Rating: 
Summary: Dalton's Bond Swansong
Review: 'Licence to Kill' marks Timothy Dalton's last appearance as James Bond, and it is a gritty, harder-edged Bond film than any since the halycon days of Sean Connery. Despite Leonard Maltin's comments posted here at Amazon.com, I prefer this film to Dalton's debut, in 'The Living Daylights'. (Rumor has it that the script of the earlier film was written with Pierce Brosnan in mind, as he came very close to playing Bond in the late eighties...it was filled with quips and one-liners, definitely NOT Dalton's forte!)In this outing, Bond's longtime friend, Felix Leiter (David Hedison, playing the CIA agent a second time), is brutalized by a vicious druglord (Robert Davi), and his new bride is murdered, and Bond has to go AWOL from the British Secret Service to get revenge. This concept turns Bond into a lone wolf, although Q and CIA operative Pam Bouvier (the athletic and sexy Corey Lowell, later on 'Law and Order'), join him in his vendetta. As in all the best Bond films, the action is fast and loud, the women don't wear much, and there is a riproaring climax (here, in a high-speed big rig chase). By having Bond act alone, the producers were able to keep the budget down, the high-tech gadgetry to a minimum, and the locations to just Miami and Mexico (substituting as a fictional Latin American country.) All this makes for a lean, mean Bond vehicle, well-suited for Dalton's interpretion of Bond as less witty, and more violent. Why did the film fail at the box office? Sad to say, audiences weren't prepared for a 007 that was closer to Ian Fleming's vision. Also, 'Lethal Weapon 2' came out at about the same time, and Mel Gibson was at the peak of his popularity, which pulled crowds away. Finally, while Dalton was very macho, and excellent in fight scenes, he lacked the charisma and panache of Connery or Moore, and was uncomfortable saying the occasional one-liners. All this is a shame, because the film is excellent, one of the better Bond outings! It would be six years before a new generation of filmmakers reinvented 007, in 'Goldeneye', with Pierce Brosnan, at last, as Bond. Discover for yourself the pleasures of 'Licence to Kill', in the wonderful DVD Special Edition, with commentaries by director John Glen, a 'Making Of' documentary, theatrical trailers, and a LOT of other goodies! You WON'T be disappointed!
Rating: 
Summary: This is bad
Review: The best bond movies always seem timeless. This movie is totally 80's. Licence to Kill was filled with cliche's, one liners and lousy plotting. I watched it with a friend of mine who proclaimed it to be one of the best bond movies ever. Edgy and dark like Ian Flemming originally meant it. After renting it he finally agreed that the movie was garbage. (The last time he saw it was in the theater over 10 years ago). This movie reminds me more of Beverly Hills Cop or Commando than a bond movie. AVOID IT.
Rating:
Summary: And now for something different
Review: Perhaps it was a mistake to make a film in which Bond goes off on a personal adventure, it was always going to alienate the more hard-core traditionalists who want Bond to play it by numbers. I personally enjoyed this film and at the time it was my favourite (I must watch them all again and see where it falls). I also enjoyed it for the fact that Q got the chance to operate in the field too, joining 007 in his adventure. The DVD is heavily featured with commentaries, a couple of features about the film, stills, trailers and music videos. The picture quality of the film is excellent, The music videos however are relatively poor (if the film gets 5/5 for picture the music videos get 3/5) but to be honest I am not concerned about those. The sound quality is excellent. In short a very good DVD.
Rating: 
Summary: Licence to Kill...?
Review: First, let me say that I think Timothy Dalton is way underrated. In my opinion he is one of the best Bond actors. His first appearance as Bond in The Living Daylights was wonderful (my favorite Bond film of all time!) Licence to Kill is decent but falls short of being a true Bond film. I think that for such a serious actor, the script should be more serious than LTK's. Whlie the whole vendetta thing is good, some things don't add up. Like M, M makes a breif apperance and blows up at Bond, takes his Licence to kill away and alomst has his shot dead, in less than four minutes! For a movie that is trying to be more realistic than preivious Bond adventures, I find this unprofessional behavior on M's part perplexing. Also the actor playing M is way too wimpy, the previous M was a much better actor. Also, Sanchez doesn't recognize Bond even though he helps capture him in the films begining! While the film has several great stunts, the rest of the movie is predictable overall. The worst part though, I've saved for last, Wayne Newton makes a breif cameo as Professor....Joe. The only thing that saves the last half of the film is the spectacular (though unbelivable) tanker chase. Overall its not really that bad, but hard core Bond fans may have a hard time swallowing this bitter pill. But do your self a favor and check out The Living Daylights.
Rating: 
Summary: My favorite Bond Films
Review: I'm a huge James Bond fan and I've watched this one more than any other. In my opinion Timothy Dalton is very underated as James Bond. This move actually winds up being the most believable James Bond film to date. The plot, villans, and Bond are all in beliveable situations. Robert Davi plays drug lord Franz Sanchez who brings on Bond's rage by attacking and nearly killing long time friend and ally Felix Leiter. Davi's character remains in my opinion one of the best Bond vilians of all time. Everything you'd expect from Bond with an edge Licence to Kill is one of the best. The DVD as well as all the Special Edition JB DVD's is jam packed with all sorts of extra's too.
