On the other hand, Roger Moore didn't get surrounded by the gang so much in LALD (the other 'no Q' film) and worked better, as he could establish himself as the character without the baggage of the past films.
Dalton suffered in TLD by having the majority of Roger's supporting team around him. M's appearance was fair enough (Robert Brown doing what Judi Dench is doing in CR and changing his performance to suit the new Bond), but a new Moneypenny's appearance was pointless, as was that of the old 'Minister' and Gogol.
GoldenEye is a film I'm not particularly keen on (I'll be interested to see the amped-up cut on DVD) but the film felt less like a Brosnan Bond film and more of a 'not Dalton' film. The MI-6 team was in there far too much again, shown in that smug, 90s 'post-modern, ironic' style and continued in that vein through all the Brosnan films.
The lack of MI-6 baggage is great IMHO, because Daniel Craig can establish himself as Bond properly.
The important thing to remember with Q is that he is a soldier, not just some batty old man. Look at Q in the 60s and you'll see an aspect of that. It's only because Desmond Llewellyn was kept in the role for too long that it evolved into a character the filmmakers never originally intended.
Edited by Gabriel, 13 June 2006 - 03:10 PM.