007 composer David Arnold backs Daniel Craig as Bond #6

James Bond composer David Arnold has stood by Daniel Craig following criticism of the choice of the new 007 - reports the BBC.

Arnold, who has written the soundtracks to the last three Bond films, says he is "very excited" to be working with Craig on new film Casino Royale.

Arnold dismissed critics who attacked Craig after his unveiling last week.

"It would be a very foolish person who made any kind of judgement from how he answered tabloid questions at a press conference," said Arnold.

Craig was labelled "James Bland" by one newspaper, which was among those to criticise him for giving short answers to reporters.

Composer Arnold, whose soundtrack credits include Independence Day, said audiences would be "very surprised" by Craig's Bond performance.

"People should be very excited about what's going to happen," Arnold told the BBC News website.

"It's going to be very different.

"Everyone is bound to be nervous because Pierce Brosnan was so good and unquestionably James Bond.

"You could see James Bond when Pierce was Remington Steele. You can't see the James Bond that Daniel is going to be in the stuff he has done before.

"We went as far we could go with what we did in Die Another Day.

"This is going to set out a whole new bunch of formulas and values."

Arnold said he had been involved in the screen testing of the hopefuls who auditioned for the Bond role.

"Watching Daniel in his screen test, it is going to demand a different approach."

UK composer Arnold's other movie credits include Shaft, Zoolander, 2 Fast 2 Furious and Godzilla.

He has also recently completed the incidental music to be used in Little Britain's live tour, having created the music for all three TV series.

Thanks to `lorna99` for the alert.

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