Great thread. I liked all of the real Sean Connery installments, not Never Say Never Again. I liked On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Among Roger Moore's, all of them except for the last three. Both from Timothy Dalton and none from Pierce Brosnan. My favorites: You Only Live Twice, The Spy Who Loved Me, The Living Daylights.
I grew out of Bond movies after Roger Moore. I might have seen one Timothy Dalton film. I saw all of Roger Moore movies.... my favorite were Octo*#*#*#*#*# and For Your Eyes Only ... perhaps, I saw when I was a teenager.... I appreciated fast cars, women and foreign countries in a movie than when other Bond movies came out.
1) Goldfinger 2) Dr. No 3) From Russia, With Love 4) On Her Majesty's Secret Service 5) Thunderball As you can see, the Connery pictures are tops with me. If he were in OHMSS, that might have been the best. Lazenby couldn't cut it, and I always had a problem with Telly Savalas as an "American" Blofeld. However, the script and realistic action (for once) are very strong points in the movie. And if Bond has to fall for somebody, it should be Diana Rigg. I could have done without the musical number in the middle of it. Anyway, Sean's the man.
Dr. No From Russia, with love Goldfinger I liked the pre-PC sexist, sarcastic pig Bond was in those early Bond movies. He always was a far from perfect man in the books, and he should have remained that way in the movies. Sadly, the real Bond is only present in the earliest Bond movies.
I also grew up watching Roger Moore as my 'first' Bond. So I'd say I enjoyed his movies more than Sean Connery's and whilst I am not a serious movie critic, I really haven't been able to fully appreciate the impact of the Dr No's and the Goldfingers of this series. That being said, I enjoyed: Octo*#*#*#*#*# (gotta love that title) For your eyes only Spy who loved me The best thing about Roger Moore's Bond movies are the cheesiness of it all; the music, women and never-can-die stunts. Above all, the Roger Moore eyebrow trick wins it all for me But if I were to pick my favourite Bond film, critically speaking, my choice would be: On Her Majesty's Secret Service
The "real" James Bond has passed away at 90: http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,6109,1063340,00.html An obit for the guy said to have inspired Ian Fleming to write his James Bond stories in the first place.
All the early Bond films with Connery are classics....hard to pick a clear winner, but I guess Goldfinger would be my (and most others) choice. Live and Let Die is about the only Moore Bond film I really liked, the rest fell into the 70's disco-cheesy genre. Of all the recent ones, I thought The World is Not Enough was really good. Some decent action with a good plot, and without a doubt the best ending line in any Bond movie ("I thought Christmas only came once a year!") and a "Did You Know": The World is Not Enough is the motto on the Bond family crest. Discovered this in one of the old Roger Moore movies.
I liked all of the Connery ones, and put most of them ahead of anything by the other Bonds. My favorite one of all time is Goldfinger. Other than all of the Connery ones I liked Goldeneye and LaLD quite a bit. Never really did care for any of the ones by Timothy Dalton, but I did like OHMSS with Lazenby.
I'll go off on a limb and say Timothy Dalton was the best Bond. He made a serious attempt to bring Bond back to his roots by reading all of the original Fleming novels and brought a darker side and a sense of vulnerability back to the character. The Living Daylights and License to Kill are two of my favorites. Unfortunately, his Bond just didn't seem to win over audiences. I loved his line, while pointing a gun at General Pushkin, "If I trusted Koskov, we wouldn't be talking!" I liked some of the Moore movies especially Live and Let Die and The Spy Who Loved Me, but his Bond just got progressively sillier. I also felt that the Man with the Golden Gun was underrated. Here we actually get to see Moore be more ruthless. On Her Majesty's Secret Service is a great film, but Lazenby just couldn't act, but that boy could move convincingly. Seeing him ripping the gun out of Tracy's hand is one of my all time favorite bits in the series. Poor old George was doomed from the start because he couldn't help but be compared to Connery and lose. Connery, of course, started it all and will be tops in a lot of people's books. The first five films all helped set a tone for a franchise that has lasted over 40 years. Goldfinger is my favorite of that bunch, but I love them all, and will watch them over again. Brosnan is a great Bond, and his movies have been a lot of fun and have helped take the franchise to new levels, though I would like to see him make an actual Spy thriller and not just be dodging bullets. Tomorrow Never Dies is my favorite of that bunch. That said, I like all of the films, even the weaker ones have their moments. Of course I'm one of the biggest Bond freaks around. I predict the next film won't be so over the top like Die Another Day and will take on a more serious role (such as Bond persuing Islamic terrorists). The trend of the series seems to be that when Broccoli and company produce an over the top film, they bring the franchise back down to earth with a more serious flick (i.e You Only Live Twice to OHMSS or Moonraker to For Your Eyes Only.) I'd like to see Brosnan do one more film, and then I nominate Christian Bale as the next Bond. Also, "The World is not Enough" was revealed in OHMSS not in a Moore movie.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service. While history has not judged George Lazenby favourably, he actually was the closest to emulate the James Bond of Fleming's novels - dry, smart without being too smart, detached and yet strangely vulnerable. I keep reading comments about his lack of acting finesse, but the ability to act in this particular movie is not as necessary as appearing convincing as a real action man who finally falls in love. Anyway. Popular rumour has it that Diana Rigg ate garlic before one love scene because Lazenby was such a sod, which I find hilarious. My kind of woman. I love the entire Bond franchise, and of the newer ones, "The World is Not Enough" rates quite highly in my book - incidentally the only movie where Bond shoots an woman in cold blood (she was unarmed). However, I am not a Pierce Brosnan fan. I remember Remington Steele, and I cannot get rid of this lurking suspicion that he is just not masculine enough for Bond. Just my opinion. I hear Christian Bale is being touted as the next Bond. That could be very interesting...
