The name is Bond, which James Bond?

Just saw a James Bond rerun of OCTOPUSSY on TV tonight. Made me think though which actor best played the James BOND character. WAS it Sean Connery (the 1st original), Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton or Pierce Brosnan? I'm not including George Lazenby because he starred in only one James Bond flick.
I think Roger Moore was the best one because he played the part as a British Agent very well, even though he was in some of the more cheesier Bond movies.
I give Sean Connery credit for being the 1st and original Bond, but I think he played to part too seriously.
Timothy Dalton was a more violent James Bond.
Pierce Brosnan is a good one as well, but I don't think he has all the right characteristics.
Who do you think is the BEST BOND EVER!!!!??? :)

Mrs. Pak votes for Sean Connery and I concur. :D

I think Sean Conery was the most famous and I liked him cause of his accent
But Peirce Bronson Looked more Like a James Bond to me.

I hear all kinds of rumors of a new James bond Movie with a black james Bond
Cuba Gooding Junior for one
and I herad of
Val Kilmer.
Personally they don't cut it for me.I say stick with Peirce Bronson

anyone else heard this.

ps one film had TWO bonds in it ..........casino royal ...............ha ha ,,,,,,,,

I preferred David Niven myself - but I guess he didnt have the chest for it

Sean ALL the way..he just gave off an aura of cool..Moore was alright, but not as good..Dalton..i dont even count those as Bond movies, they were horrible!!! Brosnan is about on par with Moore

Like a lot of people, whoever I see first playing a character usually "becomes" that character. So Roger Moore seems to be Bond to me, even though Sean Connery is more impressive. Same with Dr Who, (if anyone knows who that is), John Pertwee is "him" even though Tom Baker may have been more impressive in the part.

Roger Moore seemed to be the best Bond to me too. The role just seems to be written for him. And I agree with you Platypus about Dr. Who but I miss all the doctors (they don't show it here anymore :( ).
Reg

Sean Connery is the best and he is one of my all time favorite actors.

Pierce kind of looks the part.

OK, speaking as a self confessed Bond addict thought I'd better put my 2 cents in.

1) Connery - Original and defined the generation

2) Brosnan - Has the hard edge that connery defined, and also able to pull of the one liners better.

3) Dalton - Too much a classical actor for the role, but added the uncaring hard edge that Ian Flemming defined in his books

4) Moore - Tried to (unsuccesfully) fill Connery's shoes, 8/10 but too "nice" for the role

5) Lazenby - Was his first "major" film role so cannot really comment, if he had more acting experience may have pulled it off.

Check out the Bond DVD's (the english ones are better i believe), has a number of great extras/interviews with cast and crew.

NOTE: First prize of dinner with Moneypenny for anyone who can tell me who played Bond BEFORE Connery.

Wrong topic to choose. PapaSmurf loves this subject. Heres my reviews on 3 Bond acotrs I have dug out from my small collection on Bond info.

For the record I choose Sean Connery as the best acor that has played Bond.

Sean Connery

Sean Connery, in all reality, created the on-screen James Bond image. When most everyone thinks of James Bond the first name that comes to their mind is Connery's. From 1962-1967 and again in 1971 and 1983, Connery nurtured the role of James Bond into a likable, suave sophisticated secret agent that most every man wanted to be and most every woman wanted to be with. Although he was not exactly what Ian Fleming had originally predicted or wanted for his character of 007, Fleming later said that he couldn't have made a better choice.

Connery's Bond was a lean and suave secret agent. He truly put across the aura of the part. If he walked into a room he had the persona that everyone would turn their heads for at least a few seconds and look at him. He was the perfect mix between Fleming's hard-edged Bond and the person film audiences wanted to see and idolize on the silver screen.

George Lazenby

After Sean Connery left the series and a worldwide hunt had ended for the new James Bond, George Lazenby had the part. Lazenby didn't quite have the all of the elements of the Bond character down such as line delivery and the moves, but he did have many other Bondish qualities. His rugged good looks and his fighting ability were among the reasons he won the part.

Over the years Lazenby has gotten a very bad reputation as almost killing the Bond character. That is just not so. The fact was the the viewing public was just not ready to see anyone except Sean Connery portray their favorite secret agent. If Lazenby had come after Moore, I am sure the public's opinion would have differed greatly.

In 1969, George Lazenby was faced with a great opportunity that was also a daunting task: he was to star in the first Bond movie after Sean Connery retired from the role. Who could fill Connery's shoes? To many Bond fans the answer is not yet known, but Lazenby could not match the quality and depth Connery brought to the character.


Roger Moore

Roger Moore was perhaps the farthest from Fleming's Bond. He brought a over exaggerated comedic attitude to Bond. Moore was often unbelievable mostly due to the part that he never showed any emotion. At critical moments when 007 seems to be facing certain death he still has that calm, invulnerable look to him. It also got to the point in the later Moore movies that Bond could not survive on his own cunning and natural ability to get him out of sticky situations, rather, he had to rely more and more on 'Q''s gadgets and on allies.

Even the Bond of Fleming's Casino Royale had to rely on Felix Leiter for assistance and on SMERSH to set him free, but never to the extent that Bond seemed incompetent as he did in the Moore era. That is not to say that I dislike Roger Moore or his seven Bond films. In fact, many of his movies are among my favorites of the series. He was James Bond for over a decade so it is impossible to totally hate him. Although I often found him unbelievable, he was still a good choice for the 007 of the 70's and the early 80's.

Cheers
Papa "You expect me to talk......"Smurf

Barry Nelson

Sean Connery...made me want to buy an Aston-Martin.

Definitely Sean Connery. Only Sean Connery could say Pussy Galore's name in Goldfinger with such panache... :D

Definatly Sean Connery.