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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsSean Connery as James Bond?
Over the weekend I was listening to a music channel on SiriusXM and heard a symphonic version of the theme from "From Russia With Love." It was incredibly beautiful, and it made me realize I'd never, ever seen a Sean Connery James Bond movie. I've seen Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Daniel Craig (my favorite of those three).
Most people say Connery was an incredible James Bond, maybe the best.. Was he better than Daniel Craig? What was so special about Sean Connery's portrayal of James Bond?
Was he a grittier Bond, or more of a funny (Roger Moore) Bond?
I'd truly appreciate any recommendations of some Sean Connery/James Bond movies.
I do know about the famous Aston Martin. Does anyone know which movies that car appeared in?
Thanks!!
EDIT: Thank you for your amazing and passionate responses! I didn't know if anybody would be interested in this topic.
redstatebluegirl
(12,265 posts)You have not seen a Bond movie if you have not seen one of his.
Mike 03
(16,616 posts)redstatebluegirl
(12,265 posts)rampartc
(5,435 posts)GOLDFINGER is the best 007 movie (thunderball is also very good)
Mike 03
(16,616 posts)It's been months since I've watched a movie because I can only think about news and politics.
Thank you!
exboyfil
(17,865 posts)They come and go and seem to rotate between services.
Early Bond with Connery is the most representative. I personally like In Her Majesty's Secret Service because of the plot (it is one the few times I felt Bond was really in danger and scared). Also Diane Rigg rocks as the best Bond "girl" (should I say woman). George Lazenby played Bond in the movie (his only time). Connery returned to the role for one more official movie (Diamonds are Forever). Years later he did a remake of Thunderball (not a very good movie). I always wonder how Majesty would have been if Connery had did the movie instead.
hlthe2b
(102,358 posts)In all honesty, I've not seen a Sean Connery Bond movie in many years. But his presence was definitely Bond. And I say that taking nothing from the actors who followed him. I too like Craig's version and Dalton was fine in the role. Moore, I loved as an actor, but looking back at his Bond movies, I think they suffer from too much dated time-period gimmickry and general silliness.
But, yes, you should check out Connery.
Mike 03
(16,616 posts)I was curious about if the Sean Connery movies would "stand the test of time." Some movies I loved when I was a teenager don't impress me so much now that I'm older, or they seem really dated.
lapfog_1
(29,223 posts)Goldfinger
Of the rest non Connery Bonds...
On Her Majesty's Secret Service - George Lazenby and Diana Rigg
The Man With the Golden Gun - Roger Moore (for Christopher Lee)
For Your Eyes Only - Roger Moore (without the silly gags and near parody)
GoldenEye - Pierce Brosnan
Quantum of Solace - Daniel Craig
cyclonefence
(4,483 posts)sexy sexy sexy sexy
Mike 03
(16,616 posts)cars cars cars cars?
Harker
(14,034 posts)in the Chicago area. The Aston-Martin.DB5 was in the theatre lobby, and a guy flew around the parking lot with a jet pack. Cool stuff.
cyclonefence
(4,483 posts)unblock
(52,317 posts)But I do think he best captured the drinking, womanizing putz aspect that now is (appropriately) recognized as completely inappropriate or worse.
Modern sensibilities have forced the other bond actors to tone it down.
PJMcK
(22,048 posts)Eon Productions, founded by "Cubby" Broccoli (his family "invented" the vegetable!) and Harry Saltzman has produced the vast majority of Bond films. I believe it's the longest running movie franchise in history.
Sean Connery was chosen to play Bond in the first film, "Dr. No." Although it was made on a shoestring budget, (Dr. No's secret laboratory lair cost only $15,000!), the film followed Ian Fleming's novel fairly closely and Connery's interpretation of Bond tracks the novel's character.
Connery started out gritty but by the fourth film, "You Only Live Twice," the character had become somewhat campy. By the time Roger Moore got the role, the films had become somewhat silly and deviated tremendously from Fleming's novels.
"From Russia With Love" is the second film and, in my opinion, is one of the best. In this film, Robert Shaw plays an evil assassin out to kill Bond and he's an amazing nemesis.
The Aston Martin first appeared in the third film, "Goldfinger" and was then seen again at the beginning of "Thunderball" which is also among the best Bond films. In Daniel Craig's first Bond film from 2006, "Casino Royale," Bond plays cards against a killer and wins the 1960s Aston Martin. Of course, then he picks up the bad guy's girlfriend!
