I grew up watching the Brosnan and Craig films (which I love), and caught smatterings of others over the years, but never from start to finish. I decided to finally dedicate the time to watch them all starting from the beginning and oof, I was not expecting to be this disappointed. Time for some hot takes:

1. Connery is a great Bond in mediocre films. The dude set the tone for what Bond is, but his films are so slow and plodding, and half of them really are kinda bad (DaF, NSNA, YOLT). Goldfinger is probably the most iconic, but that's only for a handful of scenes, otherwise it's pretty mid. From Russia With Love is a better film but lacks those iconic moments. Thunderball is probably his best performance. He really seemed to be enjoying himself in that one.
2. Lazenby is a bad Bond in a pretty decent movie. I wish Connery would have played that one. Lazenby was never believable as a spy, let alone Bond. Too bookish.
3. Moore had some of the more interesting films, still mid, but he didn't bring much to the table. Felt more like a business man than a spy. Might as well call him James Bland for what he contributed. His romances were never believable, and seemed almost like an inconvenience rather than Connery's Bond which seemed to be more interested in the girl than the mission half the time. All of the above Bond movies suffered from the same lack of pacing, where I found myself checking my watch around the halfway point, and going "oh shit, there's still an hour left?!" He gets labeled as the goofy Bond, but the goofiness started in the Connery era. It just got more prevalent with Moore.
4. Dalton hits the screen and it's like a breath of fresh air. Now I see where the Brosnan era really originated. They did a complete 180 from the Moore era and finally fixed the pacing problem. The fights no longer looked goofy, and he and the actress from TLD had great chemistry together, to the point I question whether or not they got together irl. He was entirely believable as a spy, and reminded me a bit of Craig, with his more stern take on the character. He's also probably the kindest Bond I've seen when it comes to women. I really liked that. I didn't expect to be a Dalton fan, but I applauded after the end of his first movie. This was the first time I felt like they actually stuck the landing. Sad that we didn't get more of him.

So, here I am, probably watching License to Kill tomorrow. But yeah, The Living Daylights, imo, is the first good Bond film, with Goldeneye (so far) being the first great one. And really, out of all the films, I think there are only 3 great Bond films: Goldeneye, Casino Royale, and Skyfall. Was really hoping to add to that list with Connery and Moore, but.... I guess you had to grow up with them.