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MickLasalle of the SF Chronicle had an interesting response...

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In Reply to: RE: Poll; who's your fave bond actor and what's your age? posted by grantv on December 12, 2008 at 14:08:38

Dear Mick: I disagree with you that Daniel Craig is at least the second best 007 (after Sean Connery). Craig brings a certain thuggishness to the role, and to me he looks uncomfortable in the stylish clothing and lavish surroundings. Dressing him as Bond doesn't make him Bond. I think Pierce Brosnan is the second-best Bond, as he shares the suave sophistication, mannerisms and confidence of Connery, with the same underlying calculation of a cold-blooded assassin.
Dave Powell, San Bruno

Dear Dave: When I watch the Connery Bonds again, I'm actually surprised at how rough Connery looks. He's cool, but I think it was Roger Moore who introduced suavity into the James Bond repertory. Overall, I think there are two myths about the James Bond franchise that have been pervasive for decades. The first is that the movies used to be better than they are today. The second is that most of the guys who have played James Bond have been lousy. The truth is the reverse. Watch the movies again. Most of the films are lackluster, benefiting mainly from a certain James Bond atmosphere and from a built-up sense of audience expectation. However, the actors who played Bond were all first-rate. Connery set the standard, but I loved Moore's radiant narcissism and the effete quality he brought to the role. George Lazenby wasn't too flashy, but he didn't get in the way of a good entry ("On Her Majesty's Secret Service"). I wasn't crazy about Timothy Dalton. I saw him as a gritty reaction to Moore, but he was certainly competent and committed. And Brosnan was superb, combining Moore's self-satisfaction with Dalton's sensitivity. As for Craig, his innovation is that he has stepped out of the tradition and has reconceived the role for himself as a young tough guy with a lot of pain going on inside. And M (Judi Dench) is his mother substitute. It's too early yet to say he's the best, but right now he's my favorite

Follow Ups:

Who said Bond was sauve? He was an orphan sent to a boarding school . . . - mr grits 08:36:14 12/13/08 (0)
He was not bred into English upper class at all. He should look a tad out of place in elegant surroundings. Fleming dropped his own favorite affectations onto his character: shaken, not stirred, his cigarette brand, Sea Island cotton shirts, and (most ridiculously) a 30's Bentley Blower--first novels written in the 50's--quite a conspicuous car for off-duty personal transportation.
Fleming saw himself as a flamboyant yet it was mostly affectation absorbed from the clubiness of Britain's intel community.
And yes, I'm nearly dead, I'm T-minus 17 days to 60.

Edits: 12/13/08
RE: MickLasalle of the SF Chronicle had an interesting response... - jamesgarvin 15:07:09 12/12/08 (0)
I grew up with Roger Moore, and thought he was better than Connery. As I have become older, I appreciated Connery more and more, and now feel Connery much better than Moore. I can watch Connery's films over and over. With rare exception, Moore's films seem dated. I think this also stems from the fact that Connery is a better actor. Look at some of Moore's work when he played The Saint before Bond, and I am hardpressed to tell much of a difference. I would disagree with his characterization of Moore as a first rate actor.

I always felt that Dalton was underappreciated. Following on the heels of Moore, I think that he suffered from the attention deficit disorder of people who were drawn to Bond during Moore's tenure. I think if Moore had only done three films or so, Dalton would have been more successful.

For me, Brosnan is the wild card. I liked his films as Bond, but I question what lasting attraction they will hold. He is very dapper, like Moore, but I think that dapper, English gentleman quality is what ultimately loses my interest in Moore's films. I fear it will do the same with Brosnan's films.

I thought Craig an odd choice, but seeing the first two films, and seeing what the producers are trying to do with Bond, I've enjoyed him very much. My parents, who saw the first Bond film as the opening bill of a three film bill at a drive-in complained that Craig's first was really not a Bond film. Comparing the other films, in which the character is fully formed, with Craig's two films is a bit unfair, as Craig is playing an entirely different Bond, much as we are not the same person we were twenty years ago. We learn things, and develop new habits. And so it must be with Bond. Let's revisit Craig after another four films.

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