007: Su nombre es peligro

The Living Daylights is directed by John Glen and adapted to screenplay by Ricahrd Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson from an Ian Fleming story. It stars Timothy Dalton, Maryam d'Abo, Jeroen Krabbe, Brad Whitaker, John Rhys-Davies, Joe Don Baker and Art Malik. Music is scored by John Barry and cinematography by Alec Mills.

Bond 15 and 007 is assigned to Bratislava to help in the defection of Soviet General Kosov from the Iron Curtain. But pretty soon Bond is mired in a plot involving arms, opium and assassinations.

With Moore retired the search for a new Bond invariably came down to two names who had been mentioned in Bond circles before, Pierce Brosnan and Timothy Dalton. TV schedules and commitments would play a part and eventually Dalton got the role and eagerly he read up on Fleming's novels to ensure he had a grasp on the beloved Secret Agent. In spite of many misconceptions about Dalton's tenure in the tuxedo, his take was stripped back and closer to Fleming's literary source, his intense acting style ensuring Bond was getting back to the thriller realm.

The Living Daylights is a great Bond movie, mostly devoid of stupid sight gags and cheese laden quips, it sees Bond back to indulging in glorious fist fights, using brains and brawn to achieve his ends, and with Dalton putting the arrogant swagger back into the man, Bond is sexy and dangerous again. The plot is intelligent, operating on three fronts and spanning across the continents, production values are immense, Barry's final score is a knockout, one of his most atmospheric and the title song by Norwegian pop darlings, a-ha, is energy supreme and became a monster chart hit. Glen's action direction is practically peerless, including an excellent pre-credit sequence (where a training exercise turns bloody) and a mano mano fight between Bond and a baddie aboard an in flight cargo plane, the latter of which is a series highlight. Maryam d'Abo is a good Bond girl, making Kara Milovy brave but also sweetly innocent, the pairing of Dalton and d'Abo works very well.

Where the picture mainly falls down is with the villains, who are just too lightweight to amp up the peril within the plot. Krabbe and Baker are far from being bad or even average actors, but they rarely offer a threat to Bond and it's a stretch to imagine they could seriously trouble him. Elsewhere, Robert Brown continues to lack an edge in the role of M and Caroline Bliss steps into the Moneypenny shoes vacated by Lois Maxwell and struggles to make an impact because the script doesn't allow her too. Big crime, too, is having Felix Leiter finally return only for him to be underwritten and performed by a dull actor (John Terry). One misstep in the film 's plotting sees Bond and Milovy escape from danger by using a Cello case as a sledge, it looks daft and feels like it belongs in one of Roger Moore's cartoonish Bond movies. Much has been made of Dalton being uncomfortable saying the quips, and that's right, it does show, but that is a world away from the Bond he wanted to play. I do wonder if this screenplay was tailored towards Brosnan, who was inches away from getting the gig? Or even a holdover from a script written with Moore in mind?

No matter, Dalton ushered in a Bond of class and intensity and the worldwide box office chimed to the tune of over $190 million, nearly $50 million more than Moore's last film, A View to a Kill. Critics were mixed on the film and with Dalton's take on the Bond role, they failed to see it was a new era and that it was an actor refusing (rightly so) to mimic either of the Bond's that went before him. Fleming purists were much happier, and with that box office take proving, so were movie going Bond fans. 8.5/10

The Living Daylights is one of the most handsomely shot Bond movies, and Timothy Dalton is dynamite as a grittier and cooler 007. When I was a kid I was swept along for the ride, mesmerised by the evocative use of locations, lush photography, and well choreographed set-pieces. As an adult though I see it as a somewhat flawed movie, with some parts feeling contrived or a bit preposterous (such as the Mujahideen sequence). There's some frustrating narrative choices and the characterisations of the villains feels a bit off, either coming across as clownish (Jeroen Krabbé) or underdeveloped (Joe Don Baker). It's a shame as it's a bit of a misstep in the movie, especially considering how dastardly and treacherous their motivations are. They deserved greater fleshing out, and especially more satisfying comeuppances.

This isn't to say The Living Daylights is a bad movie though. Far from it. The reasons I loved it as a kid are why I still keep returning to the film all these years after. After the criminally underrated Licence to Kill it's the second best 80's Bond movie, and director John Glen pulled out all the stops to give the franchise a much-needed adrenalin shot after the misfire A View to a Kill. Some argue the stagnancy of the series at the time carried over into Dalton's period as 007, which is arguable but in my opinion doesn't detract away from the quality of his movies. There's a certain freshness and flair which elevates The Living Daylights, and License to Kill took a left turn which while controversial was also uncompromising and brave, giving Dalton free reign to show a darker more complex version of Bond which was only hinted at here.

The Living Daylights boasts some of the greatest production values out of all the Bond movies, although its this emphasis on aesthetics which can almost make it seem superficial in places. There's more than enough to justify its existence however. When all's said and done it contains everything you'd want from a Bond movie, and is John Glen's best directed entry in the franchise. Maryam d'Abo is a lovely Bond girl too. Unlike most women who came before she's never subjected to crude objectification or made the butt of some poor misogynistic pun. There's a sweet chemistry between her character and Bond's, and it's credit to both actors that they carry this off with some authenticity. The soundtrack is also a prominant feature of the movie and compliments the action very well, adding to the excitement right from the exhilarating opening scene on Gibraltar.

Not without its faults then, but I'd highly recommend it.

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.