Is Sean Connery a good actor?

Michael Caine has a similarly limited range, but still far better than Connery.

Caine is better than Connery but both very limited. They have massive charisma though.

they both have excellent presence but limited range.

(Di Caprio and Redmayne aren't that good. Gary Oldman, Mark Rylance and Daniel Day Lewis are probably the best three male actors in the world. )

No he is not.

Not a bad actor but a right arrogant ****.

Was a caine film I've never seen that won an oscar I think, cider house rules.
Played a doctor in a US orphanage. Was pretty good, showed he does have range.

Not just a doctor, an obstetrician.

There was an unforunate incident where a patient died, and he was only supposed to clamp the bloody doors off.

Having said that I've never seen Caine dressed like THIS!:


https://i.amz.mshcdn.com/BS92XSwHkcwWM-IxtGemXXl4fDg=/http%3A%2F%2Fa.amz.mshcdn.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F01%2FZardoz-2.jpg

was kevin spacey the director on that?

I saw more facial expressions in Ted 2 than in any Connery movie.

Having said that I've never seen Caine dressed like THIS!:


https://i.amz.mshcdn.com/BS92XSwHkcwWM-IxtGemXXl4fDg=/http%3A%2F%2Fa.amz.mshcdn.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F01%2FZardoz-2.jpg


what a ridiculous outfit he must be freezing

I liked Connery in The Rock with Nick Cage.  That was a most excellent flick.

Thought he was very good in The Hill and The Offence. Both films directed by Lumet, so maybe that dir. brought the best out of him.

Yes its often hard to tell when you don't imo get pushed to show your ability, Caine & Connery both suffered from this, almost a case of quantity over quality, however Connery was excellent in The Hill  so that may well answer the case for the defense.

Can you be a good actor if you do the same accent for every single role?

he did a russian accent in the Hunt for Red October - or at least he tried to

Also worked with Lumet in The Anderson Tapes. Guess Connery must have liked working with that director. But whatever the level of his acting, there's no doubting his screen presence, as a lot of the 'big stars' have of course. Certainly had the right charisma for the Bond role.  The Hill and The Verdict are films I can watch again and again. Saw him some years ago in an old British war-comedy film called "On The Fiddle", and it was amusing to contrast with his persona in the Bond movies.

I think he is a good actor because I will usually watch a film that I haven't seen before if he is in it.  I do this with other actors, Javier Bardem, Benicio del Toro, Charles Laughton, Alan Rickman, Will Smith, Matt Damon, Steve McQueen, Harrison Ford etc etc.  Whereas there are films I haven't seen because the 'actors' who may be thought of as better are in it, Johnny Depp, Leonard Dicaprio, Kevin Spacey, Tom Cruise etc etc..

Good point annie. I'd also add Gene Hackman to that list. One of the all-time great American actors, never bad in any scene. I'd certainly have him in the top 3 best actors of American 1970's cinema, having created some superb work then.

don't think big Sean has ever claimed to be a great actor, but he oozes charisma, in fact there's more charisma in one of his beads of sweat than DiCaprio and co have ever had in their whole career. And of course, he is the James Bond.

Well Connery doesn't have a massive range but he's good at what he does and there's nothing wrong with that.

E.g. Malcolm young, guitarist for AC/DC who died the other day, was never known as a jazz improv virtuoso but he was very good at what he chose to do.

There would be imho a noticable loss to the films we've all seen if SC had never been there, so looking at it THAT way, which is a very good way to look at it, he was a good actor.

He did name of the rose, which was to my memory pretty good and not in his normal gendre.

He also did Zargoz (see earlier photo) which is AFAIK BITOs favourite film after the beach volleyball film in Top Gun (see earlier photo!).

*scene

Totally agree with Plat re Connery's plethora of charisma and Di Crapio's dearth of BUT Moore was THE Bond, imo.

Was in his third film (Hell Drivers) that he was initially spotted for the Bond role.

i doubt he would ever claim to be a great actor but he is a decent actor & a great movie star. He did have his moments,
The Offence probably being his most challenging role & he was pretty damn good in that.

re hfink: "..The Hill and The Verdict are films I can watch again and again."
that should have been: "..The Hill and The Offence are films I can watch again and again.."  getting me Lumet films mixed up ffs; my brain is all over the place these days!

Remember someone telling me a funny Billy Connery story. Billy was to meet Connery on a golf course, and as Billy approached him, Connery said: "Billy! You're a $hite for shaw eyes!"

Can't believe people saying he didn't have a range.

He once played the role of a dragon.

Makeup was really good. Even if it was a Scottish dragon.

