70 replies to this topic

[Judo chop]

I don't know if I would describe Daniel Craig as great. I don't know if I would describe any actor or actress as great. But I do feel that Craig is one of the most talented actors I have seen in recent years. I know that a lot of people bring up his performances in either LAYER CAKE or CASINO ROYALE. Granted, I thought he was excellent in those films. But the performance that really stood out for me was his Perry Smith in INFAMOUS. His performance in that movie had blew me away.

I

[LadySylvia]

[quote name='Judo chop' post='767269' date='29 August 2007 - 08:55'][quote name='LadySylvia' post='767254' date='29 August 2007 - 10:13']I don't know if I would describe Daniel Craig as great. I don't know if I would describe any actor or actress as great. But I do feel that Craig is one of the most talented actors I have seen in recent years. I know that a lot of people bring up his performances in either LAYER CAKE or CASINO ROYALE. Granted, I thought he was excellent in those films. But the performance that really stood out for me was his Perry Smith in INFAMOUS. His performance in that movie had blew me away.[/quote]

I

[JimmyBond]

He also turns in a terrific performance in MUNICH

[tambourineman]

I never buy the old "doesnt have the Bond look" argument. Usually when someone says that they mean "doesnt look like Pierce Brosnan". Connery doesnt have the "Bond look", he's handsome, but in a very rugged way. If he was starting out as Bond today everyone would be saying that he didnt have the Bond look.

It takes more then to be handsome with dark hair to be Bond, its all in the way he carries himself, and his charisma. And imo Craig is the only actor other then Connery to pull this off.

[sharpshooter]

Indeed. When those two Bonds walk into a room, they own that room. They have presence and total confidence.

[LadySylvia]

I never buy the old "doesnt have the Bond look" argument. Usually when someone says that they mean "doesnt look like Pierce Brosnan". Connery doesnt have the "Bond look", he's handsome, but in a very rugged way. If he was starting out as Bond today everyone would be saying that he didnt have the Bond look.

It takes more then to be handsome with dark hair to be Bond, its all in the way he carries himself, and his charisma. And imo Craig is the only actor other then Connery to pull this off.

I think that all six actors have pulled this off. Each managed to create or possess their own brand of charisma. If I thought that Connery was the only Bond actor to possess charisma before Craig, I would have given up on Bond films a long time ago.

[DaveBond21]

He is really good in Sylvia too, and it's a very different role to the ones of Casino Royale, Layer Cake or Munich.

[Emma]

Actually, Craig is great because the same film with anyone else, would have resulted in a thundering thud.

I agree. I think had any other actor done any of the things that Craig done in this film. I would have dismissed him as being a pompous a/hole and hated him. Craig was amazing at portraying Bond as being arrogant (though I would prefer the word smug)and brutal. Yet still charming, likeable and decent. He was compassionate when he needed to be, but yet was no one's doormat.

And on a more personal note. Lately I've found myself rooting for the underdog. Craig comes across more as a self-made man. Someone described him as being a brute trying to be a gentleman. And I agree with this description.While CRaig's Bond is clearly good at what he does. You sort of get the feeling that he grew up with people not expecting much from him. Almost all of Craig's actions in that film were along the lines of trying to prove himself. I could certainly relate.

[Pete]

I find the whole "He's not Connery" "He hasn't got the class of Connery" etc argument very pointless. Connery's Bond is the movie Bond and nothing like the Bond in the books. In the books he's more like Craig. He doesn't have class, he has a certain style. He spends most of what money he has on giving an appearence of class. He only has what he has through his job. As far as I can remember he never wears a tux.

Craig brings back an early Connery type of Bond, the type that was good in the first two films. You have to think back to why Connery gave up the role, because it was going away from what Bond was. The early films suited Connery as it suited the times the films were made. Connery's Bond was very British stiff upper lip and all that. In the books Bond, although tough, has a caring side, a side that you don't see in Connery.

Craig's Bond has a whole range of emotions, from cheekines to brutal, from caring to pure anger. You never had that with most of the other Bonds, only Dalton comes close & the reason for this is they are both good actors.

I like Craig as he is more like the Fleming Bond and I like to see that in a Bond film. IMO it's only happened a few times FRWL, OHMSS, TLD, LTK & CR.

So to me what makes Daniel Craig great is the fact he can act, he's got the chance to give us the real Bond,Fleming's Bond. Only the script writers can muck this up. It proves we don't need "Q" or Moneypenny. We don't need super cars or over the top gadgets. We just need a good actor who can play Bond.

I know it's not going to happen but I'd love to see Craig do the "Blofeld trilogy". Then we would see what Bond should really be.

[LadySylvia]

I don't think that Craig needs the "Blofeld Trilogy". I feel that if Purvis, Wade and especially Haggis do a good job with "BOND 22" and "BOND 23", Craig can have his own Bond trilogy to be proud of.

[Emma]

craig is a different bond , that`s what I love about craig!
the simple fact that he doesn`t looks like the previous bonds but never the less he has the look of 007 ,he is believeable in the role
but the most important fact that makes me love his bond is that if he can be bond I can be bond!! you don`t have to be an impossibly handsome male model to be 007 , you can be a tough looking craggy worn haggard handsome man as well!!!

Well said! I like Craig because he was more earthy. He was cocky and arrogant without being a jerk. He was confident yet humble. Tough but not a 'knuckle dragger'. Intelligent without being a-know-it-all. Impulsive without being a fool. He had respect for women yet was no one's dog on a leash.

He showed us that Bond could be played differently yet still work.

Edited by Emma, 05 November 2007 - 01:57 AM.