Every generation gets its own James Bond. From the icy and suave Sean Connery to the wounded and brutish Daniel Craig, Agent 007 has spent the past five decades evolving to fit the ever-changing tastes of audiences. But how do each of the Bonds measure up to one another? What makes each one so unique? With SPECTRE about to hit theaters, let's take a look back at what makes each of these Bond actors unique.

Sean Connery

The Movies: Dr. No (1962), From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

Noteworthy Attributes: Steely, tough and possibly sociopathic, Sean Connery's Bond is one tough customer. His coldness and cruelty are tempered by his inherent likability. You can't help but fall in love with Connery, who is the epitome of old-school cool.

Best Action Scene: Auric Goldfinger's master plan to explode a nuclear bomb at Fort Knox is close to fruition and only one man stands in Bond's way to stop it: the menacing, mute henchman known as Oddjob, whose bowler hat is actually a deadly weapon. Their fight to the death is a masterpiece of old-school fisticuffs.

Most Memorable Villain: The bald-headed, scar-faced, cat-stroking criminal mastermind Ernst Stavro Blofeld (You Only Live Twice), head of the organization known as S.P.E.C.T.R.E.

Coolest Car: The Aston Martin DB5, which is equipped with all kinds of weapons and, most famously, an ejector seat.

Craziest Gadget: A surprisingly portable jetpack, perfect for those quick rooftop escapes.

Best Line: [After electrocuting a henchman] "Shocking! Positively shocking."

George Lazenby

The Movie: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

Noteworthy Attributes: Unlike the other Bonds, Lazenby only had one film as Agent 007 and never quite nailed down a distinctive personality. He's a little looser than Sean Connery, but not as silly as Roger Moore. In other words, he's the ideal transitional guy, representing the change from the serious "detective" of the early films to the wisecracking entertainer of the next few chapters.

Best Action Scene: With the bad guy getting away by bobsled (seriously!), Bond gives chase. When his own bobsled is taken out by a grenade, 007 leaps onto the villain's sled to finish the fight.

Most Memorable Villain: Irma Bunt, Blofeld's right-hand assistant and vile henchwoman. She gets her hands dirty while the boss lurks in the shadows.

Coolest Car: The Aston Martin DBS, which has no cool features of any kind and wins this award because it's one of the only cars Lazenby's Bond drives!

Craziest Gadget: A safecracking device, which isn't very sexy but reeks of '60s awesomeness.

Best Line: "There's always something formal about the point of a pistol."

Roger Moore

The Movies: Live and Let Die (1973), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983), A View to a Kill (1985)

Noteworthy Attributes: Funnier than his predecessors, Moore's take on Bond tends toward the silly and the tongue in cheek. No one is better at delivering those cheesy one-liners and no other Bond has been so darn charming.

Best Action Scene: In order to stop the sale of a powerful military device, Bond must stealthily scale a mountain to reach the villain's lair, avoiding detection and silently taking out each and every henchman that gets in his way.

Most Memorable Villain: The suave murderer Francesco Scaramanga, who charges a million bucks per assassination and never misses when he fires a golden bullet from his golden gun.

Coolest Car: The Lotus Esprit S1, which transforms into a submarine when underwater.

Craziest Gadget: A dart gun that is strapped to the wrist and activated via flick of the hand, perfect for dispatching bad guys and ruining priceless works of art.

Best Line: "Don't worry darling. It's just a small hat belonging to a man of limited means who lost a fight with a chicken."

Timothy Dalton

The Movies: The Living Daylights (1987) and License to Kill (1989)

Noteworthy Attributes: Dalton's take on 007 is icy and detached. He's easily the most distant of all the Bonds and the least comfortable with the goofy one-liners. But that's okay -- Dalton's serious approach to the material makes him feel like the true predecessor to Daniel Craig's massively popular take on the character.

Best Action Scene: Bond fights a villain to the death. Oh, but they're dangling from a cargo net that is itself dangling from the back a plane. And did we mention that there's a literal ticking time bomb hidden in the net?

Most Memorable Villain: Franz Sanchez, a menacing drug lord whose vile acts cause Bond to go rogue and seek personal vengeance.

Coolest Car: The Aston Martin V8 Vantage, which comes equipped with lasers, missiles, a digital heads-up display (in the '80s!) and retractable skis for icy driving.

Craziest Gadget: A Polaroid camera that takes X-ray pictures… and fires lasers, because why not?

Best Line: "Compliments of Sharkey!"

Pierce Brosnan

The Movies: GoldenEye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World Is Not Enough (1999), Die Another Day (2002)

Noteworthy Attributes: Debonair, slick and thoroughly modern, Brosnan's Bond is the '90s in a nutshell. Although played straighter than Roger Moore, Brosnan is a master of the deadpan pun, delivering delightfully terrible one-liners with serious skill. As silly as his movies get, he never actually winks at the camera.

Best Action Scene: With the bad guys getting away in the streets of St. Petersburg, Bond gives pursuit in the only vehicle he has on hand -- a tank! Mayhem ensues.

Most Memorable Villain: Bond's former friend and fellow agent, Alec "006" Trevelyan emerged from the Cold War with a scarred face and a massive grudge against the man who left him for dead (and guess who that was).

Coolest Car: The BMW 750iL, which has all of the usual weapons but can also be controlled via remote control… from Bond's cell phone.

Craziest Gadget: A perfectly ordinary pen…that just so happens to explode after you click it.

Best Line: "What, no small talk? No chitchat? That's the trouble with the world today. No one takes the time to do a really sinister interrogation anymore. It's a lost art."

Daniel Craig

The Movies: Casino Royale (2006), Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), SPECTRE (2015)

Noteworthy Attributes: Craig's take on Bond stems from one concept -- what if 007 was a real guy? Wounded and emotionally crippled, this is a Bond for the generation that adores flawed heroes. He's just as dangerous and suave as his predecessors, but every choice weighs on his soul. For the first time, we have a James Bond who doesn't look like he's having fun… and that makes him all the more compelling.

Best Action Scene: Newly christened as a 00-agent, James Bond pursues a terrorist across an African city, up a construction site, and into an embassy. The bad guy's parkour skills are only matched by Bond's steely determination.

Most Memorable Villain: Silva, aka the anti-Bond, an impeccably trained agent of chaos whose mission of unstoppable personal revenge puts him on a collision course with 007 himself.

Coolest Car: Another Aston Martin DB5, which shows up for nostalgic reasons before going out in a blaze of glory, machine guns firing.

Craziest Gadget: A Walther PPK pistol that scans your palm print, only allowing its owner to pull the trigger.

Best Line: "I'm sorry. That last hand… nearly killed me."

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