The new 007

[Kai]

Law or Owen

 

[esquire.]

Ian Fleming didn't origninally support the selection of Sean Connery to play Bond.

I think they should choose Hugh Grant to shake things up. He's got quite a nasty streak to him in the Bridget Jones movies.

I'm not a fan of the whole 007 franchise. I just find the character anachronoistic and mysogynistic.

 

[Mike]

The problem(?) with Dalton, was that he came from a wide theatre background. He tried to apply a lot of theatre acting techniques to define Bond. Thing is, Bond is Bond. No need for an actor to do a lot of work with the character. Go back, look at the series and see what works and continue with that. Dalton tried to make Bond a lot more serious, not a problem, but with Dalton doing it it looked like Bond was trying to do a quantitative algebra problem in his head most of the time.

That being said, I liked "The Living Daylights." It was a solid film, and I always wondered why the Bond girl never did much else; she was beautiful. "Die Another Day was WAY too over the top, like the tail end of Rodger Moore's stint, which isn't good.

My vote goes to Clive Owen. He has that seriousness the series needs, but in not such a heavy dose as math professor Dalton. He looks good in a suit, and he's tough enough to definatly look believable. Plus, he can pull off the double entandres and innuendo that makes the series classic. Now, if they'd only stop hiring these damn action movie screenwriters to write the damn things...

 

[water]

Clive Owen certainly has the ability to excel in the role. Very good actor with a very believable streak of straight-faced toughness. If there is any doubt, go watch 'I'll Sleep When I'm Dead'. My only concern about Owen is why he would want to get bogged down with the role. He has a bit too much talent and promise to have to be burdened with spending the rest of his career trying to escape the shadow of James Bond. That is not to say it cannot be escaped, but it is tough.

I never really liked Brosnan in the role as I find it very hard to take him serious. To me, the actor portraying Bond has to have the straight-faced toughness I referred to above. Otherwise the whole thing becomes little more than farce. Brosnan was perfect as Remington Steele.

 

[TheRookie]

Owen - Jude Law and Hugh Grant are too scrawny and pretty.

Supposedly of the actors who have played Bond Dalton most resembled the character in the books (I haven't read them) - a little harder edge, handsome but not pretty.

 

[Kai]

Quote:

(drizzt3117 @ 18 Nov. 2004, 3:40) I think Dalton was pretty hardcore, people wanted a switch from him because he wasn't a very nice guy...
I am probably in the minority, but I quite liked Dalton's Bond. Â He played a darker, more human Bond, particularly in License To Kill, where he avenged the maiming of Felix Leiter and the murder of Felix's bride. Â Brosnan's Bond has been a bit cartoonish.
I'm glad to see I'm not the only fan of Dalton. I liked him better than any Bond except for the early Sean Connery Bond. He had emotions. He had a dangerous, hard edge about him. I also agree that the franchise really needs to jerk itself back to reality a bit. The movies need to be more than a bunch of stunts and bad puns. In the past, the crazy stunts were a lot more impressive, because there was a real, live stunt man doing it. Now, you know it's only computer generated and it just isn't that exciting. Die Another Day was just plain silly. As mentioned above, it's degenerating into the late Roger Moore period, almost a parody. Give the new Bond a serious script, and Charlize Theron as his "Bond Girl" and the franchise will get a much needed jump start.

 

[Nonk]

I agree with a lot of the posts. The franchise really needs new direction, as the last 3 films have been frankly, dire. Goldeneye was passable, but then again I did not see Brosnan as a good fit in the role, he lacks any menace whatsoever, and I find him smarmy.
Dalton was my favourite, and I think ahead of his time, as Licence to Kill was generally regarded as a flop for being too violent, and for want of a better word, realistic, i.e. no ubervillain scheming to take over the world in some hugely implausible way, just a drug dealer and a personal vendetta, yet look where we are, with the excellent Bourne series basically using this same style, and being massive hits.

I would love a new Bond, with a new direction to serious, reality based thrillers, not Austin Powers crap (sorry, hate it) we have suffered recently.

I favour an off the wall choice, like Damien Lewis or Jonathan Cake, or from the list Clive Owen.

Please not Ewan McGregor.

Pity Dalton is too old now.


Just on the subject of who Cubby Brocolli wanted, did he not favour Cary Grant, but could not get him due to budget constraints, meaning his fee was more than the entire budget for Dr. No?

 

[Nonk]

On Her Majesty's Secret Service with Lazenby, just like Dalton's two outings have, I think, become much more accepted and appreciated as the years have gone by.

I think the sacking of Brosnan, and lack of any real info on the net about script or directors for the next film indicates that the producers have realised a lot or all of what has been said here, and we are going to, hopefully, get something new and fresh after a short hiatus.

So lets have a new Bond, new to the franchise director and writers, NO God awful John Cleese, no gadgets and a decent theme song.

 

[Ambulance Chaser]

I am surprised at the overwhelming support for Mr. Owen. Â Look like there are a lot of Bond purists on this board. Check out this screen shot from the upcoming movie Closer. Â Tell me who looks more like how you picture Bond.

 

[TheRookie]

For those unaware - there is a Bond marathon currently ongoing on Spike TV.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

I think I should be the new Bond. F*ck it.
It's about time we had a Japanese/Irish superspy.

 

[Valmont]

I think Robbie Williams would be an excellent bond. Sure he is not very well-spoken or worldly but he has got the cool connery look and they could probably teach him the rest, it's only a bond movie not a shakespeare play.

Only problem is that has got too many tattos all over his body, but I guess they should have some way of editing it out or just keep bond fully clothed (not very likely).

 

[stevo4]

Ever since i saw Clive Owen in Croupier, i thought he could fill the Bond shoes very nicely.

I just think although he's been in a number of films, including the BMW series which helped his exposure quite a bit, he still isn't as recognizeable as some of the others. And in Hollywood, its all about who can open a movie big.

Stevo

 

[drizzt3117]

Well, he was the lead character of a major film (King Arthur) Brosnan wasn't huge before he became bond, neither was Dalton, the franchise will sell itself.

 

[water]

I agree, the franchise sells itself.

And in the picture AChaser linked, I definitely think Clive Owen looks the part. Bond needs more menace.