The first to vote? It's currently a landslide for Connery :D
Craig, Connery or ... Dalton? Vote now for the ultimate James Bond
Last week, Reg reader movie buffs voted Ernst Stavro Blofeld as the vilest Bond villain - and the sinister cat-stroking nutter certainly deserves the title. Donald Pleasence as Blofeld, with his white cat Kill Bond and bring me some Whiskas, now! Blofeld first popped up in From Russia with Love and Thunderball, although …
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Friday 19th October 2012 14:06 GMT James Micallef
For me the best to capture the darker spirit of the Bond books are Dalton and Craig, but it has to be said that part of the popularity of teh Bond films is the underlying lightness and jocularity brought by Connery.
For me it's still Dalton, though, by a whisker. Of course, Craig still has a chance to overtake
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Friday 19th October 2012 14:51 GMT Anonymous Coward
totally agree
Too much focus on the one liners for some of the more mainstream Bonds (Moore was by far the least good), but both Dalton and Craig can still deliver the one liners and at the same time come convince the audience that they are serious/cold enough to do the job - that's the essence of Bond for me,
Bond ranking:
1) Dalton
2) Craig (potential overtake)
3) Connery
4) Brosnan
5) Moore
Lazenby only had 1 chance, so it's hard to know how good he could have been....
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Friday 19th October 2012 10:14 GMT The BigYin
Surely the winner is...
...who ever pays the most to win?
Bond drinking Heineken?
Next movie? Bond is actually a Khazakstani ex-KGB double agent; because they paid the most money.
And he always makes sure his Nike shoes are clean. They paid the most money.
etc.
I know there's been product placements in Bond before, but it is getting beyond ridiculous.
"Skyfall"? More like "Skymall"
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Friday 19th October 2012 13:20 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Surely the winner is...
Nothing wrong with a bit of product placement, remember the Nokia in Tomorrow never dies... and a few others such as the bmw instead of a bently or aston?
I would like to see Bond driving british cars (well as british as is possible now) more often!
We need to use bond as an advertisement for all thats british! get the world wanting what we make!
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Friday 19th October 2012 10:16 GMT Matthew Smith
Lets hear it for Lazenby
On Her Majesty's Secret Service problem is that it has Telly Savalas as Blofeld. Unfortunately instead of a creepy baldy super fiend, he plays the role as .... Telly Savalas. That pretty much makes it a Telly Savalas film, not a James Bond film. Lazenby does a good job with what he has left. This is the film where Bond marries his girl. Marries! That sounds a terrible idea, but Lazenby makes it work well. He carries the lines, 'That man had guts' after he throws a purser into a snow plough, every bit as good as Connery.
If he had stayed, we wouldn't have descended into the techno camp fest of the Moore years. And we would have been better for it.
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Friday 19th October 2012 11:00 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Lets hear it for Lazenby
Lazenby's greatest ever screen appearance.
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Friday 19th October 2012 15:37 GMT Amazon Wageslave
Re: Right so...
Daniel Craig isn't actually a "muscle-bound hulk". He's naturally very lean-see the hotel scene in Layer Cake for instance. He then worked very hard and got into incredible shape to play Bond, putting on some muscle. The combination makes him look bigger.
Sean Connery was into body-building in the 50's. If you put both of them as Bond together, Connery would be much bigger looking.
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Friday 19th October 2012 12:12 GMT Armando 123
Re: Brosnan totally looked the part...
I've always liked Brosnan as an actor, and thought that he'd have made a great Bond: he could be serious and humorous and could definitely convey the detatched cool needed for Bond. When they tried to sign him in the mid-80s but contracts forbade it. However, he became Bond after the Cold War, so the movies lost their way a bit. He was good, but the movies themselves weren't up to snuff.
I still liked them and watched them, of course, but ...
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Monday 22nd October 2012 07:50 GMT Peter Murphy
Re: Brosnan totally looked the part...
I reckon the best Pierce Brosnan "Bond" movie was actually "The Tailor of Panana". Not a Bond movie, but a spy movie - and Brosnan played it wonderfully sleazy and nasty. (As real spies often are.)
"Don't be a cunt, Harry, we're made for each other. You've got the debts, I've got the money. Where's your patriotism?"
"I had it out in prison, without an anesthetic."
Le Carre - as an ex-intelligence officer - had very unromantic ideas of the secret agent business.
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Monday 22nd October 2012 08:57 GMT Franklin Newton-Steyn
Re: Moore
It worked for Ian Flemming; you know, the guy who wrote the James Bond stories? His first choice from the beginning was none other than (drumroll) Roger Moore.
