The “James Bond” franchise is one of the longest-standing series in popular culture. Over 60 years Eon Productions has released 25 films with six different actors portraying the British secret agent.

In 1953, author Ian Fleming began publishing a series of novels following Bond’s eccentric adventures traveling the world for MI6. The first film was released in 1962 titled “Dr. NO,” starring now late-great Sean Connery as Bond, sometimes better known as 007.

Many believe Connery to be the quintessential Bond actor, but five more have followed in his footsteps, how do they all stack up?

1.       Roger Moore (1973-1985)

Roger Moore is the perfect Bond.  He is charming, but not too handsome. He is confident, but not too cocky.

All seven of his films are action-packed and have real plots that develop themselves well. Most importantly, they are funny.

The best part of bond films over the years has been incorporating humor with a serious plot. No one is better at that than Roger Moore, and that may be why he starred in more films than any other Bond actor.

2.       Sean Connery (1962-1971)

Often people find the first of a series to be the best. For numerous reasons, I find this not to be the case with this Connery’s iteration of Bond films.

While they hold up better than most, films from the 60s tend to be outdated both culturally and technologically. I mean just look at the posters from the times.

Of course, these blockbusters had huge budgets because they were a massive success, so they look quite different from other movies you may find from that era.

In addition, they set the stage for six decades of adaptations of Fleming’s novels to the big screen. Connery is a great actor, but it was a different time, and that’s why for me he does not top Roger Moore.

3.       Pierce Brosnan (1995-2002)

Brosnan does great in his portrayal of Bond. It is fun to see Bond in the more modern world of the late 90’s. On the other side of that coin, it is sad to see some of the stars of the franchise fade away. The M played by Robert Brown, is replaced by Judi Dench, who does a great job, but removes a layer of nostalgia. Similarly, Q, portrayed by Desmond Llewelyn, bids an emotional farewell to 007 in “The World is Not Enough” after a 36-year run as the character.

4.       George Lazenby (1969)

Stuck in the middle of Sean Connery’s prime years George Lazenby took over for one movie and one movie only, even stating as such before production began. Not only that, but it is an important movie for the franchise. Bond’s stories rarely carry in between movies, aside from a few reoccurring characters, that way the illusion of the character isn’t lost when a new actor takes over the role. However, On “Her Majesty’s Secret Service” sets the groundwork for the rest of the franchise. In the film, Bond actually gets married, only for his bride to be swiftly murdered shortly “after their wedding. This provides the background for Bond’s cavalier view towards women, and for its importance to the character that lands Lazenby above Daniel Craig.

5.       Daniel Craig (2006-2021)

A lot of people really liked the Craig iteration of Bond, but for me it didn’t live up to the others. To set the record straight, Craig is a great actor, I love his other work and I actually think he does a good job playing the part they asked him to play. However, across Craig’s five films I never felt like I was watching a James Bond picture. There were no cheesy quips, less exotic gadgets, and even if there were they felt forced and unnatural. The films were really serious and intense, and that is not what has made Bond successful.

6.       Timothy Dalton (1987-1989)

There isn’t a lot to say about Timothy Dalton other than both his movies stunk to high heaven. I am not sure if the blame can be entirely put on him, because the writing provided by the directors is awful. However, he certainly did not help either. Perhaps he was at a disadvantage by the greatness of the other actors, but his movies carry very little redeeming quality.

It has been less than two years since Craig starred in his final bond film, “No Time To Die.” This begs the question, who will be next to play the suave British icon?

For years it was rumored that Idris Elba was going to take over the role of 007. I believe Elba would have been a great fit for the part, however, the current producers of the films have taken his name out of the running.

Elba, now 50 years old, has maybe grown past his window to overtake the position from Craig. On the contrary, Craig was 52 at the time of his last Bond film.

That being said, there is now a clear favorite to take over the part. Henry Cavill has recently become the odds-on favorite to take over for Craig, as he has been freed from commitments to the Superman films and “The Witcher.”

Cavill seems like an obvious choice, perhaps too obvious. In a rapidly-changing society, I think the franchise should go in a slightly different direction. Although, I will say that Cavill did a tremendous job in “The Man from U.N.C.L.E” in what may be considered a similar role.

Only time will tell who will play the cunning secret agent next, but, what history will tell you is that we haven’t seen the last great James Bond film.