# Daniel Craig not good for James Bond? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 22, 2006, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-craig-not-good-for-james-bond/345584 "2006-02-22T03:57:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-craig-not-good-for-james-bond/345584/41 "2006-02-23T17:43:31Z")
> [@Argent Towers](#): > > Daniel Craig looks like VLADIMIR PUTIN!! > > [Craig](http://www.nndb.com/people/301/000104986/daniel-craig-1-sized.jpg) > > [Putin](http://img.epochtimes.com/i5/409051222939.jpg) > > Separated at birth? Don’t forget that Putin was KGB. That made him a spy. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-craig-not-good-for-james-bond/345584/42 "2006-02-23T19:54:26Z")
> [@LiveOnAPlane](#): > > [Eva Green](http://www.hands-clean.net/eva/top.jpg). I wouldn’t throw her out of bed for eating crackers. 😉 Wow, that was so hot it was 404:FORBIDDEN :eek: I found her very attractive in The Dreamers. I also find Clive Owen to be smoking hot and I think he or Dominic West would make a good James Bond in the line of Moore-Dalton-Brosnan. But I confess to not having read many of the books so a change of pace could be just fine and more faithful to the text. ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-craig-not-good-for-james-bond/345584/43 "2006-02-23T21:50:19Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Wow, that was so hot it was 404:FORBIDDEN :eek: > > I found her very attractive in The Dreamers. > > I also find Clive Owen to be smoking hot and I think he or Dominic West would make a good James Bond in the line of Moore-Dalton-Brosnan. But I confess to not having read many of the books so a change of pace could be just fine and more faithful to the text. Uh, wow on me, too. I really apologize. I viewed the link and if I’d thought there was ANYTHING not-work-safe I’d have done the two-click thing. :o It’s just a couple of, I guess, publicity photos. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-craig-not-good-for-james-bond/345584/44 "2006-02-23T22:24:34Z")
> [@LiveOnAPlane](#): > > Uh, wow on me, too. I really apologize. I viewed the link and if I’d thought there was ANYTHING not-work-safe I’d have done the two-click thing. :o > > It’s just a couple of, I guess, publicity photos. It seems to be more of a permissions issue; I can’t see it either. And man, do I want to…especially if its NSFW. 😉 Stranger ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-craig-not-good-for-james-bond/345584/45 "2006-02-23T23:36:55Z")
Well, these are all SFW. Let me try some more pics, see if you can access them… [Here’s a .jpg image](http://www.homunculus.com/profane/reliquary/greeneva/images/green0098.jpg) [And here’s another nice one(also .jpg)](http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2006/02/17/green_narrowweb__300x486,0.jpg) Warning–it tries to activate pop-ups, but notthing malicious… She is so cute! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-craig-not-good-for-james-bond/345584/46 "2006-02-23T23:37:25Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > I read all the books by Flemming and a couple of the 1970’s pastiches. The overall impression of Bond that I took away from it was that he was ruthless to the point of sociopathy. “Licensed to Kill” struck me as a polite way of saying “Her Majesty’s Hitman.” YMMV > > Especially as I’m not a big fan of the movies, and have seen only a couple of them, I don’t believe I am conflating the character from the book with the character portrayed on screen. Beyond the almost-playful death of Dr. No, most of Bond’s kills in the novels are acts of self-defense or personal revenge, not cold-blooded sociopathy. Going over a list of the novels and working from memory… Casino RoyaleBond describes two cold-blooded kills early in his career, before the events of the novel, but without relish. He doesn’t get the kill on the main villain or primary henchmen, though he admits later he’d have been glad to do so, for strictly personal reasons. I may have missed some details, but I don’t get the same impression you do that Bond is a sociopath. On the contrary, he tries to avoid killing in cold blood whenever possible. Live and Let DieBond drops a henchman in a shark tank to avenge Felix. Later, he plants a mine on Mr. Big’s yacht, which conveniently goes off just in time to save bond’s and Solitaire’s lives. Cold-blooded, I admit MoonrakerBond doesn’t kill anyone, as I recall Diamonds are ForeverKills Wint and Kidd to save Tiffany. Later, kills Rufus B. Saye with artillery fire, though with a moment’s regret From Russia, With LoveKills a few minor thugs along the way in defense of himself and Darko Kerim. Kills Grant in self-defense. Tries to kill Rosa Klebb in self-defense, but his Beretta (with silencer) gets stuck, prompting the introduction of the famed Walther PPK in the next novel Doctor NoBuries the title character in guano showing a bit of nasty