The Living Daylights | | Cast : | Timothy Dalton, Maryam d'Abo | | Director : | John Glen (II) | | Studio : | MGM/UA Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | July 31, 1987 | | DVD Released Date : | October 17, 2000 | | Language : | Unknown (Dubbed), English (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 27, 2005 | | Summary | My first Bond film | Content
 | This was the first Bond film I ever watched, years ago when it premiered on ABC saturday night movies, so I have a soft spot for it. It's still definitely one of the best, with an intriguing plot that actually requires the viewer to pay attention without becoming too convoluted. Probably the most spy-centric story since From Russia With Love. Timmothy Dalton's take on 007 is the grittiest of all the Bond actors so far, and he manages to find a strong balance between realism and the larger-than-life antics of Bond. All the usual Bond trimmings are here too, including the cars, gadgets, John Barry score, and even a new actress as Moneypenny. There are some fantastic action sequences including the opening teaser, a car chase on ice, and a fight on a cargo plane. Dalton only made two 007 films before the series went on hiatus, and this is the stronger of the two. It lacks the dark tone that haunts his follow-up, Licence to Kill, and feels a bit more timeless.
This is also a pretty good DVD. You get a making-of documentary, another documentary on Bond creator Ian Fleming, the retro A-Ha music video of the title song, and a fun deleted scene (probably cut as it seems like a bit of silliness leftover from the Moore years). The bad? No English subtitles, at least on my version. My version also lacks the original burned-in subtitles on an early sequence where a Russian agent seduces her supervisor to provide Bond with a distraction. It's a rather funny one-liner, and I heard MGM corrected this mistake on later pressings of the disc. The Living Daylights still remains one of my favourite Bond films, and is a must-buy for all fans. |
| Rating | | | Date | August 21, 2005 | | Summary | "Thank God I Insisted You Bring That Cello!" | Content
| This is by far the best non-Connery Bond film. Timothy Dalton is brilliant in the lead role, giving Bond a menacing quality. It is a shame we only got to enjoy him as 007 in two films, because he was truly awesome. As far as the basic standards for Bond movies, this one delivers the goods; beautiful women, explosions, car chases, exotic locations...the works! And, AND, we get to see James Bond and Miriam D'Abo skiing down a mountain in a cello case! What else could you want? |
| Rating | | | Date | April 23, 2005 | | Summary | A New Bond with a New Style | Content
| The mystery of how well the new Bond would replace Roger Moore in the fifteenth "official" Bond movie was over with "The Living Daylights." The style of the movie was set with the opening scenes, where three double-0 agents parachute onto Gibraltar as part of an infiltration exercise. Unfortunately, someone in the exercise is using real ammunition, not paint balls. Timothy Dalton shows that he is made of Bond material as he jumps onto an escaping jeep and fights with the bad guy as the jeep full of explosives catches fire, flies off a cliff, and explodes, with Bond having departed in a typically clever fashion but moments before the fireball erupts.
Timothy Dalton was a no-nonsense Bond in this movie. He eliminated the numerous one-liners that seemed to be a Roger Moore characteristic in favor of a leaner and meaner and much more spy-like Bond. In this first of two Bond movies Dalton had yet to achieve the presence and technique of either Sean Connery or Roger Moore, but he breathed new life into the series.
The plot bears some characteristics of "A View to a Kill" in that both films portray the Soviet Union as a friendlier nation beset with evil doers who would take advantage of the kinder, gentler, Soviet Union. This time the criminals are looking to do a novel sort of bait and switch, profiting by buying drugs from Afghanistan and selling them in the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, the money belongs to the Soviet Union.
Mixed into this plot is a Soviet defector, KGB General Koskov (Jeroen Krabbé). Bond's mission was to get Koskov out of East Germany and into Berlin. However, it appears that someone wants Koskov dead, as a beautiful assassin attempts to kill Koskov as he attempts to defect. Bond has a chance to kill Kara Milovy, well played by Maryam d'Abo, but he elects to shoot the gun from her hand instead.
