The Least James Bond - Licence to Kill (1989) || From Rewatch with Love Ep18
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 25 окт 2020
- Graham & Matt tackle the late-80s tonal shift in a James Bond revenge story, and have to really work through what "makes" a Bond film, to them.
Episode 18 - License to Kill (1989)
Graham & Matt are here to talk about the first blockbuster film franchise! It's Bond... James Bond, as we lead up to the release of the 25th Bond movie, with this rewatch podcast full of our thoughts on the series and plenty of trivia!
Support LRR: / loadingreadyrun
#Bond #Rewatch #Dalton 
Приколы
This movie is highly underrated. Dalton was one of the best Bonds.
It's my #1 Bond movie to this day.
@@jr5925 110% disagree.
@@jr5925 Well, imo it's a great 80s movie with no facade and one of the most emotionally and intellectually engaging Bond portrayals of all time.
@@jr5925 Well, that's why opinions on art (and therefore films) are subjective. I find it intellectually engaging in that Bond tries to destroy the villains organization from inside out. He uses the villains own moral code around loyalty to pit him against his henchmen. That's some actual spy shit right there! Compare this to the way Bond acts around villains in some of the other entries in the series.
It's also emotionally engaging as a quasi sequel to OHMSS. Della dies in a similar way to Bond's wife. As an overarching symbolic connection this is basically the Bond film to give us closure for that, imo. Cause god knows we didn't get any closure with the shitty opening of Diamonds are Forever...
It also just has some of the best action sequences, one of the best (if not the best) villains of the series, a solid group of henchmen (especially Dario whom I love in this) and a likable Bond girl.
Furthermore I think that Michael Kamen did a fantastic job with the score, all of the brutality really hits well and I love how stripped down the film is. Screw saving the world, let's get some revenge!
@@jr5925 Hmm, I can see what you're saying. It's a matter of personal taste, cause I like movies that are a bit scatterbrained or if you wanna be nice: multifacetted
Petition to turn "being John Glenned" into a phrase for someone being startled by a bird while sneaking.
Graham, you've been looking at so many bond films on IMPDb that when someone googles "Internet movie plane database" the second result is the "James Bond films" page on IMPDb
The final action scenes (Bond chasing down a heavily armed fie with nothing, Bond driving a trunk on two wheels, his inability to die) make a lot more sense when you consider that he's not just on a rip roaring rampage of revenge - just 5 minutes ago he was dangling in a shredder filled with billowing clouds of cocaine dust whilst being pelted in the face and shoulder with blocks of more cocaine.
Bond was so high that the point blank stinger missile probably would of bounced off.
My favourite boss fight in Alpha Protocol is the guy who's so high on coke he's practically invincible.
The Felix Letter shark attack and the note left on his chest are taken directly from the Fleming novel, Live and Let Die.
Which makes it ironic that the same actor plays Felix in both movies
@@BigDaddyBland87 I think you mean 'appropriate'.
The attached note "He disagreed with something that ate him" is a direct lift, too.
yeah but the context is different - in the book Felix was investigating the warehouse of this seafront company, and gets tricked into falling into the shark water - it wasn't after his wedding and his wife doesn't get raped.
in the book Bond returns to the warehouse and gets vengeance on the guy by pushing HIM into the shark water/tank.
I wanna give a shoutout to Matt Griffiths who is really coming into his own as an editor and showing more of his personal humor and style as this series goes on. I really appreciate your input into these videos!
The best for my money here is "Perhaps none of us is right, and it is actually spelled "liscence"."
[THIS IS THE KIND OF COMMENT MATT(Griffiths) CRAVES]
I can't tell you how much these improve my Mondays
I can, a lot. it literally makes me look forward to mondays.
Hard same
This is my "Friday" so it's that special treat at the conclusion of my work week !
I concur....love these reviews
Same, Mondays would rather suck without these
It's honestly a shame Dalton didn't get to reprise the role any further, his takes on the character never lacked for things to talk about.
He DID have the chance. However, Dalton had no desire to reprise the role 3 additional times (he was contracted for 3, and had already fulfilled it with the '87 and '89 films) which is what then-producer "Cubby" Broccoli demanded, even though the years-long interrugnum was not caused by Dalton (Broccoli would have been justified in his demand had the delay been Dalton's fault).
yes you right he was great best since Connery
As the other guy stated, he did have a chance. But I get what you mean... It's such a shame that he didn't do the other films they asked him to. 😔 He's my second favourite Bond after Connery and License to Kill is my favourite Bond film ever.
I wish he would do 2 more movies today. Bringing his total up to 4. I think he'd be better than ever.
@@randymoses3972 yes really thought he was just great .and a wonderful actor too.he made bond bad and mean /he no was all in .no time for joking .drug dealers and gun runners ,was going to pay.unlike Moore it all seem like a big lark .or Bronson,too pretty
The tone problem in this movie is starkest at the very end with Felix chatting and joking happily to Bond over the phone. His miraculous recovery is baffling after what's happened to him. The film is dark and violent, then at the end they tried to force a happy ending for a man whose wife was just murdered and is currently in hospital after being at least 25% eaten by a shark.