streak, kills various goons GoldfingerKills a Mexican druglord in self-defense, later kills Oddjob and Goldfinger in self-defense, while they’re kidnapping Bond to Russia For Your Eyes OnlyKills Von Hammerstein’s goons after Judy Havelock takes out Hammerstein. A highly unusual revenge mission on behalf of M From a View to a KillKills various spy ring members in self-defense Quantum of SolaceKills nobody RisicoKills various drug smugglers as part of mission The Hildebrand RarityKills nobody ThunderballKills various members of Largo’s team, including Largo, but since they’re about to plant an A-bomb, I’d call it justified The Spy Who Loved MeKills Sluggsy and Horror, after they’ve tried to kill him On Her Majesty’s Secret ServiceKills various SPECTRE goons while trying to escape and later to stop plan to despoil British crops and livestock You Only Live TwiceGoes after Blofeld strictly for personal revenge The Man With the Golden GunThough ordered to kill Scaramanga, hesitates until it becomes a matter of immediate personal defense. Kills some goons along the way OctopussyKills nobody The Living DaylightsThough ordered to kill “Trigger”, relents at last moment The Property of a LadyKills nobody ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-craig-not-good-for-james-bond/345584/47 "2006-02-23T23:39:39Z")
Of course, my closing paragraph “I may have missed some details…” ended up in the wrong place. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-craig-not-good-for-james-bond/345584/48 "2006-02-23T23:43:39Z")
Apparently, Bryan, you have copies of the novels at your fingertips. I do not and it has been many years since I read them. All I will say is that my 30 year old memories of the character did not leave me with the conclusion that he was much but a somewhat charismatic hitman. Timothy Dalton portrayed him as I remembered him. Sean Connery, in **Goldfinger** , not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-craig-not-good-for-james-bond/345584/49 "2006-02-24T00:15:10Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Apparently, Bryan, you have copies of the novels at your fingertips. Nah, just a grossly wasted pop-culture-drowned childhood. I got the chronological list from a website (which also supplied the names of the major villains in each story, helping my recall) and typed up the comments without leaving my chair, let alone rooting for my fragmented novel collection which is just as well since they’re all over the house and mostly falling apart anyway. I’ve compiled similar lists in the past, including one for a thread in which someone maintained all or most of the novel villains were bisexual sadists. On analysis, only Rosa Klebb actually fit the bill. > [@](#): > > I do not and it has been many years since I read them. Heh. Your Bond-fu is weak. 🙂 Fleming went out of his way to portray Bond as a Scottish rogue of sorts who felt guilty about all the decadent stuff he did but at the same time couldn’t take himself too seriously. This was stressed, I bet, when he saw Sean Connery cast successfully in the role. Had Fleming lived to see _Goldfinger_ and the later films, and continued to write novels, I bet novel-Bond would have come more and more to resemble Connery. Apparently, Fleming’s original image for his character looked like Hoagy Carmichael (as stated earlier) but had the booted-from-the-upper-classes-for-being-such-a-cad qualities of some of David Niven’s roles. Niven is mentioned approvingly in _You Only Live Twice_, incidentally. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2006, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-craig-not-good-for-james-bond/345584/50 "2006-02-25T22:10:40Z")
Oh god, I just looked at that craignotbond site…what a bunch of idiots! Do they think they’re going to stop production? Do they think that a boycott will have any chance in hell of succeeding? This is going to be one of the BEST Bond films ever (disclaimer in that I’ve seen them all but I only really like the Connery and Dalton Bond films). It’s certainly the first Bond film I’ve ever eagerly anticipated, as opposed to “Gee, another Bond film already? I guess I’ll go see it when I get around to it.” I didn’t even realize how much I liked Pierce Brosnan until I saw **The Matador** , after which I became a fan. I thought, wow, he can really act! I never got that from the boring Bond films. This is a different Bond for a new generation, yet it’s going back to the source material. I love that. Just the fact that the producers hired Daniel Craig makes me know that the movie is going to be something special, because it shows that they have their heads in the right place. Daniel Craig is an excellent actor, is hot, and is going to be PERFECT, and all the naysayers will choke on their negativity, and that web site will be a laughingstock. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-craig-not-good-for-james-bond/345584.md?page=2)