The Living Daylights

Rating:
Summary: A Great Bond movie
Review: I hated Dalton in license to kill but he was great in the living daylights. He seems exactly like flemmings bond. It goes to show you that reading the books before you make a movie is good. The plot is fine and the villians were so so but the action is cool.

Pros-Great action, good theme song, and good acting by dalton

Cons-lame villians, really lame villians

Rating:
Summary: Best Bond Movie of the 80s
Review: Timothy Dalton is James Bond in THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS. Dalton picks up the character of James Bond left behind at the conclusion of ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE. Dalton returns in part to Ian Fleming's James Bond. He is a man of determination who will stop at nothing to get the job done. Dalton is a very good actor who tried to bring great dramatic as well as cinematic elements together to return the status of James Bond as the focal point of the story. Outstanding John Barry score mixing both traditional and 80's sounds to this great movie really contributed to the 007 genre.

Rating:
Summary: Dalton's Debut
Review: Finally, a little new blood. Timothy Dalton takes on the 007 mantle in this, the 15th official Bond adventure. In it, Bond helps a defecting general who then gets kidnapped. Tracking down the how's and the why's, he stumbles onto a weapons scheme. Trust me, the plot is as confusing as Octopussy's. Just hang on and enjoy it.

Although Timothy Dalton only had two go-rounds as 007, I like and appreciate both him and his run on the series, for a couple of different reasons. 1)After Moore's pun-filled tenure, it's nice to see a harder-edged Bond than even Connery. Although Dalton still has a few puns (mostly the result of the script being written before he was cast), they're not as overboard. 2)Both of Dalton's movies tried to push the character out of his comfort zone in the movies - this one features him doing more espionage things, like arranging defections, and being an assassin. The next, Licence to Kill, would see him going on a revenge mission. All these things make his movies seem fresh to me today, and although he is much maligned, he brought a lot of interesting things to the character. I'm sad he couldn't have done one more movie before '95's Goldeneye.

As far as faults go, the villains are so-so. I mean, any time you have James Bond squaring off against Joe Don Baker, its not ever going to live up to your expectations, or lack thereof (and don't get me started on the fact that, thanks to his roles in Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies, Baker has now appeared in more Bond movies than Dalton). Also, the climactic battle between Bond and Baker is woefully short.

It's still a good time, however. A good Bond and the most cold-war flavored Bond movie since From Russia With Love make this a nice chapter in the series.

Rating:
Summary: Great Bond, great action, great plot, weak villains
Review: There are some of the very best stunts in all of the Bond movies and I liked Dalton as Bond. The people who put him down can take a flying leap as far as I'm concerned. Maryam D'Abo (sp?) was perfect as a Bond girl. This is one of my favorites (after Goldfinger). With a villain the calibre of Dr. No this might have been the best. Still a great movie.

Rating:
Summary: The two episode wonder!
Review: I am one of the few people I know of that truly thought Timothy Dalton was an excellent Bond. This is the man, along with the production crew behind him, that brought respectability back to this franchise. It wasn't about gadgets anymore...it wasn't about stupid, lowest-common-denominator jokes anymore. It was about making 007 a viable, respectable character again, with tight plots that involved mechinations more like those in the REAL world with just a TOUCH of the fantastic to make it interesting.

In this piece, 007 has to deal with weapons and opium smugglers working out of Russia, the US and Afghanistan and there are double crosses all over the place! Even Bond's long time buddy, CIA agent Felix Leiter, isn't sure what he's up to!

Dalton had the look, the acting ability and experience to make this a good, gripping adventure from beginning to end, with none of the silliness that made the Moore movies such a drag. I'm sure, somewhere, Cubby Broccoli is smiling, knowing that, even though Dalton only lasted for two movies, he helped revive a franchise that was ready to roll over and die another day!

Rating:
Summary: Fun Bond action...
Review: Timothy Dalton is often called the worst of the Bond actors, but this is too harsh. He's the most different, but not the worst. Plus, he's a real badass in both his Bond movies. "The Living Daylights" is his first and, though its villains are very forgettable, the action is constantly exciting and Bond's allies are interesting people. Maryam d'Abo makes for a great Bond girl, playing the cellist Kara, who is the girlfriend of Russian spy Koskov. She is young and naive, but brave and noble, making her the perfect Bond chick. The only place the film falters is its weak villains Koskov, Whitaker, and Necros. The worst is Joe Don Baker as Whitaker, an American arms dealer who talks like a Texan. He's too likable to hate and completely unmenacing. Bond offs him easily. But give "The Living Daylights" credit. It was able to keep the Bond series alive after the awful "A View to a Kill."

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Bonds to date...
Review: This Bond movie is probably one of the best spy movies let alone one of the best Bond movies. This movie incorporates the best of the Cold War movies with Russian intrique and thirst for power vs. the protection of Capital with the Western spy in Timothy Dalton. The incorporation of the current, back then, war in Afghanistan was very key and interesting facet that would shape further Bonds on incorporating current events into their movies. I highly recommend this movie not only for its great plot but excellent casting with a few suprising big names that I will not tell lest ruin the suprise.

Rating:
Summary: True to the originally character of Bond
Review: The great thing about this film is that the casting of Bond as well as the storyline most reflects the character of Bond as written by Ian Fleming. Dalton is the fictional Bond, the sad thing is that the film makers gave him License to Kill as his next film - where they wanted him to be Roger Moore - and then, sadly blamed Dalton as not being a good enough Bond.

My advice is to read an Ian Fleming novel (or the original short story which is the first post opening title scene) to see what a great Bond Dalton is as well as what a fantastic addition this film is to the series.

Rating:
Summary: you are professional, you don't kill without reason
Review: This is a great Bond film. This is Timothy Dalton's first Bond outing. It has a great plot with the KGB. It has awesome action including an awesome fight in the air on a net hanging from the back of a plane. I also love the begining theme song. If you want a great Bond adventure with good action you need to own The Living Daylights.

Rating:
Summary: Dalton is the best Bond ever
Review: By taking the part seriously and not playing him like a robot or a superhero, Dalton created a Bond you could really sympathize with, one who truly seemed to care for the Bond girl and one who had to strive to complete his mission within the bounds of a certain moral code. Unlike Brosnan, who seems to coast through his films bored, anxious to collect his paycheck and move on to roles he finds more stimulating, Dalton rises to the challenge of making Bond a real person, and he succeeds. Living Daylights is a Bond film much more human than the souless stunt show "Tomorrow never dies" or the convoluted "The world is not Enough". I wish Dalton had made more than two films. The special edition includes some informative documentaries and commentary.