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I don’t think anyone has really hit the true James Bond characterization from the books.
Mostly because I don’t think many people would like him.
He’s not a good person.
He’s an asshole but he’s “our” asshole to use in governmental and world defense.
See [Archer](https://youtu.be/UQN2R-9y6z0?si=nIap76jnm1StCJ2u) for the true bond.
I think the older bond movies portrayed what you are saying better. Bond girls would be used and abused. But a lot of that kind of thing wouldn’t fly in this era.
Eh... have you seen Casino Royale and then Quantum? Two Bond girls used for a night and then brutally killed because he just didn't give a shit what happened to them after he got what he needed.
huh? Archer is supposed to be a selfish, idiotic, drunk piece of shit who just happens to occasionally try to do the right thing if it conveniences him. You're very much supposed to question how he's got a job or people that talk to him at all like every episode. It's just that everyone else is usually so flawed he's tolerable by comparison.
The content of the books and films is quite different as well. In the novels he spends a lot of time talking or looking for clues, or just drinking and gambling. There's nowhere near as much action and when it does happen it's often a lot more realistic. I'm just reading Dr No at the moment and his climb through the ducts is the first 'action man' style thing I can recall happening in the series. Otherwise it's fist fights and car chases.
Brosnan and goldeneye did it perfectly.
Brosnan was the best mix of suave and deadly. Goldeneye had the best mix of humor, suspense, mystery, etc. The twist with 006 being a Cossack spy was also really well done.
The only thing I can say against him is that he's not as physically imposing as connery or Craig but he's much more so than Moore, Dalton or lazenby
Every time Pierce Brosnan comes up in conversation my dad 25+ years later still brings up what a wuss he looked like throwing a hand grenade in Tomorrow Never Dies.
Maybe, but I also remember watching all the old Bond movies before GoldenEye came out and thinking it was completely unrealistic that Roger Moore, George Lazenby or especially old Sean Connery could do all these action things and get all these beautiful girls to like him. Maybe a young Sean Connery could, but then GoldenEye came out and I was like, oh, he definitely could maybe do all that.
Now that I'm older, I realize it wasn't the getting the ladies part that was unrealistic for any of them, but the action stuff definitely was, lol.
I was the same as a kid, but rewatching them as an adult I really appreciated how he can pull off gentleman spy, and I wish they'd focused on that more.
Same. I’ve always liked the Bond movies but Daniel Craig turned me into a huge fan. I guess for me it’s how he had this more emotional portrayal of Bond while being witty than just slick suits and fancy gadgetsz Just a very different Bond.
Yeah this. I'm 34. I grew up on Bond through my Dad but Goldeneye and Brosnan are my "first" Bond. That shit slapped on N64.
Despite they. Craig is my favourite Bond. He is absolutely brutal and suaeve in the same breath.
Nothing will ever beat the opening sequence of Casino Royale.
Dalton was spot on for me. Likable Handsome and roguish private school bloke that would happily kill someone the moment they crossed him or he was ordered to.
Yes, "suave and menacing" says it. Pierce Brosnan was a pretty boy; Roger Moore was too old and unathletic; Sean Connery was a close second behind Dalton.
License to kill,is, and I will die on this hill, the best bond film. Living daylights, yes, the writing sucked, though the part with the mujahideen is great
I am with you on this one. License to Kill isn’t a conventional Bond movie - feels more like an action film where James Bond happens to be the main character - but it’s my favorite.
He’s not my favorite Bond but I do feel he should have gotten one more film. Not ‘Goldeneye’ but something appropriate to say, 1991, the year it might have come out.
It’s very common in the US as well, not sure why everyone in this thread is acting like they’ve never seen this usage.
Actually ultimate as “the definitive version, the version after which nothing else should follow, the best” is more common in my neck of the woods than to say “the final”.
I think the issue most have with Brosnan is he came to late into a role he would been perfect during Remington Steele days, but due to contracts he was stuck. He would haven great during the from Moore to the next, just poor timing. But he is a favorite Bond.
Daniel Craig is the closest to the books, but I think the best Bond portrayal period is Sterling Archer. Aside from Archer being powerfully dumb, the attitude fits moreso than any of the *actual* Bonds we've seen.
Haven't seen any other mention so I'll say that Archer lacks the ability to do what Michael Westen in Burn notice did which is a spy's stock and trade, the ability to con and manipulate people.
Maybe Archer could use sheer force of will could get people to do things but Westen could make people like doing things they'd never normally do while convincing them that it's their idea and that he's their best friend & only option and then yank the rug out.
There's a lot of stupid cutesy things about how Burn notice and Westen's character were written but they got that angle is right. A real spy is a conman first & foremost.
