Which actor would make a good Bond villain?

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  • MSL49MSL49 Finland
    Posts: 704
    Anyway, not sure why a woman fighting with Bond became a point of contention, here we have a way Villenueve could do it, he already did it a couple years ago in Blade Runner 2049:

    What you think about the movie itself?

  • edited September 2 Posts: 744
    007HallY wrote: »
    Oh yeah! Rewatched that film recently. It's a weirdly Bondian film in many ways. That's a great bit of it too.
    Yeah, after watching it, I wanted Villeneuve to direct a Bond movie. The scenes with the Robin Wright boss character feel so reminiscent of Bond and Judi Dench's M to me, lol. And Luv just gave me Xenia Onatopp henchwoman vibes.
    Ludovico wrote: »
    I haven't seen the movie, but there's a difference between science fiction, in a setting that can have aliens, robots, mutant, what have you, and the at least somewhat realistic, real world setting of a spy thriller. I'm not saying it can't be done, but there's a context to take into account. It would also depend of the actress cast. Some can be more convincing than others.
    I think Bond has to ideally be somewhere in the middle, it can't be a fully serious spy thriller like a Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy but it also shouldn't be a comedy, and in that fine line it threads it thrives, I mean when you have characters in the past like Fiona Volpe, Rosa Klebb, Irma Bunt, May Day, Xenia Onatopp, its about time to bring that energy back in the next series of Bond movies IMO.
  • I still mantain Gwendoline Christie should be considered to play a henchwoman, it didn't happen in the Craig era but hopefully she'll show up in the new movies. I think she would be brilliant as an Irma Bunt type.

    brienne_-_h_2015.jpg?w=1440&h=810&crop=1



  • MSL49MSL49 Finland
    Posts: 704
    Onatopp was a very good henchwoman one of the best in the series.
  • edited September 11 Posts: 16,149
    A bit of a left field suggestion: Noah Taylor. Australian actor, pretty much an unknown, but a veteran with from what I could see a few acting accolade. He played Locke in Game of Thrones, in which he was excellent. Small role in an ensemble cast, but with a memorable face. He's got the right age now, mature enough, but not geriatric.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 19,303
    He's great, but I think they probably want someone younger than Daniel Craig (by more than a year)! :)
  • edited September 11 Posts: 16,149
    mtm wrote: »
    He's great, but I think they probably want someone younger than Daniel Craig (by more than a year)! :)

    For a Bond villain? I mean he's not geriatric.
  • Posts: 166
    Alan Ritchson
  • Posts: 16,149
    renno61 wrote: »
    Alan Ritchson

    As a henchman masaayyyybe. But I find his face rather ordinary.
  • MSL49MSL49 Finland
    Posts: 704
    renno61 wrote: »
    Alan Ritchson

    First ever saw him in Fast and Furious.
  • DaltonforyouDaltonforyou The Daltonator
    edited September 17 Posts: 924
    Priyanka Chopra
  • Posts: 166
    Rhys Ifans
  • Posts: 166
    Ludovico wrote: »
    renno61 wrote: »
    Alan Ritchson

    As a henchman masaayyyybe. But I find his face rather ordinary.

    I thinking on the line of the Robert Shaw (Grant) character,maybe even a brother and sister team
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 19,303
    Ludovico wrote: »
    mtm wrote: »
    He's great, but I think they probably want someone younger than Daniel Craig (by more than a year)! :)

    For a Bond villain? I mean he's not geriatric.

    Sorry yes, thought I was in the other thread!
  • Posts: 16,149
    renno61 wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    renno61 wrote: »
    Alan Ritchson

    As a henchman masaayyyybe. But I find his face rather ordinary.

