James Bond has had 24 movies thus far. Of all the Bond portrayals through the years, who do you think is the best? Metro ‘s answer to this question is a resounding Roger Moore. According to the source, Roger Moore’s Live And Let Die is the best James Bond movie of all time. Metro also credits Moore for a more relaxed James Bond.
For the No. 2 position, the source chose Pierce Brosnan. Why?
“He possessed the 007 characteristics perfectly, channeling Sean Connery’s grit and Roger Moore’s wry charm.”
Telegraph tells an entirely different story. Its champion James Bond is Sean Connery “for his confidence in the role, for the exceptional virility of his voice, frame, and body-language, and for the dynamic, unyielding urgency and physicality.”
Telegraph ‘s second is Roger Moore, arguing that the first four of Moore’s James Bond movies are the most enjoyable of the entire series.
Now, since Roger Moore’s name comes up for both Metro and Telegraph , we have to give it to him. He just has to be the best James Bond of all time. Congratulations, Sir Roger Moore, you just dethroned Sir Sean Connery, who is now the second best James Bond in the series.
The next question is, who gets to be third? This retrospective on movies of James Bond past is about to get more interesting. Why did Telegraph pick Daniel Craig while Metro picked Sean Connery? Now since Sean Connery’s name has come up twice already in both listings, this confirms that Connery really deserves to be No. 2. We have no choice but to award the third slot to Pierce Brosnan. This will make Craig No. 4.
So there you have it, our top four James Bonds properly ranked from one to four.
- Roger Moore
- Sean Connery
- Pierce Brosnan
- Daniel Craig
Based on these rankings, we can make a few assumptions. It appears that Bond audiences prefer a much more relaxed and even humorous James Bond to a more serious or brooding type. This is why no matter how distinguished Academy-Award-winner Sean Connery is as an actor, he has only made it to the second place.
And pay close attention to our third best James Bond, Pierce Brosnan. He gets to be ahead of Daniel Craig who is the more serious looking of the two. Craig has been widely acclaimed for giving James Bond his emotional gravity. For doing this, he has been rewarded with a box office deluge for Skyfall and Spectre , which are the two highest-grossing James Bond films of all time, according to The Wrap .
FYI, James Bond is voting Remain https://t.co/oVJVvNazA2 pic.twitter.com/gUsLGFpZXU
— Liverpool Echo (@LivEchonews) June 23, 2016
Yet, despite these box office achievements, Craig is still behind the debonair and funny Pierce Brosnan who is remembered for his antics, such as “she did enjoy a good squeeze.”
Based on the rankings we have reached, we can easily create a profile of the typical James Bond movie watcher as follows.
- Loves comedy
- Prefers witty, funny dialogue to serious stuff
- Academy awardee not required but would be nice
And now that Daniel Craig has resigned, we should be able to use our findings as a benchmark for the next James Bond candidate. In summary, the next 007 should be comfortable with delivering witty and subtly funny lines. In addition, he should be a box office whisperer like Craig while being less dark and less brooding than, say, Timothy Dalton.
These should be the basic requirements for the next James Bond who will carry the franchise to the Brexit era. Or has 007 reached the end of his shelf life?
When Craig took over the James Bond helm from Pierce Brosnan, the franchise was said to be at its lowest ebb. And yet, Craig has managed to breathe life into it and make more money than the Broccolis could dream of. To shut down the James Bond franchise now would prove to be antithetical. It’s like stopping a beach surfer who just found himself a monster wave to ride.
Who do you want to see as the next James Bond? pic.twitter.com/MCaktoMJT1
— IMDb (@IMDb) June 25, 2016
[Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images]