The plot thickens during the debrief of Koskov. Koskov tells British agents that General Leonid Pushkin, played by always excellent actor John Rhys-Davies, is executing a program to eliminate Britain's secret agents. Unfortunately, KGB appears to retrieve Koskov from the English estate safe house and the British agents are unable to learn more. Bond turns to Kara Milovy. Bond leads Kara to believe he is going to get her out of the country to meet Koskov, her patron. However, Bond has yet to learn where Koskov is.
What follows is an action-packed movie that is nicely plotted and interesting to the end. There is an excellent battle scene in Afghanistan (filmed in Morocco), and an even better escape scene from Afghanistan. After all that action there remains one loose end to tie up, which Bond does nicely.
During the film we meet another excellent supporting actor, Art Malik as Kamran Shah, an Afghani chief. We also meet Joe Don Baker as self-centered Brad Whitaker. There is yet another version of Felix Leiter, this time a less than memorable version of Leiter. Caroline Bliss is a mediocre version of Miss Moneypenny.
The special effects were much more down-to-earth versus those in "A View to a Kill." The ubiquitous Aston-Martin returns with rockets, rocket boost, outriggers, and sundry other gadgets. There is a sliding glass door used as a weapon by an assassin. The same assassin also uses a headset as an assassination tool. This film also featured exploding milk bottles. The way Koskov escapes from East Germany is excellent for at least a couple of reasons, including the use of a Harrier vertical takeoff jet. In general the special effects were well done and believable.
There are a few moments where I noticed some scene glitches. It appeared that in the final scenes of the movie that there were places where the four-engine C-130 Bond was flying had two engines. In another scene in the plane Bond looks out the left window and we see fuel leaking from a tank. However, the bullet holes are on the opposite side of the tank from the window. Perhaps Bond also has x-ray eyes. In yet another scene Kara drives a jeep up the ramp of the C-130, which is impossible due to the configuration of the C-130's ramps. However, these minor errors can be forgiven as the quality of the rest of the movie is excellent.
The special edition DVD includes a deleted scene where Bond rides a flying carpet. I will leave you to discover how that stunt was performed. The reason given for its deletion was the length of the movie.
Keeping with the trend of having current musical artists perform the title song, A-Ha sings "Living Daylights." A-Ha was popular in Europe at the time, and had a huge hit in the United States with "Take on Me."
There is irony in that the James Bond films are filmed in the same country that is the origin of Dr. Who. One could start to think that James Bond is like Dr. Who, incarnating as different people over time. Timothy Dalton was the fourth "official" Bond. Each of the Bonds has had their own style and abilities, and each have generally been well exploited. Fortunately for viewers, Timothy Dalton's Bond was a more austere Bond, living up to the tradition of the Ian Fleming novels. He was smart, athletic, and confident without being arrogant. This Bond movie remains above average for the genre, and enjoyable to watch multiple times.
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| Rating | | | Date | April 22, 2005 | | Summary | Yes, Yes, Yes, Timothy Dalton Is A GREAT Bond | Content
| I am a huge fan of the 007 series. My favorite is Sean Connery, but right below him is the great Timothy Dalton. When he came to the series he added an element that had been missing in this series for about 8 films, and that is emotion. Roger Moore, had brought down the series by turning James Bond into an annoying cartooon character/old man off his medication. Dalton brought heart to the film and brought him closer then ever before to the character of the books.
The story is surprisinly good for a Bond film, having many twists and such. It also features a fantastic cast, the Big bad guy has great charm for a villian, the action is fun, and the girl is good looking. Check out this and the other Dalton film, License to kill.
THE GREAT ETNEBOB HAS SPOKEN |
| Rating | | | Date | March 05, 2005 | | Summary | Dalton at his best and first bond | Content
| Eventhough there is weak villains in this flim the movie is still good because it has great music,giris and theme song. I mean this movie is better than licence to kill and this movie is what a bond movie should have because its exciting and exotic. We have this movie on DVD and its cool,excting and awesome but this DVD is better than the licence to kill DVD. This is the movie for you because this is bond and a very cool one too. The bond girl in here maybe weak but the movie is just as cool get this movie not licence to kill. |
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