Over the years, I've fallen more in love with Dalton everytime I watch either of his films. While I wish he did more films, there is an upside to him only doing two. He's the only Bond that I feel has never had a dud movie or performance.
Netflix had almost all the Bond movies streaming a few years ago and I watched all I could and finally got properly into the series. I started with TLD precisely because I knew so little about it. I kinda used it as a benchmark as I went through the rest. They're all at least pretty good until you hit DAD, but after seeing all the pre-Craig Bonds, I realized none topped TLD.
Diamonds has a special place in my heart. It was the first one I ever saw. My father took me to see it when I was nine or ten. It was one of the few things we ever did together. Good memory.
You nailed it with the soundtrack, both this and A View To A Kill are the only James Bond soundtracks I own, I like how John Barry interweaves the music along to Aha's main theme song and the opening showcases great stuntwork with Bond hanging onto the car roof something I find it difficult had Roger Moore were to attempt it. Poor Timothy Dalton never gets the recognition he deserves I still like his only two entries rather than Pierce Brosnan's last four.
I remember When I first watched Living Daylights I was initially disappointed that Roger wasn't in this as I grew quite fond of his Bond but as time went on I grew to love Timothy Dalton's portrayal other than Craig and Brosnan at times he made Bond human and vulnerable where's Connery and Moore felt always in control of the situation.
After Connery, Dalton is my favorite Bond. He returns to the grit of the Fleming novels. TLD is very grounded, a return to the roots of the franchise. It's really about espionage, intrigue and so forth. I do wish he had made more, at least 1 or 2 more.
Straight up one of my favourite Bond films, had the espionage and romance of a Fleming novel with a fabulous Barry score and action scenes. Dalton has always been my favourite Bond actor, very committed and it shows. I acknowledge some pacing issues and villains but I don’t mind, Living Daylights will always be a favourite.
The first half of this film, bloody excellent. They were on their way to pulling off one of the best cold war spy movies of that era. Its unfortunately when the film reaches Afghanistan is when it loses steam quite quickly. But Timothy Dalton in that sniper scene in Prague and that Pushkin interrogation scene in Tangier just oozes Fleming. He is calculated, professional and will do anything necessary to get the job done.
Just revisited this film for the first time in over a decade. Sure, overall it is slap bang in the middle of my rankings, but I had forgotten how good that ice chase was before they get into the cello box. And though the villain plot is disappointing when it’s all revealed, the build up and intrigue is excellently done for the first half of this film.
I know you said that Necros was missing e,g. A previous fight before the cargo net scene but don’t forget Necros vs green four that was an awesome fight, and I was impressed that in trying to make a more realistic bond film they showcased other agents being strong too, and the fight also showcased Necros’s fighting skills. I thought green 4 was a cool character too, you could tell what kind of person he was, eg. He greeted bond nicely and quite posh, becofe the fight he was watching security cams then entered the kitchen and noticed quickly that the chef was being dumped into the freezer, grabbed his radio and called for help and then went for his gun, and also used the environment really well and last for an impressive 45 seconds during the fight, even trying to get up just before he’s knocked out, showing he’s a fighter. And he didn’t die.
Excellent review, I agree with everything you said, particularly your thought on Dalton as Bond. I do love the V8 Vantage, it's such a beautiful car and remains my favoutire Bond vehicle. I'm really looking forward to your review of License To Kill which I think is the most under rated Bond film of all.
I am the only one that feels the title song should have been Where Has Everybody Gone? I loved that more than the A-Ha song. I also liked the closing theme, If There Was a Man.
Great review Both of daltons bonds are fantastic, and thats largely due to dalton as bond , if dalton had gone onto to GE and done up to 5 bond movies there is no doubt that he would have been the best bond ever, as it is he is second best only behind Connery , thanks for this great review
This was a well done film review. Kudos. "Living Daylights" I always thought was well received and 'did well at the box office'. It was epic in its film making, taking us all across the globe, inclusive of multi international political gov'ts and intrigues. It was a good movie. Dalton had the formidable task of replacing the previous Bond who made some fun films, but kind of 'phoned them in', especially when it became too obvious he was wearing a girdle underneath his shirt, in far too many scenes that could no longer be believable as a 'sex' or romantic scene. Dalton, by trying to reinstate the seriousness of Bond, had to overcome more than a decade of 'clownishness'. Roger Moore was fun, and when younger looked the part, but he set the standard for being a clown. Emphasizing the 'one liners', making faces, rolling his eyes. Saying "Ooof" whenever he was punched in the gut. Moore's movies were almost split down the middle, the bad guys playing it straight, Moore being a bit silly. Dalton had a real challenge ahead of him, and, in my opinion, Living Daylights did good. His next Bond film maybe not so much...... It was a shame how the TV network tried to sabotage Pierce Brosnan's opportunity, but maybe he was too young at the time?
Dalton went back to the original Fleming novels for his interpretation of the character. He believed that 007 was jaded and worn out by the demands of his profession but a sense of duty and patriotism enabled JB to carry on somehow.
