Has Each Bond Actor Done a "Classic" Bond film?

edited January 2012 in Actors Posts: 371
This is obviously opinion driven, but do you each actor who was given a license to kill made a classic Bond film. I define classic as one of the upper tier films in the series and one with very few flaws. Here is what I think on each actor
Connery- No doubt he has. Other than DAF and NSNA you can argue all of his Bond films are classic.
Lazenby- Only made one, but it was a darn good one.
Moore- I'm not sure on Roger. I hope to get a few opinions by better Bond fans, but I really don't know which Moore film, if any, I would consider uppertier.
Dalton- To me License to Kill is classic.
Brosnan- Goldeneye was great.
Craig- Casino Royale fits the bill I think.
What do you guys think? Sorry if it has been done before, but I couldn't find one like this.
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Comments

  • Samuel001Samuel001 Moderator
    Posts: 13,350
    I would say so, yes. You could only maybe argue that Brosnan didn't.
  • Agent007391Agent007391 Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start
    Posts: 7,854
    Well, obviously Connery did nothing but classic films (well, as you said, except for DAF and NSNA)
    Lazenby. Yeah... I guess.
    Moore. Live and Let Die to The Spy Who Loved Me fit the bill here. Moonraker to A View to a Kill don't.
    I can't think of an actual classic Bond film for Dalton. Neither TLD or LTK fit there.
    Brosnan. Maybe GoldenEye, or maybe (though I hate it) TWINE.
    Craig. I can't really... maybe Quantum of Solace, but I don't think so.
  • Connery, Yes, Doctor No and From Russia With Love

    Lazenby, no I can't quite classify On Her Majestys Secret Service as something approaching legendary status

    Moore, Yes, Live And Let Die, For Your Eyes Only, would of put The Spy Who Loved Me also, but I think for me, it's just a notch below the two, it's good, but not great

    Dalton, favorite actor, but neither Daylights or License To Kill for me were a classic, sorry Mr Dalton

    Brosnan, The World Is Not Enough, only Goldeneye comes close

    Craig, Casino Royale was a damn fine film, classic though?, Borderline case


  • interesting opinions on The World is Not Enough. Did not see that coming.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,686
    Connery : TB
    Lazenby : OHMSS
    Moore : FYEO
    Dalton : TLD
    Brosnan : GE
    Craig : Perhaps Skyfall.
  • Agent007391Agent007391 Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start
    edited January 2012 Posts: 7,854
    interesting opinions on The World is Not Enough. Did not see that coming.

    I may hate the movie, but as far as Brosnan goes, GoldenEye and TWINE are probably the two most classic films of his era.
  • edited January 2012 Posts: 2,782
    Well, obviously Connery did nothing but classic films (well, as you said, except for DAF and NSNA)
    Lazenby. Yeah... I guess.
    Moore. Live and Let Die to The Spy Who Loved Me fit the bill here. Moonraker to A View to a Kill don't.
    I can't think of an actual classic Bond film for Dalton. Neither TLD or LTK fit there.
    Brosnan. Maybe GoldenEye, or maybe (though I hate it) TWINE.
    Craig. I can't really... maybe Quantum of Solace, but I don't think so.


    Ahem. Both of Dalton's two films are classic Bond films of the likes we are still waiting to see.

    I love how this discussion has set up for more ahems. Love it.

    In fact, I'm going to have a classic Bond weekend thanks to ltf - great idea.

    SC - TB

    GL - ummmm let me think...

    RM - FYEO

    TD - Both of them

    PB - TWINE or GE - yes I love TWINE

    DC - None.

    Forget the cheese lines PB is given - he does look good as Bond - almost got it.