Rating:
Summary: All-time low
Review: "Licence To Kill" is undoubtably the weakest of the Bond films. It almost delivered the series a fatal blow. LTK makes the same mistake as "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" did 20 years earlier by trying to resurrect Ian Fleming's original character in an age where hi-tech and spectacle had become the accepted formula. At least OHMSS was a half-decent effort considering. As I will say time and time again, Fleming's Bond should be kept to the novels. But this is a minor flaw when compared to the film's content. No-one expects MI6's top agent to go chasing up something as mundane as drug dealing (although part of it is a personal matter: No 1 villain Franz Sanchez almost killed his best friend Felix Leiter). And even worse is the fact that some of the violence in this film is so brutal and realistic that LTK is rated 15. Coupled with the fact that some very gory murders take place - the man's heart is cut out in the precredits sequence, Felix Leiter is mutilated by a shark (actually from the novel Live and Let Die), and Milton Krest LITERALLY loses his head after an *extended* stay in a decompression chamber, you'ld be forgiven for thinking you were watching a Lethal Weapon film rather than Her Majesty's favourite secret agent in action. The film is weakened even further by some forgettable supporting characters. Sanchez' girlfriend Lupe Lamora (Talisa Soto) seems totally out of her depth and she is superfluous to the plot. Leading lady Pam Bouvier (Carey Lowell) works well as a CIA agent but is one of the least attractive Bond girls, and Sanchez's underlings Dario and Milton Krest don't do that well either: the former is over-the-top and the latter hasn't enough screentime. Timothy Dalton provides some saving grace in his second and last appearance as 007, although I always try and remember him by his performance in the excellent "The Living Daylights" rather than this pile of tosh. LTK had the opportunity to be a classic Bond adventure, and blew it. Big time. Its sheer sloppiness, vileness, and threadbare nature means that this is the ONLY Bond film in the official series that manages to be even worse than the unofficial "Never Say Never Again". Luckily, after a 6-year delay the Bond franchise was back on its feet and Pierce Brosnan provided some much-needed reinvigoration.
Rating:
Summary: Bond at his Best!
Review: This was all in all a great 007 film. Okay, maybe it didn't quite follow the usual formula but the plot was very well designed, the criminals were excellent, and in my opinion Timothy Dalton portrayed the 00 agent with blood-thirsty finesse. There were only two problems I saw with this movie. First, Talisa Soto as the girlfriend of the primary villain Franz Sanchez is a complete joke. She has to be one of the least attractive and most uninteresting Bond girl in the series. Second, Milton Krest, a henchman of drug lord Franz Sanchez, is not nearly evil enough. He has an important role in this movie and should act the part! All in all, this was a spectacular hit and in my opinion, one of the better ones since thunderball, goldfinger, and on her majesty's secret service. This movie is WELL worth watching!
Rating:
Summary: I Really Liked This One
Review: This film was very original (can you say the same for "The World Is Not Enough" or "Tomorrow Never Dies"?), and I enjoyed every moment of it. Bond, as played by Timothy Dalton, really stayed true to Ian Fleming's interpretation of Bond. For once (at least since "FYEO"), the villain was 3-dimensional and wasn't cartoonish or trying to take over the world. A highly underrated Bond film if you ask me. The extra features on the DVD were very nice-I enjoyed the documentaries on the making of the film (which included some very interesting stories about what went on-look for a picture of what appears to be a representation of a hand made out of fire coming out of an on-set explosion-very eerie) , the music videos, trailers, etc. As for the 2 commentaries, however, it appears as if many of the comments (from the actors and producers, writers, director, etc) are exerpts from interviews which were done to promote the film when it was originally released (11 years ago)-this is probably true because some of these people are now deceased. Regardless of that, this DVD is worth the expense.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best Bond films out there
Review: I love this Bond film, because the plot is so much different from the usual. No mad super criminal is trying to take over the world, or blow it up with nuclear warheads, so it's a big variation from the usual. Hey, different is good. Robert Davi gives a great performance as Franz Sanchez, one of the most evil, ruthless Bond villians of all time. His henchman, Dario, played by Benicio Del Toro, isn't any less evil, and matches up well with Jaws and Oddjob of earlier Bond films, maybe Dario's even a little better, because his character is more realistic. Carey Lowell is a great Bond girl, because she's a looker as well as a fighter, and shows up Bond big time in the fight at the Barrelhead Bar. Gone are the seductive locales, as this Bond movie takes place mainly in South America. I don't particularily care for Milton Krest. Though being a villian, I've seen Bob Barker get meaner than him, and besides, he takes away from the evil generated by Dario and Sanchez. All in all, this is a great Bond film, rent it or buy it today.
Rating: 
Summary: Not one of the best.
Review: The first time I saw this movie, I wasn't sure what it was that I didn't like about it. Now that I've seen it a few more times, I think I have it. The problem with this flick is that it isn't really a James Bond movie. Gone are the exotic locals, the world domination plot and even the supercool spy himself. Dalton seems more like a cop than a spy in this film. Same for the premise. Bond's friend dies, so he gets personal. What is that? Bond would never get personal. I think the "Cop Flick" trend of the 1980's got to the writers.
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