That ending was inevitable because it's a dumb, gimmicky premise for a franchise picture. As bad as Die Another Day was, at least it set up a scenario that would likely end with Bond returning to the service.
It was almost a line from Austin Powers:
"Hang on a tick, this means I'm single again!"
People don't mourn 24/7 - Even just a week after the event it's perfectly possible for Felix to be in a good mood, Especially with the twin boosts of having recovered himself AND having James telling him that Sanchez was dead and Della had been avenged!
Morphine is a helluva drug
LTK's messy tone is honestly one of the few criticisms that I have of it. I don't like how the film wraps itself up way too quickly and neatly at the end just because it's a Bond film and Bond has to shag the Bond girl at the end because consequences and repercussions be damned. The bar fight is also dumb and the Professor Joe Butcher televangelist stuff is just stupid and feels like something from a different movie.
I don't know much about cocaine, but: After the factory starts exploding and Bond & Sanchez & co. are in the factory without masks, is it possible that during the last part of this movie everyone involved is high out of their minds on coke due to the exposure?
I feel like that was loosely implied with how crazy Benicio's eyes are and how tripped out he is at seeing Pam,
Having partied with Cocaine a few times back in the 90's I can confirm the following:
1.) Cocaine is a realtively quick and in my case, underwhelming "high".
Even good quality coke will only last about an hour and half.
2.) "High" is subjective. It's really just a sense of "let's do this!"
You have the energy to go dancing and drinking.
And if you don't have the money; Laundry.
"High" implies the same type of sensations you get when you smoke Pot or Hash or something.
It's not really like that but DISCLAIMER it does effect people differently but what I described above
would describe the handful of people I met in the "coke" scene way back in 90/91
3.) The amount of Cocaine needed to get "high" is more than than just a few deep breaths
of that Cocaine mist you're talking about. I never smoked it, only snorted it and that
was only 3 times between 1990 and 1991 but I have clear memories of sharing a whole Gram
in one night, between 3 people, and when I finally went home around 3am, I went to bed and fell asleep
no problem.
4.) It looks more dramatic when it [cocaine] has been aerosolized - for lack of a better word - and to inhale
at least 1/2 a gram's worth (about 2 really big lines) you'd have to be really REALLY inhaling quite a bit for
a while at least and even then you might just get a little...more energy? I don't think you'd feel the state of mind
you would feel if you ingested it the traditional way.
I love the iguana friend hanging out on Matt's shoulder
I've seen this movie described as Timothy Dalton playing Bond from the books, not the movies. He's a man on the edge, haunted by years of doing horrible things for Queen and country.
All movie bonds are not like the book. Book bond has scares, chain smokes, judges people over a watch or accent, has bugs hit his face during car chases...
@@jr5925 Brosnan does not come close to reflecting Fleming's character at all. He never exhibited any of the vulnerability or inner torment of the literary character. He was Roger Moore's Bond repackaged for the 90's.
@@jr5925 Outside of the beach scene in Goldeneye and that meeting with M in Die Another Day, Brosnan didn't really appear to be anything other than the movie Bond. He just got the job done and did it the typical Bond shaken not stirred way. There was none of the frustration with the job over killing, no wrestling with conscience, and no real exhibition of fear or pain. Dalton showed such qualities in performance and speaking of looks, Dalton is a dead ringer for the illustrations of Bond on Pan Paperback covers.
photos.app.goo.gl/4bJF9U7dNomHYJv88
@@ricardocantoral7672 Well said. Although I don't think anyone matches Moore for class, elegance, or casual wit. Trying to mimic his approach will be a losing battle for most actors. For me, Brosnan's only real asset was his athleticism....he moved better in many situations than most of the other Bonds...But he never had the physical presence of Connery, Moore, Dalton, or Craig...
@@MrBbendiksenyes but he did have fun doing things that Fleming did in real life he wasn’t depressed all the time. Traumatized and sometimes anxious and has to take a drink or a pill to relax sometimes but he still knows how to have fun
"The Least James Bond"
People ALWAYS parrot this, but Licence to Kill has a ton of classic Bond stuff throughout and is WAY more James Bond than, for example, "A View to a Kill". LTK is far and away my joint favourite Bond film alongside Goldeneye and Dalton actually performs as a character in it unlike 90% of Bond movies where it's just utterly 2-dimensional cardboard cutout dross. Pam Bouvier is one of the best female Bond roles of all time and Sanchez one of the best Bond villains of all time. Q gets a more interesting role, written well, and the whole premise and motivation feels real and engaging. There also isn't the utterly standard "Now, Bond, here's your mission, this is the villain and this is what you have to do" exposition, which makes it better not worse or un-Bond like. There are also a couple of big scenes taken directly from Fleming's own writing yet people say it's not like Bond. Nonsense.