Trilby, I'm a big fan of Roger Moore as well, and I loved all his Bond movies but he's no Sean Connery. Just ask the ladies who they prefer.
There's very few movie stars with Connery's charisma - Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen - thats the level of screen presence we're talking about. Who's got that these days ?

Also thought he was good with Richard Harris in The Molly Maguires. A good film too.

For those who like anagrams: does he have any on-screen presence?  (well, yes, obviously!)

Plays Sean Connery to perfection

You are right on both counts, Platini

Although I like Roger Moore I do prefer Sean Connery.  And I agree there are few actors today who are as sexy and charismatic as the old times.

Is it just me that reads "Billy Connery" and hears it like it's a japanese man saying "Billy Connolly"

the Hill - excellent film
the red tent - amaz ballz
the offence - super duper - loads of great films from the canary.

ZARDOZ

I'M SURE Connery had a Scottish accent in at least one film.

He does a scottish irish accent in 'The Untouchables'.

The football equivalent of this thread would be 'David DeGea is way overrated : i've never seen him beat 3 players and put it in the top corner'

Actors like Connery , John Wayne , Tom Cruise , Clint Eastwood are great at playing archetypal roles that you get in genre movies . They are not overrated as no one considers them 'great actors' in the usual sense of being able to play totally different personalities .

Denholm Elliot would be considered a better actor than Harrison Ford in terms of range etc , but would Raiders of the Lost Ark have been better if Denholm had played Indiana Jones  ?

Would The Terminator had been better if Gielgud had played the title role...

Hi Just Checking, can't believe I said Billy Connery instead of Billy Connolly!  My brain really is in a sorry state these days, lol   And you're right, it does sound like a Japanese fella saying "Connolly"! Perhaps I'm Japanese and didn't reawise it! 

Exactly, tobermory, you have explained  it exactly.  There needs to be a name for great 'actors' like charles laughton but also for actors who have charisma and sex appeal.  I am sure that no one would say marilyn monroe was a great actress but she had a certain something, especially for men

I have to say, the image (in one's head) of Gielgud playing The Terminator is just so funny! Thanks for putting that thought in my head, Tobermory!

Gielgud was awful in everything I've ever seen him in. A great actor, even one of small stature, COULD have played the Terminator very well IMO.

Only seen Connery in two Bond films - Goldfinger (quite enjoyable film) and You Only Live Twice (dreadful film). Connery was very poor in both IMO.

Connery is the sex symbol actor , and does that role well.

John Hurt is not that type actor but was the daddy of the acting profession. imo of course.

They don't need to be a good actors to get on. Good actors are ten-a-penny.

What they need is star quality, that's what people pay to see.

Someone mentioned John Hurt as being a good actor, I'm sure he is.
Yet who wants to look at him for an hour and half?

Here's a challenge. Can you name some super charismatic movie stars who were also great actors ?

Paul Newman, Robert Redford spring to mind.

Marlon Brando. All great actors have charisma I would say.

Jack Nicholson - another great actor with charisma.

Russell Crowe. Great actor with charisma.

Connery nowhere close to being in those guys' league IMO.

I don't really see why folks think Connery has charisma either really - he just comes across as a bully and not a very good communicator. Roger Moore - who freely admitted his acting limitations - was a wonderful raconteur and had much more charisma IMO.

All great shouts - Jack Nicholson would be in my top 3.

Gregory Peck and Orson Welles from the early days as well.

You'd have to do a lot of searching to find anyone claiming Connery was as good an actor as Brando !

You have actors who 'play the same character' over and over , and actors who can play totally different roles convincingly.

Connery obviously in the former group , and i've never seen anyone claim he was any more than that . Others are Eastwood ,Wayne ,Cruise ,Redford . No doubt there will be some people who don't rate one or the other of them , even as just movie stars . But they all had enough charisma for most people to serve their purpose in box office terms.

How many "blokes" like watching films with Connery in in later years

because it reminds them of how they used to love the sixties Bond films?

And that they all wanted to be him? Millions, I'd say.

Interesting bit of trivia. His brother, Neil Connery, starred in an Italian produced Bond pastiche called "Operation Kid Brother" (aka "OK Connery"). Never seen that film (he was dubbed in it anyway, according to IMDB, due to having appendicitis at the time of making it) but I wonder how he compared as an actor to Sean. Mind you, he didn't appear in very much (only 10 credits on IMDB, and mostly tv work).

Yesh.


Not really.

Maybe it's me, but I don't think of him as charismatic at all and not a very good actor either. He's not got anything like the Charisma of Nicholson, Brando, Pacino, Bogart, Eastwood and loads of others. Perhaps he is very good looking, he definitely has a good body, and that's what it's all about but as a bloke I'm not very good at telling. I would have thought Newman, Eastwood and Dean would all be far better sex symbols tho.