Simple question: Who was your favorite James Bond? Go to brilliant.org/Midnight/ and sign up to Brilliant for free, the first 200 people that go to that link will get 20% off the annual Premium subscription

As someone who grew up on the old movies, I didn't like Craig's Bond at first, but eventually his style grew on me. Why? Because every era of Bond is a product of its time. The jokey and campy versions we got back then reflected the way people thought of spies and conspiracies, we had 60s classy optimism, 70s relaxed silliness, then the absurd sci-fi ideas of the cold war, now we have the grit and darkness of a post-9/11 world. We realised that espionage isn't classy or fun, it destroys people. There's no evil mastermind who wants to fry the world from space, just greedy criminals in suits. That's the world we live in and this is the kind of Bond who would exist in it.

Daniel Craig’s Bond had a story arc, we met him when he literally became 007 and we see him through murderous rampages and we know each kill takes a piece of his soul. This Bond is haunted and feels the weight of the world on his shoulders. All of his dreams were about to come true, and they were once again out of reach, he chose to save the world. It was a truly heartbreaking moment but that’s what it makes this movie special, no Bond has ever died before. No Time to Die makes it clear that this Bond is human who aches, ages and dies, I was shocked and I’m still in shock about it. Craig’s Bond has a story arc and that’s what will make his movies even more special as years and decades go by.

Got incredibly choked up towards the final moments of the film. Craig's Bond dying for the ones he loves just felt like the perfect thematic ending for a character who hasn't been able to trust and is burned the majority of the time he's let himself love. Craig evolved the character and gave him a real sense of emotional depth that previous actors hadn't. It was what Bond needed and I hope it continues to evolve as time goes on.

Fun fact: No Time To Die (2021) is the 1st James Bond movie to feature four different makes and models of Aston Martin vehicles. The cars are the classic silver-birch gun metal grey Aston Martin DB5, the classic Aston Martin V8, the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera and the new forthcoming mid-engined hypercar the Aston Martin Valhalla.

Of all the James Bond actors, I’d have to say that Daniel Craig is my favorite 007, just his performance is truly unique as you’ve mentioned.

Timothy Dalton is ridiculously underrated as Bond! He gave us a gritty, realistic Bond that was gloriously ripped straight from Ian Flemming’s novels.

SPOILER ALERT The ending was so sad, especially when he knew he’d never be able to touch his family again. And even through that blow he still focused on saving everyone. He was inches away from his happy ending.

Craig seemed to humanize bond. He was a skilled agent and killer, but he always felt like a real person. Im soooo glad he was allowed to flex some of this acting abilities in this last movie

My late father introduced me to James Bond when I was a kid. My dad was such a fan that he watched most of the James Bond films from Connery to Brosnan; I remember the time I watched "From Russia with Love" and "The Man With The Golden Gun" on home video. Then, when he heard about Daniel Craig being the new Bond actor back then, he was skeptical because he said "He looked liked a bad guy". But when I decided to rewatch "Casino Royale" alongside him, he finally appreciated Craig and his performance; that parkour chase and the torture scene got him hooked yet Vesper's death moved him, commented that it reminded him of George Lazenby. Then we also watched "Quantum of Solace". Then he also watched "Skyfall", which he also loved. My late father passed away in 2016 due to a disease. And it was sad because he never had the chance to watch "Spectre" (which I watched in the theater) and "No Time to Die". He grew fond of Craig over the years and I'm sure he's gonna appreciate Craig's final Bond film if he's still alive.

It’s James Bond, they’re never gonna stop making them.

I think Rami did great as the villain. Dude comes off as a maladjusted freak because his character is a maladjusted freak lol the movie even touched on the idea of childhood trauma. Plus, since Spectre, the bond movies began to embrace more and more of the silliness/campiness of the previous bond movies and I think Rami’s portrayal is attributed to that. Crazy wild villain story on a secret island that’s actually a poison farm and he has an evil plan which endangers the entire globe. Also, most drippy Bond villain.

I knew you were going to talk about the car scene. I thought that scene was so powerful that I actually started crying all the way to title screen.

