F1 Fanatic

Surprised there isn’t more love for Connery. Brosnan and Craig have been Bond while I’ve grown up but Connery is comfortably my favourite. I’ve read all the original Ian Fleming novels, seen all the films, (except Skyfall to date) and Connery is easily the best in my opinion. He defined the character, was tough and managed to stay suave and cool without descending into seeming like an old lecher (Roger Moore). My least favourite? As you may have guessed by my previous comment, Roger Moore easily. Some of his later films are just plain unwatchable.

My two favourite Bond films are From Russia with Love and Goldfinger, not surprising as these are two of the best books and had strong source material to work from. Casino Royale is really good, I really like Craig as the new more humane Bond, and I think he is a pretty good actor from other things he’s been in. George Lazenby is a strange one as he is not a good actor, he is really just a model who had a pretty face. However I think On Her Majestys Secret Service is actually a pretty good film, and I quite enjoy it despite Lazenby in the lead role.

@Fer no.65 Nice link – Those were the best credits in a bond movie – I remember them vividly because they were using them to showcase TVs at a local electronics store – there is a lot of black and the plasmas were crushing the lcds in visual quality especially 3-4 years ago.
@Raymondu999 Thanks for sharing that video – that’s awesome. Here’s the same video in High-def

Definitely it has to be Sir Roger Moore… second would be Connery folowed by Brosnan, then would be Dalton, Lazenby and last Craig….

I think quite often it depends who was Bond when you grew up.

Personally I think Brosnan was excellently cast, but was let down by some poor scripts (particularly Die Another Day), he even said as much when he left the role.

Craig is excellent, also well-suited to the modern-day rigours of being a spy hero.

Connery was good, but it is a totally different era of film. I do think that Connery and Craig both play Bond closest to Fleming’s original character. Even if his original character was pretty unlikeable!

Moore was let down by some incredibly bad script-writing, [although nowhere near as bad as Die Another Day].

Lazenzby generally seems to be the anorak’s choice, and he acquitted himself fairly well in his one outing given he was never an actor! Sorry Keith, but Moore is bottom for me!

I have to start by saying that I’m not happy with the different direction Craig’s trilogy has taken from the other films. Bond’s character was well defined and when EON decided to change it follwing Bourne’s success the result was a different person. The last three films (although I honestly can’t remember Casino Royale very much and Quantum of Solace at all) were wonderful, but have little to do with the previous versions of Bond.
Connery for me was the best actor in the role. He was determined when needed, had a sense of humour and was the perfect spy who took his job seriously but chased the better aspects of it, like women.
Moore was also very good and I haven’t seen Lazenby yet. I saw one of Dalton’s films and was let down not only by its craziness, as the producers seeked more action but, in my opinion, caused a disaster – he looks like a crazy criminal in my eyes – but also by Dalton’s acting. I’ve just seen the gun barrel of his films and they are ridiculous.
I can’t remember Brosnan but I think I remember feeling that his films took a direction too much orientated towards humour and secondary stuff rather than acting.
Craig’s films have been the most full of action, suspense, surprises, and I think he has done a great job in trying to keep the character as close as possible to the original, despite many things changing: initially Bond had many gadgets and a simple gun, always remained cool in difficult situations; nowadays he uses whatever he happens to have under his reach and he acts more like a normal human being. I honestly prefer the latter way but if I wanted to see great action I wouldn’t [have] go[ne] to see Bond, but Bourne. Bond was famous for his personality, which is less and less present nowadays. The old Bond is dead now.
It’s more normal to see 007 as a human, with positive and negative aspects, struggling at times, but Bond was never such. This new type is great, I repeat, but is not Bond. These new films are greater to watch but the main character is a normal spy – not unique, like before. I guess they had to change this as people no longer were attracted by the old Bond, but, as I said, if I wanted to see an action-only film I’d go to see Bourne.

1. Connery
2. Craig
3. Moore
4. Brosnan
5. Lazenby
6. Dalton

Campy is a good word to describe Moore’s films. This crept back in during Brosnan’s later films. And campy is not how I enjoy Bond films. Too many bad puns and ridiculous gadgets/scenarios ruin a film for me, so I really enjoy the new direction (even if Quantum of Solace was awful) and think Craig fits the part well. Invisible cars and trips into space are a bit too silly for me in films which are generally played straight. The current films are actually somewhat believable, but different enough to the Bourne films (which to my mind have far more of a thriller vibe to set them apart) to maintain an identity. I didn’t mind how slightly outlandish the new villain was- in fact, I thought he was just the right combination of insane, funny and creepy to make a decent Bond villain, who is a bit cartoonish yet ultimately believable. However, I did like Brosnan, just not some of the films he was given. It’s hard to call a favourite though.