Clive Owen has previously rejected the idea of being Bond many times. Obviously, the right pay cheque might change his mind, and he has been tested by Barbara Broccoli in the past. However... Bale screen tested for Batman, hence the rumour. However, so did Jake Gyllenhaal, Joshua Jackson, Cillian Murphy and Eion Bailey. Cillian Murphy is the current favourite for the role, and Bale has been reported as about to pass on the project altogether because he thinks it would harm his chances of being the new Bond. I hear Bale more than I hear Owen from movie buddies. In any case, I also hear the new Bond is due to be announced in January, so until then let the speculation run wild. On another note, a BBC poll asked who should be the next Bond. Depressingly, Jude Law came out top. A less likely Bond there could not be !
October 7th report on Aintitcool.com: http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=16249 September 18th report on Aintitcool.com: http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=16074 I know, I know, it's Ain't It Cool News, but I haven't heard anything relating to these two projects since then, and I follow this stuff pretty closely. We'll see how it goes I guess....
I had this problem with Roger Moore. I grew up watching The Saint on TV and he'll always be Simon Templar to me.
To me the first Bond that comes to mind is the cheesy playboy potrayed by Roger Moore, because I grew up watching his movies. As a kid, I managed to sneak in to watch 'Live and Let Die' (Vivir y Dejar Morir), and I had nightmares about snakes for weeks. But I have been a Bond fan ever since. After watching all, my favorite Bond is Sean Connery. I think he captures the essense of the Bond character the best. The Timothy Dalton films had the best plots, especially 'License to Kill'. But Dalton was a bit weak as Bond. A great actor who somehow didn't quite fit the role. I think Pierce Brosnam makes a great Bond, but the plots of his movies have not been as good. And the character doesn't work as well in the Post-Cold war era. My favorites are 'Goldfinger' and 'Thunderbolt'.
I am a huge Bond fan. my favorite Bond film is a toss up between From Russia With Love and The Living Daylights. and Timothy Dalton is the best bond actor, so far. simply because he is the closest to Ian Fleming's James Bond.
I think On Her Majesty's Secret Service was clearly the best film of the group, even with the dead wood of Lazenby. Rigg is by far the most interesting Bond girl. The Connery films are really well made. I remember watching an elevator struggle in Diamonds Are Forver recently, and the camerwork and editing is phenomenal. The editing is particularly good and modern (for its time). Dalton is loved by most BOnd fans for the reasons stated.
For me Sean Connery has always been and will always be James Bond. I grew up watching all the Bond movies with him in it. I couldn't wait for next one to come out cause my dad would always take me to the movie theatre to watch it. Great memories of me and my pops who passed away. That being said, my favorite is ThunderBall with Goldfinger and Dr.No a close third.
      Jeez, there've been so many James Bond films that I'll need to sit down and consider which is the one best Bond film. I'll get back to you on that...       As far as who played the best Bond: Roger Moore was the first Bond I ever saw, so growing up I had considered him as the "definitive Bond".       However, over the course of two months before the release of Goldeneye in 1995, a friend and I had rented all the James Bond films (Widescreen versions) up to that point (including Never Say Never Again and Cassino Royale) and watched them in the order they were released (it was in this marathon that I finally cemented my appreciation for the Widescreen over Pan-and-Scan for good).       So judging from the various Bonds I've seen back-to-back (as well as all the Pierce Brosnan Bond films since), I can honestly say that Sean Connery was the best Bond, followed closely by Pierce Brosnan. They both play(ed) Bond with the best balance of attention to the mission, charm with the ladies, neutralizing the bad guys, and deadpan humor.       Roger Moore's Bond can really be described as "James Bond: Porn Star"... for him, it was all about the ladies, which in and of itself isn't all that bad except that it really came at the expense of the other qualities I mentioned above (his last two or three Bond films got a bit better in that regard, though).       Timothy Dalton, on the other hand, played the "attention to the mission" and "neutralizing the bad guys" qualities to the hilt, but at the expense of the charm and the humor.       George Lazenby played Bond pretty well, I suppose, but it's difficult to judge from just one film.       So basically for me, Connery was the best Bond with Brosnan a close second... and then after them are the rest. -G