My first Bond film that I saw in the theaters was Diamonds are Forever when I was 11. Yeah now I see it as not a great flick but back then my mind was blown and I was hooked. When I saw Live and Let Die at 13, I wasn’t sold on Roger. The release of the earlier movies on ABC in the 70s cemented me as a Connery fan. I did think Moore did better in Golden Gun, although not the best film either. Spy who Loved Me however was spectacular. Perhaps it was that by then I was going to Bond movies with my sweetheart. Moonraker was a mixed bag for me but I really liked the darker tone of For Your Eyes Only. Octopussy was Ok for me as well but View to a Kill showed that they needed a new Bond. I thought Dalton was a good, solid choice and watching the film on its debut I was cheering inside. The movie itself if full of the flaws you mention, but I saw Dalton as a fresh take and looked forward to several films. The next film was better, but just seemed too much like Miami Vice for my tastes. I wish he would have gotten another shot at the role.
TLD is my favorite Bond film of the 80s, and my preferred of the two Dalton films. I think it's held back by a somewhat convoluted plot, too many bad guys, and the strange inclusion of the Mujahedeen. Both this and Rambo 3 featured them, and it really, really dates it. The soundtrack is fantastic. I'd agree that it's the best of his work in the franchise, albeit that the OHMSS soundtrack is a close second for me. Ice Chase, Exercise at Gibraltar, and the general Bond theme are highlights for me. The A-Ha song is fantastic, rivals Duran Durans' entry for my favorite tracks of the 80s. When I think of the Bond theme, it's TLD's version of it in my mind. TLD has some of my favorite action scenes of the franchise. The pre-titles is one of my favorites, up there with TSWLM, Goldeneye, TND, QoS, and NTTD. Getting Koskov across the border, the Ice Chase, and the fights in Afghanistan are all great. I agree on d' Abo. She's grown on me, but she's still a weaker link. Dalton is the best part of the film, but Rhys-Davies, Krabbe, Wisniewski, and Malik give great performances. Timmy does a great job in both films, even if I somewhat prefer his performance in LTK. Despite the plot being a little "all of the place" in this film, I prefer how it is much more tonally consistent than LTK. I'm sure you'll talk about it in the next review, but the serious tone of LTK goes out the window for me when Bond gets jumped by literal ninjas. Alas, John Glen had to throw some John Glen stuff in the film. Love the review Stephen! Total sidenote; Are you excited for the next Gears game? I am!
Was a bit disappointed because I wanted the next chapter of Kait's story, but remembering that the time period allows for Dom to come back flipped my switch.
@@stephenjarvis534 I'm in the same boat. I enjoyed the Gears 5 arc enough that I'd like to see more, but the premise of a prequel is something that I've wanted since Judgement.
At the time i had a Huge enthusiasm for the Dalton era as i found Moore too O.O.T. for my own tastes, and then the era was suddenly over before it really started , sadly.
Yes, there is a big contrast between AVTAK(1985) and TLD(1987). For me, TLD(1987) is the best James Bond film ever! And Timothy Dalton is a fantastic actor! I also love-love-love other actors in TLD(1987): Maryam d'Abo & Robert Brown & Joe Don Baker & John Rhys-Davies... Best opening, great music score by John Barry and title song by A-ha. Fantastic car Aston Martin V8 Vantage. Overall a great Cold War era film. Expensive and glamorous movie! The best! ***** At the same time, I think AVTAK(1985) a great Bond movie too! Pure1980s nostalgia, I must say! Much better movie than LALD(1973) and TMWTGG(1974). Those 2 films were really weird to put it mildly. But Roger Moore's last 5 movies are all great! By the way, a few important aspects about AVTAK(1985): The oldest James Bond ever(57). A unique moment: The order of Lenin for comrade Bond. 2 famous landmarks in one Bond movie: Eiffel Tower and Golden Gate Bridge. Great actors/actresses. A goddess: Alison Doody! The youngest(18) Bond girl to date. Both AVTAK(1985) and TLD(1987) are great important milestones in James Bond franchise! ***** My Top-10 is: 1965, 1967, 1969, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987(THE BEST), 1995.
Ok, I gotta know. Why do you specify the year of your 10 favorites when referring to the films? Most would be pretty easy to figure out (and you've got some solid choices), but there are two Bond films released in 1967 and 1983. I could use context clues to figure you probably aren't talking about Casino Royale 1967, but since I know you like the 80s films so much, you could be referring to either Octopussy or NSNA.
@@stephenjarvis534 Well, my 1967 is definitely YOLT. And 1983 is Octopussy. EON Productions Bond films. However, 1983 NSNA is a pretty good movie too! In NSNA(1983), Sean Connery at the age of 53 was in much better physical/mental shape than in DAF(1971). Casino Royale(1967) is a total absurdity. It had potential(big budget, beautiful sets, great star actors). Unfortunately, the script was like a drug addict's dream. ***** By the way, it is very difficult to rank all 27(25&2) James Bond films. So, 10 is enough for me.