  • Posts: 1,492
    Connery - FRWL
    Lazenby = OHMSS
    Moore - Spy
    Tim = TLD
    Brosnan = none
    Craig - CR
  • Posts: 7,653
    Connery - FRWL, GF, TB
    Lazenby = OHMSS
    Moore - TSWLM, FYEO
    Tim = NONE
    Brosnan = GE
    Craig = perhaps Bond23
  • edited January 2012 Posts: 1,310
    Connery - Goldfinger (perhaps the most classic Bond film of all time?)
    Lazenby - OHMSS is a classic only among some hardcore Bond fans, nobody else really remembers it unfortunately
    Moore - The Spy Who Loved Me easily...maybe Live and Let Die squeezes in there, but just because of McCartney's title song
    Dalton - As much as I love The Living Daylights, I don't think it is going to be remembered as a CLASSIC...which breaks my heart :-((
    Brosnan - GoldenEye...maybe
    Craig - Casino Royale may very well be the film Craig is remembered for...but I hope Skyfall will fall onto this list!

    I'm taking the definition of 'classic' as films that everyone remembers, not just Bond fans.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,449
    Connery: DN
    Lazenby: OHMSS
    Moore: OP
    Dalton: TLD
    Brosnan: GE
    Craig: CR

    Yes.
  • Posts: 11,189
    Connery - GF
    Lazenby - OHMSS
    Moore - TSWLM
    Dalton - Both are good but will they go down as classics? I doubt it.
    Brosnan - GE (thanks largely to the supporting cast)
    Craig - CR (so far)
  • PrinceKamalKhanPrinceKamalKhan Monsoon Palace, Udaipur
    Posts: 3,262
    All but Brosnan.

    Connery: all of them
    Lazenby: OHMSS
    Moore: MR, OP
    Dalton: TLD
    Craig: CR
  • PrinceKamalKhanPrinceKamalKhan Monsoon Palace, Udaipur
    Posts: 3,262
    Connery : TB
    Lazenby : OHMSS
    Moore : FYEO
    Dalton : TLD
    Brosnan : GE
    Craig : Perhaps Skyfall.

    I like your pick of TB for Connery but no TMWTGG or MR for Moore for you DC007? :-/
  • SAMSAM
    Posts: 107
    Yes ... At least one ...

    Sean Connery From Russia With Love, Goldfinger and Thunderball
    George Lazenby On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    Roger Moore Live and Let Die, The Spy Who Loved Me and For Your Eyes Only
    Timothy Dalton The Living Daylights
    Pierce Brosnan Goldeneye
    Daniel Craig Casino Royale Skyfall [-O<
  • Posts: 11,189
    Just a question, by "classic" do you mean classic amongst hardcore fans or classic amongst the general population? If its the latter I stand by my list.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,686
    Connery : TB
    Lazenby : OHMSS
    Moore : FYEO
    Dalton : TLD
    Brosnan : GE
    Craig : Perhaps Skyfall.

    I like your pick of TB for Connery but no TMWTGG or MR for Moore for you DC007? :-/

    By 'classic' I understood a more 'normal' outing. So as MR only goes with YOLT and DAD, IMO, I can't consider it a classic outing. But yes I prefer Golden Gun and MR to FYEO, but FYEO is the most classic outing.

  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    For Sean, FRWL is the most classic, I'd say. Nothing is classic about Moore or Brosnan's films, and I'm not sure on Dalton. I define "classic" as a film that you can pop in anytime and it gives you that feeling that this is really top tier work. DN, FRWL, GF, and TB all do that, but FRWL has that classic espionage feel to it that the others miss. A true 60s espionage film.
  • edited January 2012 Posts: 11,189
    Nothing is classic about Moore

    What about the ski jump in TSWLM? Probably one of the best, most memorable scenes of the whole series.

