It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
^ Back to Top
The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.
James Bond News • James Bond Articles • James Bond Magazine
Comments
I still can't believe he somehow managed to rank higher Brosnan - the world has truly gone mad :D.
The Bedlam/resignation scene is a pretty big example for me. With the other actors I put higher I feel as if they'd add something more to it, more facial reaction or change in line reading.
Lazenby was certainly a bit lucky with being a one-film wonder; imagine how loved Craig would be if quit after Casino Royale! I think out of the EON Bonds, all of them could do an alright job in a good film. But with all the other Bonds, I see elements in their performance that show that they could carry a "bad" film or elevate a less serious work.
All in all the guy done good, and I agree with the ranking, I'd take George over Brossa any day of the week!
That final scene remains one of, if not THE best acted scene in the series and it's carried by George all on his own. Furthermore, he's the absolute best of the bunch in the fight scenes.
I know his behaviour of camera was reportedly not the best, but that doesn't take anything away from his stellar performance in his one Bond film.
I ranked George second. Proudly so.
I think of those scenes like the cable car room or ski chase, where the other actors, when they're on their own in similar situations, can still engage the audience: they communicate to you what's going on, what they're thinking; you're on their side. In these scenes in OHMSS you're just kind of a spectator because GL can't do that. I even find the cable car room scene a bit boring: I reckon with exactly the same edit but a real actor it would be fine. I was thinking also of that scene in Spectre at the funeral, where Craig somehow lets you know that he's recognised Oberhauser, whilst his eyes are obscured by sunglasses and he barely moves a muscle at all.
Yes, he does better than some of the leads of the Bond ripoffs you'd see from Italy or wherever at the time, and he carries himself better than Neil Connery or whoever, but it's a low bar. He is good in the fight scenes, I'll give him that.
I guess I'd have ranked him above Nelson just because the film carries him to some extent, but I could never put Niven's name above him because y'know: David Niven. The man was a legend.
I think it’s when he’s doing less that he excels. The final scene is actually an example. From what I understand he wanted to cry for it, and Hunt told him no, James Bond doesn’t cry. Actually, Hunt was right in his own way! The moment is one of shock on Bond’s part, to the point he’s even trying to deny to himself Tracy is dead (‘she’s just having a rest’.) That’s what made the moment in the novel so tragic, and it’s the same here. Seeing Bond holding back tears in this moment was more impactful. Even if Lazenby could cry convincingly onscreen (and let’s be honest, he’s no Sean Connery or Daniel Craig) it would have been the wrong choice.
Anyway, a very strange, even contradictory Bond performance.
Lazenby ranges from wooden, to doing a bang up job. And everything in between. But most of all, Lazenby was the human Bond. And for that, I'm grateful. A good Bond in an outstanding film.
Laz, my man, I salute you for having the balls to go and get the Bond role. Isn't that the dream of all of us?
Truth is, I like him as Bond. He was still very rough, sure, but he had room to improve in future films, and physically, he fit the role. I know it was his decision, but I wish he'd have stuck around a little longer...
The big problem there is that I wouldn't want to lose either the Moore era or the Brosnan era. I'm rather fond of both actors; I find them often unfairly maligned because of some of the less popular films they starred in. Honestly, though, that's not on them.
I would have been fine, however, with Lazenby doing at least one more after OHMSS, possibly bringing in elements from Fleming's YOLT, to round things off. In that fantasy, Lazenby would have had two films, more or less disconnected from the other films, more serious, dramatic, and to some extent faithful to Fleming. Sacrificing DAF for an OHMSS² film feels acceptable to me, no matter how much I love that outrageously silly Connery movie.
Dalton could be easier. No sacrifices needed. Another film in '91 and then another in '93. Tim looked great in '91:
I think he could easily have continued playing Bond until the early 21st century. Then again, I'm glad we got Brosnan as well.
I think our next reveal will also be slighty controversial, because at #4 comes in:
DANIEL CRAIG
Ian Fleming's James Bond 007 in
Casino Royale (2006), Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015), No Time to Die (2021)
The most recent incarnation is the other 007, next to Lazenby, who has received a major film award nomination for a Bond performance: a BAFTA nomination Best Actor for his turn as 007 in Casino Royale.
Known to be the first and so far only blond Bond, as well as being the only EON Bond to die onscreen (the only other one was Niven in the non-EON CR67), he has brought critical acclaim to the franchise and has proven to be a popular and successful James Bond.
As for this game, Dan received one gold medal, three silvers and two bronzes. Other top 5's were three 4th places and four 5th spots.
He however just misses out on the top 3 because there were also two lower finishes: one penultimate and one last place. This makes him the only participant with both a top as well as a bottom finish. He's also one of only three, and the only EON actor, to be ranked last at least once.
