29 replies to this topic

[WatchtheBirdy]

In your opinion, what would the Bond series would be like if Burt Reynolds had taken the role for Live and Let Die?

In my opinion, the series would be dead.

[Righty007]

In my opinion, the series would be dead.

Either that or he would be another Lazenby.

[Cruiserweight]

I agree with both posts.

[rebeck]

It hurts the brain to even contemplate it.

Even James Brolin would have been better...

Of course, Cary Grant and David Niven would have been terrible choices too. I firmly believe if anyone other than Sean Connery, with his unique mix of violence, lust and humor, had played the role to begin with the series as we know it would have never happened and none of us would be here talking about it now.

Scottish serendipity.

[Mr. Blofeld]

Thank heavens the producers weren't that stupid.

[Blonde Bond]

We'd all grow some burns as soon as we'd get our very first patch of facial hair.

(minus those women that just can't grow facial hair)

[Bondian]

(minus those women that just can't grow facial hair)

And thank heavens for that. Otherwise we'd be getting stuck like Velcro.

[HawkEye007]

Ferguson, Turd Ferguson.

If anyone has seen SNL Celebrity Jeopardy they know what I'm talking about. I agree with everybody, it would have been the death of the franchise.

[Mister Asterix]

[mra]At that time I think Reynolds would have done as well as any American that could

[jaguar007]

[quote name='Mister Asterix' post='805918' date='11 December 2007 - 08:21'][mra]At that time I think Reynolds would have done as well as any American that could

[plankattack]

[quote name='Mister Asterix' post='805918' date='11 December 2007 - 11:21']Burt had the right screen presence and intensity for the role. He had a good look for Bond, and he hadn

[Vauxhall]

In my opinion, if Reynolds had taken the role his portrayal would have had some redeeming features, but the franchise may not have been ready for a harder-edged Bond at that stage (assuming that is how he would have played the role). As a result, we may not still have had the Bond franchise alive today.

[col_007]

[quote name='Mister Asterix' post='805918' date='11 December 2007 - 16:21'][mra]At that time I think Reynolds would have done as well as any American that could

[Mister Asterix]

...He just lacked that most important one: Britishness.

you have to be born in britain to gain that am afaid

[mra]Well, without trying to start a huge argument about it, I believe that it is possible, though difficult, for an American actor to act British to even the satifaction of the Queen

[HH007]

[quote name='Mister Asterix' post='806020' date='11 December 2007 - 18:35'][quote name='col_007' post='806003' date='11 December 2007 - 12:20'][quote name='Mister Asterix' post='805918' date='11 December 2007 - 16:21']...He just lacked that most important one: Britishness.[/quote]

you have to be born in britain to gain that am afaid
[/quote]

[mra]Well, without trying to start a huge argument about it, I believe that it is possible, though difficult, for an American actor to act British to even the satifaction of the Queen

[Licence_007]

If I'm being quite honest, I'd hate any American to play James Bond and I'm sure there would be quite an outcry over here at the suggestion of it in the future.

[HH007]

If I'm being quite honest, I'd hate any American to play James Bond and I'm sure there would be quite an outcry over here at the suggestion of it in the future.

Well, it would depend on the actor, but yes, I have a hard time imagining any American actor being right for Bond. For me Bond should be English... or Scottish... or Irish... or Australian...

[Mister Asterix]

[mra]I

[Judo chop]

Not a fan of the 'stache.

Although it might have helped in FYEO to minimize the effect of Melina's.

[HH007]

Now that I think of it, I didn't think Barry Nelson was half bad in CR '54. Considering no one had a real concept of Bond at that time.

[Licence_007]

[quote name='Mister Asterix' post='806067' date='11 December 2007 - 19:48'][mra]I

[Aston 2]

There are a lot of possibilities to Burt as Bond that you are overlooking - A Trans Am submarine - Jim Nabors as Felix Leiter - Mary Lou Henner as Solitare - Tricked out Texas Instruments watch - Theme song sung by Jerry Reed - Jackie Gleason as Blofeld - T Shirt Tuxedo - Bond's high pitched infectious laugh - Mustache that can open safes - and best of all - Dom DeLuise as M.

[lazenbyland]

I'm not so sure whether Connery could have been the only actor at that time to play Bond in 1962. I think Stanley Baker would have been pretty good in the role. It would have been a different interpretation mind you.

But he was a big name at the time so I doubt he would have been as cheap as Connery.

Richard Johnson and Tom Adams would have been okay. Possibly Rod Taylor though it depends what nationality you'd call him.

Connery was very, very good but it wasn't only his input that made the Bond series a success.

[rebeck]

If I'm being quite honest, I'd hate any American to play James Bond and I'm sure there would be quite an outcry over here at the suggestion of it in the future.

Yeah, I see what you mean. There's a huge outcry here in the US about a Brit playing Batman. Riots in the street, what have you. We're very very upset. He's also played an American Psycho, a downed US pilot in Vietnam, and is about to take over The Terminator franchise. Oh and a Welshman played Nixon, an Englishman played LBJ, and an Irishman is about to play our greatest president, Abraham Lincoln. Oh and another Irishman played Elvis Presley. And that British chick playing The Bionic Woman... Toby Jones and Daniel Craig in Infamous, Emma Thompson in Primary Colors, on and on and on.