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18:05 Detente was over with the beginning of Soviet war in Afghanistan. Cold War had reached a new peak. Soviet Union was nowhere near collapsing during the production. Thus, this movie is far more anti-Soviet and politically charged than the previous movies like FYEO or AVTAK, that actually featured USSR as a reasonable, indirect presence, or the next one, when the relevance of Soviet Union had indeed started to diminish. This movie is peak Cold War, and with Bond assaulting a Soviet Military Base, it’s one of the most direct confrontations between him and the communists.
My intention was to point out that the final decade of the Soviet Union and the ramifications of it color the film, most notably through the portrayal of Mujahideen, and the heating up of the Cold War between 1986-1988. The Soviet Union was already starting to crumble, but not in the most blatant of ways. The filmmakers could not have foresaw the next 5 years, but it's interesting to watch the film now, armed with the benefit of time and hindsight. However, I didn't make any of that clear, and I probably should have rephrased my thoughts into something more historically accurate. I'm not sure I agree about the movie being anymore anti-Soviet than the other 80s Bond films. Mad Russian General, sure. But I view him as an outlier, one who calls in a favor with Colonel Fador. The actual Soviet troops led by Pushkin aren't really treated as villains or antagonistic to Bond. I don't think the film is coming down on the Russians, really. I do concur that this film is the most politically charged of all of Glen's films; I just think we have different interpretations.
I was far too young to know how the public perceived the Cold War in 1987. I know the collapse of communism in Europe didn't accelerate until 1989, but by that point Gorbachev was in power and Reagan made an effort to keep in contact with the Soviet leaders since a nuclear near-disaster in 1983. if anybody here was old enough and aware of cold war relations, what was your feeling on the commies around the time The Living Daylights came out? did it feel like communism was falling apart? did you think Gorbachev would successfully reform Russia and keep a nominally communist regime in power for the foreseeable future? did you still think we were all going to die in a nuclear war? I'll always be fascinated by this stuff because the USSR collapsed around the time I started going to school, so it felt like this historic evil thing crashed and burned right before I knew anything about the world outside my home.
From my experience, the Dalton films certainly got some critical reevulation after "Casino Royale" for reasons that I don't think need to explain to you. Hell, I know people who are not big Bond fans, but are into the hardcore action films like "Die Hard" or "Lethal Weapon" that were popular during the 80s (and still are now due to how sanitised the action genre has become over the years) and all of them rate "Licence to Kill" very highly.
I completely understand the issues you have with Kara when it comes to writing. I'd even go beyond and say that her taking more action towards the end of the movie is jarring with how delicate she was before and comes out of nowhere. But I must hard disagree on the chemistry thing. I think Maryam and Timothy really have a spark going and when they spend time in Vienna, I just adore the two of them as a pair. Everytime I travel with my girlfriend and we're just doing 'romantic' things like they do in Vienna, I just think to myself 'I hope we look as cute as Bond and Kara'.
16:13 considering she didn't get much time on screen here and literally one or two scenes in the next one, Caroline Bliss was done dirty if you ask me.
As in all of the Bond films? Definitely. Licence to Kill probably won't come out this week (I had to move apartments recently, and I found I had a lot more to say about the film than I anticipated), but my goal is get through all the films by the end of the year, which shouldn't be too hard to do.
I only disagree about Kara, very, very strongly...I think her haters misunderstood her completely...The whole point of her character is that she is naive artist,who got involved in this whole e spy thing unwilingly..and Bond likes her, beacause he is a man of culture..And, well opposites do attract..As far as chemistry is concerned, D Abo ad Dalton are perfect match..they are just freaking adorable...Best Bond and girkl relathionship along with Tracy and Vesper in my bias opinion..i like Pam also, but the whole love triangle, is way to forced in LTK
@@aleksandarnikolic4167 Oh, I certainly do, and I never want anybody to feel bad or defensive because I don't feel the same way. It'd be a boring place if everyone shared my thoughts to the same degree.
Roger Moore had an incredible long lasting career, but grew too old, wearing girdles underneath his tight shirts while romancing the girl - a bit yucky, like your grandfather with hair dye was doing it.
I think there was a huge missed opportunity to refine the Brad Whitaker character. That could have been a refreshing change from the Eurocentric villains of the past. Something like General Midwinter from the Harry Palmer movie, Billion Dollar Brain: A loud, brash, American Southern that is determined to rid the world of communism. The macguffin could have been some dangerous weapon that he wants to get his hands on. As for Dalton, that's a debut that was delayed far too long. I also second the love of the confrontation with Pushkin in the hotel. I also enjoyed his attitude during the Koskov mission after the title sequence. You can feel the world weariness of the character like he's been Bond for 15 years. The rest of the film is okay, IMO. This is a fairly middle of the road entry with weak villains but it has an awesome Bond in the lead and that Pre-Title Sequence? A top fiver.
"Brad Whitaker" was, in my opinion, soooo weak that he drained the film. Zero depth to his story, just a nut case with a scale model in his living room.
I laugh at the critics' reviews of this film when it came out, mostly down to criticizing Timothy Dalton's performance for being too serious and lacking humour. Which is incredibly stupid because Ian Fleming's Bond is meant to be a cold-blooded, tough, calculating, flawed government agent NOT a wise-cracking Superhero, something that Daniel Craig was praised for.
