Posted by: Jen
James Bond started as a character in a novel by Ian Fleming. Most people think of him as a smooth, debonair Brit who drinks vodka martinis and always gets the girl. He was originally meant to be a very bland person to which extraordinary things happened. Even his name was chosen after the author of an ornithology book because it was the blandest name Fleming could come up with. There have been several actors portraying Bond, and I set out to find who was the best. I started with Sean Connery in the very first film, and went up through Peirce Brosnan’s first role because I feel most people have seen his films and those of Daniel Craig. And I seriously dislike Daniel Craig and thought why should I subject myself to his films a second time? (Plus the Bond marathon on the movie channels were only the older ones.) So here they are, the films of the Bond series. Who played him better?
Dr. No:
Sean Connery as James Bond.
This was also the first Bone movie, taking place in Jamaica, where Bond is investigating a missing colleague and comes across a scheme to end the US space program or something. While Connery was smooth, this movie was a little outdated. The action scenes were a little slow and far in between.
Verdict: I’ll pass.
From Russia with Love:
Sean Connery as Bond.
Russia is always the enemy. Some guy from SPECTRE decides he wants to steal some important device type thing from the Soviets and then sell it back to them. He also wants to kill Bond because of some stuff that happened in Dr. No. With almost double the budget of the first film, it’s about twice as exciting.
Verdict: I didn’t hate it
Goldfinger:
Sean Connery as Bond.
This is considered one of the best Bond films. While it seems Mr. Goldfinger gives Bond every opportunity to try to stop his plan of destroying the United States’ gold supply, there’s enough action to make it interesting. Plus one Asian who can use his bowler hat to do some pretty amazing things.
Verdict: Not bad, not bad at all
Thunderball:
Sean Connery as Bond.
The opening scene, James Bond gets out of a bad situation by using a jetpack. A jetpack? Really? We don’t even have those now and this was made in 1965. He’s trying to stop SPECTRE from setting off two nuclear bombs, and since this is not the first movie where he’s doing this, I can only assume that nuclear bombs are easily come by. I wish I could say something more about this movie, but honestly, I’m at a loss.
Verdict: Watching this film is not necessary
You Only Live Twice:
Sean Connery as James Bond.
James Bond fakes his own death so people don’t know he’s coming. He’s sent on a mission to become Japanese and take a Japanese wife. Oh wait, his mission was to find out what happened to a Soviet spacecraft that disappeared before the US and USSR destroy each other. He ends up going to Japan and THEN, his mission was to become Japanese. Because that’s what spies do. I believe this is the first time we’re introduced to Mr. Blofeld, the head of SPECTRE, or as most people know him as, the dude with the white cat.
Verdict: Watch it while doing something else, like knitting
Her Majesty’s Secret Service:
George Lazenby in his only appearance as James Bond.
In this installment, James Bond wants to resign from the secret service to take a mission to marry a rich guy’s daughter. Yeeeeeah. There’s not a lot of action, and what action there was is shot at like a fast-forward pace so it’s a little ridiculous and very campy. Bond actually gets married (yes, you read that correctly, the famous womanizer ties the knot) after an extended scene where he’s in a cabin in the mountains where he found out a plot of poisoning the world’s food supply. I don’t think Lazenby is terrible as Bond, it’s just that this movie was terrible.
Verdict: I’d rather eat my fist than watch this again.
Diamonds are Forever:
Sean Connery as Bond.
Sean Connery as James Bond. Terrible acting. Just terrible. And Sean Connery’s accent seems to be getting thicker. It wasn’t as unwatchable as some of the other films (Lazenby, I’m looking at you), but there was nothing really spectacular about it – no single scene really stands out like a cool stunt or a one-liner that hadn’t been done before. Even the title sequence was kinda lame. If you’re looking for a movie about diamond smuggling in Africa, you can’t go wrong with Blood Diamond, which is a much better movie.
Verdict: Good for multitasking
Live and Let Die:
Roger Moore as Bond.
There was a black guy with a hook for a hand and he twisted the barrel of a gun. He also tricked a psychic into sleeping with him by filling a stack of tarot cards with the Lovers one. I guess it had something to do with heroin trafficking in New Orleans, but they decided to incorporate more strange voodoo rituals and less heroin into the film. After awhile I thought I was watching Tarzan or something because after an extremely long boat chase scene, which I don’t even know how it was started, they were going to sacrifice the psychic to bring the rain or I don’t even know anymore. Good opening music, though.
Verdict: meh
The Man With the Golden Gun:
Roger Moore as Bond.
The secret agent was targeted by the world’s greatest assassin (Christopher Lee) in the midst of an energy crisis. While Moore doesn’t strike me as debonair or smooth (as he likes to wear plaid suits), this film had decent action scenes and a little humor, mainly coming his completely useless sidekick, Midnight.
