Rank 'em: James Bond

[heelz2345]

Alright, I know @gunslingerdick is the rank 'em king, but I wanted to talk about the upcoming Bond movie and previous movies, so I thought this would kind of work. So, first, rank the 6 men who played Bond (and if so inclined, include your favorite Bond film of theirs), and then, in the 2nd part, rank the 6 selected Bond Girls. Obviously, there are a ton more Bond Girls than Bonds, but I chose one for each Bond that played the role at least 4 times plus 2 wild cards because I thought it would be best to match the number in both lists. I'm new to this.

Sean Connery

George Lazenby

Roger Moore

Timothy Dalton

Pierce Brosnan

Daniel Craig

And now for the Bond Girls

Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder (Dr. No)

Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore (Goldfinger)

Britt Ekland as Mary Goodnight (The Man with the Golden Gun)

Famke Janssen as Xenia Onatopp (Goldeneye)

Halle Berry as Jinx (Die Another Day)

Eva Green as Vesper Lynd (Casino Royale)

 

[heelz2345]

Over the past week or so, I've been watching a lot of the Bond movies to prepare for the new one. I wanted to watch one of each Bond, but threw in all the Craig ones and a 2nd Connery. I've watched Dr. No, Goldfinger, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Living Daylights, Goldeneye, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall and just for fun, I threw in the first Austin Powers movie. I'm going to see Spectre tonight at the "midnight" showing that's actually at 7:30. While the Roger Moore/Timothy Dalton ones I watched have some cheesy moments, overall, I really enjoyed all of them. I hadn't ever seen the Lazenby one or this Dalton one before the past week, and couldn't say I'd watched Man with the Golden Gun all the way through. I might try and watch all the rest before the end of the month.

 

[BillyL]

Connery has long been #1, but if, Craig keeps doing Bond movies I may have to elevate him to the top spot.

Connery

Craig

Moore

Dalton

Brosnan

Lazenby


For the Bond women, I guess I rank them like this . . tough decision for me as I love watching Eva Green in Casino Royale.

Berry

Green

Andress

Janssen

Blackman

Ekland

 

[gunslingerdick]

1 - Connery - rugged, yet refined. Quintessential Bond.
2 - Roger Moore - I grew up in the Moore era and while he's a little too cutesy at times, he brings the nostalgic quality for me.
3 - Daniel Craig - I don't really do Bond films anymore but I respect Craig for his portrayal.
4 - Pierce Bronson - I think he fits the bill but it's a small sample size.
5 - George Lazenby - I don't remember him as Bond. I haven't seen On Her Majesty's Secret Service in years.
6 - Timothy Dalton - I do remember him as Bond. That's why he's in last place.

I'm not ranking the chicks because the list omitted my favorite - Grace Jones. Nah, I'm kidding. Octopussy is my fav Bond film and my fav Bond girl.

 

[gteeitup]

moore

craig

connery

brosnan

lazenby

dalton
------------
no idea about girls...i guess i would go:

ekland
green (her rack in 300: rise was phenomenal)
richards
berry
that chick in octopussy was pretty hot

 

[heelz2345]

Since I didn't answer my own question, I will rank them as such

1: Connery. He's the right mix for me when it comes to Bond. He kicks ass, he gets the girl, and he looks cool while doing it. When I think Bond, I think Connery.

2: Craig. Casino Royale and Skyfall are 2 of my top 5 Bond movies, and depending on this new one, he might be tied or possibly ahead of Connery. He brought a toughness to the role that we haven't seen since Connery, and I like they have tried to return to "realism" (as real as a James Bond movie can be, anyway).

3: Brosnan. This was the first Bond for me growing up, and while the last 3 of his are a little outlandish, I think he is a good fit as Bond, at least the elegant side. Goldeneye is pretty great though, and the nostalgia of that video game helps as well.

4: Moore. Moore is a little hit or miss with me, some of the things are just so outlandish and over the top that it's hard for me to get over. However, he does a good job most of the time. He is not your ass-kicking kind of 007 though.

5: Lazenby. On Her Majesty's Secret Service is really pretty good considering he had to follow the original (and many people's favorite) Bond. They did a pretty good job of separating him from Connery, but with only one film, it's hard to judge his work as 007. I think with the benefit of hindsight, this film is viewed more favorably now than when it was released. While I have him toward the bottom just because he only had 1 go-round as Bond, the movie itself would be higher than average.

