Alrighty then. Time to finish this up. The conclusion of the Bond evolution. Rhymes not intended.
I last left off with Pierce Brosnan. I always felt that he would be the natural evolution of Timothy Dalton because he would be what happens when Dalton and Craig finally become comfortable in his own skin. I would say this is Bond at his physical peak. With that said let’s fast forward say 10-15 years where we see Bond become Sean Connery.
The Connery Bond is an interesting character. Possessing traits of humor like Moore, Refined like Brosnan and with some of the brutality of Dalton and Craig. Therefore I think that Connery is Bond after maybe 20 years on the job and things may have gotten a little boring. Sometimes when trying to get the job done you see that sort of impatience that Craig exhibited. Most particularly in From Russia with Love when he slaps Tatiana Romanova on the Orient Express. It is with Connery that we perhaps see a middle age Bond that still has all his skills but perhaps is a tad annoyed with the fact that he has gotten older. Because of this he is prone to moments where he may overcompensate to prove his worthiness to himself.
Now we come to George Lazenby who sadly only got 1 chance to portray Bond, but was fortunate to be the one to portray Bond at his emotional peak and depths. One thing I always notice about Lazenby is how happy he looks as Bond. Which actually makes him perfect for what the role would have him go through.
When Bond meets Tracy he has met someone who basically is his equal. Parts daring and reckless. Free and nonchalant. I would say these feelings stirred up some youthfulness in Bond and that’s what we see when Lazenby plays him. I don’t think we could have seen the same emotional reactions from Connery. Tracy’s death I think combined with his memories of losing Vesper Lynd as well, bring Bond back to world of an agent. And we would never see the emotional Bond again. At least not yet on screen.
A few more years pass and we reach the Roger Moore era. I feel this is the best logical conclusion for Bond as Moore plays him as a man who knows he is reaching the end, but embraces every second of it. A View to a Kill shows this the best. I mean when you’re a man who has lived the life he has, I would want to top it off as well by taking to bed Tanya Roberts and Grace Jones in the same movie. There are moments when young brutal Bond come into play. One scene in particular from For Your Eyes Only which is my favorite moment for Roger Moore, when he kicks the car with Locque off the cliff. “You left this with Ferrara I believe.” A moment where he gets in touch with his younger self again. Another moment is the “Forever hold your piece” scene in The Man with the Golden Gun. Almost sociopathic in a sense. Moore’s Bond is the most fun. Like that one friend who no matter where you are has you on some crazy adventure. Such as Sheriff J.W. Pepper learned.
Thus conclude my timeline of 007. I had a lot of fun with this and I hope others do it to. As a reminder here is my timeline again
Craig—>Dalton—>Brosnan—>Connery—>Lazenby—>Moore
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