Granted, the ending is weak, but there isn't a single Bond film that doesn't have major problems and weak points. Overall, maybe Goldeneye just tips it as a complete package, but this and also The Living Daylights are right at the top of all of them for me. Daniel Craig's are massively overrated IMO - pretentious, dreary and boring. Casino Royale is way up there though, but that movie is still riddled with major problems and cheese that people often overlook somehow.
honestly though, the best thing about these videos is the movie-specific prop inclusion in the artwork and how i NEVER guess what it'll be (i was sure it'd be the lighter but the lizard on matt's shoulder is PERFECT)
Almost perfect, the dumb fish sculpture snuck into the background would have been perfect.
So what are we guessing for Goldeneye? The big antenna?
i mean i want to say the square thingy they insert into the control panel before turning the keys but the big radio telescope is a good shout. could be the the mischa/petya satellites too. honestly though, ive guess wrong so much im excited to find out!
They just have an entire Sean Bean on the table.
The "not a Bond movie" idea is surprising to me, having watched them all multiple times. I always felt this is exactly how James Bond would behave if Felix got ambushed on his wedding night, and all those horrors happened to Felix and Della (who was clearly a close friend to Bond, even though we never met her before). Also, I wish you would have commented on the end credit song, so masterfully performed by Patti Labelle. But all that said, it's really nice to re-watch with people who appreciate Bond and Bond films. Thank you!
One of my favourite Bonds - A precursor to the John Wick films too, in way - Don't mess with Bond! :D
On my last rewatch, I actually noticed a lot of details that *do* lend the movie a classic Bond-vibe: there’s a good deal of scuba diving / harpoon gunning in the first 3rd, waterskiing off the back of the plane is classic Bond, the manufacturing plant at the end of the film is designed to look a lot like a Ken Adam set, and the score is constantly incorporating the Monty Norman theme.
I always used to agree that despite being awesome, this movie didn’t *feel* like a classic Bond film, but I think I was wrong. It’s awesome and it *does* feel like a classic Bond film. But like all the great ones, it mixes that Bond vibe with the cinematic tropes of the time (late 80’s) which gives it that classic time capsule feel.
Love this movie.
@@ghani666it’s also the LAST classic bond film. Like it really feels like the end of an era. Last for John glen, Richard Maibaum, cubby broccoli as producer, Maurice binder for the title sequence and last for Tim dalton
This has probably been mentioned already, but the intro sequence influenced Chris Nolan with the intro of The Dark Knight Rises, where it's played out semi-inverted, with the bad guys arriving by 4x4, already captured by the Feds, and then escaping by hijacking the plane.
Chris Corbould was SFX supervisor (2nd Unit) for Licence to Kill and SFX supervisor on TDKR.
The iguana on Matt's shoulders really caught me off guard! Great work Featherweight
When Sanchez fires his UZi at Bond on the truck, the impact pings play a portion of the James Bond theme. Listen carefully.
I thought I was just imagining that!
Finally someone noticing that.Also, in the SPY WHO LOVED ME, when Jaws kills Anjas contact, I believe Pekesh, the opening of the rusty door, sounds like a tune from the bond theme
I thought they were gonna mention it! I had to go back and replay it because it caught me so off guard
I really liked that. A nice touch.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought it was weird how much Della and Bond kissed. Felix hardly got kissed at all, on his wedding day. Bond should have been giving his bro a few more congratulatory lip smooches is all I'm saying.
More men should smooch... as friends.
@@Winterpandacookies just as friends, unless...?
I mean Timothy Dalton is one absolutely handsome man who’s really gonna blame her for wanting to kiss him? 😊
Oh I love this film so much! It's a tragedy that Dalton only got two Bond films - he's by far the closest to Fleming's Bond, and carries the role effortlessly. Absolutely believable in the way Roger Moore, for all his charm, wasn't.
Dalton is my second favourite Bond after Connery, although sometimes I feel conflicted as to if I like Dalton more than Connery..? 🤔 It varies.
License to Kill is my favourite Bond film and Dalton truly is the most talented actor to ever portray James Bond, I really wish he agreed to do 3 more films.. 😔
@@cookiesontoast9981you don’t need to be just be like me both are number one for me but for different reasons. Cinematically Connery is #1 but source material faithful dalton is #1
Although this was the first Bond movie without an Ian Fleming title, the movie does lift characters and plot elements from several Fleming novels. Felix getting fed to a shark in a live fish warehouse and losing a leg is from "Live and Let Die," as is the wording of the bloodstained note. Milton Krest is the name of the rich villain in the short story "The Hildebrand Rarity" in "For Your Eyes Only." Krest collects aquatic specimens on his ship "the Wavekrest." He is a bully and regularly whips his wife with a stingray tail whip to punish her (Sanchez does this in movie rather than Krest.) Krest also dies in the story (his wife crams a rare fish down his throat).
Whilst Wilson pushes Yojimbo as an influence it’s hard to ignore that Licence does lift elements from The Man With The Golden Gun. There are parallels between Scaramanga and Sanchez not fully developed in the final script (nor book due to Fleming untimely demise) and the decision to hire Bond (leading to their downfall) is questionable.
