Rank the Bonds most to least humorous

Exactly what the title says. My rankings:

1. Moore
2. Brosnan
3. Connery
4. Craig
5. Lazenby
6. Dalton

1. Moore - for the moore in your face humour
2. Connery - still had plenty of witty, tongue in cheek moments
3. Brosnan - guess he did OK, typically had a smarmy schoolboy sort of humour
4. Craig - couple of OK funny moments ("That last hand nearly killed me")
5. Lazenby - I put him low because his funniest lines were dubbed
6. Dalton - no nonsense, the only funny moment he really had was that exchange with Saunders "Section blah, paragraph blah etc."

1. Moore.
Goes without saying really.

2. Connery.
DAF really ups the game for him.

3. Brosnan.
From "I gave him the limp" to "saved by the bell", his scenes with Q/R and his Feirstein utterances in TND, there's a good case for Brosnan.

4. Lazenby
Dubbed or not, any Bond who says "Just a slight stiffness coming on. In the shoulder. Due to the altitude no doubt" can't be all humourless.

5. Dalton
He should have brought lilies.

6. Craig
He should have made a deal with the priest.

I don't think I enjoyed a single quip uttered by Moore in the whole run, except the 'ice cream cone' in FYEO, which is still so far afield from my idea of Bond that it is just generic humor, not in-character/in-universe.

I love 'salt corrosion,' but admit Dalton mangled a few, plus he was burdened with having to reuse old lines ('bon appetit' and 'you're full of it'), which should have been a no-no. His character- or reality-based lines do usually work, like the 'don't meet many ordinary people in this business."

I'll just skip over Lazenby, since I don't ever think he is even playing Bond, though I find his portrayal of 'some' mi6 agent growing on me by leaps and bounds with every rewatch (except for when he swings his punches like a girl or someone with a disability.) Guess I could say the same for Craig, because I don't see Bond in him visually or verbally, plus I hate the movies. I don't think I've had an honest intentional laugh in a Bond movie this century, unless there was something in DAD I can't recall.

Brosnan's are never effortless, so having to work at it combining with rarely funny adds up to not much.

That leaves Connery. Geez, just for 'she's had her kicks' and 'shocking' and 'she's just dead' he'd be at the top of the list, but while he does have some that land flat and or confused (like 'alimentary'), I can't honestly remember him messing up a quip till NSNA, where he doesn't sound remotely in character for most of the film (though he looks great in that attentive focused way of olden days in the PTS. "catch you later" is painful to hear, as is his B - JB line to Domino, which sounds like a man trying to be humble and earnest, not Bond. Would have been about right for his RUSSIA HOUSE character, based on the parts of that film I've seen. )

So it is Connery -- with massive credit to Maibaum -- in a landslide for me.

Connery is playing Bond in a different style in NSNA under the "aged Bond who has to struggle a bit but still find his own path in a changed world" heading the film started out with and ultimately lost when Semple and his script were axed by Kershner who then began innumerable rewrites and reworkings and then the production had already started to nosedive. If Connery seems distracted at points it's because he and the AD were bending over backwards to finish the film. At least he has fun and seems relaxed at points.

As a Roger disciple I'd say he had the most range to the humor which he never gets credit for. He could do tough ones "What a helpful chap" and throwaway darkly tinged ones (I certainly wouldn't before.) with depth along with putdowns with aplomb. and there is no better person who could ever deliver a Mank one liner without breaking. (So speak or forever hold your piece.)

trevanian wrote:

Brosnan's are never effortless, so having to work at it combining with rarely funny adds up to not much.

There's perhaps an argument that Brosnan's non-verbal 'funnies' are better ... his expression when Xenia reveals her surname and the tank-chase tie-adjust in GE and his delight at the BMW's tyres re-inflating during that TND action sequence, for example.

Rogers lines are too intentional obvious dad jokes for me. Connery is the only one I find funny. lines like 'somebody probably lost a dog' in Thunderball are great

trevanian wrote:

Brosnan's are never effortless, so having to work at it combining with rarely funny adds up to not much.

I disagree, see:

"I gave him the limp"
"Who's strangling the cat?"
"Natalya Simonova. Russian minister for transportation"
"She always did enjoy a good squeeze"
"Can't print anything these days"
"Backseat driver"
"I don't know any doctor jokes"

... to name a few. There's such an ease with his delivery. When watching NTTD today, seeing Craig make a meal out of every line - funny or otherwise (and let's face it, it's mostly otherwise in his case) - is just so tiresome.

