I don't know how George Lazenby got the job in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, but he seemed to have no chemistry with leading lady Diana Rigg and makes Moore seem positively animated. Timothy Dalton, who assumed the role after Moore retired, was not much more lively in his two go arounds as the man with a license to kill. While an attractive fellow, he did nothing to leave his mark in the role and it seems almost as if the producers were just waiting for Brosnan to become available.
Who will be the next Bond? Let's hope that someone will be selected that can somehow capture the essence of 007: a bit sophisticated, very handsome, keenly intelligent, and inherently dangerous. If I could nominate anyone, it would be Christian Bale, who has reinvigorated the Batman franchise this summer. Perhaps he can do the same for Bond. James Bond.
A list follows of the actors who played Bond and the films they appeared in. An asterisk follows my favorite film in each group, except in the case of Lazenby, whose one and only Bond film I didn't appreciate. David Niven played 007 once in Casino Royale, thus he appears in the list below, but that film was a comedy and not part of the franchise being discussed here.
Sean Connery Dr. No (1962), From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964)*, Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), Diamonds are Forever (1971), Never Say Never Again (1983).
David Niven Casino Royale (1967)
George Lazenby On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
Roger Moore Live and Let Die (1971)*, The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983), A View to a Kill (1985)
Timothy Dalton The Living Daylights (1987), License to Kill (1989)*
Pierce Brosnan GoldenEye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)*, The World is Not Enough (1999), Die Another Day (2002)
Copyright © Victor Lana 2005
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Article comments
1 - Aaman
You missed Barry Nelson in Casino Royale(1954), and of course Peter Sellers as Jimmy Bond in the Niven film.
2 - Victor Lana
Thanks, Aaman, I didn't know about that 1954 film, and yes there is Jimmy. Also, my own nephew told me about James Bond Jr. that I didn't know about either.
3 - chris franklin
Frankly, I thought -Goldeneye- rocked pretty well in '95 and I actually thought the franchise was trending upwards. But subsequent Bond releases have been hard to get in to (let's see, how about "surfing" to reach a mission destination...yeah, great, low-risk, real, perfect!?)
Lazenby's -On Her Majesty's...- was actually ok, bringing a different angle, marriage (Bond...Marriage...Get the F**k outta here!?:) to the Bond character.
I know I am going to get roasted on this, but my favorite Bond film is Connery's 1983, -Never Say Never Again Oww...the flames!! It burns!!!
Moore's -For Your Eye's Only- ties with Brosnan's -Goldeneye- for Second, at least in my book. Lazenby's -On Her Majesty's...- gets third.
I was born in the 70's, so Connery's 60's films that are the bedrock of the franchise just seemed a little dated when I was growing up vs. Moore's Disco-style, throw-down ventures.