Who did Bond the best?

When you hear the words “Bond, James Bond” who do you think of? James Bond of course! But who do you think of? Roger Moore? Or maybe Sean Connery? In the movies there are 6 different 007’s and all of them bring a different style to the character. So who did it the best?

I will now make a list of my top 6 James Bond actors. Keep in mind that this is not only decided by the actor who plays the character but also the plot that builds the character. This is in no way an official list and your list may be different and that’s okay! In fact I would very interest if you wrote in the commentary your top 6 list and why.

Number 6: Daniel Craig.The latest 007 in the line. Daniel Craig is according to me a very different Bond compared to his predecessors. This bond is more reliant on action and not as much in his charm. I don’t think I have ever seen a bond that is this trigger happy and have this depressing personality.

It is always hard to be the new James Bond, there are a lot of high expectations. But even when taking out that from the equation I still feel like I have to put Daniel Craig on the number six spot. This 007 agent is different, I’ll give him that, it is kind of cool to se James Bond as a bad motherfucker. But I still feel that this Bond have been reduced to a thug instead of the agent he should be.

Number 5: George Lazenby

Starring in only one movie, in her majesty's secret service (1969), George Lazenby where in the same situation as Daniel Craig when it comes to expectations. The movie itself is a great contribution to the Bond series and I believe a lot of it is thanks to Lazenby. He brings the charm and a classy style to the character bond and also updated the character. Although this character cannot move higher in the list since the lack of contribution to the series.  

Number 4: Timothy Dalton

This decision was really hard to make since I where thinking of putting him on the third spot in the list.

In 1987 Timothy Dalton replaced Roger Moore who where the playboy of the 007 agents. But now times where changing and the cold war became more dominant in movies. Bond would now fight the KBG and the playboy style just didn’t work anymore. Enter Timothy Dalton. Now James Bond became colder, more serious and more realistic. This paved the way for next generations of Bond characters.

This update didn’t take away the elements of James Bond though, instead Timothy Dalton managed to keep the charm and whit that characterize 007.

But the lack of contributions, only two movies, keeps Timothy Dalton from the third spot.

Number 3: Roger Moore

Roger Moore played James Bond in seven movies from 1973 to 1985. This is what I like to call the playboy era of the Bond series. Cool cars, trendy clothes, neat gadgets, luxury lifestyle and of course the women. Roger Moore played Bond during a time that where changing to. That included more fights with the Russians.

But the majority of the movies where about the sexy adventures around the world. This bond have been in the dessert, winter land, under water, jungles and the only Bond to date who has been in space.

Roger Moore made most James Bond movies of all the actors who have played Bond and almost all of them are classics. But these adventures can be a little repetitive. This puts Roger Moore on the number three spot.

Number 2: Sean Connery

For me there is no question about it, Sean Connery is one of the beast actors of all time. Sean Connery where the first James Bond and started of the series. He where the one who perfectly set the template for the rest of the 007 agents of the series. Sean Connery nails the part perfectly, especially in the movie Goldfinger (1964).

For creating the template and creating the classic James Bond Sean Connery gets the number two spot on the list. But for me there is something missing…

Number 1: Pierce Brosnan

Take Sean Connery, add Timothy Dalton and a great looking face. What do you get? Pierce Brosnan, the ultimate James Bond. I can imagine that this is what Ian Fleming had in mind when he wrote those novels. I can sum up the character James Bond acted by Pirce Brosnan with one word, goldeneye. I where 4-5 years old when Goldeneye (1995) came out This is the first James Bond I can remember seeing, but I think I where too young to really appreciate it like i do today.

Anyone who haven’t seen Goldeneye should really do it. I can write a long, long list of why Pierce Brosnan is the best Bond actor. But that would be too long for this post sp I am going to list some essential points instead. This 007 is cleaver, charming, well developed character, efficient in combat and stealthy.

Pierce also left on the top and that’s where we will remember him. He truly deserves the number one spot.

I hope that you have enjoyed this long post. I will close this with a quote from the Bond movies.

"When the world is the target and the threat is real, you can still depend on one man."

This quote sums up the character 007 no matter who plays him, it is truly the essence of Bond, James Bond.