The Living Daylights

Rating:
Summary: One Of Timothy Dalton's Best Bond Films.
Review: Timothy Dalton plays James Bond following Roger Moore's departure after "A View To A Kill" and does a great job, portraying Bond with a darker edge, but with all the charisma, smoldering sexuality and nonchalance that viewers have come to expect. Director Glen bends the rule on nudity a bit here and it works very well. The theme song by A-HA was TERRIFIC!! Timothy Dalton is my favorite James Bond, after which follows George Lazenby (who starred in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"), Sean Connery (the ORIGINAL James Bond), Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan. The supporting cast was PERFECT as usual (keep it up). Rated PG for action violence, mild language and some sensuality/brief partial nudity.

Rating:
Summary: Dalton impressive, film less so
Review: After seven films as agent 007 (one film more than Connery in the official series), Roger Moore left bondage but the series needed time to recover from his smirking, lightweight reign. "The Living Daylights," written before Moore's forced abdication, found his replacement haunted by his ghost.

As James Bond, Timothy Dalton has it all: dark, brooding looks and a theatrical background that makes even big Sean look like an amateur. What he lacked, and what seems to have done him in after only two films, is the humor that had wearingly become the series' trademark during Moore's twelve year stint in the role. Dalton, despite having made his film debut in 1968's "The Lion in Winter," was also a complete unknown to most filmgoers, so his name meant nothing on the marquee. As was the case with George Lazenby in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," James Bond was the sole selling point with this film, and after Moore's last gasp in the dreadful "A View to a Kill," the fabled spy's name had lost much of its luster.

"The Living Daylights" did decent business in the U.S. (and much better in the U.K.), but proved a less than sterling showcase for Dalton's dirtier, more realistic 007. The villains are a big stepdown from both the glory days of Goldinger and even Christopher Walken's Max Zorin, the one redeeming element of Moore's swansong. Joe Don Baker, who would return to the series twice as an ally to Pierce Brosnan's Bond, lacks the menace he brought to his hitman role in Don Siegel's "Charlie Varrick," and Jereon Krabbe would have to wait six years before making much of an impression in a mainstream film (which he did in "The Fugitive"). Not only is Maryam d'Abo the dullest Bondgirl in memory, but even the maestro himself, John Barry, misses the mark with a less than memorable score. As for the title song performed by Aha, one of the less pleasant flavors of the month from 1987, it strains to be catchy but only succeeds in being forgettable.

On the plus side, the action is well-staged, there's some great scenery, and Dalton is so perfectly cast that he is the only Bond who might have displaced Connery as the favorite of Bond fans. His next film, "Licence To Kill," would be tailor-made for his more introspective, dangerous Bond, and that film represents a considerable improvement over his debut effort. "The Living Daylights" is worth seeing to gauge his considerable potential.

Brian W. Fairbanks

Rating:
Summary: Falls flat
Review: Well, there are some pretty impressive locations like Gibraltar, Morocco and Afghanistan, and some racy action scenes, but the story is pretty flat as are the villains in this piece set during the closing days of the Cold War. KGB General Koskov (Jeroen Krabbé) seems nothing but a spoiled fop: " Don't kill me, don't kill me" and the American arms dealer (Joe Don Baker) is a flat stereotype.


Maryam d'Abo as Bond's Russian love interest Kara is very pretty, but her character lacks the oomph of other Bond girls. Frankly this one failed to really hold my interest. But it is the fault of the directors and scriptwriters, not of Dalton who is a brilliant actor.


Rating:
Summary: Dalton's Unsteady Entry Into The Bond Role
Review: Timothy Dalton's first appearance as 007 in the franchise is rather unsteady but decent. Despite Dalton's limitations, Albert Broccoli still managed to have this film made with a good screenplay and a good director.

The story revolves around the defection of a Soviet KGB officer named General Koskov (Jeroen Krabbe) with information on a Soviet plot to eliminate Britain's MI-6. With orders to dispose of Koskov's superior(John Rhys-Davies), Bond discovers a secret plot between Koskov and an American arms merchant (Joe Don Baker). Bond must race against time to foil the plot and save the world. All of this wouldn't be possible without the help of the traditional Bond babe (Maryam d'Abo) who plays Koskov's musically inclined lover.

The film is well directed with plenty of action. Dalton tried to make a break with the Bond played by Roger Moore by being a leaner, meaner agent with almost no sense of humor. The script therefore has little of the dry sarcasm so typical to the previous Bond films. Despite these flaws, Timothy Dalton manages to keep up a good performance worthy of several viewings.

Rating:
Summary: Timothy Dalton as Ian Fleming's James Bond 007
Review: As a child of the 70's and 80's,The Roger Moore-era movies defined the tone of the entire James Bond 007 series.When Moore left the series after A View To A Kill,Timothy Dalton took over and put Bond in a direction that was familiar to readers of Ian Fleming's novels, yet confusing to moviegoers.
The Living Daylights (1987)brought an end to the tongue and cheek tone of Moore's movies.Instead,Dalton becomes the 007 of the original novels,Tough, ruthless, yet still refined. Dalton read the original novels and redefined the roll.
Unfortunately,movie goers were a bit uneasy with a James Bond who didn't crack cheesy one liners,jump into bed with an average of three women per movie and harder edged than any other Bond on the screen.
The movie itself is a fine, yet slow-paced, involving a latter-day cold war defection of a Soviet soldier, only to be turn into a plot involving the elimination of British spies.Great scenes include an escape from the iron curtain in an updated Aston Marten, and an airplane cargo fight in mid air.
Dalton only portrayed Bond one more time (License to Kill) before the series was in limbo for six years (until Goldeneye with Pierce Brosnan in 1995).Since then, Dalton's portrayal of Bond has been praised in it's approach to bring Bond back to where it all began.