LALD and Moonraker have been heavily mined for material in films other than their namesake, and i’d add MWTGG to the list especially after Skyfall.
POSTSCRIPT: Quantum retreads some significant elements in terms of script, themes, tone and visuals first attempted in Licence. Ironically Quantum suffered the same fate, with a writer’s strike impacting on the final product.
I'd like to tell you guys that thanks to this ongoing podcast series, my wife and I have officially seen On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and it blew us away with how REALLY GOOD it was! You were right about the opening titles, the editing during fight sequences being wholly jarring, and eveything else. We had never seen OHMSS before, but were definitely up to the viewing after that episode!
I feel like this applies to a good chunk of people in our age range (I'm 36, wife is 32), that we've all seen at least some of a lot of these Bond films, and just don't have them committed to memory, especially the older ones like Connery and Moore. And I don't think I've ever seen THIS Bond movie, that this episode is about! At all! Like, I know that growing up, my old man would find tv edits of this franchise on AMC or something when I was a kid, and we'd watch those like we did with M*A*S*H or The Three Stooges, but this podcast series has really inspired me to take a deeper dive into those older Bond films. OHMSS was a good jumping point, and my wife and I are going to enjoy more from this franchise in better settings going forward, thanks to you all!
Funny, I’m in the same boat. I’ve seen all of the Bond films except OHMSS. I’ve seen my favorite Bond films at least 15 times but I’ve only watched the first 10-15 minutes or so of OHMSS. Not sure what it is that completely doesn’t interest me at all about that movie. It probably has a lot to do with me as a kid thinking it wasn’t an official Bond film...that kinda stuck with me.
Dalton probably has the most expressive face of a Bond actor from what I've seen. (Granted what I've seen is incredibly small, having not seen any of these films beforehand and just going off of the images in the podcast.) Point is: Man's got a great face
A far cry from Moore and Brosnan.
Honestly, he was probably the most talented actor to play the role.
@@gonvillebromhead2865 No, he was the most talented.
*Hot Fuzz evil smile*
@ricardocantoral7672 Dalton has done theater. He's been in The Lion in Winter. Moore did the saint and Brosnan did R Steele. Its a hands down win for Dalton in terms of ability. I will say facial gesture wise Connery & Roger have it better than Timmy. Brosnan....oh boy...he is so bad. When he's getting his ass kicked he pulls the same face where it looks like his eyes are bulging out of their sockets. When he's sneaking around with a gun he pulls this face where he's overacting arching his brows, and then grimacing through that lip pouted Zoolander visage when he punches someone or shoots his gun. Very irritating. 2 films I recommend that he was excellent in are The Matador & Seraphim Falls.
I interviewed Pricilla Barnes in the ‘90s and we talked about what a great James Bond Timothy Dalton was. I wish he had made many more
Star filled Cast, great acting, high action, and Wayne Newton? This movie is criminal underrated and one of the best bond movies ever made. If it wasnt for the whole legal issues with MGM and whatnot, Timothy Dalton cemented his status as 007 and things were only going to go up. While Bronson and the newage Bond films were all also very enjoyable, Im very interested in an alternate universe where Dalton doesnt lose this role.
Robert Davi was an amazing villain, and how can you not like a young Benicio Del Toro's first major acting role as the muscle.
If you look at the shot of the stinger missiles being aimed, you'll see that it's the same optical effect as was used in the car chase in The Living Daylights when Bond shoots missiles at the roadblock near Bratislava. The 0 degC ambient temperature in what's clearly somewhat warmer than freezing weather gives it away.
I never knew that ! Thanks !
Welp, another hard disagreement, Licence to kill is one of the best Bonds, easily top 5 and possibly top 3 of all time.
It's way higher on my list than on their lists too.
In German, we call funiculars "standropeways" because they are standing on a way which has ropes.
I feel the need to comment, as a resident Southerner (though, since y'all are from the Great Frozen North, doesn't that make all of us Southerners to you? I digress) that "Bless your heart" is a very versatile phrase, with meanings ranging from "I'm so sorry and empathetic of your situation" to "you/they are an absolute idiot" to a thinly-veiled "hey, f*** you, buddy." There are, in fact, instances where the usage is entirely sincere, though it's obviously not in this film. Love the podcast, keep up the great work!
I feel the need to comment that I read your comment in a southern accent akin to Foghorn Leghorn's drawl.
Fun fact: Robert Davi also voiced Elite shipmaster “Half-jaw”’in Halo 2 and 3.
This film is full of ubiquitous character actors.
The score was done by the composer of the Die Hard and Lethal Weapon movies. So it has a lot of similar sounding musical cues, and that really gives it more of a generic 80s action movie feel rather than that of a Bond movie.
Whether he was successful or not, Kamen said he tried to score it like a John Barry score..
"Bless Your Heart" is one of those phrases that has *lots* of meanings, "F^&* You" is merely the most common. Followed by "what an idiot."