Sean Connery was too dumb to really get how larky the whole thing is. Moore never missed a cue.
Pierce Brosnan had Ian Flemming spinning (not stirring) in his grave.
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Friday 19th October 2012 20:46 GMT Charlie Clark
Re: Moore
I always found the Moore films to be the most enjoyable because they really didn't take themselves seriously and there was room in the films for the other characters (Sheriff Pepper). Was complementary to Connery's action hero in emphasising a suave approach to saving the world and I enjoyed watching them both: it added to the Bond myth.
By the end of 70s the films, like the music were going downhill so while we gained Jaws we also got Moonraker and Bond went into scriptless sequel mode. Pierce Brosnan was destined to be a great Bond in the style of the earlier ones but fashions had changed.
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Friday 19th October 2012 11:09 GMT Matt 21
Re: Difficult choice
Well Moore was my favourite as I saw him playing Bond first. However, once I was in my twenties I grew to prefer Connery.
Lazenby wasn't in long enough to be sure.
Moore was... well Roger Moore although the bad guy's line in Moonraker almost saved it "I'm going to put you out of my misery Mr. Bond".
Dalton was given crap films so I can't vote for him.
Brosnan was good in his first two but gradually went down hill.
Craig... hmmmm... difficult to say. I liked him in Layer Cake and if you accept that he is trying something new I think he's quite good.
So, Connery first followed by Craig/Brosnan as joint second.
BTW I think the film Ronin has the highest number of Bond bad guys in it without being a Bond film.
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Friday 19th October 2012 11:49 GMT Jedit
"Dalton was given crap films so I can't vote for him"
And yet you're willing to put Craig second, even though Quorum of Bollocks is the worst Bond movie and he's only made one other (see: Lazenby)?
I'll be voting for Dalton as soon as I get to a computer where the poll works because he was closest to the character as written. It's close with Connery, though, as Fleming approved of his portrayal.
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Friday 19th October 2012 12:53 GMT Matt 21
Re: "Dalton was given crap films so I can't vote for him"
I'm not sure Quantum is the worst, did you see "View to a kill"? It wasn't that great though. I suppose I'm willing to give him time as he has done another one and I think he's signed up to do more, plus I liked "Layer Cake" :-)
I like the idea that he (Craig) is trying something different. It worked fairly well in Casino Royale, it was so so in Quantum so I'm looking to Skyfall to see if the character matures and finaly builds on what they've started.
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Friday 19th October 2012 14:16 GMT Jedit
"I'm not sure Quantum is the worst, did you see "View to a kill"? "
In the cinema when it first came out, as I have with every Bond movie since Octopussy. Say what you like about Moore being too old - he certainly was in VTAK - but however silly his movies got they still had a leavening of good nature that kept them watchable. QoS was po-faced and humourless, with Bond driven by revenge for a woman he had used and callously thrown away in the book of Casino Royale and who we'd been given no reason to like in the movie based on it.
In fact, it boggles me why people like Craig as Bond at all. Brosnan's later movies were just as silly as Moore's were, and Craig's are no darker than Dalton's. But Dalton was slated for being too dark and "not what we want from Bond", while Craig is treated like the Second Coming of Sean Connery.
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Friday 19th October 2012 10:30 GMT JimmyPage
If you read the books
you get the idea that Bond is basically a thug. Urbane, witty, charming, but someone who would just as likely kill you as look at you - definitely to be avoided in a dark alley.
Of all the actors who have played Bond, only Connery and Craig (IMHO) have had that edge of danger about their presence which conveyed an air of menace. Which is why Roger Moore was so, so, so, so wrong.
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Friday 19th October 2012 10:40 GMT auburnman
Obvious to see
That overall we much prefer the pared-back 'violence and shagging' Bonds of Craig and Connery. Although I must admit I'm one of those that grew up in the Moore era - his appeal was that he made it look easy and effortless. You could picture him deactivating a bomb with one hand while unzipping a girl's dress with the spare fingers on the hand holding his Martini. Classic "author-insertion-fantasy-persona" stuff. I can see how he'd annoy those who were used to a 'proper' realistic Bond though.
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Friday 19th October 2012 10:42 GMT Alan 6
Dalton is clearly the best actor to ever play Bond, and he did it well, probably closest to the bond of the books.
Daniel Craig is in my opinion the best Bond though, has he adds humanity to the role, he's not invincible, he feels pain.
