Casino Royale

[Harp]

The 007 franchise lost me back when Sean Connery left the role
of James Bond; however, the new kid on the block, Daniel Craig seems
a credible heir to his legacy. Any other opinions out there?

 

[Lancealot]

I'm trying not form an opinion until the I see the movie. However I think from what I have seen him in he is going to be closer to Sean Connery.

 

[MelissaAnne]

I'm pretty excited to see the new Bond film. I think Sean Connery will always "own" the role, but I'm eager to see how David Craig does. He appears to have the type of smoldering personality that Bond needs. We'll see...

 

[Feraud]

We all have our favorite Bond. I see there is a major anti-Daniel Craig as Bond movement out there. I have not been interested in the Bond films for a long time and am not sure what the fuss is about. Looks and talent are subjective and we have not seen Craig in the role to judge.
Surmising is all part of the fun.

 

[Atomic Glee]

I'm waiting to see the movie itself first. If it's going to be a real Bond spy thriller, and not an overblown CGI-laden big dumb action movie like the series has been trending towards of late (like "Die Another Day" - ick), it'll be an improvement right off the bat. I have some doubts about Craig as Bond, but we'll see.

My favorite Bonds are Connery (at least pre-Diamonds Are Forever) and Timothy Dalton, because I've always felt they brought out the ruthless, hardcore secret agent-ness of the character over the "big dumb action movie hero" style he's been portrayed as lately, or the goofy comedy Bond that makes me want to pull my hair out. Matter of fact, my two favorite Bond movies have always tended to be "From Russia With Love" and "The Living Daylights."

I had high hopes for Brosnan, and I still like him a lot. I think he really could have been one of the very best Bonds. It's just that it seems like the powers-that-be decided to make Bond movies into big blockbuster action movies, which is not what makes Bond great. The only Brosnan film I really like anymore is "Goldeneye," which is a lot leaner and more down-to-Earth and spy-ish than the ones that followed.

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

My favorite Bonds are Connery (at least pre-Diamonds Are Forever) and Timothy Dalton, because I've always felt they brought out the ruthless, hardcore secret agent-ness of the character

I have the same favourites. Just can't take Moore and Brosnan serious, which is still enforced by having seen them in comedy series like The Persuaders! (Simon Templar can't repair this) and Remington Steele. Roger Moore is certainly a fine actor, only not the best Bond to me. He's also too big and stiff somehow.

For what it's worth, Connery and Dalton are closer to the character in Fleming's stories, I think. Not really a nice guy, this Mr Bond.

 

[SinatraStyle]

Daniel Craig's Chance to Shine

I also am trying to wait for the movie's release before forming an opinion. Casino Royale was Ian Fleming's first "Bond" novel, so this should be a defining moment not only for Daniel Craig, but for the James Bond franchise as well. The last few installments have lost the raw Bond feel, so I am anxiously awaiting the movie's release on Nov 17.

 

[Tomasso]

Fleming Created Bond With Cary Grant In Mind

For what it's worth, Connery and Dalton are closer to the character in Fleming's stories

And, Grant turned down the role that went to Connery. Could you imagine Cary Grant as James Bond?

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

Yes. In spite of his comic r?¥les before.

 

[Atomic Glee]

I have the same favourites. Just can't take Moore and Brosnan serious, which is still enforced by having seen them in comedy series like The Persuaders! (Simon Templar can't repair this) and Remington Steele. Roger Moore is certainly a fine actor, only not the best Bond to me. He's also too big and stiff somehow.

For what it's worth, Connery and Dalton are closer to the character in Fleming's stories, I think. Not really a nice guy, this Mr Bond.

I have nothing at all against Roger Moore as an actor, but egads, man - some of Moore's Bond movies are just *painful,* at least in my opinion. I can't stand the '70s Moore flicks (though that may be due to my dislike of most things '70s), and then there's "A View To A Kill," which seemed to me more like an episode of "Murder, She Wrote" with some Bond elements mixed in. Any movie that wastes both Christopher Walken as a Bond villain and a fantastic Duran Duran song really ticks me off.

Brosnan - like I said, I like him well enough. I really like "Goldeneye," then things just started to go very wrong. By the time he's got an invisible (!) Aston Martin and participates in CGI hovercraft chases to the tune of a Madonna dance song, they've lost me.

