All 6 James Bond Actors Ranked

When Timothy Dalton's two outings as James Bond failed to captivate audiences, the producers of the series took a six-year break, the longest in the franchise's history. During this time, they were tasked with providing a modern reboot of the franchise. While this had been attempted to some extent with the Dalton films, it had yet to be done in a fashion which pleased the majority of the fans.

1995's Goldeneye (named after Ian Fleming's estate in Jamaica) was the successful reboot that had been six years in the making. It was praised for its modern style and excellent writing, and - above all - Pierce Brosnan, who, more than anyone else involved in the film, was responsible for revitalising a dying franchise.

Blending the effortless charm of Connery with the sophistication of Dalton, Brosnan proved immensely popular with fans and critics alike. Even though his first three outings were well-received, it doesn't change the fact that Brosnan drove the franchise into the ground in 2002 with Die Another Day.

It is also fair to say that the main reason for Brosnan's initial popularity was that most Bond films for the past sixteen years had been dreadful, so audiences found Brosnan and Goldeneye particularly refreshing in comparison.

While he was fairly well-suited to the part, and was popular enough with audiences, Pierce Brosnan's James Bond was far from the best in the series' history.