There was a re-make of "Thunderball" made in the 1990s called, "Never Say Never Again" where Connery reprised the role, (the title is a sly joke). Avoid it like the plague! Also, the 1960s adaptation of "Casino Royale," starring David Niven and Woody Allen is a total goof and a stylistic mess that required three different directors to finish. The only good thing I can say about that film is the score, by Burt Bacharach, has the great song, "The Look of Love" and the dorky-sounding "Bond Street," played by Herb Alpert and the Tiajuana Brass. (Bachrach's involvement is the reason Mike Myers had Bachrach make a cameo in the first Austin Powers movie.)
As someone posted above, if you haven't seen Connery, especially in the earliest films, you haven't seen a Bond movie!
The sort of reference in my title line is because there were a couple of earlier attempts to bring the Bond stories to the screen and Barry Nelson played Bond in mid-1950s TV adaptation.
MFM008
(19,818 posts)The part was written for Connery.
Try Dr. WHO next or Goldfinger.
No, really?
Wounded Bear
(58,706 posts)Harker
(14,034 posts)MFM008
(19,818 posts)my obvious error....
Harker
(14,034 posts)Mr. Sparkle
(2,947 posts)Its simplicity is its genius. ( compared to the modern day blockbusters)
Wounded Bear
(58,706 posts)IIRC Casino Royale was the first book, but it didn't have as many action scenes in it.
And who can forget Ursula Undress...er Andress as the first Bond Girl?
For those who dont know and spoiler alert, Halle Berry wasn't the first to emerge out of the surf.
csziggy
(34,137 posts)Wolf Frankula
(3,601 posts)Everybody else was just playing James Bond.
Wolf
Harker
(14,034 posts)in Goldfinger.
Paladin
(28,272 posts)I prefer the current group of grown-up Bond movies. Pretty hard to top Daniel Craig.
JDC
(10,133 posts)Was amazing as a kid. No other Bond could stand up to Connery until Daniel Craig.
2naSalit
(86,775 posts)You should watch all of them to get the real sense of Sean Connery's talents. He also did his own stunts for the most part.
Coleman
(855 posts)2naSalit
(86,775 posts)My fingers don't spell so good all the time, I'll have to have a chat with them on that!
Omen78
(81 posts)Is by far the best James Bond.
Submariner
(12,509 posts)responsible for picking up movies before going to sea. I would typically get 7 new before movies, and I was the first petty officer at the Groton sub base to get the movie "Thunderball".
I had to bribe the movie distributor guy with a 5 lb can of ground coffee, but I was the favorite guy on the sub that trip. We played it every night of the week at sea, like we did all the Bond films.
edbermac
(15,947 posts)Except for Spy Who Loved Me, Moore was pretty bland.
FuzzyRabbit
(1,969 posts)I suggest that you watch the first three in order so you can see how the Bond movies developed from movie to movie.
"Dr. No" was the first, low budget but very good anyway. Ursula Andress arose from the sea and instantly popularized the bikini.
"From Russia With Love" was second with a great cast including the incredibly beautiful (in my opinion) Daniela Bianchi as the heroine.
"Goldfinger" was third, and finally all the elements of the Bond movies were present, the little episode at the start of the movie, great music, and gimmicks (like GPS decades before GPS). The Aston Martin stole the show.
sdfernando
(4,941 posts)He is the template to measure all others against. No one did Bond like Connery did Bond.
I have every single Bond movie on Blue Ray...yes, even On Her Majesty's Secret Service (the only Bond film where he gets married)....AND as a bonus I also have "Never Say Never Again"
Midnight Writer
(21,795 posts)Mike 03
(16,616 posts)Especially since Russia has been in the news.
lastlib
(23,286 posts)grandmaster and former world chess championship contender David Bronstein. The chess match scene at the beginning of the movie pitting Kronstein against "MacAdams" was based on a game played (and actually lost) by Bronstein against then-up-and-coming future world champion Boris Spassky.
(only a chess geek like me would know this, or really care...... )
alphafemale
(18,497 posts)I especially loved the first Daniel Craig one as well.
Sean Connery also came back and played the role later in life, Never Say Never Again, but it was a different production company so not "officially" a Bond movie.
With streaming services I'm sure you could find a few.
Generic Brad
(14,275 posts)That is hands down my favorite Bond movie of all time. He is aging, vulnerable, but still James Bond.
tblue37
(65,487 posts)lunatica
(53,410 posts)He was sexier than hell! He still is.
At that time the Bond movies were a completely new style and a cultural phenomenon.
Xolodno
(6,401 posts)...that he was the first choice to play Ghandalf in the Lord of the Rings movies? Sean wisely passed in favor for Ian. His reasoning, he didn't understand Lord of the Rings and didn't understand the role of Ghandalf. Tells you what kind of actor he is.