It's all about tone, especially in the american south
Hi its that guy who said this was a sequel to OHMSS well as close to one as it got (unless someone else said it). Thought I'd elaborate more now its that time and its not just the shout out 'he was married once' that make make me think it but Della's death. Felix looses his wife in much the same way Bond lost his and because of his leg can't get his revenge so Bond does it for him its also why hes in a dark place as its bought up a lot of feelings and why he goes off the reservation against MI6. But I do agree with Matt I struggle to call it a direct sequel it feels like the one we would of got as a 4th film to OHMSS's 1st. Kinda like the connection they tried to do with Casino Royale and Spectre by invoking Vespa (that felt forced).
OHMSS, Licence to Kill and For Your Eyes Only could be watched in that order as a continuous storyline.
Bond meets Tracey, falls in love, gets married, Tracey is murdered by Blofeld, Years later Bond is best man at Felix's wedding to Della, Felix is maimed and his newlywed wife murdered, Bond goes off the reservation, Later still Bond finally catches up with and kills Blofeld before he then meets and falls in love with Melina Havelock.
Possibly the best Bond film ever made, and probably the least known. It's one of the few Bond films where he actually goes undercover as a spy, and maintains that cover for good length of time. The tense relationship between Bond and his target Sanchez is what really sets this movie apart.
I enjoy how this podcast has become longer than the actual movies themselves at this point!
I cannot believe Benicio Del Toro (Dario) is in this damn film. My God. He looks like an evil teenager.
I mean... he kinda was (okay, 21-years-old, but still).
@@kryptych so TV teenager
The thing is, the first half of the movie is basically just the book of Live and Let Die. I would argue that The Dalton films, this, in particular, are the closest to the bond of the books, OHMSS also gets this right.
Not sure if someone already mentioned this, but Felix’s shark bite attack/torture is directly from the book version of “Live and Let Die”, which also put Bond up against a drug kingpin. In subsequent books, Felix had a hook for a hand!
Though the context is different in the book
Wayne Newton's Professor Joe has the manner and look of a stereotypical 1980's televangelist, but the cult he runs is definitely more towards a variety of New Age spirituality. This is seen by in the meditation chambers, Lotus position pose on the book, use of ancient Mayan(?) temple and aesthetics, and use of pyramid imagery.
Thanks for these, this podcast is delightful and it made me want to watch all of these films.
Both Dalton movies end with an awkward “Everybody is here, where’s Bond?” and I just now realized
The "hyperbolic chamber" joke at 54:39 absolutely killed me. I'm glad that joke still pops up from time to time
Will Adam ever live that down?
Matt is correct, "licence" is spelt with a C, but "licensed" is spelt with an S in the UK.
I like to pretend that Felix is dosed up on enough morphine to down an elephant during that closing segment. Because that’s the only way I can think of someone being that chipper and it making sense.
Ditto - painkiller and perhaps some form of PTSD denial.
Or that nobody has told him what the current situation is. For all he knows his wife is in a coma and Sharkey is out of town, but in reality they’re both in the morgue.
For anyone coming here in the future who may not know why people in the comments are going "Belopa!" - it's a reference to another LRR project - on the Desert Bus for Hope charity livestream (which aired a week and a half after this podcast) the weird fish sculpture at 1:37:12 was turned into a recurring meme throughout the broadcast, centered around the continuing attempts to solve a choose your own adventure book. Belopa is a character from that book, but only appeared in the first go-through; the name continued to be mentioned because it sounds funny, leading just about everyone to refer to the fish statue as "Belopa", even though it actually isn't.
Check out this video for what little context this meme has: ruclips.net/video/Z--0fYgHdds/видео.html
An auspicious comment!
(while wiping cocaine off my face) Uhhh...okay....thanks bro
Man, I absolutely love this podcast/show. It's honestly increased my appreciation for the Bond films--and I'm looking forward to Goldeneye next episode.
This is my favourite James Bond movie. People tell me I'm wrong, but you guys were firm yet firm on all the right notes. Cheers and thank you
Excellent episode as always.
Really excited for next week, as we finally enter what was my entry era into Bond as a kid.
The end is jarring, but I like to think Liter is on morpheme, and isn't thinking too well.
Something I just realized on a second listen, there’s a lovely little Easter egg in the conveyor belt scene. When Pam’s gun jams, it’s a .25 ACP Beretta. While not the exact same model as referenced in the Dr. No novel (Pam’s is a Beretta 950 Jetfire, Bond’s was a Beretta 418), it’s the same make and caliber as the unreliable Beretta that nearly got Bond killed on his last assignment which would be replaced by his infamous PPK.
The fact that Matt's lizard doesn't have the white outline bugs me more than it should
I guess it would if the lizard was talking?
It's an Iguana!
@@davidjames579 Iguanas are Lizards you know! Just like Pythons are Snakes or Impala are Antelopes!
@@franohmsford7548 No one's saying they're not, but in the film they actually say "Iguanas are a girl's best friend" To call it a lizard is unforgivable.
