It’s unclear how the contracts for James Bond actors are going to look under Amazon, but when the Broccolis were in charge, stars were always assured of a lengthy run. A minimum of four movies was guaranteed, unless an actor chose not to continue, as was the case with George Lazenby. Even in such cases, an actor could be begged to stay if he was good enough (like Craig). Rare behind-the-scenes legal issues could also shorten an actor’s time as Agent 007, a scenario witnessed during Timothy Dalton’s stint.
However, Bond actors don’t always have perfect records. Except for Lazenby, each has at least one bad movie. Lazenby will thus be left out of this list because he only starred in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, which is considered a masterpiece. It’s a shame that he chose not to continue, but judging from his documentary film, Becoming Bond, he sure wishes he’d have stuck around longer. It’s worth noting that in the 007 franchise, even a bad movie is more entertaining than most of what you’ll find out there, so don’t skip these if you haven’t watched them yet.
5
Timothy Dalton: ‘The Living Daylights’ (1987)
The Living Daylights begins with James Bond helping KGB officer Georgi Koskov defect during a symphony performance. The traitor reveals that a new KGB head has set up a policy of assassinating defectors, but before MI6 can figure out how to protect him, a new threat emerges, involving a shady American arms dealer and Russian assassins. The title is taken from Ian Fleming’s short story “The Living Daylights”, the plot of which also forms the film’s first act.
This isn’t a bad installment, just the lesser of the two Dalton movies. As much a story of camaraderie as an espionage film, John Glen’s powerful, deeply moving The Living Daylights brought home all the horror of the Cold War, where a few mistakes result in unspeakable slaughter. The fight sequences are outstanding, even poetic, but the filmmaker is more interested in the psychology of his characters and the redemption of honor than in tour de force battles.
However, the entire affair feels like a commentary piece on the East Vs. West conflict of the time, and is unlikely to impress a modern viewer who doesn’t love history. The humor is almost non-existent, too, which isn’t a bad thing for those who love a darker Bond, but we bet ‘80s audiences were confused. Uptight would be the perfect word to describe Dalton’s film. Worse, it contains no iconic moments, such as that of Blofeld shooting Bond’s lover.
4
Sean Connery: ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ (1971)
After George Lazenby’s exit, Albert R. Broccoli tested several other actors for Diamonds Are Forever, but United Artists (the studio handling Bond movies at the time) wanted to get back with the ex, so they paid a then-record US$1.25 million salary for Sean Connery to return. The Oscar-winning actor thus donned the tux again, this time to infiltrate a diamond smuggling ring. It’s later revealed in the film that Bond’s archenemy Ernst Stavro Blofeld, is looking to use the diamonds to build a space-based laser weapon and destroy Washington, DC.
Diamonds Are Forever is all good fun, and the rollicking humor is well played by a great cast, including Connery, who drives a moon buggy at some point (but often has shaky moments like an employee who has returned from holiday), and Charles Gray as Blofeld. Interestingly, the latter had previously played another Bond character (Henderson in You Only Live Twice). But as good as Gray was throughout his career, he wasn’t a perfect choice for the overarching villain. Great actors enjoy a major challenge so much that they sometimes overplay a complex character like Blofeld (we even saw it with Christoph Waltz). Gray actually infuses too much physical detail into the role; his performance is so freighted with verbal flukes and stumbles — awkwardness as a sign of spiritual arrogance — that it ultimately becomes fussy, bizarre, and cloying.
Tiffany Case isn’t a great Bond girl either, as she is mostly helpless. She has no derring-do or femme fatale moments. And director Guy Hamilton sure deserves a great portion of the blame, too. We expected more from the person who gave us Goldfinger. On a positive note, the movie is cotton buds to the ears. It was no surprise when it was nominated for Best Sound at the Oscars.
3
Roger Moore: ‘A View to a Kill’ (1985)
In his final outing as Bond, Roger Moore missed the opportunity to go out with a bang. Here, Agent 007 faces off against Max Zorin, a microchip tycoon seeking to flood Silicon Valley and destroy the competition so that he can have a monopoly on the tech industry. Although the title is taken from Ian Fleming’s 1960 short story “From a View to a Kill,” A View to a Kill has an entirely original script.
There’s a lot of angst and sexual tension in A View to Kill, to be sure, but the film ultimately satisfies our lust for malice and good old-fashioned action sequences. Casual audiences will enjoy the spectacle of unlikely allies frolicking together, while loyalists will certainly get a kick out of the idiosyncratic script and the Duran Duran theme song, which became the only Bond theme song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Besides that, there aren’t many Bond lackeys cooler than May Day. However, the flick has some glaring flaws.
First, Moore is terrible here. It wouldn’t be unfair to assume that he had grown completely tired of the role by this point. The actor was 57 at the time, and his age is hard not to notice on screen. Moore later admitted in a December 2007 interview that he had stretched his stint too long. “I was only about four hundred years too old for the part,” he said. He also admitted to being mortified to find out that he was older than his female co-star’s mom.
2
Pierce Brosnan: ‘Die Another Day’ (2002)
Early in Die Another Day, Bond is captured and tortured in North Korea after a botched mission. Luckily, he is freed as part of a prisoner exchange, but is suspended by M. Quietly, he continues his investigation, uncovering the evil plans of billionaire Gustav Graves, whose deadly satellite weapon named Icarus can channel sunlight into a deadly beam. Bond thus teams up with NSA agent Jinx (Halle Berry) to stop him.
Die Another Day is more a case of style over substance, too concerned with its visuals, gadgets (there is even an invisible car), Casanova excesses, and recurring classical allusions to bother with a trifling thing like characterization. The truth is, the film works best when it embraces its human side. Or, to put it a different way, the franchise, in general, works best when Bond is at his most vulnerable.
It also wouldn’t take a keen eye to notice the excessive product placement. And the villain? Don’t even mention him. Brosnan isn’t good either. Halle Berry is the film’s only saving grace. She sure deserved to be in a Bond movie with a better script. The blemishes in Brosnan’s final outing are even more obvious when you compare it to The Bourne Identity, which came out around the same time.
1
Daniel Craig: ‘Quantum of Solace’ (2008)
In Quantum of Solace, Bond has his eyes on Dominic Greene, a ruthless tycoon and member of the secret organization known as Quantum. Posing as a philanthropic environmentalist, Greene is actually plotting to control Bolivia’s water supply, hoping to gain more political power. The agent also digs into the death of his lover, Vesper Lynd, who betrayed him in Casino Royale.
What good can ever be said about Quantum of Solace, a film whose script was delayed by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, forcing production to start without a story? Director Marc Forster revealed that he wasn’t even a fan of the franchise and was surprised that he was approached for the job. Throughout the proceedings, he hovers in such proximity to his leading characters that you start to ask whether his primary intention is to feel their breath on his neck, not give us their stories.
Daniel Craig is great, though, and it’s fun watching him prowl around unfamiliar alleys and apartments. The locations are one of the delightful joys of this picture, with Forster unerringly picking out the most colorful architecture. But even with a short running time of 106 minutes, the movie keeps repeating itself more often than a procedural. Thank God for Sam Mendes, who brought the franchise back to form in Skyfall.