Sarai wrote:

Rogers lines are too intentional obvious dad jokes for me. Connery is the only one I find funny. lines like 'somebody probably lost a dog' in Thunderball are great

The only real stinker I can think of from Rog is 'don't worry, it's all wrapped up'. But even then, depending on my mood, I might chuckle. Any case, it pales in comparison to Thunderball's sharp dialogue, and the example you provide perfectly demonstrates that.

I think our difference of opinion on Broz, as evinced here and on another thread, may have to do with my baggage, as when he kind of does the giggle thing, it takes things right back to Remington Steele for me. Also, with the car, it comes right after Paris' death, so the laugh seems inappropriate to me. I can see Bond laughing with relief or triumph after a narrow escape (Bond flying off from WAVEKREST while the money blows in his face in LTK is a prime example, but I'm thinking a different director would have reminded Pierce that his beloved is freshly dead to temper his joy here. Then again, turning on a dime is a Bond tradition, but it is easier to take when you go from joy to depression (with Tilly in GF) than the other way round.

My go-to for Broz' best moments as Bond are usuallly from THE TAILOR OF PANAMA, but when he actually makes his voice do things (He'll betray you! in GE) it can be impressive. However, when he lets it go a little bit high, like when he is trying to avert the explosion at MI6 in the TWINE PTS, it sounds very Harrison Ford to me ... difference being that it works for Ford.I kind of think Broz was trying too hard in TWINE, putting more emotion in than necessary in the drama scenes.

Even my fave Dalton is guilty of theatricality like that, threre's a bit too much of dark looks round before the sniper bit in TLD that if you were going to be mean, could interact with Rowan Atkinson in NSNA.

I haven't seen Remington Steele enough for me to comment, but I'd wager, as Meryl Streep opines, it's the actor bringing himself to the role (or in this case, roles) as opposed to changing himself to become the character. So the moment of Bond smirking at his successful gadget can't be anything but what Brosnan would do in that given moment without it seeming performed or acted. The tyre inflation bit in the car works as you suggest- a moment of relief or triumph after a narrow escape- because he goes from focused to amused and quickly back to focused as the chase continues.

The only slip up for me performance-wise in TWINE is the shoulder scene, but I put that down to trying to make the dialogue about the shoulder work.

Brosnan's best dramatic moment for me is the Paris and Bond hotel scene, which demonstrates so much cynicism covering everything that's not being said, allowing the drama to crackle. Panama can be very theatrical which shows another side to Brosnan but I find his performances in the Bond series, TWINE included, to be his most understated work (along with Love Is All You Need). And it's that restraint that makes his Bond ring true too. Never let them see you bleed, and being as cool as a surgeon about death, and all that-- something strongly missing from the Craig era.

I wish they had had Brozzer maintain the gravitas and world weariness from GE more. It's partially the first film jitters energy which I fid so important but also reacting to the more espionage nature of Jeffrey Caine's writing I think. I don't think there's a more Bondian moment in terms of weight and feel in the four than in the cutaway reactions to new M's cutting remarks and put downs.
"Don't make this personal."
"Never."

I also love Bond's throwing back his hunches being thrown out about not being allowed to go after the Tiger which is pure Bond vs. red tape gold.

I wish I knew what 'named after your father perhaps' is supposed to mean.

It's part of the dialogue exchange from the DAF scene in the pic ...

'I'm Plenty'.

'Of course you are'.

'Plenty O'Toole'.

'Named after your father, perhaps'.

And her father had plenty of tools. Drills, power saws etc.

I know it's from the movie but I don't get the joke or at least the last line 'named after your father perhaps.'

'Tool' used to be a popular slang term for the male appendage. Although maybe not in Canada, judging by your confusion lol.

It's Plenty O'Boot in Canada.

You guys could have told me that before I asked my dad. he knew


Calling someone a tool I always took to mean calling them an idiot but knowing what he meant now pretty much makes it the worst joke I have ever heard.

jenny flex is another that went over my head but best I just leave that alone

Does anybody else just find themselves making ridiculous puns based on the world around them? At work yesterday, I saw a 4' tall 2D metal representation of the Eiffel Tower get donated, and mimed stabbing somebody in the face with it while saying, 'There, that's giving him an Eyeful.'

I can't tell which was the worse influence on me this way, Bond movies or hearing about Shatner's horrible puns on the original TREK series.
William Windom's character: It had a maw big enough to swallow a dozen starships ...
Shatner: A maw? Did you see it's pa?

trevanian wrote:

'There, that's giving him an Eyeful.'