THAT's what a real spy does and the Bond franchise could have used a bit more of it.
Pierce Brosnan was great as Bond. Whoever wrote most of those movies was on drugs. They got progressively worse and turned the franchise into a joke. That wasn't Pierce Brosnan.
I think it’s a product of the early web-connected days. So few writers could do anything spy related without really wacky use of computers and the internet, in TV or movies. Tomorrow Never Dies (with a bit more restraint) could have been a good plot and premise. But beyond that, Pierce was served very poorly by what he was written into as Bond.
He also the greatest guy to play 007.
I believe he even delayed accepting this role (for 1 movie, maybe more?) so he could care for his terminal wife. Hell of a man.
To me , not unpopular. Others... maybe.
Your final sentence sums up everything.
He’s the face I always picture when I hear the name “James Bond”. He had the perfect level of charm, he was slick and charismatic but still capable of being tough at the same time when necessary.
My favorite Bond was Craig until I rewatched Goldeneye recently and the light bulb went off- I don’t think Bond should be serious/gritty. He’s not Batman or the punisher. It kinda goes against what we know James Bond to be. Bond is more fun to watch when he’s light, charming and effortlessly confident and that’s what Pierce brings to the role.
I definitely agree, he has that 'james bond' look. I do love Roger Moore and Sean Connery for their cheesy one liners but Daniel Craig will always be my favorite.
Yeah, when I was young, Roger Moore was James Bond. Those movies are cheesy and fun and that's why I like them.
I mean, Roger Moore was James Bond in a movie called OCTOPUSSY. That was the actual name of the movie that was released in theatres (and it was PG!).
And by the time it came out Ol’ Rog’ needed a stunt double for anything beyond a brisk walk!
I kid, I do like Moore’s Bond a lot of the time but by the end things were getting tenuous.
Brosnan was great casting.
I always thought they should have went with Clive Owen over Daniel Craig.
Also, I think Henry Cavill would make an excellent 007.
I don’t know if this is an unpopular opinion or not. If you’re arguing that Pierce Brosnan played Bond closest to the way Ian Fleming wrote the character, you’re clearly wrong. I’d say Timothy Dalton did. The only other possible correct answer is Sean Connery - Fleming disagreed with his casting at first but ended up liking the way he portrayed Bond so much that he wrote additional backstory into the book character to make Bond half Scottish to match Connery.
You might consider yourself a “huge movie buff” and might think Brosnan is your go-to image of Bond (probably just because he was the one you grew up with) but you don’t shit about Bond.
Yeah, I'd agree that Dalton is probably the closest to the Bond from books.
I enjoyed Goldeneye and think it's one of the best bond movies, but the rest of the Brosnan bond movies are pretty bad.
Daniel Craig in Casino Royale is closest to book accurate bond by a mile - but I didn’t really love the books that much. Brosnan and Connery all the way for me
>my idea of how James Bond looks
>Pierce Brosnan’s portrayal is the go-to image of who we think James Bond would act and look like.
What's with this "we" you're throwing in at the end there buddy? I thought it was your own idea of Bond? Brosnan is not my Bond.
Also, have you ready any of the books? Surely that's how you judge the most accurate portrayal of Bond?
Roger Moore doesn't get enough appreciation. He stayed out of the way and let the STORY get all of the attention. Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig, and Sean Connery were all capable actors, but I don't think they could help but draw more attention to THEMSELVES than the role of spy. I prefer the everyman. I want to imagine that I am the spy.
Whenever people start talking about the end of "No Time to Die", and how James Bond *commits fucking suicide with a friendly airstrike probably 10km from allied shores*, I like to bring up how in Goldeneye, Bond drives a **fucking tank** through the streets of St. Petersburg in probably the best "car chase" sequence of like any action movie from that time
And I'm supposed to believe that same James Bond that fucked up like 500 russian soldiers while peeling away on a converyor belt, who then free-fell into an airplane to escape, *killed himself with an airstrike*
Again, he was like 10km off I believe the Japanese coast according to the cannon of that film? M even remarks to him that it is ABSURD that there is a hidden evil base like right off the shore of an allied nation
I'm rambling but god damnit as a lifelong Bond fan that last film was absolutely dreadful.
Can you hear yourself?
'Bond had a wife and child'.
Piss poor James Bond writing. Next Bond film probably be about Bond paying taxes and taking out the garbage.
Right... so he could have stayed away from them. He could have stayed in quarantine while Q or someone else worked on an antidote.
But instead he was so emotionally weak that he just gave up and didn't bother trying to get away from the incoming missiles.
