What’s interesting is that, taken as a whole, Craig selected the first three entries in Connery’s run as Bond. Those are, all things considered, damn fine choices if you were to ask most fans of the franchise. “Dr. No” helped set the whole enterprise up, while “From Russia With Love” still ranks as one of the greatest “Bond” movies ever made. As for “Goldfinger,” it is still pretty much the archetype for what a “James Bond” movie should be, from the villain to the gadgets and yes, the Bond girls. It’s all there.
While Craig didn’t highlight Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan, George Lazenby, or Timothy Dalton, who have also put their stamps on the character over the years, that’s not to take anything away from what they accomplished. Most interesting of all, though, is that Craig exercised restraint in later interviews by not selecting his own films, which he would have been well within his rights to do.
Save for “Quantum of Solace” and “Spectre,” Craig’s other entries are anywhere from good to as good as movies get. “Casino Royale” is still held up as perhaps the greatest “Bond” movie ever made. As for “Skyfall,” it remains the biggest box office hit in the history of Bond, with $1.1 billion to its name. (It’s also, not for nothing, an absolute banger.) Would it be a bit self-serving to name those films as the actor who made them? Maybe, but it’d be hard to argue against.
Yet, Craig kept it classy and showed love to Connery, the actor who started it all. It makes sense, too, given that Craig is now firmly in his 50s. He was a young boy when Connery was doing his thing as 007, and those were surely formative films for him, much in the same way that ’90s kids have an affinity for Brosnan’s “GoldenEye.” That’s the nature of fandom for this franchise.
You can grab “The James Bond Collection” on Blu-ray from Amazon.