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Who Would Have Preferred Lazenby To Come Back For This One?

posted 18 years ago by AGood
41 replies | jump to latest

I was just wanting other peoples opinions on this. I am not sure why he only did one movie, as many people say he would have been apprecaited a lot more if he did a couple more.

But after watching OHMSS again. I have to say he was excellent in this. And when people always wonder how OHMSS would be with Connery. I always wonder how some of Moore's poorer films would have been if Lazenby had came back.

Moonraker being the worst. It is extremelly camp and should have been called Carry On Bond IMO.

And i doubt the series would have went down that rediculous childish humour if Moore wasnt bond.

Whats anyone elses take on this thought.

Thanks

[–] Kinematico 16 years ago

I also would have preferred Lazenby as Bond instead Roger Moore.

[–] Boromir007 15 years ago

George Lazenby remains criminally underrated. A pity. He was wonderful.

"What If" is a game for scholars.
Timothy Dalton, The Lion in Winter (1968)

[–] AGood 15 years ago

Has it really been almost three years since I started this thread. Doesn't time fly.

There have been some great replies discussing this, much better than some of the posts you can see people make on IMDB when someone posts something that could be considered controversial.

I agree when people say there were times he showed he was not an actor, but I really liked the style he played Bond.

I listened to the commentary for LALD and the director said on Moores first venture into the bar and the Director said with Connery you would just know he would go in there and start beating people up.

With Moore however even in his first outing you would just know he will handle it in a comical way.

Not a direct quote, but the gist of what was said.

Lazenby seemed to handle it sort of in the middle ground of Moore and Connery interpretation of the character.

He wasn't playing it comical, but had a cheeky charm to him.

But he also had the physical attitudes of Connery.

Personally I liked Moore in his serious roles, he was excellent in FYEO and pretty good in Octopussy (well except for the Jungle Tarzan yell and "Sit" to the lion.

I just watch Moonraker and cringe throughout the entire movie and blame Moore for taking the series down to that level.

Luckily though Cubby Brocoli didn't like this too and wanted a serious bond, hence FYEO.

I agree the best bond however is Timothy Dalton.

The worst bond I would argue is Pierce Brosnan, I wouldn't say he was overall bad in the role, but you have to have one as the worst and I liked Lazenby's one film much more than the entire set of Brosnan films put together.

[–] ossome2442 15 years ago

I just watch Moonraker and cringe throughout the entire movie and blame Moore for taking the series down to that level.

Here's the slight problem I have with people who claim that such-and-such an actor destroyed the series. Is Moore really the one at fault for Moonraker's campiness? Or was it the screenwriters who came up with the story, the setting, and the dialogue? True, Moore's comedic personality took some of the edge of Bond as a character from time to time...but I'm fairly certain it wasn't his decision to set an action movie in space. I'm sure he also didn't come up with all those corny one liners he's made to say.

So, I'm basically saying that it wouldn't really have made a difference if Lazenby had stayed on. He would have established the tough guy persona that he went for in OHMSS, but then EON would have eventually said "Hey, you guys! Let's make Moonraker!" or "Would you believe we haven't made Man with the Golden Gun yet?", and we'd be complaining just as much about him.

I rather liked Baines. We shared the same bootmaker.

[–] Redpunkboy 12 years ago

I loathe DAF because Lazenby isn't in that movie & also for the fact it was a satisfying follow up to OHMSS. Lazenby would have been great in this movie... but I think moviegoers in 73 would have been confused with him back in the role.

[–] TheLordofTheHarvest 12 years ago

I think Lazenby would have handled the movie a lot better when it came to the action scenes and acting wise. Moore did an alright job, he did the jokes well the rest was alright. He did not feel like a manly Bond though, he came off to me as a kind of a wimpy Bond except for a few parts in the moiue

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] pawtrax67 12 years ago

The problem is Lazenby would have to have made DAF.

Unless that had a MASSIVE rewrite we would have had another actor playing Bond in Live And Let Die.

Even Connery couldn't have saved DAF.

[–] Mr_Blonde3 11 years ago

I'd have preferred Dalton as well. I like Moore just fine in the film, but if I could go back in time, I'd have put Timothy Dalton in the first available Bond film I could have.

Lazenby is #6 on my list. He's not terrible, far from it. But he's extremely wooden compared to the other five actors. His very first Bond, James Bond to Tracy on the beach is terrible. Most of the scene where he sees Tracy again at the bullfight is only adequately acted. I particularly dislike the way he does the line reading where he starts to decline anything with Tracy, then immediately cuts into telling Draco he has connections of use to him. There's no pause, no beat for Bond to consider the thought, it's just two different thoughts being spoken in the same line. It's glaring, and not something that would have flown with other actors.

He nails the final scene. But that one scene does not make up for a mostly passable performance for the rest of the film.

I love to love my Lisa.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] 11 years ago

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[–] tonycarr 10 years ago

Somebody said that Connery, Moore, Dalton Brosnan and Craig are actors trying to be a tough guy. Lazenby is the opposite.

Personally I think Lazenby gets bad press. He might not be a Shakespearean actor (then again who ever accused Roger Moore of acting? And Connery just plays Connery). He turns Bond away from the Superman that Connery played. Look at his expression when he's sitting at the skating rink just before Tracy skates up to him. He looks nervous. And does anyone believe that Connery could have pulled off that final scene? I don't. Lazenby nails it.

I just wish that he had come back for DAF. We might have got a serious revenge film, instead of the campfest they gave us.

[–] franzkabuki 10 years ago

"Somebody said that Connery, Moore, Dalton, Brosnan and Craig are actors trying to be a tough guy".

Apparently, Connery had quite a reputation as a heavy before becoming Bond. According to one anecdote he single handedly beat up a gang of local thugs back in Scotland while on another occasion he managed to punch the lights out of the notorious American gangster Joey Stompanato when the latter arrived at a movie set and threatened Connery with a gun, thinking the Scotaman had an affair with his girlfriend Lana Turner.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] HetaAnma 9 years ago

Lazenby sucked as an actor and especially as Bond.

[–] Blu1228 8 years ago

Definitely. OHMSS is one of the best bonds films, and I wish he'd done more. He would have been good in this.

[–] louiseculmer 8 years ago

No. i didn't care for him much. I prefer Roger Moore. and I like Moonraker.

[–] liscarkat (16592) 5 years ago

I liked Lazenby, but Moore was a great Bond, right up there with Connery. Every Bond since Moore has sucked. The current guy, whatever his name is, is a wooden zombie.

[–] bobbydallas (8098) 3 years ago

nah, Moore was awesome in this