37 replies to this topic

[Agent 76]

I'm a big fan of Goldeneye, and it will always have a special place in my heart, but I'll have to chose Craig's.

[00 Brosnan]

Too hard to say.

 

Craig has two of the series absolute best films in CR and SF, but QoS is only better than DAF and AVTAK in my opinion. He's also a film behind Brosnan at this point. Brosnan had one more film to his name at the same point and I really love GE (which got me into the Bond franchise at age 9) and TND. TWINE and DAD are average at best, but nowhere near as awful a Bond film as QoS.

 

It's a draw. I suppose Bond 24 will decide this question for me.

[Loomis]

My vote goes to the Craig era, but really only because it contains CASINO ROYALE, which for me still towers above anything from the past few decades of Bond films (and features perhaps the single greatest performance as 007).

 

I'm considerably less keen on QUANTUM OF SOLACE and SKYFALL, both of which I'm tempted to rank below even the worst of Brosnan's Bond flicks (Craig remains an outstanding Bond, though).

[trevanian]

talk about a choice of evils ... why not throw in Moore's first four as the other alternative, so they're all equally bad calls?

[Double Naught spy]

As adverse as I am to pegging one actor's era against another (i.e. they are only as 'good' as the script, the director, etc.), I vote for the "Craig" era.  As much as I like Brosnan, he was saddled with directors, etc, "trying TOO HARD" to make a 007 movie.  A lot of clichés, and so forth and not much quality (Goldeneye included).

 

The "Craig" era has been marred with it's own demons - namely the success of that little piss-ant Matt Damon and his over-hyped Borne series. Frankly, until Craig jumped up and grabbed that elevator in Skyfall (funny how random it is for a 007 fan to 'fall in love' with a new actor) I never was 'convinced' he was 007.   Don't get me wrong - Casino and Quantum as really good movies, but IMHO, not '007 movies' (in contrast, while watching the Brosnan movies, it was TOO painfully obvious I was watching 007 films - thanks to people who were desperately trying the capture/market/sell the concept).  All faults aside (QOS, for example), the "Craig" era has shown more promise and more ambition than the "Brosnan" era ever did.

 

Disclaimer #1 - I thought Brosnan was an excellent 007.  He had the 'looks' and certainly the acting chops.  It's just that the army of people behind his movies forced him into sub-standard, clichéd, pathetic endeavors.

 

Disclaimer #2 - His wonderful acting abilities aside, Craig still has a ways to go to become an 'icon' like Connery or Moore.  He is definitely on his way but, unlike Connery and Moore, Craig has never had to 'carry' (yes, even QOS), a poorly written, poorly directed 007 film.  Don't get me wrong - I firmly believe Craig is capable of doing it, but lets see how he fares after his version of YOLT, DAF, or TMWTGG.    

 

Disclaimer #3 - Tipping the scales in the "Craig" column - in my wildest dreams, I never thought I'd experience the emotional roller coaster in a 007 movie like I did at the end of Skyfall.  I found myself crying during the climatic scene, only to be elated during the final "double-door' scene (trying to be a bit cryptic for those few who haven't seen Skyfall yet),  As discomforting at that 'one' scene was to watch, I give MAJOR props to Mendes for having the director-chops for knowing his audience (namely, a group of people who plunk down their money to see a 'happy ending.') and messing with their expectations.  (For those skeptics out there, I  am ignoring my cynical side and resisting the urge to peg Mendez as a hack director who would kill off Tonto or Robin merely to evoke an emotional response from an un-thinking/uneducated audience who will subsequently heap a largesse of praise upon him for 'breaking the mold').

[jmarks4life]

As much as I like both characters Bond. I vote Craig cus of his style. He's done two of the best Bond movies of the series in CR & SG(we all know where QoS ranks). Brosnan's GE & TWINE are two good movies also, but not better than CR & SF.

Edited by jmarks4life, 31 May 2013 - 07:40 PM.

[PrinceKamalKhan]

Craig's.

I'm probably alone on this.

 

Far from alone. Neither Brosnan's nor Craig's eras are perfect but I voted for Craig's era on the basis of CR alone.

[freemo]

If you were to group these 7 films in any way (even Group 1: CASINO ROYALE, Group 2: The other six) I would take the bundle with CASINO ROYALE in it.