I am in substantial agreement with you, although I like most of the secondary characters better than you seem to. If they had kept this tone after this, subsequent movies would have been much better, regardless of the actor. Dalton would have been excellent had he chosen to stick around. Unfortunately, *License to Kill* began the long process of darkening the character to the point where Daniel Craig never actually played James Bond. He was just somebody else with the same name.
Finally, someone willing to stand up to Daniel Craig. A good solid actor, but was he "Bond"? Were the action scenes, was the camera work "Bond"? Or should Matt Damon have been asked to play the part? Since it really looked like the Craig films were a rip-off of Damon's films at the time.
There's plenty of people willing to voice their negative opinions against Craig, judging by the comments in my videos. I'm definitely not in the same camp and am far more positive about Craig, but I also have some wagging of the finger to do with his films. I don't begrudge people their state of mind about Craig though; he was designed to be different, but we must be willing to ask if the change was a good thing or misguided. At the risk of spoiling one of my thoughts, I think it was a good thing taken too far.
I'll admit I'm not a fan of Living Daylights. I can see why people like it, but it doesn't click we me all that well. I can firmly say I like the A-HA song, elements of the score are pretty good (namely Ice Chase and In-flight fight), John Rhys-Davies is also pretty good, I enjoy the scene where the Bond evades the police with his vantage, and Dalton does a decent job of putting his version of Bond to screen. I'm not a fan of Kara much as her innocent naivity turns into stupidity a lot of the time, John Terry is the most bland and forgettable Felix Leiter of the series, and the film does get dragged down for me by its somehwat confusing narrative near the end. My biggest issue is that there are two villains, and although Bond deals with Koscov, we have the second climax to defeat Whittaker, only to have to deal with Koscov again. In the end, I prefer License to Kill.
16th for me - which seems pretty low, but as I look at my list I see five Connerys, five Moores, two Brosnans, and one each from Lazenby, Craig and Dalton himself ranked higher, and I can't do much about that. The Living Daylights just fits near the bottom of my "Good" Bond films, which makes it better than nine others and eminently watchable - and it may slip if I reappraise and decide that TND should be higher than 17th. The only serious criticism I have for TLD is that I feel zero threat, menace, capability nor credibility from the character of General Whitaker. The film would have been much better without him.
Bond doesn't seem to understand that a woman who can swap a cello for a rifle and then go calmly back to her normal business is not the typical Bond girl that he can bone between card games at a casino. This Bond girl has made it to the elite ranks of a communist society and is not impressed by the visit to an amusement park in Vienna that Bond offers her, because her boyfriend Koskov has taken her to better places. The Bond girl remains a mystery- is she really smitten with Bond or does she just pretend it because she's afraid of him and doesn't trust him? Koskov is a depraved Casanova who has done a hatchet job on the girl's emotions. The film's biggest shortcoming is in the weakness of the portrayal of Koskov, in the actor's inability to express the sheer maliciousness of the man. With better choices of actors for portraying the villains, The Living Daylights could have been the best film in the Bond series.
Why the history? Why the recap of the movie? I just don't get these reviews. It's as if the people didn't take any writing classes or know what good writing is or how to describe it or articulate it. I think the problem with Dalton is much like Craig - he lacks warmth with his beady little eyes, and it doesn't really look like he enjoys being James Bond like Connery did. I would urge you to listen to now playing podcast review of this movie and really get an idea of how to do criticism.
@AnnoyingCritic-is7rp Instead of treating this as a troll comment, I instead went and listened to the entire review you mentioned (plus part of another), and you know what I was shocked to hear? Both the history surrounding the film and a short recap of the movie within the first 8 minutes! But let me address your two points: 1. Why the history? Art always exists in some context, and reviewing art is tough when you ignore both the time the piece was made and how it plays out over the years. Try reviewing Never Say Never Again without talking about how and why it came to be; it's harder than it seems. Plus, Now Playing Podcast not only discussed the production history, but even the political context of the Afghan rebels. 2. Why the recap? Because it may have been a while since people have seen the film and a reminder is appreciated, or people are just so interested in a reviewer that they'll watch reviews on things they have never seen. I know I have, and I've read a few comments on my other videos that confirm that there are a few in my small pool of subscribers that do this as well. Plus, great film reviewers from the past included recaps in their reviews, such as Roger Ebert, Gene Siskel, and Richard Roper. I don't think you need to take a writing class to review a film, much as you don't need to cook to have an opinion of a restaurant (though I've taken several writing and analysis classes, both undergrad and graduate level). But if you have taken those classes, I bet those professors made you recap some of the plot of whatever novel/play/film you were talking about, and if you excelled in those classes, I'm willing to bet good money you talked about the history of the projects as part of the paper. I get that you disagreed with this review and you're expressing your opinion. That's great; I encourage you to continue to do so. But other than your thoughts on Dalton, the rest of the comment made little sense to me. Now Playing Podcast is a great group and they are doing wonderful work, but I fail to see how they are doing film critique better or worse than anyone else. In fact, they reminded me a lot of a group I used to listen to back in college called Spill.com. Roundtable discussion, varied unscripted opinions, fun dynamic and so on. Absolutely, champion their work and get the word out about them. But having sampled some of their content, I can't say they are doing anything more or less than a lot of other great groups I've listened to.