Even though it was great, Casino Royale is still my absolute favorite James Bond movie

The main problem with Craig's Bond, is that for the most part, his Bond happens off screen between films. He's just become a 00 in Casino, and Quantum takes place immediately after that. In Skyfall, everybody treats Bond like he's over the hill already and yet we the audience aren't given a clue as to how much time has transpired between Quantum and Skyfall, but the end of Skyfall promises a return to status quo, or at least a proper Bond mission next time around. Then we got the mess that was Spectre, and only in No Time To Die with a retired Bond does Bond ever really feel like James Bond as he does during the Brazil scene. It's a very uneven character arc.

I've always liked Dalton's bond, but I never realised why, but it's like you say, there's a quiet rage deep down inside him that even his own movies are trying to smother.

Craigs movie are some of the most interesting block busters ever. The fact that bonds masculinity was challenged in so many perfectly subtle and nuanced ways.

A small thing I really enjoyed about Craig’s Bond that this film subtly hit harder on is his eyes. I remember as a kid so many people freaking out over blonde Bond and his blue eyes. Craig’s films always included a few shots where his eyes are the main focus, like in Skyfall when he walks down a dark hallway and stops where the light only illuminated his eyes. And then this movie bringing in his daughter and focusing on her having his eyes.

I have to say, this is an absolutely fantastic analysis. The way you tied Lazenby, Dalton and Connery's takes to Craig's was brilliant.

Craig s bond films had best villains. La Chiffre clapping bonds balls torturing him is one of the best scenes. And the face melted guy is one of the best antagonists ever.

He truly did a better job than anyone expected. He was amazing. Great video!

I actually really loved the movie. I was properly invested in it, and I loved the characters. I’m not quite sure how I feel about Malek’s villain, but otherwise it was great for me. The ending absolutely crushed me, which imo shows the attachment I had to the Craig version of Bond

I am honest when I first saw the movie I thought the hate for the ending would be much worse. From what I seen so far it isn't as bad as I thought. No Time To Die is a perfect send-off for Craig's Bond. And yeah, although Rami Malek was probably a weak villain, it wasn't real his movie, it was Bond's movie. The villain was just a way to get the story to where it needed to go.

At some point we should have a conversation about Timothy Dalton's James Bond. That guy was magnificent with his films.

I kept pausing No Time To Die. Trying to make it last as long as I could. Daniel Craig is my favorite. I was 17 when Casino Royal came out and now I’m 32. Crazy! Hell of a run!

8:45 "The bitch is dead" I feel like that was the most powerful line we've ever gotten in a Bond, I think it shows how low and how poorly Craig's Bond is handling his circumstances

The perfect triple show Damon's Bourne; Reeve's Wick, and Craig's Bond define the modern action movie. We are blessed.

Daniel Craig is the only Bond that I believe would really kill people

The Bond series is older than you know. I prefer counting from the emergence of one integral anomaly to the emergence of the next, in which case this is the sixth version. The Architect

Brosnan was always James Bond for me and other millenials playing Goldeneye, so when Craig was cast it didn't seem right that Bond had blonde hair now etc, "it's like he's not really Bond" and I lost excitement for a while. I must have accepted him as Bond to an extent because I eventually watched them all anyway and during the opening credits to 'No Time To Die' I was fighting back some tears because it just felt like losing a friend and the end of another era; I knew then that I had been wrong, "Daniel Craig, you really are James Bond."

I will say that No Time To Die made me reevaluate and find new appreciation for the entire Craig era of James Bond, so it certainly succeeds as the finale for that series of films.

The Craig films don't feel like Bond at all. They feel more like Jason Bourne than the James Bond we know and love. I hope with Daniel's successor they make the Bond films fun again. 2015's Kingsman: The Secret Service proved that a Roger Moore Bond film still works in the 21st century so there's no excuse.

The definitive take on Felix is the ORIGINAL one. He was so good and cool that the only reason why they re-cast him was because he almost outshined Bond in the first movie. He was basically an American mirror-image of James Bond. It's sad they never brought that sort of iteration back. Hopefully they will in the future...