Bronson had charm, but was let down by ropey films
Moore again had charm, but just couldn't pull off the moves, he also was let down by making the films in an era of terrible fashion
Connery was hard, but in these days a lot of his supposed conquests are borderline rape, it makes me squirm to watch
As another person has said, Lazenby was actually OK, but let down by a bad film
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Friday 19th October 2012 12:00 GMT Ken 16
I assume there'll be a follow on poll for best Bond film?
OHMSS is my personal favourite, which influences my choice of Bond, Casino Royale (the Craig one, not the Niven/Allen one) my second choice, probably because both stay pretty close to the books and don't go nuts on the special effects and From Russia With Love, my third.
Get me started on the worst three...
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Friday 19th October 2012 10:49 GMT Bodhi
Dalton for me, as has been mentioned, probably closest to the original books, and The Living Daylights will always remain my personal favourite. Best theme tune, best car, best storyline imo. I generally tend to dismiss the Dalton haters as not really knowing what they are talking about.
After that it would have to be Connery, then Craig. I try to forget the Moore ever played Bond. Just so worng...
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Friday 19th October 2012 11:18 GMT Don Jefe
Books & Craig
When they first announced that Daniel Craig was going to be the new Bond I was mortified. After seeing the films though I think he best fits the original character described in the books.
Connery is obviously badass and the tastes of the time surely had an impact - nobody can take hits like he did & without showing pain. Craig shows his pain & is also much more like the mean son of a bitch Fleming wrote. In the Connery time being a total mobster (which is how the Bond character is written) wasn't shown much on film so maybe its not his fault. We'll never know though...
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Friday 19th October 2012 11:23 GMT QuinnDexter
Hmmm
The recent Bond movies are the betters ones, IMHO. Gritty and animalisitc type Bond - the scene in Casino Royal when he's tied to the chair and being tickled with the rope can't exactly be compared with the laser beam closing in on his nads in Goldfinger, but shows how the characters have changed over the years along with expectation of the audience. Connery's Bond is the most agressive of the rest of the pack, but in comparison with Craig he's still cool, a measured quick thinking officer and deals with it as such. Craig's Bond is an ex-SAS hardnut who becomes a caged tiger. I've not read the books yet but JimmyPage above suggests this is what Bond should be.
I saw Roger Moore first cos that's the generation I'm from. Live and Let Die, For Your Eyes Only and Diamonds are forever were almost wiped from my memory when I watched Goldfinger and then Dr No and saw the cool viciousness of Connery.
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Friday 19th October 2012 11:42 GMT Andrew James
I've always liked Connery but disliked Moore. As most Connery bond fans seem to do.
I was against the casting of Daniel Craig right up untilbI saw Casino Royale trailers and realised how much of a fantastic job he does.
Comparing across decades is difficult. But for me, I think Craig just takes top spot over Connery. He actually looks like someone tough enough for the stunts bond does.
I voted Brosnan though, because the films were a bit pants but as a Bond he was really good.
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Friday 19th October 2012 11:43 GMT Steven Roper
I voted for Moore
I grant that Connery was certainly the better actor, but to my mind James Bond is, first and formemost, an utter sleaze, a slimeball who worms his way into bed with every woman in the story - and IMO it was Moore who carried the "sleazebag" style off better. He really did come across as utter slime. Connery's suave, sophisticated Bond came off as seeming too "clean-cut" and genteel for what the character was supposed to be, which to my perception jarred with the "slipperiness" I expected from Bond.
As to Craig and Brosnan, they simply came off as common garden "action hero" types and while their performances were enjoyable, there was nothing to distinguish them from other action movies of the time, like Die Hard or the Bourne movies.
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Friday 19th October 2012 11:43 GMT LPF
Its depends on your age..
If you were an adult in the 60's its connery.
70's Moore
after that pure rubbish until brosnan, craig is ok, but seriously blonde ?? dude getting metrasexual!
I have to say its Moore for me, for gods sake a Lotus that turns into an sodding submarine and has surface to air misslies , bollocks to all other gadgets! Plus the otty he nailed tops all others bar non. I would have crawled over 20 miles of broken glass to sweat in Jane Seymores shadow!
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Sunday 21st October 2012 07:39 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Its depends on your age..
"... I would have crawled over 20 miles of broken glass to sweat in Jane Seymores shadow!..."
I see that one of my favourite compliments from yesteryear has been given the 'MTV treatment' and cleaned up for public broadcast. The version we used, back in my lecherous 'yoof' was:
"I'd crawl through broken glass to stick flags in her shit!"
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Friday 19th October 2012 11:43 GMT kdh0009
Connery. But don't underestimate Lazenby's contribution...