    I thinking on the line of the Robert Shaw (Grant) character,maybe even a brother and sister team

    To have a character like Grant, you need an actor at the level of Robert Shaw. A tall order. I genuinely think he was the greatest actor to ever play in a Bond film.
  • MSL49MSL49 Finland
    Posts: 704
    renno61 wrote: »
    Rhys Ifans

    Good pick he is great actor.
  • Posts: 16,149
    How about August Diehl or Ivan Franek? Both have interesting face. Diehl might lack a bit of size (I keep advocating for more imposing villains), but he's got the right age. Franek might be getting on in years, that said he just looks rough and brutish.
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    edited 3:45pm Posts: 3,364
    Ludovico wrote: »
    To have a character like Grant, you need an actor at the level of Robert Shaw. A tall order.
    If Craig had never been Bond, he'd've made a fantastic Red Grant! I know that one of the criticisms thrown at him prior to the release of CR (or was it around the time of SF? Can't remember) was that he looked more like Grant than Bond, but still...Dan could've done it justice. IMO, obvs.
  • MSL49MSL49 Finland
    Posts: 704
    Venutius wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    To have a character like Grant, you need an actor at the level of Robert Shaw. A tall order.
    If Craig had never been Bond, he'd've made a fantastic Red Grant! I know that one of the criticisms thrown at him prior to the release of CR was that he looked more like Grant than Bond, but still...Dan could've done it justice. IMO, obvs.

    If im honest Craig would have been better Grant type of villain than Bond.
  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    Posts: 4,518
    The fact that Craig could be fantastic as Bond or Red Grant, just shows what a versatile actor he is.
  • edited 3:15pm Posts: 2,441
    I'm watching 1923, and Dalton is brilliant as a villain. He does it so well that it makes you understand why Harrison Ford is the hero of the '80s, not him.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 19,303
    I'm watching 1923, and Dalton is brilliant as a villain. He does it so well that it makes you understand why Harrison Ford is the hero of the '80s, not him.

    Yes I think his strongest performances have always been as villains rather than as Bond. If he'd had half the charisma he had in Rocketeer or Hot Fuzz in TLD or LTK, he'd have been a great Bond.

  • Posts: 2,690
    Dalton demonstrated plenty of charm and charisma in his two films, certainly more than what certain other Bonds have offered in their outings imo.
  • sandbagger1sandbagger1 Sussex
    Posts: 1,137
    He never looked relaxed or had the twinkle in his eye that he displayed in his villainous roles, as mtm has said. I think his serious approach suited LTK, but he could have done with a bit more of that swashbuckling side showing in TLD, imo.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited 4:13pm Posts: 19,303
    Dalton demonstrated plenty of charm and charisma in his two films, certainly more than what certain other Bonds have offered in their outings imo.

    I prefer him to Lazenby, certainly.
    He never looked relaxed or had the twinkle in his eye that he displayed in his villainous roles, as mtm has said. I think his serious approach suited LTK, but he could have done with a bit more of that swashbuckling side showing in TLD, imo.

    I'd have liked to have seen him with a different director, maybe someone else would have got more out of him.
  • edited 4:19pm Posts: 2,441
    mtm wrote: »
    I'm watching 1923, and Dalton is brilliant as a villain. He does it so well that it makes you understand why Harrison Ford is the hero of the '80s, not him.

    Yes I think his strongest performances have always been as villains rather than as Bond. If he'd had half the charisma he had in Rocketeer or Hot Fuzz in TLD or LTK, he'd have been a great Bond.

    Yeah, I love Dalton's Bond but the charisma of the villain is different from the charisma of the (anti)hero.
  • Posts: 2,690
    He never looked relaxed or had the twinkle in his eye that he displayed in his villainous roles, as mtm has said. I think his serious approach suited LTK, but he could have done with a bit more of that swashbuckling side showing in TLD, imo.

    I’d say that he isn’t as charismatic as Connery, Moore, or Brosnan but there are moments where he does have that twinkle in the eye - such as the end of TLD pre title for instance. It’s also easy to forget that they were trying to craft something different to the easy going nature of Moore’s portrayal and his era in general. In that context, Dalton succeeded.
    mtm wrote: »

    I prefer him to Lazenby, certainly.

    Ditto - him and about 3 others. Dalton shot his way up my rankings after my last couple viewings of his films.
    I'd have liked to have seen him with a different director, maybe someone else would have got more out of him.

    I would have too - apparently he ended up getting into a bit of a conflict with John Glen during LTK towards the end of that shoot. I wonder what that was over.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited 4:32pm Posts: 19,303
    mtm wrote: »

    I prefer him to Lazenby, certainly.

    Ditto - him and about 3 others. Dalton shot his way up my rankings after my last couple viewings of his films.

