[Ralph]

So last week they picked a new James Bond, Daniel Craig. They obviously went for tough rather than handsome.

I'll be verrrry interested in seeing Casino Royale when it comes out at the end of next year. The director is Martin Campbell, the same guy who did Goldeneye, and the current writer is Paul Haggis, the Canadian director behind Crash (which I just saw, and is brilliant).

My favourite was always Roger Moore, with whom I grew up in the '70s, so he has that nostalgia value.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/4337224.stm

 

[Ralph]

I forgot to ask which James Bond you prefer?

Connery, Lazenby, Moore, Dalton, Brosnan, or Craig. Of course, there was also Barry Nelson from a 1950s TV special Casino Royale, where he played "Jimmy Bond" a CIA agent who battles Peter Lorre, as the villian, Le Chiffre. (Nelson is most noted for playing the manager of the hotel in The Shining who gives Jack Nicholson the job at the beginning of the movie.)

 

[ben72227]

Connery is the *essential* Bond, BUT my favorite has always been Dalton. He was such a sharp contrast from Moore, who was so...well, he (IMHO) made the series into a joke. And Dalton was such a contrast, he was professional, he was (sometimes) very cold, essentially - he was more of a spy. It's a shame he was only in two movies, as Goldeneye was written for him to be in (and it would have been SO much better with him in it, not that Brosnan was bad, but the movie was written for Dalton's dark version of Bond).

Lazenby was okay and Brosnan wasn't bad either. I think Craig could pull it off, and although some diehards are already crying bloody murder because Craig is a Blond, I know that hair dye can fix that:lildevil: and I won't judge him until I see Casino Royale. It should be good, Campbell did a wonderful job introducing Brosnan into the series and I think he will do just as good with Craig.:cool2:

 

[DeVillish]

lol i loved Moore in The Cannon Ball run one and two, funny stuff.

 

[DopeStar 156]

This guy actually has a Roger Mooreish look to him. He reminds me tons of Moore. Would be a good move in Bond films. I'd go see more if I haven't seen so many that I'm like sick of them at this point. They could make a Bond movie called "Coochie Planet" and he could drive a '76 Eldorado and I still wouldn't go see it. Haha.

 

[klebrun]

I wish the powers that be would have been more aggressive at putting out at least two more Bond movies with Brosnan. A Bond movie every two years isn't asking too much IMHO. The formula and template are basically unchanged since the beginning. Brosnan could have made one last year and then filmed his swan song next year. A 2007 007 could have been part of a unique marketing strategy. It's my understanding that the script for Craig's second Bond movie is already being written. So, when they put their minds to it, it can be done.

I don't like the way the whole Brosnan thing was handled. He always wanted to play the character with more of an edge, but wasn't allowed to. When the decision came down for "Casino Royale" to make the character more like Ian Fleming's vision, I think he wanted to be a part of that and go out in style. It just feels like unfinished business to me and probably to him as well. He brought the franchise back from the dead after several years with no Bond movies and his movies grossed close to if not over 1 billion dollars total. I think the franchise owed him a respectable send off.

 

[DopeStar 156]

I agree. Brosnan is the face that comes to mind whrn I think Bond. However my first Bond movie was Goldeneye so, he's the one I grew up on.

 

[Ralph]

If you watch Moore's first two Bonds, Live and Let Die, and The Man With the Golden Gun, he's actually pretty tough. It only became lighter in tone after that (and those later Bond films were more successful for him). Although For Your Eyes Only is pretty serious.

The Broccoli family did want Brosnan back for another Bond film, and that was the plan, until Sony bought MGM, and the studio insisted on someone new. It's true that Brosnan always wanted to play 007 as the darker, nasty assassin that Ian Fleming wrote, and they never really allowed him to do it. Which is probably one reason why he wasn't interested in another.

That said, when Timothy Dalton had his shot, the films were pretty close to Fleming's novels in spirit, but they were basically unsuccessful. (And then UA had some serious financial issue in the early 1990s, and couldn't make any, until the French bank Credit Lyonnais wound up repossessing them, and funded Goldeneye). My main problem with Dalton's 2 movies is that James Bond is totally unsexual in them. He hardly scores any girls, unlike in the books and Connery's swingin' sixties days, when he nails anything in heels!

 

[SilverCTS]

So last week they picked a new James Bond, Daniel Craig. They obviously went for tough rather than handsome.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/4337224.stm

I don't know...He doesn't look that tough either...

My age is probably showing, but I still think Sean Connery is the quintessential James Bond. They have never been able to replace him.

 

[Pete Benson]

For me James Bond was, is, and will always be Sean Connery, although I thought Timothy Dalton was effective and I'm sorry he only got to do one
Bond flick.
I never liked Roger Moore as James Bond. He always struck me as prissy and effete, lacking the essential "butchness" that seems to me to be part of the Bond character.