Over the years, I've fallen more in love with Dalton everytime I watch either of his films. While I wish he did more films, there is an upside to him only doing two. He's the only Bond that I feel has never had a dud movie or performance.
Indeed. The only problem is my nagging wish to have had one more film.
@@stephenjarvis534 Absolutely.
This has become arguably my favorite Bond film. It’s just a perfect blend of all the Bond elements and Dalton is soooo good.
Netflix had almost all the Bond movies streaming a few years ago and I watched all I could and finally got properly into the series. I started with TLD precisely because I knew so little about it. I kinda used it as a benchmark as I went through the rest. They're all at least pretty good until you hit DAD, but after seeing all the pre-Craig Bonds, I realized none topped TLD.
A top tier Bond film for me. The score, the action, Dalton's interpretation of Bond, really makes me wish he did more films.
Same, plus best theme song.
My favourite Bond film. I saw it on release aged 25. Loved it. Still do.
Wow I never heard one before saying this is his favorite..So it is mine too..as a kid and still I watched it as many times..This is a masterpiece
TLD(1987): The best James Bond film ever! Great actors: Timothy Dalton, Joe Don Baker, John Rhys-Davies.
@@renekauts8323 that villain necros I loved and John Barry score throughout and final plane fight. Absolute fantastic
Timothy always felt the most book accurate to me. Plus those headphones are some of the most memorable weapons in a Bond film for me!
One of my favorites. Dalton is great in both of his films.
Love the comedic tone in this one. Reminds me of Diamonds; which i also love.
Diamonds has a special place in my heart. It was the first one I ever saw. My father took me to see it when I was nine or ten. It was one of the few things we ever did together. Good memory.
You nailed it with the soundtrack, both this and A View To A Kill are the only James Bond soundtracks I own, I like how John Barry interweaves the music along to Aha's main theme song and the opening showcases great stuntwork with Bond hanging onto the car roof something I find it difficult had Roger Moore were to attempt it. Poor Timothy Dalton never gets the recognition he deserves I still like his only two entries rather than Pierce Brosnan's last four.
I remember When I first watched Living Daylights I was initially disappointed that Roger wasn't in this as I grew quite fond of his Bond but as time went on I grew to love Timothy Dalton's portrayal other than Craig and Brosnan at times he made Bond human and vulnerable where's Connery and Moore felt always in control of the situation.
As soon as the music came on at the start of this review, I got goosebumps. What a score!
After Connery, Dalton is my favorite Bond. He returns to the grit of the Fleming novels. TLD is very grounded, a return to the roots of the franchise. It's really about espionage, intrigue and so forth. I do wish he had made more, at least 1 or 2 more.
Straight up one of my favourite Bond films, had the espionage and romance of a Fleming novel with a fabulous Barry score and action scenes. Dalton has always been my favourite Bond actor, very committed and it shows. I acknowledge some pacing issues and villains but I don’t mind, Living Daylights will always be a favourite.
The first half of this film, bloody excellent. They were on their way to pulling off one of the best cold war spy movies of that era. Its unfortunately when the film reaches Afghanistan is when it loses steam quite quickly. But Timothy Dalton in that sniper scene in Prague and that Pushkin interrogation scene in Tangier just oozes Fleming. He is calculated, professional and will do anything necessary to get the job done.
Man, these fantastic, thoughtful reviews always make my day. Thank you so much!
Just revisited this film for the first time in over a decade. Sure, overall it is slap bang in the middle of my rankings, but I had forgotten how good that ice chase was before they get into the cello box. And though the villain plot is disappointing when it’s all revealed, the build up and intrigue is excellently done for the first half of this film.
I know you said that Necros was missing e,g. A previous fight before the cargo net scene but don’t forget Necros vs green four that was an awesome fight, and I was impressed that in trying to make a more realistic bond film they showcased other agents being strong too, and the fight also showcased Necros’s fighting skills. I thought green 4 was a cool character too, you could tell what kind of person he was, eg. He greeted bond nicely and quite posh, becofe the fight he was watching security cams then entered the kitchen and noticed quickly that the chef was being dumped into the freezer, grabbed his radio and called for help and then went for his gun, and also used the environment really well and last for an impressive 45 seconds during the fight, even trying to get up just before he’s knocked out, showing he’s a fighter. And he didn’t die.
Excellent review, I agree with everything you said, particularly your thought on Dalton as Bond. I do love the V8 Vantage, it's such a beautiful car and remains my favoutire Bond vehicle.
I'm really looking forward to your review of License To Kill which I think is the most under rated Bond film of all.
The best Bond film of the 80s and background music and title song was awesome. 😎. Timothy Dalton deserved more bond films 😅
Same here. Living Daylights is easily the best 80's Bond.
No, *For Your Eyes Only* is better still.
I am the only one that feels the title song should have been Where Has Everybody Gone? I loved that more than the A-Ha song. I also liked the closing theme, If There Was a Man.
