Goldfinger: Sean Connery with Honor Blackman Pic: © Blackman/ Rex Features
As Scottish as Irn Bru, haggis and bagpipes, Sir Sean Connery has defined Scotland as much as Scotland has defined him.
Yet the man praised as the greatest Bond of all time has starred in as many misadventures as he has cinematic gold. As he turns 80, STV's film expert Grant Lauchlan puts his career under the spotlight.
The Good:
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
He’s Indiana Jones’ dad. Enough said.
You Only Live Twice (1967)
My ultimate James Bond movie (this and Goldfinger).
The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
This is Connery’s favourite movie and was rightly screened to commemorate his 80th birthday at this year’s Edinburgh Film Festival. The legendary John Huston directs Connery and Michael Caine in a swashbuckling adventure packed with great characterization, thrills and a knowing sense of humour.
Time Bandits (1981)
Amazing how, in this age of digital wizardry, Terry Gilliam’s fantasy adventure with it's homemade special effects and clever camera work stands the test of time. Connery’s presence adds heaps of cachet to Gilliam’s irreverent lark. You’d think a film like this would be beneath his lofty status. Obviously Connery spotted Gilliam’s genius, so kudos to him.
Outland (1981)
Connery is one man against the system in what is effectively High Noon in outer space. A neatly constructed sci-fi thriller that’s hugely under-rated.
MORE GOLDEN MOMENTS:
- The life and times of a Scottish acting legend
- A snapshot of some iconic Connery moments
- Connery at Gleneagles Celebrity Shoot
- The Scot talks politics
- But will his career go out with a whimper rather than a bang?
The Bad
Zardoz (1974)
How could he ever go from Bond to this? Not even Connery's manly physique could carry off the red nappy he sports in John Boorman’s wacky sci-fi epic. What was he thinking?
The League of Extraordinary Gentleman (2003)
Production problems and constant clashes with director Stephen Norrington convinced Sir Sean that he had fallen out of love with film making. Nothing to do with the fact it’s an extraordinary turkey then? Shame his career ended on such a dud.
The Avengers (1998)
Fans of the cult 1960s television show balked in horror at how badly Warners Bros. screwed up the long awaited big screen outing for the iconic British super agents John Steed and Emma Peel. Ralph Feinnes and Uma Thurman were utterly miscast and Sir Sean didn’t help matters either, camping it up as the maniacal meteorologist Sir August de Wynter who is hell-bent on controlling the weather. Snow, Wynter, get it?
Meteor (1979)
A disaster movie that was a disaster of a movie. One for the mortgage in Marbella no doubt.
