Will the real James Bond please stand up?

[Jabba 18389]

Just re-living my misspent youth.

Who is the JB of your choice?

 

I'm showing my age - but I think Sean Connery was the quintessential spy guy. Suave, incredibly good looking (naturally - he's Scottish like me), ruthless, adventurous, amorous.

 

I just loved the theme songs that went along with the movies. Check out the theme songs:

Tom Jones:

 

Shirley Bassey:

 

Duran Duran:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsiBhQ60rJE

[fortunateone 156618]

I didn't use to like Sean Connery and at the time preferred Roger Moore, because I'd seen some very old reruns of The Saint and thought he would have been a great Bond, then he was. I'd read a lot of the books by that time, rather than going by the movies. Later I grew to like SC, and he's actually a favourite, in that I'll watch just about anything he appears in now.

 

My all time favorite was Pierce Brosnan. Like him, I was disappointed that he wasn't JB when the idea first came up, but since he was filming the TV show whatever it was he couldn't do the movies. Altho I have to say seeing him as Bond when older in the 90's actually was better than had he done it earlier. He just looked great, enough age to be interesting, enough youth to be charming.

[Seymour 3970]

Those are great movies - I prefer the special effects of the newer episodes - but when it comes to soundtracks, I have a preference for this one performed by Sheryl Crow:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8tTjijLcg4&feature=related

[Guest jake_cdn]

Bond = Connery

 

Any other suggestion is like saying that Steve Martin was a better Clouseau than Peter Sellers - absurd

 

End of story!

[Miss Scarlett 25073]

I love the new special effects, and all the new ones.......

 

But........

 

I am head over HEELS with Sean Connery! He is my all time LOVE'

 

With his HOTT accent, adoring acting skills! I do not think anyone will ever compare to Sean Connery as 007!

[roamingguy 300291]

Best James Bond...Sean Connery hands down...he defined James Bond, the benchmark by which all other JB's will be measured.

Best James Bond movie, imho, From Russia With Love

The worst James Bond, George Lazenby...James Bond isn't supposed to cry, he did

RG

[Kubrickfan 12836]

Its hard to argue with Sean Connery, but I think Daniel Craig is doing a great job and the movies are less goofy which is also a dramatic improvement.

[Mister T 45020]

JB played by Connery is pretty close to the image i made myself from the books. Daniel Craig's take is pretty close as well. Until Craig, i found that the movies focused too much on gadgets. The new ones are more realistic and, with Casino Royale, close to the books.

[Old Dog 179138]

.... wait... what???... there were guys in the James Bond movies? It wasn't just girls named Pussy Galore, Chew Me and others?

[Mister T 45020]

..... girls named Pussy Galore,

 

I must be dreaming!

[Lowdark 5613]

I have to vote for Daniel Craig as well. He embodied the efficient agent who could occasionally show compassion that I always thought Bond would be. his movies were more about the man than the camp.

[Jabba 18389]

There was something unique about the timing Connery gave to the character + the looks. True, Craig brings some long needed toughness and lean meat to the spy. Actually, he's pretty damn hot.

 

Not sure I can get on his side just yet...maybe the character is a little too hard. Casino Royal remake was too confusing for me. It kind of wandered.

 

Bad guys,

Girls,

Gadgets

in that order.

[Maverick 2873]

My favorite is Pierce Brosnan, because I grew up with him as James Bond, and I like the combination of suave and action he brings to the part. Goldeneye is my absolute favorite film of the series. Sean Connery has the best personality for the role, but lacked the action punch, and Daniel Craig is the opposite for me.

[BarrhavenWoody 10776]

Sean Connery, of course!

[Andee 220524]

Sean Connery, hands down! He's not only appealing to the ladies, he's a real "man's man".

 

[72Nova 116]

No love for Daniel Craig? I think he's doing a great job.

 

But yes, the first actor that comes to mind when someone says "Bond. James Bond" is Connery.