  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,686
    @0Brady doesn't like Moore and Brosnan, which means he doesn't like 11 of the existing 22 films. That's half the franchise you don't like, Brady... :-/
  • edited January 2012 Posts: 9,730
    Connery From Russia With Love
    Lazenby On Her Majesties Secret Service
    Moore for Your Eyes Only
    Dalton the Living Daylights and Licence to Kill
    Brosnan The World Is Not enough
    Craig Casino Royale Quantum of solace and hopefully SkyFall.
  • Posts: 12,506
    i would say so. Here is my thoughts.
    Connery: DN and FRWL
    Lazenby: OHMSS (Obviously lol)
    Moore: LALD and TSWLM
    Dalton: LTK
    Brosnan: GE
    Craig: CR
  • Posts: 562
    Connery: FRWL
    Lazenby: OHMSS (The premier classic, in my opinion!)
    Moore: TSWLM
    Dalton: LTK
    Brosnan: GE
    Craig: CR
  • Posts: 1,548
    Quite interesting to see that a number of members have gone for Licence to Kill for Tim Dalton over Daylights. Id go for the latter personally but interesting nonetheless. Also I defintelt agree that OHMSS was Lazenby's best Bond flick!
  • Posts: 562
    LTK only bests TLD as a classic because it was the one of Dalton's two that actually had his stamp on it. TLD was written too generically and with a Moore-style flair that didn't allow Dalton to fully bring out the Bond he wanted to.
  • edited October 2013 Posts: 12,837
    they all have classics. GF is probably the biggest classic of the series, pretty much all connerys films were classics (except DAF). OHMSS was a classic. Moore also had afew classics, but the main one was probably TSWLM. Both daltons films were, imo, classics. Especially LTK (best. bond film. ever). GE was pretty classic, and CR is a modern classic that will probably top a lot of best bond film lists.

    So yeah, every bond had at least 1 classic film.
  • edited July 2012 Posts: 12,837
    Nothing is classic about Moore or Brosnan's films, and I'm not sure on Dalton.

    TSWLM was a true classic full of classic bond moments. And brosnan had his fair share of classic moments, just look at GE.

    And this is just my opinion now, but I think both of daltons films are classics. They might not be as well known as alot of the others, but I think they are great, classic bond films. I think LTK is the best bond ever, and TLD is 2nd best.
  • edited January 2012 Posts: 401
    SaintMark wrote:
    Tim = NONE
    That's a bit harsh. Anyway:

    Connery - FRWL/TB/DAF
    Lazenby - Take a wild guess.
    Moore - TSWLM
    Dalton - Both of his films.
    Brosnan - GE, but when only compared to his other Bond films.
    Craig - Have yet to see a truly classic one in his era.

  • Posts: 2,341
    I will chime in. a "classic" has to be one that stands out, that will be remembered and remembered as well as leaving a mark on the series. A character, a scene, a look or feel that makes the film timeless.

    Connery: Goldfinger of course! this is the film that defined the Bond films as their own genre. The theme music is the most recongnizable of all the Bond films music. It was the one that ushered in the "secret agent" craze of the late 60's and propelled the next film (TB) into the stratosphere in earings.

    Lazenby; He only made one film but it was a classic. It was so different and showed another side of the "super spy". The downbeat ending has helped to make it so famous.

    Moore: His third outing, TSWLM where he finally hit his stride and the Jaws character is memorable and he is who comes to mind when I think of this movie as well as that great ski jump.

    Dalton: as much as I like him and his two films I would not call them "classics".

    Brosnan: Zilch. His films (not one of them) would ever stand out. They don't even stand out among themselves. Brosnan's period was a "safe", by the numbers and "lets cash in on large set pieces, explosions, machine guns, popular actresses of the day". (trends of the 1990's)

    Craig: His first film, CR will be remembered because it reboots the series as well as introducing a new and more intense 007
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    edited January 2012 Posts: 28,694
    @0Brady doesn't like Moore and Brosnan, which means he doesn't like 11 of the existing 22 films. That's half the franchise you don't like, Brady... :-/

    I'm sorry, but I can't sit through a film is there is a loss of seriousness. I cannot watch Comedy Central when I should be watching a Bond film. Thank you Sean and Dan, you both keep me interested in this franchise through thick and thin.
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