will cement the viewers to their seats for a couple of hours.

The best Bond is always the current Bond, it is in the nature of the archetype; the monster slayer.

I have time for Craig, Connery, Dalton and Brosnan. They all make a good fist of the role in different ways.