Indeed, Bond isn't supposed to be a nice & pure kinda guy. I appreciate an actor who can successfully portray a man who's both suave and debonair, and ruthless and driven. Connery and Dalton did that well - I always thought Dalton was very underrated by most as Bond.

 

[Twitch]

For me when Brosnan came on board it was as though all the interim Bonds were erased after Connery. Brosnan was a great Bond. Moore played it like he was making fun of the whole idea.

Over the weekend I watched From Russia with Love followed by Die Another Day and there IS no other Bond but Connery! Brosnan is pretty fine though. We'll just have to see how any new guy is.

 

[Tomasso]

Moore played it like he was making fun of the whole idea.

I think that Moore's Bond flicks were written with more humor than those before or after. I mean, what kind of a villain was Jaws?

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

I think that Moore's Bond flicks were written with more humor than those before or after. I mean, what kind of a villain was Jaws?

Or a different kind of humor, silly and forced seventies humor. (May I bring Sheriff Pepper to mind?) That wasn't the actor's fault.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

I think that Moore's Bond flicks were written with more humor than those before or after. I mean, what kind of a villain was Jaws?

Ahhhh but Jaws wasn't the villain. Jaws was the henchman. The henchman is always quirky and with a random destructive talent.....Oddjob anyone?

But yes, the villians in Moore films were not the highest calibre.....Zorin...*shudders*

 

[Atomic Glee]

Ahhhh but Jaws wasn't the villain. Jaws was the henchman. The henchman is always quirky and with a random destructive talent.....Oddjob anyone?

But yes, the villians in Moore films were not the highest calibre.....Zorin...*shudders*

Besides, Jaws was played by Richard "Eegah!" Kiel, and you have to give him points for that.

What's depressing about Zorin is that Christopher Walken, in a much better movie, probably could have made a very, very memorable Bond villain. His presence went completely to waste in "A View To A Kill."

 

[carebear]

I'm wondering how close to the book they'll play this one.

The dollar amounts seem so miniscule now but the finance issue was really interesting. Much like the scheme to move gold out of Britain to take advantage of the price difference in India was intriguing in Goldfinger but was more or less ignored in the movie. Heck, even the guano business background in Dr. No was worth the read.

In Casino Royale Bond gets tortured pretty good. I don't know that they'll get anything close to that on the screen.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Well, I hate to join in an aside because this thread is about Daniel Craig, but Roger Moore as James Bond was great fun. He had style and class, but many of the films were terrible, though watchable and watchability, if I may create a neologism, is not a bad thing.

And to go off track even further, Roger Moore was an excellent Bond in one of the finest films of the franchise, "For Your Eyes Only." This film finally went back to the original feel of the Connery Films.

Now, back on topic, Daniel Craig did not help himself by wearing a life preserver to the ceremony on The Thames that introduced him as James Bond, nor by saying that he is a pacifist and hates guns. However, I will say this, he is in excellent shape.

 

[Kt Templar]

One thing Craig does have to his advantage: He's not Clive Owen. I really can't believe the people who keep suggesting him whenever a new actor for Bond is brought up, Owen is a dreadful (bad) TV actor with unbelievably bad veneers. Please no! He of the same ilk as Lewis Collins was in the past and he would have been just as bad a choice.

Who would I like to see as Bond? Damien Lewis or maybe Kevin McKidd (Vorenus from Rome.)

I liked Brosnan as Bond though he always pulled that strange face it seemed like he was trying to keep his hairline forward or something. His Bond movies were big silly pics. But in Britain that's what we expect Bond movies to be, they were often released in November as a Xmas treat for the family.

Dalton always looked on the verge of tears and I could never get Prince Barin from Flash Gordon out of my mind.

 

[Senator Jack]

Jaws is actually the only character they took from the book 'The Spy Who Loved Me.' Though Ian Fleming had named him Steel.

 

[Twitch]

The production company is to blame for much of the outrageous stuff in most of the Bond movies. It was a oneupsmanship to concoct special effects and stunts better than the last movie's.

Whe you see one like From Russia With Love you see the true Fleming concept of James Bond. At some point in the franchise bizarre stunts and special effects took over from solid characters and plausible stotylines. ANd that's what we're left with today