The Living Daylights (1987)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

John Glen

Writers:

Richard Maibaum (screenplay) and
Michael G. Wilson (screenplay)

Release Date:

31 July 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Music | Thriller

Tagline:

James Bond 007 at his most dangerous in The Living Daylights

Plot:

James Bond is living on the edge to stop an evil arms dealer from starting another world war. Bond crosses all seven continents in order to stop the evil Whitaker and General Koskov.

Plot Keywords:

James Bond | Defection | Afghanistan | Cello | Arms Dealer

Awards:

3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Timothy Dalton	...	James Bond
Maryam d'Abo	...	Kara Milovy
Jeroen Krabbé	...	General Georgi Koskov
Joe Don Baker	...	Brad Whitaker
John Rhys-Davies	...	General Leonid Pushkin
Art Malik	...	Kamran Shah
Andreas Wisniewski	...	Necros
Thomas Wheatley	...	Saunders
Desmond Llewelyn	...	Q
Robert Brown	...	M
Geoffrey Keen	...	Minister of Defence (Sir Frederick Gray)
Walter Gotell	...	General Anatol Gogol
Caroline Bliss	...	Miss Moneypenny
John Terry	...	Felix Leiter
Virginia Hey	...	Rubavitch

Also Known As:

James Bond 007: The Living Daylights (USA) (trailer title)

Runtime:

130 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | Arabic | French | German | Russian

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Netherlands:12 (TV rating) | Iceland:12 | South Korea:15 | Brazil:12 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-14 | Ireland:PG | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (original rating) | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Ait Benhaddou, Ouarzazate, Morocco

Company:

Danjaq

Trivia:

The literal translations of some of this film's foreign language titles include Spies Die At Dawn (Denmark); Danger Zone (Italy); 007: High Tension (Spain & Portugal); Death Is Not A Game / To Kill Is Not To Play (France); 007 And The Danger Zone (Finland); Icecold Mission (Sweden); Facing Death (Poland); His Name Is Danger (Chile); The Touch Of Death / The Breeze Of Death (West Germany); 007 In The Dangerous Zone (Israel/Hebrew); 007 Destined To Die (Brazil) and In The Line Of Fire (Norway)

Goofs:

Continuity: When the Russian assassin kills the second British guard in order to steal the Land Rover, the guard is shoved aside and falls alongside the idling vehicle. But when Bond arrives on the pathway above and looks down to see killer driving off, the murdered British guard is now laying a few feet further in front of the Land Rover.

Quotes:

[first lines]
M: Gentlemen, this may only be an exercise so far as the Ministry of Defence is concerned. But for me, it is a matter of pride that the 00 section has been chosen for this test. Your objective is to penetrate the radar installations of Gibralter. Now, the SAS has been placed on full alert to intercept you, but I know you won't let me down. Good luck, men.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Inside 'The Living Daylights' (2000) (V)

Soundtrack:

Concert for cello in Ut minor

Not only a great Bond movie, but a great spy thriller.

While many will debate and argue over Timothy Dalton for years to come, in much the same way as over George Lazenby, I going to put my foot out and say Dalton is one of my favorite Bond's, along with Brosnan and Connery. There never really has been a bad Bond actor, but Dalton, I believe is up there with Connery and Pierce and I love The Living Daylights. Dalton was my first 'new' Bond in many ways. I was four when this film was released, and was developing a love for the Bond movies at the time. I had grown up watching the Moore and Connery movies on television and Dalton was the first new actor in the role that I seen, which is why I have special affection for this Bond movie. I love it. Not only do we have a great Bond movie, but it is also a great espionage thriller that eventually turns into the kind of epic Bond adventure we all know and love. The plot involving the double-double cross of a KGB agent defecting to Britain called Georgi played brilliantly by Jeroen Krabbe, and Bond's attempts to find him when he is 'kidnapped' by playing on the trust of his girlfriend, Kara, a beautiful cello player performed magnificently by Maryam D'abo, is enthralling, and the way it leads from the London countryside, to the ferris wheels of Vienna and eventually to Afghanistan is superbly done. The film is mixture of the thriller elements of the Ian Fleming novels and the epic adventure scope of the movies.

As James Bond Timothy Dalton is excellent, a fantastic choice to play the part. His decision to play the part more akin to the novels of Fleming than the humor of Roger Moore is an inspired choice. He is a mixture of the Fleming character and Sean Connery's Bond. While there is a serious nature here (the darker elements would be at the forefront more in the equally brilliant Licence To Kill), there is still room for humor as seen in the car chase ("I've had a few optional extras installed" when talking about the gadgets). Coming off the Moore films, it may have been too soon for a return to the serious roots, but it works well in the long run. The film doesn't feel like some far fetched action film, it feels like a great spy movie with great actors. Adding to this a wonderfully 80's theme tune from A-Ha, a great score from John Barry and a plethora of great baddies as well as some great set pieces (the battle on the runway at the end is great as is Bond's climactic battle with henchman Necros hanging from the back of an airplane).

I love this film a lot. It's dark, yes, although not as dark as the film that was to come, and is still cracking great entertainment. It is a forgotten Bond classic and it is nice that as time has went on, Dalton's movies as the character have remained as great as they were in the late 80's.