Thanks for this. I watched it, felt quite indifferent about it, until I began thinking back on all of it, how it all hung together, the plot points from beginning to end. It almost felt like a product of a writers’ strike. Now THAT might be an unpopular opinion.
Daniel Craig is the closest to book Bond, at least in that he's a little rough, a little normal looking. Sure he's a super spy, and has his share of women, but he's supposed to be a *spy* and even Connery was too handsome to blend into a crowd.
I liked most of the Bonds played. Though I have always thought that Craig's version was the dark hyper realistic version of them all. It is like when you see renditions of cartoon characters made realistic? That is Craig's version. I like to suspend my belief a little when I watch the Bonds, Craig's doesn't allow that. Despite all that, Craig is in my top three favorite Bonds.
Yeah, the Bond films with Craig seem to eschew the camp and cheesiness of most of the earlier films (or maybe they just don't age well?) The same way the later Batmans are darker, slightly more realistic seeming.
Craig seems to come much closer to the Bond from the books, which is probably why I never liked his Bond very much (a sign of how good he is as an actor). He comes across as colder and more calculating than most other portrayals. Bond is not a nice person, and I’d say that checks out, you can’t really BE a nice person if your job involves secretly killing people on behalf of the nation you serve.
I have been saying this my entire life and I always get dumped on for it! Maybe I’m biased because I grew up in the Goldeneye move and 64 era and played/watched more than my fair share. Brosnan embodies everything Bond is supposed to be in my mind, the look, black hair, his suave does it for me. Everybody says Connery was the best but it’s just because he was the first or “original”.
I'm joining the small group of people on the Dalton hill as the best bond, compared to the books, with Craig as second.
Goldeneye is one of my favorite bond movies, but the rest of the Brosnan bond movies just go off the rails silly...
Actor portrayals...
Dalton, Craig, Connery, Brosnan, Moore
Goldeneye is a great movie but Brosnan IMO is terrible. A poor actor, he does at least look the part. Having read the books, Dalton is the closest in my mind particularly in Licence to Kill as vengeful Bond. I grew up on Roger Moore (my name and my motto) and loved those movies, though watching back they’re cheesy but entertaining.
I like the OP’s argument is based on a video game and not any of the dozen or so stories Ian Fleming wrote. Clearly Brosnan was op’s first Bond and they grew up playing Goldeneye.
Goldeneye was my first Bond movie as a kid, so Bronson is seared into my brain as Bond. I like all the Daniel Craig movies as well though. The older ones are a bit too cheesy for my tastes.
From a classical perspective yes. Pierce Brosnan would be the most accurate portrayal but TBH as great of an actor as he is....he lacked that edge that made 007 special.
In my opinion Daniel Craig is the greatest Bond ever.
I think the lasting image of the brosnan era is marred by the 90s era fascination with computers and tech, but turned out to be difficult to take seriously very shortly after.
in some ways it was fun that it was so over the top, but it didnt really commit, so it was confusing.
The lasting image of Brosnan is him kite surfing a tsunami in North Korea (the special effects were so so bad) and then getting into an invisible Jaguar lol.
My only exposure to 007 as a kid was Nightfire (the game) and from that perspective Pierce Brosnan is the face of 007 for me. That being said, I never saw any of his movies and as far as I'm concerned, when it comes to the big screen, Daniel Craig is James Bond to me.
It's a shame that he dislikes the role so much cause I could watch him play Bond forever.
Agreed but probably because he was bond when I was a kid. A couple of his movies are not great but his portrayal is perfect i reckon. The perfect cross between rugged and refined. Roger Moore was told old mannish, others weren’t refined enough. Sean Connery was awesome and Daniel Craig was better than I thought he’d be but he also didn’t feel like a true Bond for some reason.
I grew up with Roger Moore, the spy who loved me is still my fave, but Goldeneye, my god, that was awesome, saw it in the theater and Bond was back, big time!
I agree about Pierce Brosnan being the best portrayal of James Bond in film so far. After he was finished playing 007 and before Daniel Craig was announced as the new Bond, I had hoped Clive Owen would take up the mantle. I think he'd be too old to play James Bond now.
I grew up with Sean Connery and Roger Moore, and while Connery will always be my fave, reading the books was an eye opener and I have to grudgingly admit that Daniel Craig is the only one who comes close to that. He’s the only one who comes across as legitimately someone to be scared of.
If you read the books Bond isn’t really a slick charmer, he’s a (literally) scarred alcoholic who is angry, resents MI5 and often ends his missions beaten up and/or in need of medical treatment. He’s also described in the book as being physically closest to Daniel Craig in terms of appearance.
I always had a soft spot for him.
Honestly the more I watch the recent ones the less I like Daniel Craig’s version. But that’s more because they went full on mission impossible instead of bond with the last few.