Verdict: Good for a few yuks.
The Spy Who Loved Me:
Roger Moore as James Bond.
This one seemed more of the same, only with less humor. There were car chases and shootouts, but you’ve seen one car chase, you’ve seen them all, right? There wasn’t as much humor in this one (whether intentional or not) as the other Moore films, and the female lead hated him for something that didn’t even happen in the movie, which seemed a little forced. It’s about some guy who’s stealing nuclear submarines, and even though there’s a few cool underwater scenes, it wasn’t enough to thrill me.
Verdict: Pass.
Moonraker:
Roger Moore as Bond.
Everyone makes fun of the Friday the 13th films because the 9th sequel launches the antagonist into space. This is a lot like that. There was something about a spaceship or space program or space in general, and Bond was shooting laser guns at bombs or something. I’m starting to wonder how I’m going to get through all of these movies because I tend to not like a lot of action movies and the funny Bond films are the only ones I really like. It really is a lot of the same; there was even a boat scene in this film as well.
Verdict: Watch as a cure for insomnia
For Your Eyes Only:
Roger Moore as Bond.
One of the best car chase scenes I’ve seen when Bond gets into a little yellow bug. I’m getting tired of chase scenes on skis, especially since the film just before this one had the same thing. Though this was a little entertaining, and in some parts funny, it wasn’t a slam dunk as far as Bond is concerned. Bond is sent to find a missile command system before the Soviets, because Russia is the ultimate evil in the world of Bond.
Verdict: Give it a whirl
Octopussy:
Roger Moore as Bond.
This is silly, a little ridiculous, and fun all the way through. It’s got a few good one-liners and gags, showcases a little of Indian culture, and a good amount of action (some of it good, some of it quite absurd). This is probably my favorite Bond film, even though I don’t really understand what they were trying to accomplish other than it had something to do with Russia, a nuclear bomb, a golden egg, and a woman named Octopussy.
Verdict: Yes, please!
A View to a Kill:
Roger Moore as Bond.
Nothing says Bond quite like Duran Duran in this opening sequence. While Roger Moore supposedly disliked the film, it was a little more entertaining than some of the others, and was the fourth to be written that wasn’t based off a novel (though this one was a short story). Some Russian guy is raising horses that are beating everyone else’s horses at the horse races. Then they discover a bigger conspiracy involving oil wells and Silicone Valley.
Verdict: Yeah, sure.
The Living Daylights:
Timothy Dalton as Bond.
I’m not quite sure what exactly was going on. He was a countersniper when a female cellist was trying to assassinate someone for some reason, but she wasn’t really a sniper so Bond didn’t kill her. Instead, he helped the guy she was going to assassinate to get away even though the guy wasn’t British or important, and it gets very muddled after that. Timothy Dalton wasn’t bad, but he was more of a romantic lead with that cellist than the womanizing secret agent. I think he’d be good in an adaptation of a Jane Austin novel, or Shakespeare.
Verdict: It doesn’t have to make sense to be entertaining
License to Kill:
Timothy Dalton as Bond.
I actually watched this one before The Living Daylights, and my first thought was ‘I don’t like him as Bond’. The first half hour was all about the wedding of Felix, a recurring character in the Bond films, which was meant solely to get set up the rest of the movie, as Felix’s personal life had never been mentioned before. It took a rather long time just to get the ball rolling, showing the friendship between Bond and Felix, which was completely unnecessary since Felix has helped Bond out many times before, including saving his life when things go bad. Then, when it came to actually having a plot, it was all things we’ve seen before. There was nothing new, there wasn’t a lot of action or anything to make me want to keep watching.
Verdict: Unwatchable
GoldenEye:
Pierce Brosnan’s first appearance as Bond.
I’m only incorporating one Brosnan movie because it was one I hadn’t seen before. This film is about Russia (go figure) trying to destroy London’s economy. Entertaining, though a few of the action sequences (jumping off a cliff and into a falling plane) were a little farfetched, they really took it into the new age of special effects. However, this is when I started to not enjoy the films as much because they seem more formulaic after this point: chase scene, car scene, sex scene, shoot-out. While some of these were used in other movies, it gets stale, it gets over-the-top ridiculous (but not in a funny way), and it gets predictable.
Verdict: Once is good enough
So who do I think was the best Bond? Peirce Brosnan was definitely smooth and looked good in a tux. Sean Connery was manly and had the accent going on. Roger Moore wore plaid suits so he wasn’t debonair, but his films were definitely the most entertaining (to me, at least). I didn’t like him at first, but he seemed to grow on me. But there have been a few really good Bonds, so the very best is left up to personal preference.
GoodFlickas 