MovieChat Forums > Timothy Dalton Discussion > James Bond Didn't Deserve Timothy Dalton

James Bond Didn't Deserve Timothy Dalton

posted 3 years ago by TMC-4 (20304)
7 replies | jump to latest

https://www.insidehook.com/article/movies/james-bond-didnt-deserve-timothy-dalton

Timothy Dalton was Daniel Craig's Bond before Daniel Craig was Daniel Craig's Bond. It's time to show him the respect he deserves.

[–] Otter (24464) 3 years ago

Ny unpopular opinion is that he was a great Bond... who was given shitty scripts to work with.

He's the Peter Capaldi of the Bond franchise.

[–] Drax (116) 3 years ago

Timothy Dalton > Daniel Craig.

Definitely. Much better actor too. Daniel Craig's Bond is so... incredibly overrated.

[–] NotoriousRio (12927) 3 years ago

Dalton not only looked like Bond but acted like him too, unlike sulky Craig.

[–] Drax (116) 3 years ago

Yes. I agree and he is so boring. Also, Henry Cavill would have made a much better Bond than Craig. In my opinion Idris Elba would have made way better Bond than Craig too. Plenty of actors are so much more charismatic and talented than Craig.

[–] TandyMan (11214) 3 years ago

Loving the love, fellas. I've been beating this drum since forever.

[–] FootOfDavros (8467) 3 years ago

Meanwhile, my father’s Bond of choice was Roger Moore, meaning he, like many Gen Xers who weathered the stark transition from Moore’s campy Bond to Dalton’s stoic, gritty interpretation of the character, was not a big fan of Timothy Dalton, even going as far as to declare him the worst Bond of all time.

This was very much the feel at the time - Dalton's Bond was overwhelming disliked after Sir Roger.

Although there may be an argument to say this was as result of the scripts, I think it was more to do with Dalton's stilted performances.

I've always argued that to describe Moore's Bond as "campy" or a joke is total nonsense - yeah we got the jokes at the end / one liners, at the humorous double take pigeon, drunk guy not believing his eyes and Sheriff Pepper but it's not like Moore was playing Bond for laughs throughout the narrative of his films, e.g. killing that guy in TSWLM by slapping him off from holding his tie or killing that car off the cliff in FYEO.

Although the failure of Dalton was sealed by the disasterous LTK's tone (although now revisionally lauded by Craig apologists), the real failing of Dalton is evident by comparing his performance in TLD compared to Moore's in FYEO (ironically the most accepted Moore performance by Craig apologists).

The tone of these two films is almost identical - pared down, humour still there but more reserved yet Moore's charisma still shines through way above Dalton's. Particularly notable on his horrible delivery of the "salt corrosion" line.

Ironically maybe if LTK had come first he may have been more accepted as the story was much more removed from the classic Bond formula which everyone had already been underwhelmed by his performance in but then again LTK was shot cheaply like a bad extended Miami Vice episode so it's hard to say...

[–] DoctorThirteen (14663) 3 years ago

I thought Dalton was a great Bond. I'm not a fan of his two movies, but he was fantastic.