With Skyfall opening nationwide this week, many people have been talking about the James Bond franchise and the many men who've played the secret agent in the past 50 years. Sir Roger Moore already said he felt Daniel Craig might be the best James Bond ever, and it looks like another former James Bond might agree with him.
"There's a case to be made that Daniel Craig is the best Bond ever, or at least in a very long time," Timothy Dalton told Steven Zeitchik with the Los Angeles Times. "With Roger Moore it was a pastiche that almost became a parody at the end. And with Pierce [Brosnan], I think he wanted to go darker and deeper but that wasn't what those movies were."
Dalton, however, did not mention himself or Sean Connery in that scenario, as well as all other "pre-Moore Bonds," according to Zeitchik.
Dalton admitted he has not yet seen Skyfall, but he did see the past two films with Craig: Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. He said Craig's portrayal showed a spirit that the recent Bonds didn’t have, as well as echoing the early Bond films.
"Daniel Craig's Bond movies are absolutely modern, up-to-date versions, but they're also the legitimate heir of Dr. No and From Russia With Love," he said.
Dalton starred in two James Bond films in the 1980s, but the studio decided the character needed a change after releasing Licence to Kill. The film was not well received by critics, and Dalton said it was probably too dark for audiences at the time. But he misses the character and knows how fun it is to be involved with the franchise.
"James Bond is in everybody's heart, so everybody has an opinion about it," he told Zeitchik. "I understand that, but it's different from working on any other movie."