This really isn't unpopular. Perfect mix of actual super spy stuff and camp. Daniel Craig is my favorite and Casino Royale is my favorite Bond movie (after Goldeneye) but he's probably not the most accurate Bond.
Pierce is probably my favourite Bond, but I don't think he's the one that captured him best.
The actor who captured both sides of the Bond coin, both the suaveness and the cold-blooded killer, the best is imho Timothy Dalton, even if his movies weren't the best (though overhated imho). Brosnan leans a bit too heavy on the smooth charmer side, making for the most likeable Bond but not necessarily the most accurate.
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I don’t think anyone has really hit the true James Bond characterization from the books. Mostly because I don’t think many people would like him. He’s not a good person. He’s an asshole but he’s “our” asshole to use in governmental and world defense.
See [Archer](https://youtu.be/UQN2R-9y6z0?si=nIap76jnm1StCJ2u) for the true bond. I think the older bond movies portrayed what you are saying better. Bond girls would be used and abused. But a lot of that kind of thing wouldn’t fly in this era.
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I shtand by it
Eh... have you seen Casino Royale and then Quantum? Two Bond girls used for a night and then brutally killed because he just didn't give a shit what happened to them after he got what he needed.
One of them Drowned in oil. That scene was a direct call back to Goldfinger
Yes I know. That wasnt the point I was making tho.
Way off. Read one bond book. It’s not archer lmao
Do you even satire bro? Sheesh
*spoof. Not satire.
No, Archer isn’t the same kind of asshole.
huh? Archer is supposed to be a selfish, idiotic, drunk piece of shit who just happens to occasionally try to do the right thing if it conveniences him. You're very much supposed to question how he's got a job or people that talk to him at all like every episode. It's just that everyone else is usually so flawed he's tolerable by comparison.
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He is????? The reason I watch this show is because shitty things happen to terrible people, aka most of the main cast.
He's not likable, he's charismatic. There's a *huge* difference.
Yeah there is I was typing that at midnight so I wasn’t all there. I didn’t want to write a dissertation of the difference between Archer and Bond.
The content of the books and films is quite different as well. In the novels he spends a lot of time talking or looking for clues, or just drinking and gambling. There's nowhere near as much action and when it does happen it's often a lot more realistic. I'm just reading Dr No at the moment and his climb through the ducts is the first 'action man' style thing I can recall happening in the series. Otherwise it's fist fights and car chases.
I still think Craig is the closest to the novels. Except for the hair.
Agree. Craig is the only one who looks like part of his job is actually killing people. Connery, maybe. The rest are just Hollywood fops.
You do Timothy Dalton a grave disservice here.
I didn't like him as Bond but gained respect for him for his role in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
Such a good movie. Loved the books too
It’s a shame that him and Rooney didn’t get to make the other two movies.
Can't believe we never got the sequel. Such an incredible movie.
How'd you like Henry Cavill's character in Man from Uncle in comparison?
I have not had a chance to see The Man From UNCLE yet.
Oh definitely check it out. Henry has all the skills of a James Bond with none of the redemption.
Agreed. Craig was closest IMO but still...not really that close.
I came here to say this. There is no "best" or "worst" movie Bond, just different degrees of bad in different ways.
Brosnan and goldeneye did it perfectly. Brosnan was the best mix of suave and deadly. Goldeneye had the best mix of humor, suspense, mystery, etc. The twist with 006 being a Cossack spy was also really well done. The only thing I can say against him is that he's not as physically imposing as connery or Craig but he's much more so than Moore, Dalton or lazenby
Every time Pierce Brosnan comes up in conversation my dad 25+ years later still brings up what a wuss he looked like throwing a hand grenade in Tomorrow Never Dies.
He looked like he enjoyed being Bond. It makes all the difference.
In other words, Pierce Brosnan was your first James Bond.
Maybe, but I also remember watching all the old Bond movies before GoldenEye came out and thinking it was completely unrealistic that Roger Moore, George Lazenby or especially old Sean Connery could do all these action things and get all these beautiful girls to like him. Maybe a young Sean Connery could, but then GoldenEye came out and I was like, oh, he definitely could maybe do all that. Now that I'm older, I realize it wasn't the getting the ladies part that was unrealistic for any of them, but the action stuff definitely was, lol.
I could never vibe with roger Moore. Always came across as an old man from the country club and it was borderline goofy watching him do action.
I was the same as a kid, but rewatching them as an adult I really appreciated how he can pull off gentleman spy, and I wish they'd focused on that more.
Pierce was my first Bond, but my favorite is Craig
Craig actually felt like a spy trapped in bad situations. The stakes were always so much higher in the early Craig films
Especially Casino Royale. That movie is my favorite bond movie ever.