The very first time I watched it, I remember liking Casino Royale well enough and yet feeling it was a bit slow and dull in some ways. A second watch without expectations allowed me to see it was genuinely great, and when I quit expecting it to "fit the mold" I was able to notice the added character depth and appreciate the genius of how they married the setpieces, eye candy and thrills of the movies with the focus on the "soul erosion" the job caused the character in the books. And from then on, Craig became unquestionably my favorite Bond ever. (I even defend Quantum of Solace from haters.) Other than finding Spectre mostly forgettable beyond Christoph Waltz's epic scenery-chewing, I've loved each of Craig's turns as 007, even if they required that 2nd watch before I "got it" and found how to appreciate the balance between old and new. I avoided spoilers and the hype machine throughout the pandemic and quietly, almost subconsciously filed No Time To Die away as the reason to make that 1st trip back to the theater to christen some end-of-pandemic moment where I just knew life was "normal" again. Sure I looked forward to it in some way as an anchor for hope of that normalcy, but in the most surprisingly detached way. No fixation, anxiously awaiting it, or anything. Didn't even pay attention to a trailer until a week or so before it ACTUALLY released. I mean to tell you, the hype machine was literally INVISIBLE to me on this one, and I was able to go with zero expectations whatsoever (save for the expectation that I had sufficiently calibrated my concept of what Craig's run of films WERE that I could expect familiar "movie comfort food.") *Man, did this film sucker punch me.* Look, I saw it 2 days ago, and I'm STILL shook. In the theater I was torn 50/50 between "I hate this and I feel CHEATED" and "I guess it fits enough with THIS Bond that I can forgive it, and I have to grudgingly respect the guts it takes to make this gamble with THIS franchise." I have a feeling that you're right, and in time this movie is going to be looked back on pretty favorably. It's very divisive, and I don't just SEE both sides but FEEL both sides. But to be honest right now? I kind of hate it. And I can see from many others' reactions and the lower than expected box office numbers (speculated to be due to the plot leak and post-viewing word of mouth killing some people's interest in seeing it) that I'm definitely not the only one. It isn't that I don't respect "Bond as a dramatic work" rather than a just mindless action film. But post pandemic, with the exhaustion of the last 4 years of political tumult and the hell of the pandemic? I needed that COMFORT FOOD, that through-line of thrills and tinge of sardonic fun happening AROUND that more serious and grounded Bond that I loved as the perfect blend of serious and fantastical. But instead I got a borderline Greek tragedy. I think in any other moment in time, I might have found it easier to stomach the direction they took. I don't LOVE it and can't help feeling like it rings a bit of a cheap publicity stunt--but Craig's Bond is also unquestionably the most humanized and I can understand how they probably felt that Craig's films' tone had probably set up the only scenario in which you'd have a prayer in HELL this audience would go along with this. And you HAVE to do the unexpected sometimes, or what's the point in continuing to make them? The deep irony is that it seems real life's events tragically conspired to sabotage those perfect conditions to get away with trying this tragic, bittersweet ending. I doubt I'm alone in feeling that while MAYBE I could have accepted the ending easier in another time and place? For James Bond, this was no time to go and die. With some time to mentally compartmentalize his films into their own "Craigiverse" and learn to feel this as the death of a VERSION of Bond, and not of THE Bond (which in my eyes, Craig had earned the right to be thought of) I hope I can learn to genuinely enjoy this movie the way I can tell they wanted me to. But being a romantic and an optimist buried beneath a sea of cynicism--i.e. EXACTLY the kind of person Craig's Bond would speak to emotionally--I'll never quite get over the sense that if EON was finally going to commit to writing a canonical ending for any Bond and not worry about how it'd effect the ability to make more films? *This vulnerable, long-suffering Bond had endured enough tragedy, and had EARNED the quiet, fulfilling retired happy ending with a family they teased both of us with... before they broke our hearts.*

I really need to show this video to my wife. On the way back from the cinema yesterday we were talking about how I feel the way that Craig's experiences effect and stay with him and how that makes him more believable as a character. She argued that Bond should be cold and unfazed like Brosnan. I definitely enjoy the Brosnan films - well, not Die Another day - but Craig's best are so much better. Casino Royale was actually the first one I saw at the cinema when I was 19 and it's stayed with me as my favourite.

