James Bond 007 - Der Hauch des Todes

With Roger Moore's 'retirement' as 007, in the less-than-wonderful A VIEW TO A KILL, Eon Productions began searching for a new James Bond for THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS. A promising candidate was Sam Neill, 39, popular star of TV's "Reilly: The Ace of Spies" (and future JURASSIC PARK dinosaur expert). But Albert Broccoli didn't like Neill's tests, and announced he wanted Welsh actor Timothy Dalton, whom he'd first approached for the role 16 years earlier. At that time, Dalton had turned down Bond, saying he was "too young". Now 41, both Dalton and Broccoli agreed he was the right age, and his tests were fabulous...but it was then discovered that the shooting schedule for THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS would conflict with Dalton's current project, BRENDA STARR, and he, reluctantly, had to pass on the project.

Then an Irish actor, who had become a major television star in America, appeared on the scene. Pierce Brosnan, 34, his "Remington Steele" TV series about to be canceled by NBC, had impressed Broccoli on a visit to the Bond set 5 years earlier, and his tests were so good that he won the role. The script was adjusted, adding more humor (quips were one of Brosnan's strong points), and things were moving along nicely...until NBC, seeing the publicity value of a potential 'James Bond' in a series, renewed "Remington Steele", throwing the entire Bond production into turmoil. The network refused to release Brosnan, and he had to leave.

Fortunately, the delay gave Timothy Dalton time to complete BRENDA STARR, and he began shooting THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS two days after STARR wrapped.

Dalton, an avid fan of Fleming's novels, preferred a harder-edged yet vulnerable Bond, with little or no humor, but screenwriters Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson had already tailored the script to Brosnan, and Dalton quickly revealed that one-liners were not his strongest asset. He gave, nonetheless, a strong, smoldering performance as 007. As his leading lady, Maryam d'Abo, 26, who'd been 'discovered' while doing 007 candidate screen tests, proved quite good as a blackmailed Czech cellist Bond 'couldn't kill'. The villains, while not 'top drawer' Bond, were effective; Jeroen Krabbé as a defecting Russian general, dancer-turned-actor Andreas Wisniewski as nearly superhuman assassin Necros, and Joe Don Baker, as a 'good ol' boy' megalomaniac U.S. general.

With action around the world, and a complicated plot involving a weapons heist and sale, the story attempted to be more 'topical' by involving the Afghan/Soviet conflict (which, unfortunately, 'dated' it, as well). Bond is monogamous for the first time, and the more 'physical' portrayal of FOR YOUR EYES ONLY had returned, to the delight of Bond purists.

But LETHAL WEAPON would also debut in 1987, and the 'over-the-top' solid action film would cut deeply into THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS profits. The 007 film was considered almost 'quaint' in comparison, and Dalton would unfairly take the 'heat' for the less profitable film.

The world was changing around 007, and no one was quite sure what to do about it...

The year: 1987, the Man: Timothy Dalton, the film? The Living Daylights and good news for adults across the globe because after sending off their kids to joke it up with Roger Moore for over a decade they could finally sit down to a Bond movie which, whisper it quietly, resembled a real thriller...and a good one at that. We should be grateful for Dalton's two stints as the Bond because they came within a whisp of never existing. Had the studio had their way, Moore would have been wheeled off for Brosnan and a serious reinvention of the series would have been dropped in favour of the, er, "winning" return to form we've been privileged enough to have enjoyed since 1995's Goldeneye.

Dalton's take on the character was to return it (and I hope you're sitting down) to the brooding, cruel and methodical assassin envisioned by Flemming in his original stories. TD was a RADA trained Shakespearian actor for God's sake and certainly had no intention of smirking and punning his way through each adventure. Dalton said that half the world loved Connery and the other half loved Moore (which is hedging your bets a bit) but he bravely chose to play it like neither. We can only imagine at the relief Richard Maibrum must have felt, given the opportunity to finally write an real screenplay tailored to the new approach, having been no doubt advised in previous outings that plot and character was superfluous to requirements. The result is a story set in the real world . Goodbye super-villains bloated on world domination plots and hello to arms dealers, Afgan resistance fighters, double crosses and political assassinations. After so many remakes of You Only Live Twice it certainly is a tonic and Dalton's hard-edged, professional spy washes over you like a radox bath following a 300 mile trek through the Gobi. His performance reinvigorates the series and makes all thats old new again. The familiar elements are all here - the car, the girls, the locations, but anchored in a real cold war setting with Pretenders loving KGB agents round every corner and the credible whiff of counter-espionage, the whole thing crackles with an energy and an urgency that would have been a fantasy in any of Moores mirth-ridden efforts. Even John Barry's music, in his final contribution to the series, is a fresh and exciting affair - blending high tempo action cues with his usual gift for generating a sense of foreboding and pathos in equal measure. Yes, Bond hadn't felt this good or LOOKED this good since the mid-sixites but as if to prove the old adage that you can't have too much of a good thing, we didn't. Audiences found Dalton humorless and the heady excesses of good story, three-dimensional characterisation and real world setting somewhat distracting. After all, where were all the puns (Dalton's "he got the boot" aside), the jokes and the evil bloke at the end who plans to ravage the planet with deadly spores? People were beginning to ask and Dalton still had two films to go on his contract....