6: Dalton. I liked Dalton but neither of his movies really have anything particularly memorable about them. They aren't terrible, they aren't great, they just kind of are. He does fine in the role, but nothing really jumps out about them. I do really like him in other movies I've seen him in though (Hot Fuzz, Toy Story 3).

As for the girls, I would say

Andress
Berry
Green
Janssen
Ekland
Blackman

Berry gets the nostalgia bump from me. I was 12 when that movie came out, and she's the first Bond girl I remember. Andress is just so iconic, she's hard to beat. She really sets the tone for many of the Bond girls after her. Green is probably the best all around character of the group, and I've enjoyed her in other things I've seen her in.

Some honorable mentions I didn't include are Denise Richards, Teri Hatcher, Olga Kurylenko, Barbara Bach, Diana Rigg and Rosamund Pike.

 

[keysersosay#1]

Connery and everyone else

 

[TarHeelMark]

Connery
Craig
Brosnan
Moore
Lazenby
Dalton

 

[UNC71-00]

Connery
Brosnan
Moore
Craig
Lazenby
Dalton

How about I rank the women you didn't list?

....

 

[grillheel]

Connery
Craig
Brosnan
Dalton
Moore
Lazenby

 

[heelmanwilm]

(Bond wakes up on beach, sees beautiful girl)
Bond: "i must be in heaven"
Girl: "hello i'm pussy galore"
Bond; "yes i'm def in heaven"

 

[heelz2345]

I saw Spectre last night, and I really enjoyed it. It's a tough call if it's quite as good as Casino Royale or Skyfall (and the reviews say it's not), but I thought it had everything you could want in a Bond movie. Christoph Waltz is an awesome villain. There is definitely a lot to enjoy in this movie.

 

[Raising Heel]

Bonds, ranked with one word:

Connery - Classic
Craig - Stoic
Brosnan - Charismatic
Moore - Campy
Lazenby - Obscure
Dalton - Forgettable

And now, a bunch of Bond Girls in no particular order

Claudine Auger (Thunderball)

Jill St. John (Diamonds Are Forever)

Plenty O'Toole (Diamonds Are Forever)

Tanya Roberts (A View to a Kill)

Fiona Fullerton (A View to a Kill)

Cecilie Thomsen (Tomorrow Never Dies)

Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace)

 

[Raising Heel]

You could also do a rank 'em of Bond Theme Songs.

 

[heelz2345]

You could also do a rank 'em of Bond Theme Songs.

1: Live & Let Die
2: Skyfall
the rest

 

[Raising Heel]

1: Live & Let Die
2: Skyfall
the rest

"Nobody Does It Better" is a classic. I've been known to get "For Your Eyes Only" stuck in my head for weeks at a time. But my biggest soft spot is for "A View to a Kill" (Duran Duran). Somewhere, deep in the bowels of my house, there is a moving box with an old VHS tape of Live Aid (look it up) performances. They sang this song and Simon LeBon's voice cracks as he sings the line: "A fatal kiss, is all we neee(screech)eeeed." Cracked me up every time.

 

[heelz2345]

Those aren't bad. I thought the new one was pretty solid as well. It's kind of amazing to look back and see just how many people have done the themes over the years.

 

[gunslingerdick]

.

 

[gunslingerdick]

You could also do a rank 'em of Bond Theme Songs.

Umm, was the winky emoji because you knew I did a James Bond theme song rank 'em a couple years ago?

 

[Blue2010]

Saw Spectre today and really enjoyed it. Hate to admit to having never seen any of the others...was never a P.Brosnan fan and his movies just seemed really cheesy to me (kinda like the Clooney days of Batman), so I never had the urge to see any of the Bond movies. Was actually dragged to the one today and was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it.

 

[Raising Heel]

Hate to admit to having never seen any of the others....

Dude.

LOL, keep an eye out for James Bond marathons. Seems like somebody always does one around the holidays...I want to say maybe Spike TV. Start with a Connery flick and go from there.

 

[TarHeelNation11]

I don't get the James Bond thing. Never really have.

That being said, I saw Spectre and I liked it. That French blonde had me very flustered