Not even a tiny ripple of protest.

Seems like a double standard. I thought we were supposed to be the xenophobic ones.

If an American actor could absolutely convince me that he was a British superspy then so be it. There's an American Christian Bale out there somewhere that could pull it off and be an asset to the series (more than the current guy, IMO, whose birthplace doesn't change my opinion). The rest is just small-minded nationalism. Meryl Streep is, after all, arguably our greatest living actress and has done every nationality and accent under the sun. It's called acting. Americans can do it too.

And thank god the producers finally got over that silly BRITISH DIRECTORS ONLY rule...how stupid was that?

Forster is an excellent director, but SWISS. (gasp)

Edited by rebeck, 12 December 2007 - 04:56 AM.

[dinovelvet]

I don't think Burt as Bond would have been the total disaster some are claiming. In 1972 he was red hot after an acclaimed dramatic/action lead performance in Deliverance, so you have to consider his casting in the context rather than bringing in today's baggage of Burt in the films he made after 1973. It'd be like the modern equivalent of, say, Viggo Mortensen right after LOTR or Hugh Jackman after the first X-Men.
And, given that DAF and LALD were pretty much Americanized Bond films anyway, I don't think it would have made all that much difference to the public if a yank was playing Bond, as long as they kept the Bond trademarks and catchphrases intact. Bottom line, Burt would have at least fared better than Lazenby.
Anyway, kind of ironic that the middle of LALD is essentially a Smokey and the Bandit film (Bond racing around the south with a comedy fat redneck sheriff in pursuit? Hmm!)

[Licence_007]

If I'm being quite honest, I'd hate any American to play James Bond and I'm sure there would be quite an outcry over here at the suggestion of it in the future.

Yeah, I see what you mean. There's a huge outcry here in the US about a Brit playing Batman. Riots in the street, what have you. We're very very upset. He's also played an American Psycho, a downed US pilot in Vietnam, and is about to take over The Terminator franchise. Oh and a Welshman played Nixon, an Englishman played LBJ, and an Irishman is about to play our greatest president, Abraham Lincoln. Oh and another Irishman played Elvis Presley. And that British chick playing The Bionic Woman... Toby Jones and Daniel Craig in Infamous, Emma Thompson in Primary Colors, on and on and on.

Not even a tiny ripple of protest.

Seems like a double standard. I thought we were supposed to be the xenophobic ones.

If an American actor could absolutely convince me that he was a British superspy then so be it. There's an American Christian Bale out there somewhere that could pull it off and be an asset to the series (more than the current guy, IMO, whose birthplace doesn't change my opinion). The rest is just small-minded nationalism. Meryl Streep is, after all, arguably our greatest living actress and has done every nationality and accent under the sun. It's called acting. Americans can do it too.

And thank god the producers finally got over that silly BRITISH DIRECTORS ONLY rule...how stupid was that?

Forster is an excellent director, but SWISS. (gasp)

The difference between Batman and James Bond is that Bond is quintessentially British. British actors will always play the role better IMO due to being more in tune with British culture.

[rebeck]

What could be more quintessentially American than playing a President??

And Batman is and always has been American as well.

Your argument is completely irrational, but whatever...

[Licence_007]

Well it was never meant to be an argument. It was an opinion to start with which you felt the need to show sarcasm about. Bond is British and should remain so.

Those roles you also mentioned, with the exception of Batman are for one-off films. There is a difference between the public's reaction to those sort of roles and that of a franchise such as James Bond. If we made Bond black would that be okay, as long as he could act the role well enough? The source material the character is from is a British guy, the actors should also be.

Surely you saw what was happening with Craig, the man was blonde and was subject to some outcry upon his unveiling. Could you imagine reactions for a Bond actor that's the wrong nationality?

Edited by Licence_007, 12 December 2007 - 10:10 PM.

[rebeck]

It's not that I don't agree that Bond should stay very British, because I do - that's the character and that's what I love about him. It's also why I don't want Craig and Company to turn him into a humorless (humourless) muscle-bound killing machine. All I'm saying is I wouldn't be completely surprised if someday a "mid-Atlantic" actor that is nominally American didn't take the role and run with it. All that matters is the final product, that's all I care about. And when you've already stretched the limits of Bond's Englishness with four of the six actors - besides Moore and Craig, there was that Scot, that Welshman, that Australian (!), and that Irishman who also was an American. It's going to get fuzzier and fuzzier as time goes on and sound as silly as Jim Crow laws and how many drops of blood make you "black".

All that matters is the guy be British-seeming, cool, classy, suave, sexy, tough, etc.

Forget the accent - even at his height, Reynolds never had the class.

But then, see, I don't think Craig does either...

The blonde hair doesn't bother me. The pitted boxer's face does.

Edited by rebeck, 12 December 2007 - 11:29 PM.

[Licence_007]

Yeah, I suppose you're right. I have to agree with Craig's looks as well, although I do love him as Bond.