Great review
Both of daltons bonds are fantastic, and thats largely due to dalton as bond , if dalton had gone onto to GE and done up to 5 bond movies there is no doubt that he would have been the best bond ever, as it is he is second best only behind Connery , thanks for this great review
This was a well done film review. Kudos. "Living Daylights" I always thought was well received and 'did well at the box office'. It was epic in its film making, taking us all across the globe, inclusive of multi international political gov'ts and intrigues. It was a good movie. Dalton had the formidable task of replacing the previous Bond who made some fun films, but kind of 'phoned them in', especially when it became too obvious he was wearing a girdle underneath his shirt, in far too many scenes that could no longer be believable as a 'sex' or romantic scene. Dalton, by trying to reinstate the seriousness of Bond, had to overcome more than a decade of 'clownishness'. Roger Moore was fun, and when younger looked the part, but he set the standard for being a clown. Emphasizing the 'one liners', making faces, rolling his eyes. Saying "Ooof" whenever he was punched in the gut. Moore's movies were almost split down the middle, the bad guys playing it straight, Moore being a bit silly. Dalton had a real challenge ahead of him, and, in my opinion, Living Daylights did good. His next Bond film maybe not so much...... It was a shame how the TV network tried to sabotage Pierce Brosnan's opportunity, but maybe he was too young at the time?
The Living Daylights & License To Kill Are Very Good As Well with Timothy Dalton in my ❤ 2 Favourites
Dalton went back to the original Fleming novels for his interpretation of the character. He believed that 007 was jaded and worn out by the demands of his profession but a sense of duty and patriotism enabled JB to carry on somehow.
My first Bond film that I saw in the theaters was Diamonds are Forever when I was 11. Yeah now I see it as not a great flick but back then my mind was blown and I was hooked.
When I saw Live and Let Die at 13, I wasn’t sold on Roger. The release of the earlier movies on ABC in the 70s cemented me as a Connery fan.
I did think Moore did better in Golden Gun, although not the best film either. Spy who Loved Me however was spectacular. Perhaps it was that by then I was going to Bond movies with my sweetheart.
Moonraker was a mixed bag for me but I really liked the darker tone of For Your Eyes Only. Octopussy was Ok for me as well but View to a Kill showed that they needed a new Bond.
I thought Dalton was a good, solid choice and watching the film on its debut I was cheering inside. The movie itself if full of the flaws you mention, but I saw Dalton as a fresh take and looked forward to several films.
The next film was better, but just seemed too much like Miami Vice for my tastes.
I wish he would have gotten another shot at the role.
20:22 Where Has Everybody Gone? and If There Was A Man. You could not find two contrasting songs that worked so well in the same movie.
TLD is my favorite Bond film of the 80s, and my preferred of the two Dalton films. I think it's held back by a somewhat convoluted plot, too many bad guys, and the strange inclusion of the Mujahedeen. Both this and Rambo 3 featured them, and it really, really dates it.
The soundtrack is fantastic. I'd agree that it's the best of his work in the franchise, albeit that the OHMSS soundtrack is a close second for me. Ice Chase, Exercise at Gibraltar, and the general Bond theme are highlights for me. The A-Ha song is fantastic, rivals Duran Durans' entry for my favorite tracks of the 80s. When I think of the Bond theme, it's TLD's version of it in my mind.
TLD has some of my favorite action scenes of the franchise. The pre-titles is one of my favorites, up there with TSWLM, Goldeneye, TND, QoS, and NTTD. Getting Koskov across the border, the Ice Chase, and the fights in Afghanistan are all great.
I agree on d' Abo. She's grown on me, but she's still a weaker link. Dalton is the best part of the film, but Rhys-Davies, Krabbe, Wisniewski, and Malik give great performances. Timmy does a great job in both films, even if I somewhat prefer his performance in LTK. Despite the plot being a little "all of the place" in this film, I prefer how it is much more tonally consistent than LTK.
I'm sure you'll talk about it in the next review, but the serious tone of LTK goes out the window for me when Bond gets jumped by literal ninjas. Alas, John Glen had to throw some John Glen stuff in the film.
Love the review Stephen! Total sidenote; Are you excited for the next Gears game? I am!
Was a bit disappointed because I wanted the next chapter of Kait's story, but remembering that the time period allows for Dom to come back flipped my switch.
@@stephenjarvis534 I'm in the same boat. I enjoyed the Gears 5 arc enough that I'd like to see more, but the premise of a prequel is something that I've wanted since Judgement.
At the time i had a Huge enthusiasm for the Dalton era as i found Moore too O.O.T. for my own tastes, and then the era was suddenly over before it really started , sadly.