Mike 03
(16,616 posts)At that point in his career, he could accept or refuse just about any role because he was a legend.
The movie I saw Sean Connery in that blew me away was "The Untouchables."
He was magnificent.
That might be the only Connery film I've seen, but I'll never forget his performance.
Archae
(46,345 posts)Avoid "Moonraker" with Roger Moore.
Dumb clichés and even dumber "jokes."
Bucky
(54,065 posts)It's not just buttslapping the masseuse with "Leave, honey. Time for mantalk." He was simply playing a very different character than Roger Moore. Moore's Bond wasn't a feminist obviously, but he didn't have the anger that Connery brought to the screen. Maybe it's a social class thing. He's my favorite Bond because he never took the role that seriously.
Timothy Dalton was truly weaksauce as Bond. It was probably truest to the books. But of course the books were terrible. Daniel Craig is Bond if Fleming had been a better writer. Interestingly, we had to wait a decade before Pierce Brosnan got to play James Bond... and now we've already forgotten him.
Baclava
(12,047 posts)The name was Bond, James Bond.
Sir Sean Connerys unmistakable brogue gave us one of films most iconic introductions, but sadly, the legendary actor who brought the British super-spy to life seven times over his career has passed away at the age of 90. True to form, even his exit was understated. According to the BBC, Connery died peacefully in his sleep in the Bahamas overnight, where much of the hit Thunderball had been filmed.
We are all working at understanding this huge event as it only happened so recently, even though my dad has been unwell for some time, Connerys son Jason told the BBC. A sad day for all who knew and loved my dad and a sad loss for all people around the world who enjoyed the wonderful gift he had as an actor.
The perfect embodiment of dangerously debonair, Connery was the ideal casting for the suave secret agent, but he wasnt always considered so. In fact, the story of how the charismatic Scot went on to become the British super-spy is one for the ages.
The Academy Award winning actor didnt start out with the idea to led film and television into a new era. After returning from a stint in the Navy, Connery took a job as a backstage hand at The Kings Theatre in 1951. Seeing the work in action sparked his interest and he auditioned and landed a small part in a stage production of South Pacific. It was meagre and unceremonious, but it was a start, and from here, he grew in stature. By the time the show reached Edinburgh, Connery had been promoted to the role of Marine Cpl Hamilton Steeves and just one year on, he found himself playing the lead role.
Success on the stage came thick and fast for the handsome Scot, but breaking into film would prove to be far more difficult. Connery landed his first film role, as Spike, a minor gangster with a speech impediment in Montgomery Tullys No Road Back, however, it would be until 1962 that he would truly come of age.
When best-selling author Ian Fleming joined with Eon Productions to launch a film series based on his 007 character, the world stood up. The role would be a massive step in securing a cinema legacy few could boast and Connery had his eyes set on success.
Originally reluctant to take on a film series, Connery understood multi-movie success could make his career. While he had more than proven his ability to win audiences over on stage, his biggest challenge came in convincing 007 author Ian Fleming that he was right for the role.
Fleming originally doubted Connerys casting, saying, Hes not what I envisioned of James Bond looks, and Im looking for Commander Bond and not an overgrown stunt-man, before adding that Connerys muscular 62? frame and trademark speech pattern were unrefined. However, despite Flemings apprehension and much like the Bond on-screen, it was the women who were responsible for his role.
As weve seen so many times in 007 films, Connery started first by winning over the ladies. Flemings girlfriend Blanche Blackwell told him that Connery had the requisite sexual charisma and according to reports, Dana Broccoli, wife of producer Albert Cubby Broccoli was instrumental in the casting decision. After seeing his audition Dana allegedly persuaded her husband that Connery was the right man for the job. Despite being an unknown Scottish actor with a rough jaw and shoulders too broad for the frame, the gamble paid off.
Fleming reportedly changed his mind after the successful Dr. No première. In fact, he was so impressed with Connerys performance, he wrote the actors heritage into the character. In his 1964 novel You Only Live Twice, Fleming wrote that Bonds father was Scottish and from Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands, effectively handing the reins of Bond over to Connery.
In the years that passed, he won an Academy-Award in 1989 for his role in The Untouchables and was subsequently knighted for his work in 2000. With his trademark wit and humour, Sir Sean Connery wasnt just the ideal casting for 007, he was 007. Charismatic, dangerous and devilishly handsome, he changed Bond folklore forever and helped rewrite Ian Flemings history books.
A brooding force on screen and a rogue until the end, Sir Sean Connerys contribution, not only to Bond, but to film in general will go unrivalled
https://manofmany.com/entertainment/movies-tv/how-sean-connery-became-bond-in-name-and-nature