Who was the best James Bond?

This position names Sean Connery as the best James Bond. It argues that, as the original screen Bond, he defined the role for everyone who followed — and that his looks and effortless charisma have never been matched by later actors in the part.

This position names Daniel Craig as the best James Bond. It argues that he resurrected and reinvented the character for a modern audience, starred in the most commercially successful Bond film, and faced some of the franchise's strongest villains — a key measure of a great 007.

This position names Roger Moore the best James Bond. Remembered for his light, quippy charm across seven films, it argues Moore stayed truest to the original vision of the character—the suave, unflappable gentleman spy at the heart of Ian Fleming's creation.

This position names Pierce Brosnan as the best James Bond. It argues that Brosnan was a 'chimaera' of the role — blending the suave charm, wit and physicality of the Bonds before him into a single, complete portrayal that captured everything the character should be.

This position names Timothy Dalton the best James Bond. It argues his grittier, more serious 007 created a believable character, that he made the role his own rather than imitating predecessors, and that he embodied a real, hard-edged Bond both on and off screen.

This position names George Lazenby, star of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the best James Bond. It argues his single, underrated outing as 007—remembered for the wry line 'this never happened to the other fellow'—is overdue for critical rehabilitation.