Yes, there is a big contrast between AVTAK(1985) and TLD(1987). For me, TLD(1987) is the best James Bond film ever! And Timothy Dalton is a fantastic actor! I also love-love-love other actors in TLD(1987): Maryam d'Abo & Robert Brown & Joe Don Baker & John Rhys-Davies... Best opening, great music score by John Barry and title song by A-ha. Fantastic car Aston Martin V8 Vantage. Overall a great Cold War era film. Expensive and glamorous movie! The best! ***** At the same time, I think AVTAK(1985) a great Bond movie too! Pure1980s nostalgia, I must say! Much better movie than LALD(1973) and TMWTGG(1974). Those 2 films were really weird to put it mildly. But Roger Moore's last 5 movies are all great! By the way, a few important aspects about AVTAK(1985): The oldest James Bond ever(57). A unique moment: The order of Lenin for comrade Bond. 2 famous landmarks in one Bond movie: Eiffel Tower and Golden Gate Bridge. Great actors/actresses. A goddess: Alison Doody! The youngest(18) Bond girl to date. Both AVTAK(1985) and TLD(1987) are great important milestones in James Bond franchise! ***** My Top-10 is: 1965, 1967, 1969, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987(THE BEST), 1995.
Ok, I gotta know. Why do you specify the year of your 10 favorites when referring to the films? Most would be pretty easy to figure out (and you've got some solid choices), but there are two Bond films released in 1967 and 1983. I could use context clues to figure you probably aren't talking about Casino Royale 1967, but since I know you like the 80s films so much, you could be referring to either Octopussy or NSNA.
@@stephenjarvis534 Well, my 1967 is definitely YOLT. And 1983 is Octopussy. EON Productions Bond films. However, 1983 NSNA is a pretty good movie too! In NSNA(1983), Sean Connery at the age of 53 was in much better physical/mental shape than in DAF(1971). Casino Royale(1967) is a total absurdity. It had potential(big budget, beautiful sets, great star actors). Unfortunately, the script was like a drug addict's dream. ***** By the way, it is very difficult to rank all 27(25&2) James Bond films. So, 10 is enough for me.
21:54 I cant name 10 better James Bond movies than The Living Daylights. Its probably at Number 7 or 8 for me
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18:05
Detente was over with the beginning of Soviet war in Afghanistan. Cold War had reached a new peak. Soviet Union was nowhere near collapsing during the production. Thus, this movie is far more anti-Soviet and politically charged than the previous movies like FYEO or AVTAK, that actually featured USSR as a reasonable, indirect presence, or the next one, when the relevance of Soviet Union had indeed started to diminish. This movie is peak Cold War, and with Bond assaulting a Soviet Military Base, it’s one of the most direct confrontations between him and the communists.
My intention was to point out that the final decade of the Soviet Union and the ramifications of it color the film, most notably through the portrayal of Mujahideen, and the heating up of the Cold War between 1986-1988. The Soviet Union was already starting to crumble, but not in the most blatant of ways. The filmmakers could not have foresaw the next 5 years, but it's interesting to watch the film now, armed with the benefit of time and hindsight. However, I didn't make any of that clear, and I probably should have rephrased my thoughts into something more historically accurate.
I'm not sure I agree about the movie being anymore anti-Soviet than the other 80s Bond films. Mad Russian General, sure. But I view him as an outlier, one who calls in a favor with Colonel Fador. The actual Soviet troops led by Pushkin aren't really treated as villains or antagonistic to Bond. I don't think the film is coming down on the Russians, really. I do concur that this film is the most politically charged of all of Glen's films; I just think we have different interpretations.
@@stephenjarvis534 thanks for the answer
I was far too young to know how the public perceived the Cold War in 1987. I know the collapse of communism in Europe didn't accelerate until 1989, but by that point Gorbachev was in power and Reagan made an effort to keep in contact with the Soviet leaders since a nuclear near-disaster in 1983.
if anybody here was old enough and aware of cold war relations, what was your feeling on the commies around the time The Living Daylights came out? did it feel like communism was falling apart? did you think Gorbachev would successfully reform Russia and keep a nominally communist regime in power for the foreseeable future? did you still think we were all going to die in a nuclear war?
I'll always be fascinated by this stuff because the USSR collapsed around the time I started going to school, so it felt like this historic evil thing crashed and burned right before I knew anything about the world outside my home.
From my experience, the Dalton films certainly got some critical reevulation after "Casino Royale" for reasons that I don't think need to explain to you. Hell, I know people who are not big Bond fans, but are into the hardcore action films like "Die Hard" or "Lethal Weapon" that were popular during the 80s (and still are now due to how sanitised the action genre has become over the years) and all of them rate "Licence to Kill" very highly.
I do address the connection between Licence and the hard-core action films of the 80s in the next review.
@@stephenjarvis534 Cool, can't wait.
BTW, great review, I've always been a fan of "The Living Daylights".
I completely understand the issues you have with Kara when it comes to writing. I'd even go beyond and say that her taking more action towards the end of the movie is jarring with how delicate she was before and comes out of nowhere. But I must hard disagree on the chemistry thing. I think Maryam and Timothy really have a spark going and when they spend time in Vienna, I just adore the two of them as a pair. Everytime I travel with my girlfriend and we're just doing 'romantic' things like they do in Vienna, I just think to myself 'I hope we look as cute as Bond and Kara'.
My favourite of them all. Not the best, (although it’s up there) but my favourite.
In my Humble opinion Timothy was the best Bond, his is the face i see when i read the Fleming Novels.
20:00 and I thought A View To A Kill score was excellent. But the score here is just as good if not better.