George Lazenby - sadly forever the scapegoat for 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' which doesn't rank too highly on many people's favourite Bond film lists.
OHMSS was a big step change from the films the public had become used to under Connery's reign, and was probably a bit commercially risky because of that. Had Connery played that part would it have been better received? I highly doubt it, and Connery's reputation as the best would also have taken a beating.
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Friday 19th October 2012 11:54 GMT I ain't Spartacus
I don't think any of them are bad. Although there have been some pretty shocking films. I've not seen 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' in 20-odd years, so can't remember if it was Lazenby's crap acting, or a rubbish script. The thing is he does really well at the end of the film, which suggests he can act, but my memory's not clear enough to say.
Roger Moore stayed on too long. Some of his early films are great. He was a harder character at the beginning. But by 'View to a Kill' he can't even run up a half flight of stairs, without getting out of breath. That was sad to see. But if you can dismiss those from polluting your mind, his earlier films are good.
I voted for Connery. If I'd seen Skyfall, and it was good, I might have changed to Craig. The problem is Question of Sport. Quantum of Solace' was a right old dog's breakfast, and detracted from the loveliness of 'Casino Royale'.
Connery was just so iconic. But also Bond was so amazing in the 60s. Almost nobody had been on a 747, in the 60s, so even airports were cool. And it was a new kind of film. I suspect you have to have been there to get the full effect (we're all a lot richer than we used to be back then). Once you've done 20 flights in a year on business, hotels and airports suddenly lose all their charm, and happy association with holidays...
Poor Dalton suffered from crap-film-itis. Although 'License to Kill' was OK. I liked him a lot. I was no fan of Brosnan, until his last film - but I'm not sure if that was the films, or him.
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Friday 19th October 2012 11:57 GMT Pooka
I was torn between Brosnan and Craig. I know the Brosnan stories were a bit rubbish, but I did enjoy them a lot more than the Moore/Connery/Dalton ones - So far the Craig ones have been good and I've enjoyed them, but in the end I went for the Brosnan ones....
Of course, since my BluRay boxset arrived this morning I might have to sit down and rewatch the lot in order just so that I get the enjoyment of them all over again! (Damn this being in work thing - I could be most of the way through Dr. No by now!)
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Friday 19th October 2012 12:10 GMT andy gibson
Fleming Fiction
Not sure if its to anyone's tastes but there's a British author called James Follett (not Ken) who wrote a series of novels based at a WW2 POW camp at Grizedale, Lake District (Cage of Cages, Forest of Eages, Return of the Eagles) and one of the lead characters is Ian Fleming. The Bond hints are subtle but good, and well worth a read, as are his other books.
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Friday 19th October 2012 12:13 GMT George of the Jungle
Connery
I had to vote for Connery; the first movie I saw in the theatre was "You Only Live Twice".
I did like Brosnan's portrayal though; he had the suave veneer, with the underlying darkness, although those movies were, as someone else said, pants.
Moore was the best in "Live and Let Die" and "Man with the Golden Gun" (though I really preferred him as Simon Templar). Moore also was hobbled with the 70s, and the fru-fru of the time. He played a much better character later as the tetchy "ffolkes".
I've though Lazenby did as well as could be expected with 1) following Connery and 2) having an awful script.
Dalton's movies were forgettable for me. I'm not sure if it was the time or what, but I don't think I've seen them more than once.
I'm trying to like Craig, with Casino Royale being good, but Quantum of Solace was bollocks. I'm hoping Skyfall will be better.
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Friday 19th October 2012 12:17 GMT Tom 13
I'd like to say it was a tough choice,
I find Moore completely enjoyable and like Lazenby's single appearance. And to be honest, most of the ones I find blah are because of really lousy scripts not the actors or the way they played the character.
But the truth is that when I get together with friends and the GM is snarking a character with an angel on one shoulder, It's not the devil on the other side it's Sean Connery. So he wins without even thinking about it.
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Friday 19th October 2012 12:54 GMT P.Nutt
Remember the film posters - "Sean Connery IS James Bond" ? Well, yes he was, and always will be. He had just the right look, particularly if you were already familiar with the books. Moore was an joke ("Carry On Bond"), Dalton and Brosnan were not all that bad and now Craig`s excellent attempt - Connery, however, is burned into our collective memory as 007, however creaky some of those early films now look.
He will always get my vote.
Mine is the one with "Made by Q branch" patch.
