Bond Backs Bond

I think/wish everyone would just chill the F out about him. We haven't seen one thing other than the above picture, so how can we be sure it's going to be the unmitigaged disaster some are predicting. I'm a Bond fan of the highest order, short of knowing the milage on the Aston Martin in Goldfinger, and I think the series needs to get some grounding in reality. For crying out loud, he wind surfed away from a collapsing iceberg in Die Another Day; they were turning it into the X-Games with all of the stunts.

In short, just give Craig a chance and see what happens.

Well, nobody can be as bad as Timothy Dalton, at least, so Craig's got a leg up there. I still think nobody'll be better then Connery. He's been the closest character approximation (IMHO) to Fleming's original novels.

Although I generally dislike remakes, I always wondered what it'd be like to remake the 13 IF Bond novels as they were written (especially 'Moonraker', as there are MASSIVE differences between book and film). I think if they got a young enough 007 (which Craig unfortunately ain't...), they might be able to reinvent/ reinvigorate the franchise (a la 'Batman Begins' w/ Bale as Bats).

Timothy Dalton wasn't bad at all. Roger Moore was the worse of the Bond's ever. The only thing that saved his early films was the villains. Moonraker turned everything to a crapfest.

As for Craig, I want to see him do well and hopefully the producers will do a gritter more realistic Bond like in the early years of the Bond films.

Actually, I have to put my vote behind both Dalton and Moore as good Bonds. Moore's movies haven't aged as well as Connery's for some reason (gotta love the 70's), but I liked both actors outings in the role. George Lazenby however...

I hated the Pierce Bronsnan 007 films. Each movie was merely remakes of the early Bond stories made into movies. My main problem is that and that the actor didnt keep Fleming's vision alive for what Bond should be.

People dont give enough to Timothy Dalton. His portrayal was closer to Connery's and Lazenby's than the others. However, the cleverness and genius were not there. That, IMHO, is why people do not like him.

There are still Ian Fleming bond stories that have not seen the light of day: A Game of Bridge at Blake, the Hildebrand Rarity, the Property of a Lady, Nude Girl of Nightmare Key, Quantum of Solace, 007 in New York, and Riasco.

Not only Moonraker but the Living Day Lights, Live & Let Die, From a View to a Kill, You Only Live Twice, For Your Eyes Only, and the Spy who Loved me were not accurate with the books either.

My ratings for James Bond actors are: 1) Sean Connery, 2) George Lazenby, 3) Timothy Dalton, 4) Barry Nelson, 5) Roger Moore (too comedic), 6) Pierce Brosnan (didnt keep Fleming's vision), 7) Peter Sellers (too off the wall).

Let's not even talk about the novel sequels (Gardner: born in the 40s) (Benson: born in the 50s, quits smoking, doesnt have a degree in Oriental Languages, lies to Moneypenny about his language degree, author is American).

When did Peter Sellers play Bond? I'm lost.

In the original Casino Royale. Of course David Niven also played Bond in that movie. The plot was too weird to describe, but there were several "Bonds".

Timothy Dalton and Roger Moore were Great Bonds. Craig is getting off on a bad foot, I am not really upset that he got cast, I am more upset on what tehy are doing to the movie. This Bond movie is going to be the Black Sheep of the bond movies and I feel that they should have made this particular bond back in the 60's with Connery as Bond.

I actually bought that Casino Royale with Barry Nelson playing bond, taht is still interesting to watch if you a massive bond fan.

I agree with a lot of the posts made here. Dalton didn't get the credit he deserved and unfortunately--this goes for Moore too--a lot of the problems w/ the 007 series has been the writing. They dumb it down, throw a pretty boy into the mix, blow it up and expect the hammy painfully self-conscious one liners to carry the movie. Fleming's novels were spy thrillers. Not gimmicks or throw in Hally Berry as an homage to Ursula. If anyone's too blame for the disspointments it's been the writers and the studios who want to dumb Bond down for the lowest common denominator.