 

[Blackout]

Well I think the Bond nastilgia *most likely spelled that horribly wrong* is kinda decided by who you were grown up on. But for the most part James Bond is Sean Connery. But for me IMO I think Pierce Brosnan is the best Bond. The guy has every Bond characteristic down to a T. Good looking guy, well spoken, and athletic. But like Dopestar said I grew up on Brosnan so thats who I know

 

[fast66]

Well I think the Bond nastilgia *most likely spelled that horribly wrong* is kinda decided by who you were grown up on. But for the most part James Bond is Sean Connery. But for me IMO I think Pierce Brosnan is the best Bond. The guy has every Bond characteristic down to a T. Good looking guy, well spoken, and athletic. But like Dopestar said I grew up on Brosnan so thats who I know

:yeah:

 

[SpeedyArizona]

Connery was ALWAYS my favorite Bond, he looked the the essential Bond figure. Brosnan was more pretty-boy than tough guy, but I think Connery has a great balance of both!

 

[mccombie_5]

My son and i were just talking about this recently ( he asked my opinion because hes five weeks in to a eyar long course on film studies) and he is to do an exam on Goldfinger.

Bond, in our joint opinion is old, antiquated, needs to be killed off. The same thing happens in every movie, equilibrium disturbed, Bond drives an ASton Martin around, knows everything, kills the badguy and restores the equilibrium. Its old, every time there is more product placement.

IMO Connery was the best Bond, but now its just old, we need something new, theyre great as they are, but PELASE dont make anymore!

 

[Ralph]

Here is the best Bond site I could find, and it is funded by the Brocoli family so it's pretty accurate info imo.......

Casino Royale might be a refreshing change after all but there still seems to be some casting woes....

http://www.ianfleming.org/index.shtml

I don't know what to think of him yet. He doesn't seem that good looking to me, and I think a more rugged choice would have been Clive Owen (my first new choice) but he didn't want the role because he was too busy with other projects...

 

[klebrun]

Here are a couple of other Bond sites...

http://commanderbond.net/Public/Stories/1407-1.shtml

http://www.mi6.co.uk/mi6.php3


Here is a link to the October 2005 interview with Brosnan about the new Bond controversy. It was done before the final decision last week.

http://www.piercebrosnan.com/menu.php?mm=8&sm=1&pn=gq

 

[Kev]

My opinion, Connery was the best Bond. I don't care for Moore or Brosnan, they're too pretty. They look like nancy boys to me. :duck:

 

[Ralph]

My opinion, Connery was the best Bond. I don't care for Moore or Brosnan, they're too pretty. They look like nancy boys to me. :duck:

I agree about Brosnan. He is too pretty-boy for the role imo, but he did a good job and I would have like to see him take the role as far as he personally wanted to being a more nasty-assasin-type. Might have been interesting...

I liked Moores sense of humour, and as we all know, women love a good sense of humour.

 

[ben72227]

Brosnan really nailed the role in Goldeneye, but the other Bond movies he was in were just (IMHO) mediocre run of the mill action films, culminating with the awesomely-bad Die Another Day, which was obviously trying to make Bond into Vin Diesel's Triple X character, way too much CGI effects, way too much product placement, way too many high profile actors, and just too over the top in general. Of course, it did well at the box office because it had Halle Berry and lots of gadgets (it appealed to the 14 year old crowd of teenage boys) but the film just isn't worthy of being a Bond film.

Bond, in our joint opinion is old, antiquated, needs to be killed off. The same thing happens in every movie, equilibrium disturbed, Bond drives an ASton Martin around, knows everything, kills the badguy and restores the equilibrium. Its old, every time there is more product placement.

That's a good arguement, BUT, some of the films aren't just the same old stuff. Goldeneye, Goldfinger, License to Kill, Live and Let Die, and some others really strayed a bit and kept the series fresh by dealing with things that weren't expected (like the voodoo stuff in LALD) or by making Bond into an extremely cold-blooded character in License to Kill.

Goldeneye (IMHO) was the perfect Bond film (along with Goldfinger). Mainly because it dealt with how Bond was after the Cold War, the villain wasn't some insane guy trying to blow up the world (okay, maybe he was, but the point is that his main goal was to get revenge on Bond, it made it much more personal) who was played by an EXCELLENT British actor (Sean Bean) and it was just GOOD. The director was excellent, and (although some people don't like it) the music was (IMHO) superb - very avant-garde and a great departure from the same old orchestral boring stuff of John Berry (although he did some really good work for The Living Daylights, with a-Ha )

 

[Ralph]

Brosnan really nailed the role in Goldeneye


Goldeneye (IMHO) was the perfect Bond film (along with Goldfinger). an EXCELLENT British actor (Sean Bean) )

I agree. That's my fav Brosnan Bond, and I would love to see it again now. Even the casino scenes reminded me of the old Connery Bonds. Tomorrow Never Dies was decent, but the only part I really liked was the remote controlled BMW, but should Bond be driving a German car?? Die another Day was great for the first hour or so, but then dragged on it seemed.

Agree again about Sean Bean. Have you ever seen him in that Napolian series called "Sharpe's Revenge" or something like that. I hope he got more recognition as an actor, and I remember him in either "Patriot Games" or "Clear and Present Danger" with Harisson Ford.