Daniel Craig ended the contest with 90 points, earning him a very respectable 4th place nonetheless.
Personally, I think Craig was a great Bond. Didn't always have the best films to work with (although CR and SF I think are top tier Bond movies, and his other movies all have some great stuff in there). Controversially, I'd actually say he put in the most consistently good performances out of any Bond, including Connery. I think while understandably some of his films irk fans (let's be honest, we're pretty hard-line on what we want from Bond films) I think he legitimately reinvented the role in the most noticeable way since Sean Connery, all while keeping the core of the character. I can't imagine any alternative actor having as much impact as he did during his tenure.
I would really be happy for the top three being any variation of Connery, Moore and Craig, because they're the three kings of Bond for me and fairly hard to separate in a way, in that they all have strengths in different ways. I don't know for sure which order I'd place them in, but I do know that I think I wouldn't argue with anyone who thought Craig was the best Bond, just because he's hugely impressive and totally flawless in the role. The next guy has really big boots to fill, and it will be pretty daunting to take on the number.
Craig nails all the key bits of Bond: he's tough; suave; displays real star quality; feels tangibly sexy- I totally believe those women fall for his alpha male charms; doesn't overplay it so never seems too showy and is believably a tough spy not letting his inner thoughts betray him, and yet manages to let the audience in enough to read what he's thinking; plays Bond's self-confidence so perfectly- you know he has total confidence in himself, even when his Bond arguably is more fallible than the others which is a tricky act to pull off; adds humanity to the part in a way none of the others have quite managed before; is physically great in the role and gets involved in loads of the action; and he's totally cool in the role. I don't know what else you could ask for, really. For a lot of people in the mid-thirties and younger he just is James Bond.
Is he the best Bond? Yeah, depending on the sort of Bond I want that day, he totally is.
Like with Brosnan's tenure, I lay the blame mostly on the scripts and some very odd decision making on part of the producers. But the fact that Craig seemed to have more creative input than any of his predecessors, also factors in my evaluation of his contribution to the role.
However, I must admit I am quite suprised he finished 4th as I was anticipating a top 3 finish along with Connery and Dalton.
If Roger finishes below Dalton then I really am going to start flipping tables :D
For someone who declined to participate you’re really rather vocal.
I’m sure you’ll ignore my post as you generally do…but I won’t.
In Casino Royale, Craig is fantastic. He is tough and confident in a way that never is over done. His walk is perfect, he is very believable as an action man, and the emotional content is handled brilliantly. He does a good job of bringing about Fleming's self-centred tough man.
Quantum of Solace is even better in terms of Craig's work. Craig does an amazing job of sitting on the fence between revenge and professionalism. There is a more even confidence, with the same physical prowess and a sort of stoic emotionality that works really well. It helps that this is one of my favourite films to revisit.
Skyfall is not my cup of tea very often, but it's quite a good film and Craig is quite good in it. Him being stoically emotional is is whole performance. In Shanghai, after swimming for example, he does a good job of portraying doubts and fears without being too obvious. The whole Macao sequence is quite good from him too.
Unfortunately, it's downhill from then on. Spectre has no strong moments from Craig and some bizarre ones, like his desperation to turn off Mr. White's death or his decision to not kill Blofeld. Most of this can probably be attributed to the material he was working with, but I wasn't sold by those moments.
And in No Time To Die, there were flourishes of his past good performances but I don't think it worked overall for me. Bond went from stoically emotional to just emotional. For example; at Vesper's grave, where perhaps a look, or even a completely passive reaction would have done well, he says "I miss you." His dramatic confession of love to Madeleine also doesn't exactly feel right for the character. Perhaps some of this is because Bond was put in so many new situations and the result seemed inauthentic. But since Craig did have a high level of creative control I can generally hold him accountable for these elements of the material. Yes Bond should face new situations and challenges and change, but not to the point of unrecognisable behaviours as we sometimes see in this film.
So while I do feel bad for having him in the bottom half of EON actors, it'd be hard to push him higher.
The merit of one’s participation being one not that would determine a definitive outlook on proceedings, but one that was personal to those participating.
With a small number who decided to join in, the outcomes can differ wildly.
They obviously hold no real weight as to who the definitive Bond actors are across any forum.
Well, I don't think there's a debate or an attempt to downplay the effort that went into creating this vote or anything like that. At the moment it's just folks giving their opinion about these actors and where they've come in on this list, whether they voted or not, through the topic of these rankings.
But anyway, I'm not here to argue or anything. Just saying :)
I didn't even decline, I just forgot! :) Here's me thinking it was just a bit of fun and we were just chatting to pass the time, I guess I'll leave you guys to it.
😉