I think if it did it would bother me, the Iguana isn't talking.
If the IMPlaneDB people aren't giving you boys some kind of credit- they should at least send you a nice fruit basket or something. This series is more than anybody has ever talked about that site in one setting ever.
Great work as usual.
Hope I'm not the only one who pauses the video after they discuss the song to listen to it! Still loving these even though we finished our rewatch (couldn't stick to one a week).
Am I the only one that loves this movie for actually showing that James Bond is capable of caring about other people for more than a few hours? With the exception of Tracy, every loss for Bond up to this point in the series has felt like something no more tragic than a high school break up. In this movie he's willing to throw away his entire career without hesitation and become a fugitive just to avenge two friends that he deeply cares about, and for me it's actually heartwarming in a really weird, macabre way.
Bond had ALWAYS cared about other people in Ian Fleming’s novels. The movies just did a piss poor job at showing that
How is "Dang, he can really whip a butt" not an automatic catchphrase?! I ask you!
So, in a fascinating bit of Electronics history - that enormous CD Player is actually a Philips VP-415 LV-ROM player.
This is actually an incredibly rare piece of tech that's derived from LaserDisc technology, but as a way to record media as well as play back. As far as I can tell the only use for this system other than this movie was for the BBC Domesday Project in 1986. The rarity of this technology actually meant that the Domesday Project discs (which are like an interactive look at what life in 1986 was like I think) are incredibly difficult to access now because the system was so obscure and outdated by even the 90's.
I'd assume that this was in Felix's office either as part of the product placement that Philips had going on with the Bond movies at the time, or because the interior scenes of the movie were shot at Pinewood Studios in England, and someone in the props department knew someone at the BBC who had one of these that they could use.
EDIT - After reading through the film's Wikipedia page, apparently this film was shot entirely in Mexico, with Pinewood not even used for shooting. I guess it was a product placement then, but it had to have been carried the whole way to Mexico just for this one scene. Damn.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Domesday_Project
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LV-ROM
finally getting to this after Desert Bus 2020. And the wind up that Matt does to show off the fish statue gave me the feeling like a crowd at a wrestling show going "oooooOOOOOOOOHHHHHH WAAAAY!" but instead was just me alone shouting "wwwwooooooooOOOOOOAH BELOPA!"
Slab Bulkhead.
Stump Beefknob.
Rip Steakface.
Meat Formann.
Roll Fizzlebeef.
Re-watching this, and so pleased to see the auspicious origin of the wise fish.
I am HERE for Matts bad DBZ dub refference.
I'm looking forward to next week so much!
The iguana on the shoulders REALLY cracked me up in this video!
I feel like that, while all James Bond movies are, Licence to Kill is one of the most influenced by the movies of the era. Half this movie, Bond might as well be a rogue cop having turned his badge in after the death of his partner, and the other half is traditional Bond Movie kind of awkwardly shoved in, such as the last five minutes or so that really don't fit. You can tell that the creators are kind of trying to find a way to slot Bond into the era of Lethal Weapon, Beverly Hills Cop, and even TV shows like Miami Vice (minus the New Wave culture).
I think Live and Let Die's blaxploitation film vibe must be close.
@@sartanawillpay7977 You guys forgot about Moonraker? That movie would have never happened if it was not for Star Wars
@@pellekuipers4076 Yeah, but Moonraker still feels like "James Bond IN SPACE". And even then, the SPACE is just a small part of the movie. And we've had space-related plots before, in YOLT and DAF at the very least. Functionally, you could replace the space station with an underwater base, the Moonrakers with high-tech submarines, and the plot would still work. Whereas, in this movie, the "disgraced cop goes on a rampage of revenge" thing largely replaces all the usual Bond tropes. Which I do not mean as a value judgement.
@@Taschenschieber You are right, Moonraker is in fact just a retread of TSWLM with a different setting, just as YOLT's plot points are used by both. 1. villian stealing capturing vessels 2. Supervillian in an exotic unbelievable hideout 3. Bond leads attack by Ninjas/Submarine personal/Space marines and destroys villain and base. The main Moonraker Star Wars rip off was the use of ray guns.
@@sartanawillpay7977 Or any of the Bourne clone Craig Bond films (which, again, this foreshadowed with the grittier, tougher, less jokey Bond)
I absolutely love that these reviews are getting longer and more in depth...because it may take about 5 hours to articulate the tonal mess that is Spectre (though not to color your opinion)
It might be Skyfall that becomes the longest in-depth dive
This will sound weird at best and at least as an incompatible thought:
I like DC as Bond, but I don't like any of the Bond Movies he's in.
