The Living Daylights (1987)Written by Richard Maibaum & Michael G. Wilson
Based upon the short story & characters by Ian Fleming
Directed by John Glen
For me, The Living Daylights injected life back into a franchise well past its prime. I found most of the Moore era to drag, whilst the lead became increasingly unconvincing in the title role. In my own opinion Moore never fit the role of 007 - but that's because in my head Bond isn't about light-hearted jokes and eye-brow raising. I understand that some people like that, and that's fine - but it's not my cup of tea. And by the time of A View To A Kill I found the nearly 60 year old Moore even more unconvincing.
A huge part in the reinvigoration of the franchise comes from Timothy Dalton, who was around 40 when he took the role. The producers had been after Dalton since the late 1960's, but Dalton felt he was too young at the time. I can see what they saw in him - Dalton, more than any other Bond up to that point was a real actor. The others either became, or were already established personalities. So I can instantly buy Dalton as James Bond because he doesn't come with much (if any) baggage.
t's also reported that Dalton read Fleming on set, in order to try and get a real handle on the Bond character. He wanted to bring Flemings Bond to life and as a huge fan of the original novels I really admire that, and appreciate it as a fan.
Aside from the usual pre-titles action sequence the film begins with a sequence straight out of Fleming. The film takes its title from a short story published some time after the author had passed away. This scene is what really sets this movie apart from the films produced from 1971 onwards. We have a darker, grittier Bond. He will kill, but doesn't like killing. Nor does he particularly like his job. Whilst Moore claimed to understand this about the character, his movies ultimately seem like happy-go-lucky adventuring.
The Living Daylights is a real cold war thriller. It's all about double-crosses and assassinations and two sides clashing over ideas and ideologies - it has the usual rousing action but with twists and turns we haven't seen in a while. I'm a big fan of the story, which manages to be very recognisably a Bond movie, but feel very different from the preceeding films. It's refreshing to see a serious thriller instead of a pure action-romp, which many of the earlier films became. Yes the villians may be low key (compared to others) and it may not have the epic scale of those other films - but it is more grounded in reality than those films. It's a shame that really Dalton was ahead of his time. The public in general did not seem ready for this more serious breed of Bond, which they have embraced in recent years. But TLD feels closer to Fleming than anything I've seen since OHMSS, and I love that. I really do.
The film isn't really a 'Dalton' film in the way we talk about them today. There are elements that hold over from the Moore era - largely due to the
fact that the writers wrote it without a specific actor in mind. These contrast sharply with Daltons more serious portrayal, and so stick out like a sore thumb. However in some respects Daltons acting ability actually makse it easier to swallow these sillier aspects of the film - he manages to make everything seem real by refusing to play any of it for belly laughs.
The Bond of TLD seems both dangerous and human. It's a combination that we hadn't really seen up to that point - Connery was the suave, ruthless agent. But we didn't really see behind that mask. Lazenby demonstrated it a little in OHMSS, but due to his short tenure didn't take full advantage of the oppurtunity to flesh Bond out. Moore's Bond was always more of a personality than 'character' and Brosnan (in my opinion) whilst appearing very falliable at times, never captured the sense of danger. In my opinion Dalton (and now Craig) captures the 'real' James Bond excellently.
Ultimately I think TLD is an excellent film and Bond film. I would have liked to have seen it writter purely for Dalton, whilst the script was tailored for him after he was cast it was a bit of a rush job and things stayed that should not have. But it returns the Bond franchise to its early glory - it has a real story, real characters and a damn fine James Bond. One of the best.
Directed by John Glen
For me, The Living Daylights injected life back into a franchise well past its prime. I found most of the Moore era to drag, whilst the lead became increasingly unconvincing in the title role. In my own opinion Moore never fit the role of 007 - but that's because in my head Bond isn't about light-hearted jokes and eye-brow raising. I understand that some people like that, and that's fine - but it's not my cup of tea. And by the time of A View To A Kill I found the nearly 60 year old Moore even more unconvincing.
A huge part in the reinvigoration of the franchise comes from Timothy Dalton, who was around 40 when he took the role. The producers had been after Dalton since the late 1960's, but Dalton felt he was too young at the time. I can see what they saw in him - Dalton, more than any other Bond up to that point was a real actor. The others either became, or were already established personalities. So I can instantly buy Dalton as James Bond because he doesn't come with much (if any) baggage.
t's also reported that Dalton read Fleming on set, in order to try and get a real handle on the Bond character. He wanted to bring Flemings Bond to life and as a huge fan of the original novels I really admire that, and appreciate it as a fan.
Aside from the usual pre-titles action sequence the film begins with a sequence straight out of Fleming. The film takes its title from a short story published some time after the author had passed away. This scene is what really sets this movie apart from the films produced from 1971 onwards. We have a darker, grittier Bond. He will kill, but doesn't like killing. Nor does he particularly like his job. Whilst Moore claimed to understand this about the character, his movies ultimately seem like happy-go-lucky adventuring.
The Living Daylights is a real cold war thriller. It's all about double-crosses and assassinations and two sides clashing over ideas and ideologies - it has the usual rousing action but with twists and turns we haven't seen in a while. I'm a big fan of the story, which manages to be very recognisably a Bond movie, but feel very different from the preceeding films. It's refreshing to see a serious thriller instead of a pure action-romp, which many of the earlier films became. Yes the villians may be low key (compared to others) and it may not have the epic scale of those other films - but it is more grounded in reality than those films. It's a shame that really Dalton was ahead of his time. The public in general did not seem ready for this more serious breed of Bond, which they have embraced in recent years. But TLD feels closer to Fleming than anything I've seen since OHMSS, and I love that. I really do.
The film isn't really a 'Dalton' film in the way we talk about them today. There are elements that hold over from the Moore era - largely due to the
fact that the writers wrote it without a specific actor in mind. These contrast sharply with Daltons more serious portrayal, and so stick out like a sore thumb. However in some respects Daltons acting ability actually makse it easier to swallow these sillier aspects of the film - he manages to make everything seem real by refusing to play any of it for belly laughs.The Bond of TLD seems both dangerous and human. It's a combination that we hadn't really seen up to that point - Connery was the suave, ruthless agent. But we didn't really see behind that mask. Lazenby demonstrated it a little in OHMSS, but due to his short tenure didn't take full advantage of the oppurtunity to flesh Bond out. Moore's Bond was always more of a personality than 'character' and Brosnan (in my opinion) whilst appearing very falliable at times, never captured the sense of danger. In my opinion Dalton (and now Craig) captures the 'real' James Bond excellently.
Ultimately I think TLD is an excellent film and Bond film. I would have liked to have seen it writter purely for Dalton, whilst the script was tailored for him after he was cast it was a bit of a rush job and things stayed that should not have. But it returns the Bond franchise to its early glory - it has a real story, real characters and a damn fine James Bond. One of the best.
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