Bear in mind Timothy was trying to accurately portray the Bond Ian Fleming wrote, an oft-irritable man who, particularly in the latter end of the novels, tended not to give much of a damn about where he was, he was only concerned with doing his work. In Dr No and TMWTGG, Jamaica is of little consequence to Bond. It's just where he happens to be. Live and Let Die is the only time he seems to really be taking pleasure in Jamaica. I don't recall Bond ever giggling like some sort of school girl because he was in a new car. Hell, in Goldfinger Bond takes a DB3, a damn nice car most of us would probably be tearing up the streets in, and behaves as if he's driving his Bentley or any other old car.
The thing is, it's hard to play disinterest and make it interesting. Dalton's performance is too often at odds with the material, I feel. That scene with the girl at the beginning of TLD is a good example. He's playing Fleming-Bond in a situation that only cinema-Bond would find himself in. And the way he abruptly tosses off the "Bond, James Bond" line almost comes across as a challenge to the audience. Craig's "Do I look like a give a damn?" response is kind of similar, but it's funny, surprising and, most importantly, in sync with the material.
Where Craig was able to bring to life Fleming's Bond more realistically and with style and panache...Dalton wasn't, and that's the difference between being a two-and-out film actor, and doing 3, 4, or more. Obviously Craig the actor brought something more to the role than what Dalton was able or willing to.
Craig also had the advantage of producers and filmmakers who were fully committed to shaking up a stale formula, and the backing of a studio willing to pony up sufficient funds to properly produce and market his films - something the neither-here-nor-there LTK lacked.
To this day I can't find a single woman that found Roger Moore sexually appealing. I mean, I defy you to find me one scene where Roger is even remotely sexy, or where he shows of a tight, muscular body. It's like his sexiness didn't exist. That's the mark of a truly great actor.
It's a blessing that Moore never stripped to his shorts, don't you think? Moore understood the fundamental absurdity of the entire Bond universe. He knew that the sight of a 50-something Bond clinging to the tail of an airplane - or being lustfully leered at by 20-something women - was inherently ridiculous, and his performance acknowledged that.
Moore played up the humour and fantasy of Bond, and I can understand why a lot of people dislike that approach. Personally, I miss it. We seem to be in an era where audiences prefer psychologically damaged, inward-looking heroes, like Craig's Bond, Bourne and The Dark Night.
But I think a big part of the appeal of Bond over the years has been the fantasy - the desire to be Bond. I always wanted to be Moore's Bond, and Connery's Bond, maybe even Brosnan's Bond. Can't say that I'd want to be Dalton or Craig's, though. As The Joker says: "Why so serious?"
