“The Living Daylights” Indeed!
Well, 1987 brought us a new 007: a new Bond, a new demeanor, and new style…but did it work?
For the 15th outing as 007, a new James Bond has a “license to kill”, as Roger Moore hung up the tuxedo after 7 outings as the British Secret Agent.
As you may know, I am reviewing every single James Bond film in order, and after Roger Moore’s massively successful run as 007, it was up to Timothy Dalton to take over the franchise and run with it!
While Roger Moore called his Bond as much a lover as a fighter, Timothy Dalton’s Bond seems, from the outset, to be more serious, more determined…so was it less entertaining? Let’s dive into “The Living Daylights” with the trailer:
As you saw, he is a more focused 007 to be sure – let’s get into the plot:
After the traditional snipe scope open, we see a training mission underway….and then it’s disrupted as skydivers fall from a plane and a chase is underway! We see Dalton as Bond for first time as he chases an assassin in a very fast car – while 007 is on foot!
007 jumps on the car roof and the action sequence continues down a windy mountain road – check out this behind-the-scenes photo:
The terrific sequence climaxes when the car flies off a cliff and Bond escapes with a parachute as the car explodes – which sets his parachute on fire so he lands on a yacht!
As he sheds his parachute the woman on board offers him champagne – and Dalton is off and running with another terrific Bond opening action sequence!
Then – The Worst Bond Theme Ever!
Everything good screeches to a halt as “a-ha” sings an insipid theme – they are the one-hit wonder behind “Take On Me”…clearly the Producers thought that a-ha was the new U2, so they got to deliver a flaccid, bland and completely forgettable song.
But there are two songs listed in the opening credits for The Pretenders!
Mariam d’Abo is the film’s “Bond girl”, but she is introduced as an Assassin, trying to kill Jeroen Krabbe, a double agent being rescued by the British Secret Service.
Krabbe, soon to be known as the evil Doctor in “The Fugitive”, is spirited away but not before we see D’Abo try to shoot him with a sniper rifle she has in her cello case!
There is a mix of “new and old” in this 007 film, as the original Q is back with more gadgets, with many funny moments as he shows them off to Bond, but there is a new Moneypenny – this was the first Bond film where Lois Maxwell wasn’t Miss Moneypenny!
It turns out that Krabbe faked the assassination attempt and has far more evil intentions…so here are my notes, taken as I watch the film unfold:
“So far very serious not fun at all a well-made film but lacking Bond charm”
“Finally a bit of personality in Alps as they are chased by cops – he saws car in half with laser”
“I had a few optional extras installed” says Bond and truck explodes
“Terrific action sequence as Bond drives across lake inside shed – just escaping before a massive explosion – well done”
As I re-read my notes, I found myself continually noticing a lack of much personality with Dalton’s Bond…the film has the requisite explosions, chases and action sequences – all well staged – but there is a noticeable lack of chemistry between him and D’Abo, and his lack of energy made the film seem less entertaining.
So, the film has a rousing climax with an exploding bridge and more, but something was missing…Roger Moore’s Bond was much livelier and it felt for me as if they wanted a grittier 007, which kept Dalton’s performance a bit dour and muted…if intentional, it was a pretty noticeable shift from he tone of the previous films….oh and at the end we get a song by The Pretenders – why didn’t they do the theme song?
Also, the first big credits are for “the girls” – with ten names – but I can’t remember ten women in the entire film!
At the end it just says “James Bond Will Return” with no title given…and they do that for the rest of the series…sad to lose that fun bit of teasing at the end with the film’s title given…oh well, the series has changed.
Dalton’s first outing as Bond had a muted, serious and slightly less entertaining vibe…like they anticipated the grunge era of the 90’s…it wasn’t colorful and brash, it was a tight, slightly dour film devoid of much of the James Bond charm we’d had throughout the 80’s.
The film did well, grossing more than $190-million worldwide., Dalton would be back as Bond, but would they correct course? Or was this the course they were charting?
My review of “License To Kill” is next.
Dalton was the fourth actor to play 007…of course the iconic Sean Connery was first.
I miss the swagger that Connery immediately brought to the role.
See my review of the film that started it all here:
Connery did six official Bond films and one knockoff – the renegade remake of “Thunderball” – see my review here:
Roger Moore had seven outings as well…here’s a look at his most popular, “The Spy Who Loved Me” – with a Stanley Kubrick twist!
You can see all of the reviews for every Bond film by going to my front page and searching 007.
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Categories: Action Films, British Cinema, Cult Movies, Film Fight Club, Movies, Pop Culture, Revenge Movies, Talent/Celebrities
johnrieber 
I don’t know this movie! Thank you, John, for the review. I am really enjoying this series. I still find it hard to believe Roger Moore made more Bond movies than Sean Connery.
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Well, John, I’m glad I never watched this one based on your commentary.
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I am trying not to be too negative but after the fun escapism of the preview Roger Moore films, this was dour – and we want our 007 to be charming, funny while still deadly! Thanks as always for the comment!
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Not one of my favorites…I kept seeing Dalton as that character from “Flash Gordon”…..chuq
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One I didn’t bother with. I always found Dalton to be a rather ‘stiff’ actor, and better-suited to historical costume dramas. Shared on Twitter for you, John.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Pete, it was so dour! Why they made him this way is a surprise considering Moore’s films were massive hits and lots of escapist fun…and it gets worse as you can imagine…thanks for commenting!
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sounds like Dalton was a bit flat in this one, part of what I love about the bond films is their. humor , and James is always (usually ), a part of that. sounds like the special effects were good, but not a lot of the rest of it –
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yes it was so serious and had none of the escapist fun of the previous films…it gets worse too – thanks for reading!
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