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Best of Bond: Ranking Each Actor’s Best Film

3. Timothy Dalton – License to Kill

Licence-to-Kill

Timothy Dalton introduced a darker, more grounded version of Bond. Gone were the silly action scenes heavily featured in Moore’s film, and instead we are introduced to more realistic villains. Licence to Kill, released in 1989 was the actors second and final outing as Bond. This film is often critized for being edgier than the rest of the series (it got a 15 certificate rating in the UK) and for featuring gritty scenes not normally found in the Bond series.

Licence to Kill was a fresh take on the character, and was far more memorable than Dalton’s first film, The Living Daylights. Sanchez the villain was far more memorable than any villain in The Living Daylights, and the stunts were pushed to the limits with scenes involving trucks and a mountain cliff.

2. Pierce Brosnan – GoldenEye

GoldenEye

Released in 1995, GoldenEye marked the return of Bond to the big screen after a six-year hiatus. Pierce Brosnan took over from Dalton in the role, bringing Bond crashing into the 90’s. GoldenEye mixed great stunts, cool gadgets, and memorable villains. It was everything a Bond film should be, making the character cool and suave again for the 90s generation.

Brosnan was a good Bond let down by poor writing. Each of the films after GoldenEye got gradually worse, up until Die Another Day, one of the most disliked films in the franchise.

1. Daniel Craig – Casino Royale

Casino-Royale

Daniel Craig was cast as Bond to much criticism. The actor was tasked with bringing the franchise back from one of the worst films in the series with Casino Royale. Released in 2006, the rebooted franchise introduced the most human Bond to be seen on the big screen. Casino Royale dissected the character, taking away some of the sillier gadgets and grounding him into reality. The film was a fantastic introduction into the newly rebooted character, and Craig proved doubters wrong arguably becoming the next best Bond after Connery.

With talks of a new Bond being cast in the near future, there is much speculation across the fandom as to whether any other actors will be able to live up to the standards set by the likes of Craig, Dalton, and the rest. For now, we can only wait with bated breath to see which actor will don the suit and bow-tie in the future.

So here is my list of my favourite films from each actor. Do you agree with my choices? Let us know what you think in the comments. Don’t forget to give us your opinion and follow us on Twitter!

About the author

Josh Sammons