Yep, that scene is straight out of the book. In the book Le Chiffre uses a switch or a cane rather than a ball-and-rope affair, but otherwise that's basically what happens.
Roger Moore was the best Bond to me. I liked his humor and the corniness of his films, and I also thought that he was good in the action scenes. He was the most complete package. Connery is a close second, but I have to admit that I found From Russia with Love and Goldfinger to be two of the most boring films in the series. His other 4 were all good, and he never gave a bad performance in any of his. Right now I would rank Daniel Craig third. I actually didn't care for Casino Royale; to me it was boring and just didn't feel like a Bond film. Quantum of Solace was flawed but it did have some good action scenes that brought it up to mediocrity. I miss the corniness of the Moore and late Connery films, but Craig is undeniably great. I liked Timothy Dalton as Bond, despite his lack of humor. He got a raw deal having to be in 2 films that were awful. George Lazenby's performance has been grossly underrated, but that's not saying much considering how harsh critics have been on him. He was great in the action scenes in On Her Majesty's Secret Service and not very good in dramatic or comic scenes, but he could have worked on that. Pierce Brosnan was easily the worst Bond, in my opinion. He played the character as a pretty boy with no personality. Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies are two of the better entries in the series, and I really wish that Lazenby or Dalton could have been in those instead.
Dead on. As far as the portrayal of the book character, Dalton was clearly the closest. My favorite? That's tough. I grew up during the Moore years, so Connery/Moore are always bond to me. Dalton was my least favorite - which is strange because I think he is a great actor. Lazenby only had the one movie, but I did like his physicality in that one movie. Brosnan was very good, very cool. Right now, I'll have to go with Craig. I was not happy when he was chosen, but Casino Royale changed my mind. Quantum of Solace had moments, but was a subpar movie. I hope Skyfall kicks ass, it looks great.
May I touch your hand? (I'm assuming you haven't washed it since.) Disclaimer: I know this will be surprising, but I am in no way a Bond expert. However, I respond to Craig as a lady the way I feel Bond was supposed to make ladies react. He has the allure of being a total gentleman but totally dangerous at the same time. Suave but not really charming (like Brosnan), seductive but still has a bit of romance to him (unlike Connery). He embodies the character the way I think of him as a pop culture figure. Whether or not the portrayal is accurate to how he's actually supposed to be, I don't know.
To be honest, Connery looks fairly normal in context, but Craig looks a bit ghey like he stole the tightest pair he could find at Lululemon
I think the weirdest thing about the Bond series is what surrounds Thunderball. I thought it was the weakest Connery film (and they randomly kill Blofeld in the opening scene), yet adjusted for inflation it's the highest grossing 007 film of all-- so much they remade it as Never Say Never Again (Barbara Carrera and Kim Basinger rowf) ...starring Connery again, right in the middle of Roger Moore's prime!
Just saw Skyfall. Meh. Too tonally weird/inconsistent for me. Daniel Craig plays Bond as too much of a total brute in this one. Too MONGO ONLY PAWN IN GAME OF LIFE.
Diamonds Are Forever? Best Bond in my opinion? I'd probably have to echo others and say Dalton probably played the character best. At least from what I remember from having watched his films from ages ago and comparing them to what Bond novels I've managed to read over the past couple of years. He seemed to embody that cold, dispassionate, borderline sociopath better than most. By the time they got to making movies with Dalton, I don't think they had any novel length stories to work from. License to Kill and Living Daylights were more or less pastiches of short stories and minor plot points of other Fleming stories and as a result the film stories featuring Dalton tend to be rather uneven, at best. As far as best Bond films, probably Connery. At least, (Discounting Diamonds are Forever and Never Say Never Again) it took longer for his films to start sucking than anyone else's. From Russia With Love is probably the best, in my opinion, Bond film which showcases not only the type of person Bond is (not counting the "You've Had Your Six" moments he had in earlier films) and the type of story Bond belongs in. It was a little surreal reading Moonraker, I have to say, after watching the movie as a kid. Going from outer space laser battles to a kind of low key murder mystery was an interesting shift.
Is there anything dumber-looking than a grown-man pressing a firearm up against his face? Mmmmm I love the way this gun feels next to my eyeball. I said Daniel Craig because I'm totally straight and I still got a boner during the ball-whipping scene. What?
I voted for Connery. He did probably have the best scripts to work with and with the least amount of far-fetched nonsense compared to later films (Moonraker and its space laser bullshit? Fucking please.) and he had someone to show him how to play Bond (Terence Young, the director of Dr. No, From Russia With Love and Thunderball). Also, he actually looked like he was getting hit in his films - Roger's make-up might get ruined if he actually takes a punch. Am I the only one who thinks Bond isn't supposed to show any romantic side except for Moneypenny? Just me? OK, then. In preference as Bond: Connery, Brosnan (seems to get a bad rep here but, as someone else pointed out, he had some of the shittiest scripts to work with but managed the devil-may-care attitude of Bond quite well), Lazenby (didn't have enough time to really assert himself or his ideas to the role; I think he would've made a better Bond than Moore if he was given time - Peter Hunt was a good editor but not as good a director at that time IMHO), Dalton (like Brosnan, awful scripts and Glen was bit too campy a director for Dalton's take on Bond; also needed more time - his third film might've been better but the script wrangling went on for years and that film never got made), Craig (I still can't see him as Bond but I haven't seen Skyfall yet; Quantum is, IMHO, the second worst Bond film made) and lastly Moore (fucking space lasers, too prissy to be Bond, pretty terrible fight scenes. His only redeemable film was For Your Eyes only, and one film out of 7 cracks at the role is not really a good return, is it?) I just wonder why EON haven't used some of the material from the numerous Bond books written by other authors? John Gardner novelised at least two of the movies out of fourteen Bond books that he wrote (even if some of it was guff, it was probably better than Bond's scriptwriters were shitting out at the time). Raymond Benson replaced him (he novelized 3 of Brosnan's movies and wrote some other Bond stuff too).
You are right. I confused my opening scenes, and even then Blofeld didn't die in the mud. It was For Your Eyes Only when Moore dumped him down the smokestack, but they weren't allowed to use his name because of the "Thunderball Contrversy".
Moist panties. Motherfucking moist panties. Sweet hell on Earth Daniel Craig is a sexy beast. Connery IS Bond, but Daniel Craig is damn sexy. And intense. And mouthwatering. Yes please.