@@kettle_of_chris I can actually go along with that, I really see everyone accept quantum of solace (which I'm not here to defend either) as revolving around some kind of massive plot gimmick that actively erodes the effortless fluid continuity of every other bond film before
I love listening to you guys gush about Bond, but I just want to say Featherweight has been killing it with the art, that iguana with the diamonds is adorable
1:36:35 Origin of the Wisdom Fish, of "Praise, Belopa!" fame from Desert Bus For Hope 2020.
oh my goodness I'm so glad y'all included the iguana with their fabulous iguana necklace, it was my favorite part of the movie!!
the more I look at this iguana the more I love it... that empty-headed stare..... it's having such a good time
21:08
That SILENCE is the best moment in the whole series so far.
"(...)Dolphin."
**Beat**
"I'm just not closing this page now."
The reason why Pam Bouvier says: "This Kevlar is amazing" is because Kevlar vests were introduced in 1975 (for the military) and they were not all that common even by 1989. Bullet proof vests had been around for a long time but not kevlar vests. So it's one of those instances where JB is supposed to be ahead of the curve by introducing new technology in the movie (like three wheelers in Diamonds are forever, as an example). The problem is that, while the vest was somewhat new, it wasn't really new enough and everybody had heard of it, so it's a fail on the movie's part to be ahead of the curve.
Yeah, "This Kevlar's great!" was a rather awkward line, but I don't blame Carey Lowell, or even the writing. Hell, the most the average moviegoing audience had head of Kevlar up to that point was probably in RoboCop ("It's titanium laminated with Kevlar."), so... interesting perspective that the Bond producers were trying to be ahead of the curve and missed it here. I hate to say I agree with you, but... yeah. that line just didn't land.
"Explanation: Complete" made me laugh so hard at work I'm getting some weird looks.
The first Bond movie I experienced at the cinema (Leicester Square) in 1989. I am relieved that you like this one.
Not my first, but same location. A Bond film anywhere else doesn’t feel same, for me.
me too, do you remember the 007 ties you could buy in the foyer?!
@@multirevelator unfortunately not, but did have the 007 digital watch that played the theme. Lost to history now lol.
@@ManeeshBharadia Me too!, was the era of those cheap calculator watches too. the bond watch was black and gold with a little 007 in gold, awesome!
The "explosive tipped spear" used by bond is a power head - the spear has a cartridge (usually a .357 magnum or 12ga shotgun) fitted to the end, used for hunting/deterring dangerous underwater animals - sharks, billfish, crocodiles/aligators, etc. When the spear connects with its target it sets off the cartridge and fires into whatever has been hit. Serious business.
I had the same problem with mould/mold. I though mold grew on cheese and moulds were for jello.
I think it's a uniquely Canadian problem, since we're exposed to both spellings so much, that we sorta make these distinctions based on really nothing but finding fake patterns (but on the other hand, a fake pattern can be a real one if we decide it is!)
This is the first one of these I've seen and I really enjoyed it. Binge watching the next ones I'm sure
You guys are excellently funny!!!! thanks for doing this !!!
The swordfish moment is my favourite goofy moment in a Bond film. It is so OTT and ludicrous that it is hilarious.
I just love how the Internet Movie Plane Database is becoming so essential to the podcast. Basically a supporting character. 🤣
When Sanchez is shooting at Bond, on the tanker, the bullet strikes play the James Bond theme - thats the top Bond moment of the film.
from your commentary this feels like the most "80's" of the bond movies.
I just want to point out that Killifer is played by Everett McGill, perhaps best known as Big Ed from Twin Peaks.
I remember him as Stilgar, from Dune.
@@hunter1848 He'll always be Reverend Werewolf in this house.
@@hunter1848 Ah, that’s where I recognized his face! Yes. Stilgar from Dune 1984.
This is a favorite Bond film because it doesn't strictly follow the established James Bond formula. Yet, at the same time, this film is probably closer to Fleming's literary Bond than any other film in the series, even Casino Royale.
The scriptwriters had it in for poor David Hedison and his speech impediment. I burst out laughing when he had to yell, "SHOMEBODY SHTOP SHANCHEZSH!"
The ending makes more sense if you assume it takes place many months later; Felix has had time to grieve and some amount of physical recovery, Lupe has "inherited" Sanchez's assets and estate and is working with the President (no longer wearing pseudo-military garb) to reform Isthmus' government; and the party is a governmental affair, with Pam, Q and Bond invited as honoured guests.
I choose to take on this headcanon
@@loadingreadyrun I second this decision!
For all the beating Bond took in the chase, he seems no worse for wear and has very little scarring at the party (I know it's a movie, but c'mon...). So, at the very least, there had to be SOME passage of time between "Yes sir" and the party/phone call with Felix.
I LOVE License to Kill! Dalton isn't playing the cinematic version of Bond. He isn't doing what casual audiences thought James Bond was. He was playing Ian Fleming Bond from Casino Royal and Live and let Die Novels. It confused audiences after 7 Roger Moore movies watching a very serious Bond. Where's the jokes, puns? sillyness. It just a different version. Dalton is ridiculously under rated. I wish Dalton got a 3rd movie. Then he would have a kickass Bond trilogy
43:22 Oh Shit! You guys just blew my mind! I have never noticed that! I am a huge Bond fan, and I love that I notice something new on every subsequent viewing on each film.
