Without a doubt, Sean Connery is the most well-known Scottish actor to grace the screen in cinema history.
Having made his debut in 1956 in the BBC TV series, 'Dixon of Dock Green', Connery was launched into stardom six years later in 1962 when he starred in 'Dr. No', the first of several portrayals of Ian Fleming's super-spy, James Bond.
Arguably setting the standard for the role, Connery's had a love-hate relationship with Bond over the years, often choosing roles distinctly different from the character so as to be never associated with the franchise or his part in it.
Here's our rundown of what we think are his five best scenes.
5. 'OUTLAND' - "I was supposed to be something I didn't like..."
'Outland' is, in our opinion, one of the most overlooked sci-fi movies out there. It's a sci-fi movie, but it plays everything like it's a down-and-dirty detective thriller. Sean Connery plays a washed-up cop who's assigned to security in a dingy mining operation in orbit over Jupiter. Compared to the likes of 'Alien', which kept the horror on creatures, 'Outland' made the horror internal. In other words, if and when humanity reaches the stars, odds are it's going to be as grimy and as morally sickening there as it is here on Earth. This scene, however, shows Connery's cop realising that he was put on the mining station because, well, they didn't think he'd do much of anything with what he found.
4. 'FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE' - The train fight sequence
Although he was known for looking more suave than anything else, the train fight sequence in 'From Russia With Love' showcased how violent James Bond was, and how ruthless when the need arose. Battling the fearsome-looking Robert Shaw in a tiny train carriage, the lack of music and the rattling train sounds adds an atmosphere to an already-tense fight, and one that doesn't end with the trademark quip. Why? Because it was entirely too close to call.
3. 'THE ROCK' - "All I know is you were big in Vietnam, I saw the highlights on television..."
If ever there was an example of under-acting versus over-acting, it's this scene in Michael Bay's action masterpiece, 'The Rock'. Ed Harris' misguided all-American war hero general squares up to Sean Connery's easy-going, laconic ex-prisoner and ex-SAS soldier and the two bounce off each other like they've known each other for years. Harris, fair dues to him, is throwing everything at Connery - but he's playing it like it's nothing, which is ultimately what Connery made his career. It's that thing of making it look so effortless and so easy that he's almost bored by it.
2. 'THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER' - "A war with no battles, no monuments. Only casualties."
By today's standards, 'The Hunt For Red October' is an incredibly dated movie and was probably dated the moment it was released in 1990. Connery famously turned down the role of Captain Marko Ramius when he didn't receive the opening titles that set the movie in 1984, several years before perestroika and the eventual fall of the Soviet Union. This scene, however, details the horrors of the Cold War better than any other movie of its kind and really shows the range Connery could go to with a simple line or glance. It's telling that Connery was the first, last and only choice for the role as no other actor could play a Lithuanian submarine captain with a Scottish accent - and nobody would even blink an eye about it.
1. DR. NO - "Bond, James Bond."
As introductory scenes go, this moment from 'Dr. No' has now been elevated to iconic status. There's really not that much in it, when you think about it. It's a card game scene, a pretty boring one at that, but it's got all the hallmarks you'd expect in a Bond movie. There's the impossibly beautiful woman, the perfectly-tailored tuxedo, the now-inappropriate smoking, and the line that's been trotted out again and again with varying degrees of success. Here, in its purest form, is the line that launched a thousand parodies, and an entire genre of its own.
