Anyone who knows me knows I am a fan of the James Bond 007 Movies. I never had a desire to read any of the Ian Fleming books, but I have seen just about every movie (except for parts of “Quantum of Solace”—which I hope to rectify before my next post). So, I should be an expert in who is the Best James Bond of all. To be fair, I did not count the 60s Bond spoof “Casino Royale” in my rankings, but “Never Say Never Again” will count. So that means there are 6 James Bonds to Rank—Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig. So who ranks where? Let’s start from the bottom up:
(6) ROGER MOORE: Now, I’ll admit saying Roger Moore is the Worst Bond is like saying Outback Steakhouse is the worst steakhouse chain. It’s still great; just not better than the rest. And Moore fits into that persona as worst Bond. Sure, he was the right Bond for the 1970s and early 1980s. But in today’s world, how could you take a British spy seriously that gets hit on by a 12-year old figure skater? Or being heavily reliant on Q’s gadgets? Or uttering a double entente every 5 minutes? Or having done Moonraker? Moore’s 007 would not function in this post-9/11 world, especially after the Tom Clancy movies and Jason Bourne movies that have come out since Moore hung up his jacket & tie.
(5) GEORGE LAZENBY: Lazenby only starred in one 007 movie, and he made a lot of mistakes after that movie was finished which killed his chance to star in other major movies. But Lazenby’s James Bond was more realistic than Moore’s. You could see the film directors try to make up for the lack of star power with action consistent with Fleming’s novels. Lazenby did an admirable job in the role. It just hasn’t been fully appreciated until now how good he was, even though he had no previous acting experience.
(4) PIERCE BROSNON: Had Brosnon succeeded Roger Moore, he might have been the greatest of all the Bonds. But Remington Steele prevented Brosnon from stepping into the dream role until after the Cold War had ended. Plus, he stayed one movie too long in the 007 role. “Die Another Day” just didn’t work post 9/11. It’s a real shame, because I liked his Bond, especially in “Goldeneye”. His Bond had style, sophistication, and an edge to it. It would have fit better in the “The Living Daylights”.
(3) TIMOTHY DALTON: Brosnon’s loss turned out to be Timothy’s gain. Dalton’s two turns as 007 were more true to the Ian Fleming roots. But he suffered from being the only Bond who was not cast at the right time as James Bond. He would have been a perfect 1960s Bond or a post-9/11 Bond. But in the over-the-top 1980s? Not so much. Still, he deserves high praise for being a great James Bond.
(2) DANIEL CRAIG: The current producers of the James Bond series wanted to go back to 007’s grittier beginning, and Craig hits it out of the park with his portrayal of the more raw super-spy. While “Casino Royale” was a wonderful intro to the new 007, “Skyfall” was Craig at his absolute best. Anybody who can drive around in a vintage 1964 Anston-Martin and look cool in it gets bonus points.
(1) SEAN CONNERY: The definitive and best James Bond was the original 007. Sean Connery made James Bond a household name and set the bar for every 007 who followed. He had style, sophistication, and had a way with the ladies. I could forgive him for Thunderball redux, a.k.a. “Never Say Never Again”, because of movies like “Dr. No” and “Goldfinger”. Connery’s 007 is timeless. Even in today’s world, elements of Connery’s Bond would be just as effective as it was in the 1960s.
So that’s how I would rate the 007s. Up next, I will attempt to rate the individual James Bond movies. This will definitely be a debatable subject…
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