    After Lazenby I find him the least of them. All of the others remembered that Bond should have that self-confident swagger, that's what audiences love about the character. But Dalton missed it, and he wasn't a hit as a consequence. Craig's Bond is a much more successful version for my money because he kept what was successful about the screen Bond and added the danger of the books in. I can't imagine Dalton doing the Ocean Club car parking bit of CR and making it as fun as Craig, but Craig feels completely like the Bond we love in that bit to me.
    In his villainous roles Dalton can be a bit more full of himself, and he seems weirdly more like Bond in them as a result than he ever did playing Bond. When I watch Rocketeer I want that guy as 007.

    Craig would have been great as Red Grant, but he was also great as Bond. In truth, Robert Shaw could have been a pretty great Bond too.
    I'd have liked to have seen him with a different director, maybe someone else would have got more out of him.

    I would have too - apparently he ended up getting into a bit of a conflict with John Glen during LTK towards the end of that shoot. I wonder what that was over.

    Really? I didn't know that. I think LTK could have been stronger with a different director, yeah.
  • Posts: 2,690
    mtm wrote: »
    mtm wrote: »

    I prefer him to Lazenby, certainly.

    Ditto - him and about 3 others. Dalton shot his way up my rankings after my last couple viewings of his films.

    After Lazenby I find him the least of them. All of the others remembered that Bond should have that self-confident swagger, that's what audiences love about the character. But Dalton missed it, and he wasn't a hit as a consequence. Craig's Bond is a much more successful version for my money because he kept what was successful about the screen Bond and added the danger of the books in. I can't imagine Dalton doing the Ocean Club car parking bit of CR and making it as fun as Craig, but Craig feels completely like the Bond we love in that bit to me.
    In his villainous roles Dalton can be a bit more full of himself, and he seems weirdly more like Bond in them as a result than he ever did playing Bond. When I watch Rocketeer I want that guy as 007.

    Craig would have been great as Red Grant, but he was also great as Bond. In truth, Robert Shaw could have been a pretty great Bond too.
    I'd have liked to have seen him with a different director, maybe someone else would have got more out of him.

    I would have too - apparently he ended up getting into a bit of a conflict with John Glen during LTK towards the end of that shoot. I wonder what that was over.

    Really? I didn't know that. I think LTK could have been stronger with a different director, yeah.

    I don’t really like that Valet bit in CR - I just found that reaction to be a bit immature and childish on Bond’s part - the moment in the bar where those patrons recognize Bond is pretty funny though. I wouldn’t say that Dalton lacks the self confident swagger needed for Bond because there’s that wonderful moment in LTK where he’s meeting Sanchez for the first time and Sanchez states that he’ll need special talents to join his cartel and Bond looks to Sanchez’ other thugs and states that shouldn’t be too difficult with a tone of arrogance in his voice. That and the way he casually makes his way towards the opposite rooftop in order to assassinate Sanchez by disguising himself as a waiter shows he was perfectly capable of showing that swagger needed for Bond. I also think he succeeds more than Craig (and the others) at capturing the spirit of Fleming’s Bond - to the point where I’m picturing him as I’m currently going through the novels.

    I disagree with the notion that Dalton’s portrayal was the reason he wasn’t a hit with audiences. It’s true that the critics found him to be “too dark and dreary” (as if critics opinions ever mattered on these sorts of things) but from what I can tell audiences were more dissatisfied that it wasn’t Pierce Brosnan in the role after all the media hype in 87 - and Dalton was viewed more as the backup choice. I don’t think it helped too that when compared to other blockbusters of that time - his two Bond films feel quite dated by the standards of those times. Compare Last Crusade and Batman to Licence to Kill and you begin to realize where and how LTK struggles in comparison to those two films. In the end, I think Dalton really could’ve done with a different director and a stronger script - not that I would call LTK a weak script mind you.

    As far as Dalton and Glen, these were some tidbits I found. I wouldn’t take it as gospel - nothing like the info provided here is expanded on in Some Kind of Hero - but it’s quite interesting to read nonetheless;

    https://debrief.commanderbond.net/topic/55299-dalton-vs-glen/page-1.html

    https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/1583878/James-Bond-Timothy-Dalton-Licence-to-Kill-director-John-Glen/amp
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