Wow. Lots of love here for Moore. Other than Live and Let Die, View to a Kill, and the Man with the Golden Gun I could not tell you the plot lines of the others. I know Moonraker involved space.... Couldn't tell you about the plot lines of FYEO , OP and TSWLM
Moore would be 2nd to last on my list of Bonds. Lazenby may have had the ability to become a good Bond but based on one showing, we wont know. Moore to me was more cartoon/pantomimeish. If you look at Connery as the best (for the sake of this particular argument right here) Moore was almost comedy at times and lacked the grit. Brosnan kept some of Moores style but at times had a bit more grit than Moore.
I have Connery and Craig at the top 2 and Brosnan right in behind 3rd. Brosnan would have been better served if there were better scripts. Die Another Day was a pile of shark and other that GoldenEye, he had rubbish to work with (Tomorrow Never Dies? Really?) Then Dalton, Moore and Lazenby. Craig is closer to Dalton on his take of Bond with a pinch more sarcasm.
I quite liked Lazenby. He was told by his agent after his one outing to leave the franchise so as not to get typecast - he's since been typecast as the worst Bond as it is generally thought he wasn't wanted when in fact he turned down the next movie.
Brosnan suffered from poor writing as you say and at a time when Hollywood was obsessed with SFX. Casino Royale was such a brilliant franchise 're-set' it will be interesting to see what happens when Craig has done his dash - he's done a great job of being able to maintain a brilliant movie career outside of Bond while still being Bond.
I guess when 4 of the 6 had a more serious edge to them, you then have Moore and Lazenby that kinda standout as being different.
I struggled through Quantum of Solace cause I got lost in figuring out the plot lines but agree that Craig is doing a very good job thus far. Plus he is actually getting decent scripts. I think Broccoli and Wilson really lost their way there at times during the Brosnan era with some outlandish scripts.