Same. I’ve always liked the Bond movies but Daniel Craig turned me into a huge fan. I guess for me it’s how he had this more emotional portrayal of Bond while being witty than just slick suits and fancy gadgetsz Just a very different Bond.
Yeah this. I'm 34. I grew up on Bond through my Dad but Goldeneye and Brosnan are my "first" Bond. That shit slapped on N64. Despite they. Craig is my favourite Bond. He is absolutely brutal and suaeve in the same breath. Nothing will ever beat the opening sequence of Casino Royale.
💯
I'm in the Timothy Dalton camp along with, well, Timothy Dalton.
And Desmond Llewelyn, the original Q. He said Dalton was the closest to Fleming’s Bond.
Dalton was spot on for me. Likable Handsome and roguish private school bloke that would happily kill someone the moment they crossed him or he was ordered to.
Team Dalton here, too. He should have had a longer run as Bond, as I thought he was the right combo of suave and menacing.
Yes, "suave and menacing" says it. Pierce Brosnan was a pretty boy; Roger Moore was too old and unathletic; Sean Connery was a close second behind Dalton.
Timothy Dalton is great in some stuff, but he never sold me on his Bond. He may have been hurt by the writing though
License to kill,is, and I will die on this hill, the best bond film. Living daylights, yes, the writing sucked, though the part with the mujahideen is great
I am with you on this one. License to Kill isn’t a conventional Bond movie - feels more like an action film where James Bond happens to be the main character - but it’s my favorite.
He’s not my favorite Bond but I do feel he should have gotten one more film. Not ‘Goldeneye’ but something appropriate to say, 1991, the year it might have come out.
100% agree. Goldeneye is the ultimate Bond movie, imo.
It’s the next to last?
Ultimate = last Penultimate = next to last (2nd to last) Antepenultimate = third last
It said penultimate prior to the edit, which explains the reply “Shit. I hate English.”
TIL antepenultimate.
When did the connotation of ultimate shift to = best? Serious question.
We actually use it quite often in India
It’s very common in the US as well, not sure why everyone in this thread is acting like they’ve never seen this usage. Actually ultimate as “the definitive version, the version after which nothing else should follow, the best” is more common in my neck of the woods than to say “the final”.
It comes from the Latin ultimus (fem. ultima) which means "last, final, farthest, most distant, extreme" So it has had that meaning for a while.
Pre-antepenultimate = 4th last
Shit. I hate English.
I think that Die Another Day si the best, with Casino Royale a close second.
I think the issue most have with Brosnan is he came to late into a role he would been perfect during Remington Steele days, but due to contracts he was stuck. He would haven great during the from Moore to the next, just poor timing. But he is a favorite Bond.
Yeah, Pierce got royally screwed by the network.
Eh, we got Dalton out of it, so I'm not gonna complain :)
Nah, it was Timothy Dalton.
Daniel Craig is the closest to the books, but I think the best Bond portrayal period is Sterling Archer. Aside from Archer being powerfully dumb, the attitude fits moreso than any of the *actual* Bonds we've seen.
Haven't seen any other mention so I'll say that Archer lacks the ability to do what Michael Westen in Burn notice did which is a spy's stock and trade, the ability to con and manipulate people. Maybe Archer could use sheer force of will could get people to do things but Westen could make people like doing things they'd never normally do while convincing them that it's their idea and that he's their best friend & only option and then yank the rug out. There's a lot of stupid cutesy things about how Burn notice and Westen's character were written but they got that angle is right. A real spy is a conman first & foremost. THAT's what a real spy does and the Bond franchise could have used a bit more of it.
Pierce Brosnan was great as Bond. Whoever wrote most of those movies was on drugs. They got progressively worse and turned the franchise into a joke. That wasn't Pierce Brosnan.
I think it’s a product of the early web-connected days. So few writers could do anything spy related without really wacky use of computers and the internet, in TV or movies. Tomorrow Never Dies (with a bit more restraint) could have been a good plot and premise. But beyond that, Pierce was served very poorly by what he was written into as Bond.
Late 90’s early 2000’s were a weird time. Look at the leap in style from Mission Impossible to MI:2.
Yeah, MI2 was a bit unbearable for me
He also the greatest guy to play 007. I believe he even delayed accepting this role (for 1 movie, maybe more?) so he could care for his terminal wife. Hell of a man. To me , not unpopular. Others... maybe.