[moonshadow 369]

Connery is the real Bond. I liked the tougher,grittier Bond that

Craig portrays also. Never really liked Brosnan as Bond...he just

seemed too pretty. Then, when I saw him singing ABBA's SOS in MamaMia...that killed

it for me. What kinda Bond sings ABBA??

Posted via Mobile Device

[stevecurious 42059]

Although Sean Connery seems to be the hands down favorite I will offer a different name to the mix. Timothy Daltons take on 007 is the closest to the way (Ian) Fleming originally wrote the character in the James Bond novels. The original James Bond (from the novels) was a cold, calculated man who seldom laughed or dressed up as a clown (see Roger Moore in Octopussy). Sadly Dalton did only two movies as Bond, one of which was an Americanized drug war movie (License to Kill). However, the previous movie The Living Daylights was his first as James Bond and is a classic based on a Fleming short story.

 

Sean Connery would have to be my second choice followed very closely by Daniel Craig. Pierce Brosnan would then be next followed by George Lazenby and then Roger Moore.

[Jabba 18389]

I forgot all about Timothy - why is that?

Apparently, the Bond lineup is rather a little different than I thought.

 

With due credit to the website:

http://www.007james.com/articles/who_played_james_bond.php

 

Barry Nelson played the 1st JB:

In early 1954, Ian Fleming was paid $1000 for the television rights for Casino Royale. The novel was adapted into an hour long TV special and was broadcast on CBS on October 21st, 1954 as an episode of the Climax! Mystery Theatre.

It was a low budget, black and white episode starring Peter Lorre as Le Chiffre, Linda Christian as Valerie Mathis, Michael Pate as Clarence Leiter and American actor Barry Nelson as the first ever James Bond.

Barry played James Bond very casually, and despite several pathetic fighting and torture scenes, the episode was an interesting and enjoyable rendition of Casino Royale.

 

 

In 1956, Bob Holness provided the voice for James Bond in a South African radio adaption of the Ian Fleming novel Moonraker. He would later go on to become an actor and game show host for Take a Letter and Blockbusters.

The Moonraker special remains today as the only known radio production of James Bond. Bob has said that it was broadcast live, and as such, there is no known recording of it.

 

 

In 1962, producers Albert R. Broccoli (Cubby) and Harry Saltzman brought James Bond to the silver screen in Dr. No, based on Ian Fleming's 1958 novel. With Sean Connery's unique style, the exotic locations and the spectacular supporting cast, Dr. No became an instant success.

Sean Connery went on to play Bond 4 more times in From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball and You Only Live Twice, before retiring from the role.

 

 

In 1964, between playing Simon Templar on The Saint, Roger Moore starred as James Bond in an episode of the comedy sketch show Mainly Millicent.

In the 7 minute sketch, James Bond is on holiday and goes for lunch, only to meet Russian Spy Sonia Sekova, who is also on holiday. They both suspect that the other one is spying on them, resulting in some comical situations. Bond discovers the waiter is wearing a wig and punches him over the balcony and the two throw several drinks over their shoulders, suspecting cyanide pills. They both get called back on to cases and end the episode with a kiss.

 

 

In the mid 1960s, American producer Charles K. Feldman acquired the film rights to Casino Royale. After a failed attempt to have it made as part of the official series, he decided to turn it into a James Bond spoof.

The movie opens with David Niven playing a retired 007. M begs him to come back to them, and when Bond refuses, his mansion is promptly blown up! M is killed in the explosion and Bond takes over his position.

He decides to rename all of the agents James Bond to confuse the enemy. This results in David Niven, Terence Cooper, Woody Allen, Joanna Pettet, Daliah Lavi, Peter Sellers and Ursula Andress all playing James Bond!

 

 

After Sean Connery's departure from the series in 1967, the producers began the search for a new James Bond. They found Australian model George Lazenby, who was the highest paid model in the world at the time.