Thinking about it, this must be one of the most “brutal” Bond movies when it comes to deaths.
Drownings, thrown out of planes, harpoon, pressure chamber, electric eel, shark, cocaine grinder, petrol fire, knife, shot, forklift…did I miss something?
1:25:49 not a camcorders, it’s a Hasselblad 500C/M medium format stills camera.
These are the highlight of my week now
Will there be honorary mention for the video games of the Brosnan era? Goldeneye, TWINE, Agent Under Fire, Nightfire, and Everything or Nothing were all pretty great.
One of my favourite Bond films.
It takes the character to a darker place because it's purely a mission of revenge for him.
It's a good illustrator for his loyalty and just how far the character is willing to go for the sake of a friend.
So it not feeling like a typical Bond movie really works for me when taking into account the whole premise.
Saw this art the cinema when it first came out .. still one of my fave Bond movies. And I don’t give a f**k what anyone says .. Timothy Dalton was an awesome Bond!
Best Bond opening EVER!!
The part where they're talking about the double-take and then shows Bond actually in motion doing a double-take, made me do a double-take. I never expected to see video in these.
Matt Griffiths' editing on these is fan-[CENSORED]-tastic! I could never just listen to these as audio podcasts now, knowing I'd be missing out on such wonderful stuff.
A few weeks ago, Graham brought up that he vaguely remembered Wayne Newton being in a Dalton movie, and my brain went to Wayne Knight, because there's obviously only one actor with the first name Wayne, obviously, and I was kinda looking forward to figuring out how the heck Nedry was going to figure into this movie. I then figured out my error once Wayne Newton appeared and I went to IMDB
An auspicious video
You say it doesn't feel like a bond film but this is the first bond film i remember watching as a little one so this is what bond films are, in the back of my mind
The only fun thing I have to add is that this isn't the last time we'll see a gun that only responds to James's palm. It will show up on a different gun later in a pretty great scene in one of Daniel Craig's
I remember being disappointed they reused the trope.
@22:37 - YES! I like that song and the music!
1:37:12 is an auspicious moment in this podcast.
It's a very wise-looking fish, that's for sure.
Fun fact when it was in production the name was going to be Licence Revoked but market research indicated no one knew what revoked meant...
Which also makes me wonder how the heck Quantum of Solace finally made it out the gate (yes I know it's an actual Fleming title).
The main dancer in the opening titles is Diane Lee-Hsu. She was a Playboy centerfold in 1987. She also has a small part later in the film as Chinese agent.
I'm pleasantly surprised that you guys enjoyed this one as much as you did.
I think it's inescapable that Licence to Kill was influenced by the other movies of the period - the Die Hards, the Lethal Weapons, Miami Vice, etc. - but when one considers that this was simply the climate of the time (the '80s), along with the fact that those were the movies dominating the box office, one can imagine that the producers were trying to figure out how to fit in with that. Couple that with the insistence of Dalton that the Bond movies look more toward the literary source and get away from the somewhat cartoonish qualities of the Moore era... and yes, I suppose John Glen is one of those directors who can't help himself and still looks for humor in a serious setting, and that did make for some seemingly inappropriate tonal shifts...
What's interesting is that I tonally consider the movie and Dalton's portrayal to be closer to Fleming's literary character - after all, reading some of the books, not every villain was a "rule the world" or "political opposition" type (i.e. Russians and S.P.E.C.T.R.E.)... some were downright pedestrian, so I didn't see him taking on a drug kingpin to be so far outside the Bondian realm (again, speaking in terms of the literary figure). But I guess there was by this time an established formula for what a Bond "movie" entails, which does require a bit of cartoonish mustache-twirling rule/destroy the world types, coupled with the cool gadgets, fancy cars, hot women, and a fair amount of "overt" humor. In this regard... yes, it's hard to place this in the same series that gave us The Spy Who Loved Me, Octopussy, You Only Live Twice, etc. There's a certain "fun" to all the Bond films prior to this (even The Living Daylights) that this movie lacks.
And yet... I can't help but feel that this was the precursor to where the series would go with Daniel Craig and the reboots. I don't care for the forced continuity/canon they're placing in the Craig series - honestly, I love watching Casino Royale and Skyfall as standalone movies, and in that regard, I would place Licence to Kill in with them in terms of tone, quality, and a certain "kind" of Bond movie.
In any case, this was the first Bond movie I saw in theaters - I was eight-years-old, had seen The Living Daylights and a few of the older movies, and with my parents, we were Bond fans. And while my parents were surprised by the harsher tone, they thought it was good, and they actually enjoyed that it made me want to read the books. And once I did, I realized just how much I really loved Timothy Dalton's portrayal.
Thanks again for your series - good stuff! I'll stick around for the Pierce Brosnan movies, which I absolutely abhor, LOL.
Bond's marriage in OHMSS is mentioned in several films. I specifically Roger Moore laying flowers on Tracy's grave in the opener of For Your Eyes Only.