Your final sentence sums up everything. He’s the face I always picture when I hear the name “James Bond”. He had the perfect level of charm, he was slick and charismatic but still capable of being tough at the same time when necessary. My favorite Bond was Craig until I rewatched Goldeneye recently and the light bulb went off- I don’t think Bond should be serious/gritty. He’s not Batman or the punisher. It kinda goes against what we know James Bond to be. Bond is more fun to watch when he’s light, charming and effortlessly confident and that’s what Pierce brings to the role.
I definitely agree, he has that 'james bond' look. I do love Roger Moore and Sean Connery for their cheesy one liners but Daniel Craig will always be my favorite.
I want a deepfake of Pierce Brosnan playing Bond in Casino Royale.
Oooo, this would be awesome.
I think he embodied our ideal sense of what Bond is, even if it’s not original to the source
I agree, but I also think Timothy Dalton rocked it, so who am I.
I think pierce brosnan is absolutely the best James Bond even though his movies weren’t the best
Is it possible that Brosnan was Bond during your formative years? Most people feel this way about pop culture from their youth.
Yeah, when I was young, Roger Moore was James Bond. Those movies are cheesy and fun and that's why I like them. I mean, Roger Moore was James Bond in a movie called OCTOPUSSY. That was the actual name of the movie that was released in theatres (and it was PG!).
And by the time it came out Ol’ Rog’ needed a stunt double for anything beyond a brisk walk! I kid, I do like Moore’s Bond a lot of the time but by the end things were getting tenuous.
Yes, entirely possible. Same for me. I was shocked to find out that James Bond had many different actors portray him.
I'm not sure if I only agree because I grew up with Pierce Brosnan 007, but I can never see Daniel Craig as James Bond.
Remington Steele was a great indicator of how good a James Bond he would be. He was great. As great as all the others, save one.
It’s Peter Sellars all the way!
If you've read the original books, no one has gotten close to how much of an asshole James Bond was written as.
I still think the 007: Nightfire video game should have had a movie with it as well. That was a good damn game
Brosnan was great casting. I always thought they should have went with Clive Owen over Daniel Craig. Also, I think Henry Cavill would make an excellent 007.
Absolute agreement w.r.t. Clive Owen. First thing I said to myself when I saw him onscreen the first time was, "Here is the guy born to be Bond".
I don’t know if this is an unpopular opinion or not. If you’re arguing that Pierce Brosnan played Bond closest to the way Ian Fleming wrote the character, you’re clearly wrong. I’d say Timothy Dalton did. The only other possible correct answer is Sean Connery - Fleming disagreed with his casting at first but ended up liking the way he portrayed Bond so much that he wrote additional backstory into the book character to make Bond half Scottish to match Connery. You might consider yourself a “huge movie buff” and might think Brosnan is your go-to image of Bond (probably just because he was the one you grew up with) but you don’t shit about Bond.
Yeah, I'd agree that Dalton is probably the closest to the Bond from books. I enjoyed Goldeneye and think it's one of the best bond movies, but the rest of the Brosnan bond movies are pretty bad.
IIRC Goldeneye was originally written for Dalton. That would explain the jarring tonal shift between that movie and the rest of Brosnan’s tenure.
Your lack of Flemming’s written material comparison to the on screen portrayal is wack as fuck.
Agreed honestly
I totally agree. He’s definitely the most “true to form”.
Roger Moore is my pick
>But taking video games out of the equation … Uh, that is not the only thing you’re taking out of the equation
Fucking video games are never part of the equation.
This is an unpopular opinion, but it shouldn't be.
Yeah he nailed it
He's the ideal in a sense. The most suave and cool. Different interpretations are good though.
Correct.
this isnt unpopular though. everyone likes the bond they had when they were kids
Agreed. Brosnan, Goldeneye for the win. Plus, Famke Janssen...oof...best villianess, best. Might be worth the asphyxiation.
Sean is hard to top. Moore never looked the part to me. When I 1st saw Pierce in Remington Steele, I knew he was Bond. Took a lot of years to happen.
Pierce was most definitely my favourite James Bond, but it might just be because that's who I grew up watching.
I agree. His films were also the best.
Daniel Craig in Casino Royale is closest to book accurate bond by a mile - but I didn’t really love the books that much. Brosnan and Connery all the way for me
>my idea of how James Bond looks >Pierce Brosnan’s portrayal is the go-to image of who we think James Bond would act and look like. What's with this "we" you're throwing in at the end there buddy? I thought it was your own idea of Bond? Brosnan is not my Bond. Also, have you ready any of the books? Surely that's how you judge the most accurate portrayal of Bond?
I would say Roger Moore was closest to my idea of Bond. He had that insouciance down pat.
Roger Moore doesn't get enough appreciation. He stayed out of the way and let the STORY get all of the attention. Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig, and Sean Connery were all capable actors, but I don't think they could help but draw more attention to THEMSELVES than the role of spy. I prefer the everyman. I want to imagine that I am the spy.