He introduced the best Bond villain with Le Chiffre so that's a legacy in itself.

You've put into words what I never could. Timothy Dalton was my favorite Bond growing up. Once I got a little older Sean Connery spoke more to me. It was Daniel Craig who put out the perfect combination of Connery's cold-heartedness and Dalton's down to earth emotion and barely restrained anger and jadedness into a perfectly relatable character who struggles emotionally throughout the entire film. This is why everyone loves Craig as Bond and he's the best to do it yet.

Woah woah. He sacrificed the life he would have had with Madeline? He couldn't. That was the whole point. Being unable to touch his family meant that to Bonds mind, he was already dead. His world had come crashing down. And so he died at peace

Pierce Brosnan is my favorite bond, but the movie writing outside of goldeneye were weak. Even with his amazing performance you can only do so much, I just really wish his movies had better writers. No time to die was awesome, great send off to criag.

babe wake up new captain midnight dropped!!

James Bond is what we all want to be, that's why he will never die.

Hmmm. I almost 100% agree with you. My only gripes with the Daniel Craig Bond is that by the end of Casino Royale, he’s being pushed along by the bad guys, he’s not pursuing them, or following leads. This continues throughout all the following films. Also at the end of most, if not all, of his films he doesn’t want to be 007 anymore. I’d love to see a return of a Bond who wants to be Bond. Also, the trope of the only good dad is a dead one is a stale trope long before it’s gotten old.

Something I just noticed. Moore's last film "A View to Kill" Dalton's last "License to Kill" Brosnan's last "Die Another Day" Craig's last "No Time to Die" Moore and Dalton both end on "Kill" and Brosnan and Craig both end on "Die" ... but all of them have to do with the end of life. Interesting!

I grew up with the campy bond films so the modern ones never really hit the mark for me. They're good films but there was always something there that stopped me from loving them. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. reboot by Guy Ritchie, on the other hand, is everything I wish modern bond could be and more. It's fun, doesn't take itself too seriously and has silly gadgets that just kind of work. It's really unfortunate that though it perfectly scratched the campy spy film itch is never going to get a sequel. Even though a lot of people involved wanted it too...

I’ve always been a big fan of Dalton as bond, I think he’s definitely underrated.

Great video my friend! Very well made points and summaries.

I forgot about James Bond Jr! Great episode overall, this was my first “franchise” as a kid and I loved every thing you did here.

You are good at storytelling, though. Honestly, I'm inspired by your writing and mastery of spoken word.

I completely agree with you about Remi Malek feeling too young for the part (as good of an actor as he is), but the movie was still amazing enough to let this detail go. Great videos! Keep it up!

Bond at his Bourniest.

Great video!

License to kill was fire and had probably the best intro theme…..ok it’s a tie between that and world is not enough

You continue to hit the nail right on the head.

Appreciate your insights.👍🏻

They casted a Bond who is ACTUALLY English.

Just found out you and I are the same age. I also saw Casino Royale and its funny cause my friends mom took us out to eat and I ordered a steak. I didn't know any better and later found out I expensive steaks are. Luckily I returned the favor hundreds of times by now but that poor kind woman didn't say a word or anything. It's one of those memories that makes me cringe but it wasn't that bad. You just reminded me of that. Ignore my comment lol it's for the algorithm

I only watched the Craig Bond films recently and absolutely loved them (except for Quantum lmao). I actually gasped when he killed the guy at the embassy in Casino Royale. It really illustrated he was a mean, bad guy. But his arc takes him so many places after that. I love it.

