Ranking The Bonds

Above, the scene where Sean Connery came up with "Bond, James Bond" in Dr. No.

Now that Daniel Craig's tenure as James Bond has come to its conclusion, this is a good time to rank the actors who have played 007 since 1962.

I liked them all to varying degrees. 

From best to worst (or my order of preference):

1. Sean Connery. What else can you say about the man who started it all in the cinemas? He even came up with the famous line, "Bond, James Bond" in Dr. No in 1962. Yes, that was his creation.

2. Daniel Craig. He brought back believability to the character that hasn't been seen since Timothy Dalton's two-movie stint. He based his portrayal on Connery's.

3. Timothy Dalton. His run was only two movies due to legal problems of the producers. Too much time went by and he decided to drop out. He based his portrayal on Ian Fleming's books. Some fans didn't care for his portrayal, but I liked him as 007.

4. George Lazenby*. Despite his limited acting experience prior to his On Her Majesty's Secret Service, he did a good enough job to make the movie one of the best in the series. I would have liked to have seen him continue on, but his tenure was just the one movie. He had great potential, but it just wasn't in the cards. Because he was limited to one movie, I am adding an * next to his name.

5. Pierce Brosnan. He had the looks, but his initial films seemed like he was posing and not acting the role. He got better in his last two Bond movies and was more convincing than Roger Moore. Unfortunately, the scripts in most of them left much to be desired.

6. Roger Moore. His light touch in the role kept him from being convincing as a superspy. He tended to come off as a fop. His best, in my opinion, was in For Your Eyes Only. His movies were entertaining for the most part, but he didn't really have the gravitas to be consistently convincing.