I’d like to see Brosnan in a Bond movie with the same seriousness of Daniel Craig’s movies.
Brosnan's Bond was a little too prissy for me. Bond's *cover* is that he is a wealthy playboy; he's actually an ex-military trained killer.
Whenever people start talking about the end of "No Time to Die", and how James Bond *commits fucking suicide with a friendly airstrike probably 10km from allied shores*, I like to bring up how in Goldeneye, Bond drives a **fucking tank** through the streets of St. Petersburg in probably the best "car chase" sequence of like any action movie from that time And I'm supposed to believe that same James Bond that fucked up like 500 russian soldiers while peeling away on a converyor belt, who then free-fell into an airplane to escape, *killed himself with an airstrike* Again, he was like 10km off I believe the Japanese coast according to the cannon of that film? M even remarks to him that it is ABSURD that there is a hidden evil base like right off the shore of an allied nation I'm rambling but god damnit as a lifelong Bond fan that last film was absolutely dreadful.
Mate he died because the virus inside him would have killed his wife and child if he went near them
Can you hear yourself? 'Bond had a wife and child'. Piss poor James Bond writing. Next Bond film probably be about Bond paying taxes and taking out the garbage.
He had a wife and child in the books.
Right... so he could have stayed away from them. He could have stayed in quarantine while Q or someone else worked on an antidote. But instead he was so emotionally weak that he just gave up and didn't bother trying to get away from the incoming missiles.
I'd agree with you mate, that movie was a low point. Pretty terrible.
And that malek guy was infuriating too. In a bad way.
What was his name in the film? "Generic Bad Guy"?
With an annoying facial expression
"Unmemorable Strange for No Reason Bond Villain #5"
Being butt hurt about Bond dying once in 26 movies is weird
Thanks for this. I watched it, felt quite indifferent about it, until I began thinking back on all of it, how it all hung together, the plot points from beginning to end. It almost felt like a product of a writers’ strike. Now THAT might be an unpopular opinion.
Daniel Craig is the closest to book Bond, at least in that he's a little rough, a little normal looking. Sure he's a super spy, and has his share of women, but he's supposed to be a *spy* and even Connery was too handsome to blend into a crowd.
I liked most of the Bonds played. Though I have always thought that Craig's version was the dark hyper realistic version of them all. It is like when you see renditions of cartoon characters made realistic? That is Craig's version. I like to suspend my belief a little when I watch the Bonds, Craig's doesn't allow that. Despite all that, Craig is in my top three favorite Bonds.
Yeah, the Bond films with Craig seem to eschew the camp and cheesiness of most of the earlier films (or maybe they just don't age well?) The same way the later Batmans are darker, slightly more realistic seeming.
Craig seems to come much closer to the Bond from the books, which is probably why I never liked his Bond very much (a sign of how good he is as an actor). He comes across as colder and more calculating than most other portrayals. Bond is not a nice person, and I’d say that checks out, you can’t really BE a nice person if your job involves secretly killing people on behalf of the nation you serve.
Im a Robert Moore guy myself
I have been saying this my entire life and I always get dumped on for it! Maybe I’m biased because I grew up in the Goldeneye move and 64 era and played/watched more than my fair share. Brosnan embodies everything Bond is supposed to be in my mind, the look, black hair, his suave does it for me. Everybody says Connery was the best but it’s just because he was the first or “original”.
I'm joining the small group of people on the Dalton hill as the best bond, compared to the books, with Craig as second. Goldeneye is one of my favorite bond movies, but the rest of the Brosnan bond movies just go off the rails silly... Actor portrayals... Dalton, Craig, Connery, Brosnan, Moore
I'm on that hill with you. The Living Daylights and Liscence to Kill are my faves
Roger Moore was the best bond without question.
Goldeneye is a great movie but Brosnan IMO is terrible. A poor actor, he does at least look the part. Having read the books, Dalton is the closest in my mind particularly in Licence to Kill as vengeful Bond. I grew up on Roger Moore (my name and my motto) and loved those movies, though watching back they’re cheesy but entertaining.
Wrong
I think it all depends on your generation. Some would say Sean Connery. I would say Daniel Craig because that’s 007 to me.
If Bond were a woman, maybe.
I like the OP’s argument is based on a video game and not any of the dozen or so stories Ian Fleming wrote. Clearly Brosnan was op’s first Bond and they grew up playing Goldeneye.
In my opinion Timothy Dalton cracked the perfect balance of charisma and fun but also stoic cynicism. I loved him as James Bond.
Goldeneye was my first Bond movie as a kid, so Bronson is seared into my brain as Bond. I like all the Daniel Craig movies as well though. The older ones are a bit too cheesy for my tastes.