OHMSS is still comfortably the best Bond film for me, but I was seriously impressed by No Time to Die - easily my favourite of the Craig era. I'm glad you mentioned Dalton - Licence to Kill still holds up well and The Living Daylights was definitely weaker but has one of the best openers of any Bond film

My review for No Time To Die, Just one word to say "Perfect". That's what I experienced. And what an end. Always stick emotionally to the heart.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service was my favorite Bond movie before Casino Royale (2006). It was James Bond at its best. Bond should be a deep character, we already had 20 cartoonish movies from Bond.

No other franchise I feel like dressing up in a suit to go see. Something inside me just clicks and I feel like Im cool just watching it. They did a great job delivering on atmosphere in these movies. I liked the Brosnan films, but the MCU is becoming enough camp for the whole industry and I want to see them continue to nail these character driven action stories in a way no one but Eon seems to be able to pull off at the moment

Fantastic observation. Couldn't agree more

Great video

I found that I agree with most that you say. Thank you for doing this..

Dear Captainmidnight, Thank you for a well researched piece. I grew up with the "Connery" Bond and like you I found Craig's Bond much closer to the original intent of the Flemming works. For those who have read the Ian Fleming series he did not create an "adult" story line, in the sense of say the genius of a John le Carré 's George Smiley, instead Fleming created an adult comic book before such existed. However one perception that comes through Fleming's work is that, while Bond has a lot of English education and polish, Bond as written is basically a "Sociopath", he is a character fixated upon goals, and uses anyone and anything necessary to achieve them, Bond Has few friends and fewer intimates, he manifests extreme violence OFF / ON as if by a switch and has little concern for its effects. While I admit that it is possible my perception of the various Bonds is governed by my first impressions, it is still my belief that when comparing all the Bonds in the franchise, Sean Connery still represents the most accurate representation of the Bond in Flemming's works.

"(Pierce Brosnan) ...was grown in a lab to play james bond." No one has put that thought into words for me till today :D

I love that Daniel Craig is just as amazing in Real Love as he is as James Bond.

12:01 I had no idea this existed before watching this video and now It is all I live for

Yes on the Lazenby! Thanks!

The Craig bond movies have always looked incredible and had great stunts. The story isn’t the best in a few of them but Craig is always acting his ass off and I love that we learn just so much about how this bond ticks. While also it’s honestly nice to watch a series of movies that have a good solid ending that ties everything up and can look back upon itself with pride.

Daniel Craig is my second favorite Bond, right after Brosumen. What i love so much about No Time To Die is how this Bond feels like a person who has tried so hard to want, and be nothing more then a killer because its his job and that's all he's known. You get the classic Bond, while understanding what made Bond this way. Perfect send off for Craig!

Tbh, pierce Brosnan is my fav as a bond actor. Whenever i think of bond, i imagine him. I just wish he had gotten better movies like golden eye

Woman hides secrets from Bond, hides their child from Bond. Nice to see a realistic portrayal of women, 10/10.

Super relatable, I have had a similar relationship with Bond since childhood and agree with almost everything you said ✌ I could listen and talk about James Bond for days, all the different iterations and the heritage is so special and unique compared to other franchises, even if the formula doesn't always churn out cinematic masterpieces. It's a messy, imperfect series and that's definitely part of the charm for me.

Loved this video and your commentary on it. I've seen all the Bond films (save for one or two) and Craig will always be my Bond. His acting is the strongest, presenting a Bond with the most complex internal life. When he killed, I believed him. When he allowed vulnerability to shine though, it was emotional to see. He gave new life to what the character could become and made me really feel emotional with his protrayal. Casino Royale was revolutionary. I remember being taken aback in the theater during my viewing of Skyfall how much I felt for him. And I mean REALLY felt for him. I thought about that movie for weeks afterwards. No other Bond has been able to get that out of me. I CRIED watching No Time To Die. (I'm the rare 1% that still really enjoyed Quantum of Solace and Spectre) His rendition has a deeper pathos, and his saga will be the one that will truly stand the test of time to all future modern eras. He HUMANIZED Bond. And that is a true, cinematic achievement.

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I however never saw Daniel Craig as a good bond. I just never could get behind his movies.

Dalton was a really badass bond, he's an incredible actor and both his movies are really dope.