During production, George's manager advised him against accepting a multi-movie contract, believing that the Bond movies would loose their popularity. How wrong he was. On Her Majesty's Secret Service was George Lazenby's first and last appearance in the Bond series, although in later years, he played Bond-like characters in several TV spoofs.

 

When George Lazenby retired from the series after filming On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the then desperate producers turned to Sean Connery. Sean agreed to come back for one last film, choosing to donate his entire earnings to a Scottish education charity.

Sean's performance in Diamonds Are Forever was as good as his prior Bonds, and the film was an enjoyable success. It would be the last time that Sean worked for EON Productions.

 

 

After Diamonds Are Forever, the hunt for a new Bond was on. Roger Moore was at the top of the list and luckily for him, The Persuaders!, starring him and Tony Curtis, hadn't caught on in the US and had run for only one season. This meant that he was free for the role, and he became James Bond in Live and Let Die.

Roger played the role with a sophisticated and slightly comical edge, and went on to star in The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy and A View to a Kill. With 7 movies, he currently holds the record for playing James Bond the most times in the official EON series. (He would be tied for 1st place with Sean Connery if Never Say Never Again was counted as official).

 

 

Christopher Cazenove played James Bond in Omnibus: The British Hero, a documentary type show on the BBC. He acted out several scenes from Ian Fleming's novels, including the scene pictured on the left from Goldfinger, where James Bond is nearly killed with a chainsaw (as opposed to the laser in the film Goldfinger).

 

 

In the late 50s/early 60s, Ian Fleming, Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham had created a screenplay for a James Bond film, which was later scrapped. Fleming didn't throw away all of the ideas however, and used some of them in his next novel Thunderball.

Fleming was sued by Kevin McClory, who won the rights to make a film adaption. He made a deal with Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman to make the film Thunderball, for which he got a credit as producer. Kevin was obviously unsatisfied with the film, and with the help of producer Jack Schwartzman, he remade it 18 years later. Never Say Never Again was Sean Connery's last role as James Bond.

 

 

When Roger Moore hung up his hat after doing seven films for EON Productions, yet another hunt for a new James Bond begun. They found Welsh stage and screen actor Timothy Dalton, who became James Bond in The Living Daylights in 1987, and License to Kill in 1989.

His breath-taking and deep portrayal of 007 is highly regarded among Bond fans, and is considered very close to the character in Ian Fleming's novels. Timothy was going to continue the role, but in April 1994, after a five year gap due to legal reasons, he officially left.

 

 

 

In 1986, after his TV series Remington Steele had ended, Pierce Brosnan was asked to play the role of 007. The news broke out, and because of the strong publicity, Remington Steele was brought back. Pierce couldn't play both at the same time, so Timothy Dalton was brought in to play Bond.

Pierce was given another opportunity in 1995 and this time it was a success. He went on to play James Bond four times in Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough and Die Another Day.

 

 

After a four year gap, James Bond returned with Daniel Craig in Casino Royale (2006). It was the first film to use an original Ian Fleming title since 1987's The Living Daylights.

There were mixed feelings for Daniel Craig before the film was released. Some people even went as far as creating sites and petitions against the "blond bond". However, Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan all came forward to give their support. On Casino Royale's release, the negativity all went away, and with the film a huge success, Daniel Craig turned out to be a popular and worthy James Bond.

 

 

 

'''''''''''''''--

All history aside, IMO I would have to place Connery as the most convincing spy, over-sexed rogue and general bon vivant of the genre. I guess I'm just a product of my times.

[roamingguy 300291]

In my opinion, Daniel Craig could be a great James Bond if the movie producers made a great James Bond movie.

They spent too much time trying to develop/invent (re-develop/re-invent) his character...just a newly minted "00", not subtle (the whole world knew he was a British agent after he killed a bomber at an embassy, the focus on a love interest (he's supposed to be a love em' and leave em' type of guy) etc etc etc.

Daniel Craig just needs a great, even a good JB movie...thus far that hasn't happened, imho

RG