It’s certainly true of the Broccolis, though I would say Saltzman’s first two Harry Palmer films remain truly stellar films in my eyes.
Personally, while Connery is obviously an awesome Bond, I enjoy him more in any number of other works including The Man Who Would Be King, The Last Crusade and on a good day Robin and Marian.
Obviously Lazenby never did anything to equal OHMSS, and is unlikely to.
There would be little point in trying to argue Roger ever made a non-Bond film that could compete with his best Bonds, but much as I adore him I feel The Saint was better fitted to his onscreen persona, and possibly a more appealing character in the first place.
Aside from Flash Gordon, The Rocketeer, Hot Fuzz and a glorified bit part in Dr Who, I’m not sure what else I’ve even seen Dalton in, so I’m not qualified to judge.
Brosnan only ever worked for me as Remington Steele. That’s not fun to say, but it’s honest.
Craig I’ve found hugely entertaining in all kinds of stuff, including Road to Perdition, Layer Cake, Defiance and Logan Lucky (though I’m honestly still not sure where I stand on his Benoit Blanc character in Knives Out). For all the talk of his Bond being “nuanced” and “multi-layered” and “emotionally complex,” I have to confess he often comes off to me as a cold fish, almost Terminator-like. I guess we’re supposed to intuit things going on behind that stoic facade, but the “Nimoy approach” doesn’t work that well for me.
Ken Adam and John Barry both did work outside of Bond that was easily on par with their best Bond work – and were recognized with big awards for it – but better? I guess that’s in the eye of the beholder. Maurice Binder did some fun title sequences elsewhere, but none better than his Bonds.
Directors? I confess I’m not sure I’ve seen anything else by most of them. Just Martin Campbell, and even with GE and CR under his belt, The Mask of Zorro is a contender for my favorite film of his (but alas, then there’s the awful sequel, and Green Lantern). I probably did like Mendes’ 1917 better than SF, and certainly better than SP.
Anyway, I think for actors Bond is less about doing “career best” work than it is about opening doors to more adventurous projects. For directors, it’s often about trying to find a way to make a lasting, noticeable mark on a series where everyone thinks they know what to expect going in. As viewers, we benefit from watching people who are generally happy to be working on a high-profile, likely career-boosting project for good money, knowing if they got hit by a bus tomorrow, they’ll still be remembered forever thanks to this one gig. That positive vibe usually results in good entertainment in the end. If anything, I sometimes worry that the quest for industry honors and “respectability” is going to spoil that vibe sooner than later.
Thanks to Jim for another month of great fun; it’s been terrific having something to look forward to on this board every day, and since this is my birth month, I’ve regarded it as something of a personal present. Hope we can do it again in December or, if someone can come up with a month’s worth of topics (wow, Jim) sooner, then that’ll be even better.