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Friday 19th October 2012 13:16 GMT thomas newton
pffft - Moore carried off the
'perfect english gent' type cool as shown by John Steed and Captan Picard (technically a frenchman, but he's played as English as they come by patrick stewart) - never blows his cool, always perfectly mannered - even when someone's trying to kill him (seen in The Spy Who Loved Me, when Caroline Munro's helicopter pilot is doing her best to machine gun him.) plus he could show a hard edge when he needed to (such as when he gave Locque's car a helping hand - or foot - off the cliff in For Your Eyes Only.)
Dalton second as he really did play the part as it was written - I read a good piece (I forget where unfortunately) on a 007 website a while ago where the case was made for his performance in Licence To Kill being the template for Craig's portrayal.
Brosnan a very close third - although his last outing broke any last bounds of believability.
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Friday 19th October 2012 13:17 GMT Anonymous Coward
I rate the Bonds on how many great films each had
Connery was definitely the best actor of the early years, and arguably ever. But until Diamonds are Forever he never seemed comfortable with one-liners and quips. He was also less of a stereotype bond. In general his movies have less vodka martinis, etc. The killer for me though is that whilst From Russia with Love makes it into my all-time top 5, no other Connery film makes it into the top 10. Thunderball was unfortunately turgid due to the lengthy underwater sequences with no dialogue. And despite the largest set of all time (at the time), and a truly brilliant opening, You Only Live Twice was also pretty turgid. The whole Japanese island thing before the volcano takes forever without giving us any useful plot advancement. OHMSS is just dreadful. Lazenby is never a credible Bond. Roger Moore is interesting. He has some of the worst abominations for example Moonraker or The Man with the Golden Gun. But, he has at least 3 outstanding movies. Two of which are in my top 5. Spy who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only and Live and Let Die are all brilliant. Dalton was also intriguing. The political correctness of that era was clearly a problem, But Living Daylights was a good film. License to Kill has its moments as well. License to Kill is probably in my top 5, but only just.
Brosnan was very interesting. Goldeneye was without doubt one of the best Bond movies, easily in my top 5 and probably my number 2 all time Bond film. But then the films lost their edge. Had Brosnan had a second film even close to the quality of Goldeneye, he would have been my favourite Bond. Craig I have an issue with. Whilst as an actor I'm finding him compelling, the films are not holding up. I really enjoyed Casino Royale at the cinema, but it didn't really survive a second watching. Quantum of Solace was pretty bad.
So for me, by the fact that he has 2 films in my top 5, Moore is my favourite Bond. Brosnan then comes in next, followed by Connery and Dalton. Craig is second to last, and Lazenby is dreadful. It would be easy for Craig to shoot up the list a little if one of his next films is really good.
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Friday 19th October 2012 14:37 GMT Len Goddard
It is still Connery for me, despite the political incorrectness of the films. Most of the later Bonds have had to suffer from pretty naff scripts padded out with special effects and big fight/chase scenes. The results are neither memorable nor impressive.
Dalton made quite a good fist of his two outings. Brosnan was too smooth. Moore was far too smooth. Lazenby was not bad but struggled with a really poor script and a leading lady who couldn't stand him (is it really true she ate raw onions before every love scene?). Craig comes second for Casino Royale, but Quantum of Solice is so forgettable that the only thing about it I can remember is that I have seen it.
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Friday 19th October 2012 15:26 GMT ukgnome
When I ran a pub my interview questions usually had a Bond question in it, either best Bond or best Bond gadget.
Basically if they couldn't answer the finer points of Bond then they couldn't deal with some of my more awkward customers. These days the IT interview question is which is better, Tizer or Dr Pepper. I like to think that this is still Bond relevant as Tizer should be an acronym for a bond gadget and Dr Pepper should be an American female agent, all busty and lusty.
*beer icon, as this proves I need one
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Friday 19th October 2012 16:24 GMT Anonymous Coward
I demand an option to choose David Niven!!
But if I had been thinking about the original "Casino Royale" I would also wanted Woody Allen's "Jimmy Bond" to be on last week's ultimate Bond villian list. Not exactly a Bond film, but Woody Allen was pretty funny for being reduced to pantomiming his evil plan because of monumental masculine insecurity in the presence of the suave 007.
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Sunday 21st October 2012 03:28 GMT Paul Hovnanian
RE: Well, how about the forgotten bond?
I bought the 1967 Casino Royale DVD some years ago (the spoof with David Niven), watched it, had a laugh and put it on the bottom of the stupid movie pile.
When the 2006 version came out on DVD, I picked that one up and decided to watch the comedy version once more (just for a laugh). Afterwards, I discovered that this DVD (the Niven version) has the 1954 made for TV version in the DVD extras (the US DVD, at least).