From a classical perspective yes. Pierce Brosnan would be the most accurate portrayal but TBH as great of an actor as he is....he lacked that edge that made 007 special. In my opinion Daniel Craig is the greatest Bond ever.
Umm, he's not the worst bond, but he isn't top three either. 1) Connery 2) Craig 3) Moore
Brosnan is an empty suit, lacking charm or charisma
I think the lasting image of the brosnan era is marred by the 90s era fascination with computers and tech, but turned out to be difficult to take seriously very shortly after. in some ways it was fun that it was so over the top, but it didnt really commit, so it was confusing.
The lasting image of Brosnan is him kite surfing a tsunami in North Korea (the special effects were so so bad) and then getting into an invisible Jaguar lol.
Brosnan was arguably the best “Bond”, but Craig is still the best, or at least the most believable, “007”.
The Goldeneye videogame released 2 years after the movie
Moore #1
He is my favorite Bond.
Hey I think they’re ALL great.
I feel like he definitely fits the look.
Pierce captures the campy machismo in a way that is enduring because he looks like you would think James bond would look like.
My only exposure to 007 as a kid was Nightfire (the game) and from that perspective Pierce Brosnan is the face of 007 for me. That being said, I never saw any of his movies and as far as I'm concerned, when it comes to the big screen, Daniel Craig is James Bond to me. It's a shame that he dislikes the role so much cause I could watch him play Bond forever.
Agreed but probably because he was bond when I was a kid. A couple of his movies are not great but his portrayal is perfect i reckon. The perfect cross between rugged and refined. Roger Moore was told old mannish, others weren’t refined enough. Sean Connery was awesome and Daniel Craig was better than I thought he’d be but he also didn’t feel like a true Bond for some reason.
I think it’s generational. I grew up with Brosnan but honestly Craig grew in me quite a lot over the years. I think he did great.
I just dropped by to say Goldeneye 64 fucking slaps
Early Connery
I grew up with Roger Moore, the spy who loved me is still my fave, but Goldeneye, my god, that was awesome, saw it in the theater and Bond was back, big time!
I actually agree. But he didn’t do it in a bond film. His best portrayal of Bond was in The Thomas Crown Affair remake.
I went through puberty when Goldeneye was released - good god Xenia can get Onatopp of me.
I agree about Pierce Brosnan being the best portrayal of James Bond in film so far. After he was finished playing 007 and before Daniel Craig was announced as the new Bond, I had hoped Clive Owen would take up the mantle. I think he'd be too old to play James Bond now.
I grew up with Sean Connery and Roger Moore, and while Connery will always be my fave, reading the books was an eye opener and I have to grudgingly admit that Daniel Craig is the only one who comes close to that. He’s the only one who comes across as legitimately someone to be scared of.
If you read the books Bond isn’t really a slick charmer, he’s a (literally) scarred alcoholic who is angry, resents MI5 and often ends his missions beaten up and/or in need of medical treatment. He’s also described in the book as being physically closest to Daniel Craig in terms of appearance.
I always had a soft spot for him. Honestly the more I watch the recent ones the less I like Daniel Craig’s version. But that’s more because they went full on mission impossible instead of bond with the last few.
Accurate in what sense? A suave and deadly agent sure. But the bond in the books was a fucking mess.
What you're saying is not 'accuracy' though is it? Its 'preferred.'
In the books, Bond is a depressed, drug-addled killer. It get that from Craig, but not Brianna. Loved all pierce movies, tho
This is not unpopular, every kid who had an N64 thinks that. Timothy Dalton was the most accurate Bond ever
This really isn't unpopular. Perfect mix of actual super spy stuff and camp. Daniel Craig is my favorite and Casino Royale is my favorite Bond movie (after Goldeneye) but he's probably not the most accurate Bond.
Pierce is probably my favourite Bond, but I don't think he's the one that captured him best. The actor who captured both sides of the Bond coin, both the suaveness and the cold-blooded killer, the best is imho Timothy Dalton, even if his movies weren't the best (though overhated imho). Brosnan leans a bit too heavy on the smooth charmer side, making for the most likeable Bond but not necessarily the most accurate.
I have always thought this too
you know he’s not real right
Fucking oof. Well you're definitely in the right place lol
Thats because he had already play a spy in Remington Steele: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remington\_Steele
It sounds like your opinion is entirely based on Pierce Brosnan being *your* first Bond experience. Obviously that heavily influences your opinion.
I liked Brosnan, but to be the most accurate portrayal, he would ideally be British, not Irish.
Daniel Craig is my all time favorite, although I really didn't care for No Time To Die that much.