The Worst James Bond Ever

It is common to find discussion and argument about who the best James Bond was. Which actor perfectly captured the blend of charisma, refinement and brutal psychopathic violence? For me the answer is obviously Sean Connery but who was the worst actor to take on the role? There are plenty of candidates; strictly speaking no fewer than eight actors have performed in films as James Bond. We can discount Connery because he was easily the best so letâ??s examine the rest.

The first actor to play Bond on film was actually an American named Barry Nelson. He took on the role of Jimmy Bond, as he called him, in a television movie in 1954. It was an adaptation of Casino Royale which sounds totally appalling save for the fact that Peter Lorre played the villain. Nelson admitted heâ??d never read the book and, although Iâ??ve never seen it, the idea of a yank Bond is more than enough to put me off. I suspect Nelson might have a strong claim to worst Bond ever but the film isnâ??t part of the official series so weâ??ll discount him as candidate.

By the same token we should discount David Niven who played Bond in the 1967 spoof version of Casino Royale. Although it is worth pointing out that Niven was actually considered for the real role at one point. Luckily he never got it. He may have the refinement but he comes across as terribly foppish and it is hard to imagine him convincing audiences as Bond in a fight.

How about the most recent incumbent, Daniel Craig? On the whole he seems to have created a good impression, he looks muscular, he is believably tough but while he has the sophistication he lacks the charm that oozed from some of the other Bonds. He can be a bit wooden at times especially in real life, have you ever seen him interviewed? He seems to be as shy as a schoolgirl, completely monosyllabic and not much like Bond at all, who you imagine despite his status as a secret agent loves to be in the limelight. I think we can discount Craig because he does the action thing well and at the end of the day Bond is an action hero first.

Next up is Pierce Brosnan who played Bond in four films. Producer Albert Broccoli actually tried to get him after Roger Moore retired but he was still under contract for the television series Remington Steele and the part went to Timothy Dalton instead. A few years later Dalton dropped out of GoldenEye and Brosnan got his chance. He combined suave with charm and humour and managed to convince in the action stakes as well and his stewardship of Bond marked something of a comeback for the series.

Now we are getting down to the real contenders for the title of worst Bond ever. George Lazenby was an Australian model turned actor and he had done very little acting work before he somehow landed the part of James Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in 1969. He was following Sean Connery so it was perhaps inevitable that he was in for a hard time. Broccoli tried to get Dalton and Moore amongst others before he settled for Lazenby and much of the decision seems to have been based on the actor having the right look for the part. The resulting film was actually well received and many people loved the more realistic approach and the human and vulnerable performance from Lazenby. He is not a great actor though as evidenced by his career after Bond. Actually he was very unlucky; first his agent persuaded him to ditch the Bond franchise and then as he was about to make a huge budget film with Bruce Lee, Lee died and the financing leaked away. He ended up doing a series of Emmanuelle films which probably tells you all you need to know about his career. Was he the worst Bond though? I think not.

Timothy Dalton was offered the role of Bond several times before he eventually accepted. He played a physical Bond, a gritty action man who was much more like the character that Fleming wrote about. Dalton’s first film in the role was The Living Daylights released in 1987 and it was a success. He did most of his own stunts and he deliberately played the character as a stern antidote to Moore. Not everyone liked it. He lacked the charisma people had come to expect from the character and his second outing as Bond was less of a hit. He was then caught in limbo as a big legal battle put the series on hold for a number of years. By the time it was resolved and GoldenEye was written as the next Bond movie Dalton had decided to hang up his tuxedo and call it a day. Dalton did his best as Bond and actually his approach was quite similar to what Daniel Craig is doing with the role. He never really convinced as Bond for some reason, perhaps because he has a strong whiff of baddie about him but he still wasn’t the worst Bond.

That’s right, you’ve guessed it, there can be only one. Roger Moore is without a doubt the worst James Bond ever. He was also the longest serving, playing Bond for 12 years and appearing in 7 films. There is no doubt many fans like the Moore years and as a child I never realised how bad he was. As an adult it is inescapable, the true horror of a safari suited toff pulling silly faces and generally wandering around looking like an empire throwback rather than a secret agent. Moore thought the books were too serious and he enjoyed adding a bit of humour, he never really took the role particularly seriously and, as he pointed out himself, the idea of a secret agent who goes around introducing himself everywhere is a bit daft. Still you could at least try to keep the illusion going, Connery managed to add comedy without making the character so ridiculous. Bond made Moore rich and he still enjoys the royalties. In real life he is endearingly silly and self effacing which makes me feel slightly guilty for having a go but then again he seems to care little whether he is considered the worst Bond ever. Moore in Octopussy has to mark the low point of the entire series, a secret agent dressed up in a clown outfit sums up Moore as Bond.