Dalton is my favorite actor to portray James Bond. He was the prototype for Daniel Craig’s take on the character.

IMO the Craig-era films are a separate arc within the franchise. The ending was appropriate & perhaps the only logical way to cap off this mini-series. I have a real affinity to DC (Similar age etc) & whilst I'm looking forward to the direction they take it, it won't be the same!

“As long as there’s angry little men like you, I’m not irrelevant.” Bond will hopefully always be on a theater screen near you, because nobody does it better.

Brosnan made an excellent point that it was Gilory and Greengrass's Borne directed movies that set the pace and these films changed how Bond movies moved forward.

This is my favourite Bond. Bond which I grew up with and I'm glad they ended up on a high note. Despite not the best Spectre or Quantum of Solace, this Bondiana films is considered like a native.

Moore's 007 run inspired the recent tenure of the MCU projects, with the earlier films resembling those of Connery's 007. Action sequences that feel repetitive, humor that occasionally falls flat, underwritten villains attempting to fit into serious world issues, and formulaic plots that never really change anything in the grand scheme of the larger story. Furthermore, Moonraker is prominently featured in Black Widow and heavily inspired its plot.

Wait, are we going to get a new Q? I really loved Ben his performance of the carracter.

As someone who watched every single Bond movie, your review helps me articulate now, looking back what I enjoyed about each generation and each actor's take on the franchise. I grew up in the Brosnan era and I remember hoping that Craig's Bond was just as good and I was pleasantly surprised that he was in his own way.

I honestly feel that they should go back to a campy but still serious Bond movie, it would be nice to see one again.

Saw new Bond film today. Awesome!! Made me mad that I wasted my time last week on new Venom movie - which was wasted crap! Venom franchise badly needs killer script writers and directors. The first Hal hour of new Bond film utterly blows away BOTH Venom films. And the ending was by far the best exit of any Bond actor. Craig kicked ass as Bond.

I want one more from this series before they reboot it. The surviving cast deserve it and it would be fun to see them trying to make do without him. We've never killed Bond before, don't miss the opportunity.

I really tried to hang in there with you but I couldn't get over hearing "George Laz-an-bee" 😂😂😂

Il come back to this when I see the movie

I’m sorry to be that guy but your pronunciation of LAZENBY is doing my head in. It’s LAY-zin-BEE not LAH-zuhn-BEE. Great video btw!

I know your emphasis is on film and television, but I would be curious hear your analysis on the Uncharted video game series. The strong narratives and character building across those games contributed in no small part to their universal acclaim and they have since inspired many games in the genre to emulate the Hollywood blockbuster motif that they captured so well. This is of course provided that you have some experience with those games or the time to explore them if not. Keep up the great content.

Good video

Man, I was introduced to James Bond from an uncle when Casino Royale was released when I was 7 years old, I always looked up to Bond and Bruce Wayne as the men I wanted to become. The ending to Daniel Craig’s 007 hurt me as he was my favourite Bond compared to all the other ones since my uncle had a collection of all the Bond movies since Sean Connery’s.

I don’t understand how you did this whole video without mentioning Skyfall, which is almost certainly the greatest movie of any Bond film

As someone who’s not really a bond fan, my partner and I went to see NTTD and I loved it. It had everything one would expect from a Bond movie: weird Russian/Japanese bad guys, murder, quips, outfits, love, murder, missiles and a weird island you can only get to via a means of transportation no one would ever use in real life… murder. It’s was great and I think a great ending to Bond because Daniel Craig is so tired of being Bond. The best line tho is of course: Madeline “I want to show you something” Bond “another child?”

I read the thumbnail as “legends of the ooz” guess tmnt 2 will always live on in my head

1:24 “Casino Royale came out when I was 13”………man, I feel old now!!!

This is why Logan, No Way Home, Endgame etc. have endings that hit hard. Behind all the fun stuff, they also threw in a ton of heart, made them human. Instant relatability 🔥

What’s funny is most people think Rami Malek is far younger than he actually is. He’s about 8 years younger than Craig irl. I think Maleks baby face makes every one assume he’s far younger than he actually is.