One thing that can be said about Timothy Dalton's two appearances in the role of Bond is that both efforts where excellent.

This one is more in the traditional Bond mould than the much darker Licence To Kill that followed it but was still quite a fresh, well scripted and acted story.

It is a bit of a shame that the original plan to have General Gogol throughout rather than General Pushkin had to be dropped due to Walter Gottel being unavailable but even still, John Rhys Davies does well in his role.

Bond girl Myriam D'Abo is a great improvement on her immediate predecessor even if she does not have a huge amount to do and the quality of the photography, particularly the Afghanistan sequences, are excellent.

Unlike many of the Roger Moore Bond's there was a fresh air of originality here unlike previous efforts, which in many ways where bits of old Bonds remixed, reheated and served up.

It is also a refreshing change from the previous A View To A Kill to not have Bond bedding everything female in sight for once!! AVTAK produced four conquests for the rampant fossilised babe magnet (!) Moore, here just the one and discreet at that.

Thankfully silly gimmicks such as another of M's silly offices (Back of a Hercules plane this time following previous instalments in a submarine, Egyptian ruin, sunken ocean liner and a monastery!) were dispensed with quickly and never really seen in the Bond series again after this.

A cracking soundtrack from John Barry (quite possibly his best)finishes off this excellent instalment, which saw the farewell performances of two more stalwarts of the Bond series, Walter Gottel in an all too brief cameo as General Gogol and soundtrack master extraordinaire John Barry (he actually appears here as the orchestra conductor at the Opera House at the very end).

All in all a really good one

Perhaps one of the most overlooked films in the James Bond series, this one brought things back down to Earth for the series. Though Roger Moore made a good James Bond, he had by now out-grown the series. Timothy Dalton is perhaps the most underrated actor to play James Bond, due to his rather brief stint as the character. He is terrific in both his films, and gives 007 a brooding that Bond has not had in any of his previous films. The movie is also good because the romance between Dalton and Mariam D'abo is there and is wonderful to see. Though Kara Milovy is not a tough Bond girl, she is one of the most sensitive and most romantic with Bond himself. The side love story is great to watch. The villains are not that good, for they are not given enough screen time, but the plot is great to try and figure out. Though it's not half as confusing as Mission: Impossible, it still took me a while to catch on at some parts. On a side note, John Rhys Daves once again proves what a great character actor he is as General Pushkin. This Bond movie stands out for it is basically the last to incorporate the USSR, the KGB, and any other Cold War element plots. Cheers to The Living Daylights, an unsung hero of the James Bond series.

An underrated film in the series. Timothy Dalton particularly changed the Bond character to make it more faithful to Fleming's books. Instead of being a suave playboy, he's a burnt-out assassin. His Bond is a palpable thread to his enemies and was far more energetic than past actors in the role. This means less philandering and more mission. Unfortunately, the "Bond girl" (Kara Milovy) and the villains didn't have memorable performances. With a better cast, this would've been a possible contender for the best film in the series.

The plot in this movie is different from past Bonds. There's no world domination or global destruction. Rather it's a plot of Soviet defection and people conspiring together to commit treason. It's a welcome change to the formula not knowing exactly what's going to happen next. In the 2nd half, there's a big set piece of Bond on an airplane (in the midst of a war) that's one of the most ambitious action scenes in the series.

Despite not being one of the better known Bond films, it was a very important one for the franchise. It pushed the series toward storytelling, action and established Bond as a more dark gritty character. The later films since then have not turned back.