16:13 considering she didn't get much time on screen here and literally one or two scenes in the next one, Caroline Bliss was done dirty if you ask me.
Loved TLD. I’m a massive Brosnan fan, but love TLDs espionage plot
I'll have plenty of nice things to say about Brosnan soon.
Are you going to finish the playlist?
As in all of the Bond films? Definitely. Licence to Kill probably won't come out this week (I had to move apartments recently, and I found I had a lot more to say about the film than I anticipated), but my goal is get through all the films by the end of the year, which shouldn't be too hard to do.
I find this film's and the OHMSS soundtrack to be John Barry's best. I think it's fair to say neither sound like any of the other soundtracks.
I only disagree about Kara, very, very strongly...I think her haters misunderstood her completely...The whole point of her character is that she is naive artist,who got involved in this whole e spy thing unwilingly..and Bond likes her, beacause he is a man of culture..And, well opposites do attract..As far as chemistry is concerned, D Abo ad Dalton are perfect match..they are just freaking adorable...Best Bond and girkl relathionship along with Tracy and Vesper in my bias opinion..i like Pam also, but the whole love triangle, is way to forced in LTK
I agree about the forced love triangle, mostly because of the jealousy it prompts with Pam.
@@stephenjarvis534 Well i hope that you at least understand P.O.V of us who like Kara
@@aleksandarnikolic4167 Oh, I certainly do, and I never want anybody to feel bad or defensive because I don't feel the same way. It'd be a boring place if everyone shared my thoughts to the same degree.
Maryam d'Abo in 1987: What a beautiful woman! She was so cute!
Tim erased Roger Moore's silliness and gave us a serious Bond tired and bitter but he thinks the fight is worth it all
Roger Moore had an incredible long lasting career, but grew too old, wearing girdles underneath his tight shirts while romancing the girl - a bit yucky, like your grandfather with hair dye was doing it.
I think there was a huge missed opportunity to refine the Brad Whitaker character. That could have been a refreshing change from the Eurocentric villains of the past. Something like General Midwinter from the Harry Palmer movie, Billion Dollar Brain: A loud, brash, American Southern that is determined to rid the world of communism. The macguffin could have been some dangerous weapon that he wants to get his hands on.
As for Dalton, that's a debut that was delayed far too long. I also second the love of the confrontation with Pushkin in the hotel. I also enjoyed his attitude during the Koskov mission after the title sequence. You can feel the world weariness of the character like he's been Bond for 15 years. The rest of the film is okay, IMO. This is a fairly middle of the road entry with weak villains but it has an awesome Bond in the lead and that Pre-Title Sequence? A top fiver.
Best pre-title sequence, period.
@@odysseusrex5908 I like it a lot but my favorite is From Russia With Love.
"Brad Whitaker" was, in my opinion, soooo weak that he drained the film. Zero depth to his story, just a nut case with a scale model in his living room.
I laugh at the critics' reviews of this film when it came out, mostly down to criticizing Timothy Dalton's performance for being too serious and lacking humour. Which is incredibly stupid because Ian Fleming's Bond is meant to be a cold-blooded, tough, calculating, flawed government agent NOT a wise-cracking Superhero, something that Daniel Craig was praised for.
I am in substantial agreement with you, although I like most of the secondary characters better than you seem to. If they had kept this tone after this, subsequent movies would have been much better, regardless of the actor. Dalton would have been excellent had he chosen to stick around. Unfortunately, *License to Kill* began the long process of darkening the character to the point where Daniel Craig never actually played James Bond. He was just somebody else with the same name.
Finally, someone willing to stand up to Daniel Craig. A good solid actor, but was he "Bond"? Were the action scenes, was the camera work "Bond"? Or should Matt Damon have been asked to play the part? Since it really looked like the Craig films were a rip-off of Damon's films at the time.
There's plenty of people willing to voice their negative opinions against Craig, judging by the comments in my videos. I'm definitely not in the same camp and am far more positive about Craig, but I also have some wagging of the finger to do with his films. I don't begrudge people their state of mind about Craig though; he was designed to be different, but we must be willing to ask if the change was a good thing or misguided. At the risk of spoiling one of my thoughts, I think it was a good thing taken too far.
If the villains weren't so bad in Living Daylights, it might be in my top 3 Bond movies. But I can't get over how lame the villains are.
I agree. I think some truly great villains would compensate for the film's shortcomings.
I'll admit I'm not a fan of Living Daylights. I can see why people like it, but it doesn't click we me all that well. I can firmly say I like the A-HA song, elements of the score are pretty good (namely Ice Chase and In-flight fight), John Rhys-Davies is also pretty good, I enjoy the scene where the Bond evades the police with his vantage, and Dalton does a decent job of putting his version of Bond to screen. I'm not a fan of Kara much as her innocent naivity turns into stupidity a lot of the time, John Terry is the most bland and forgettable Felix Leiter of the series, and the film does get dragged down for me by its somehwat confusing narrative near the end. My biggest issue is that there are two villains, and although Bond deals with Koscov, we have the second climax to defeat Whittaker, only to have to deal with Koscov again. In the end, I prefer License to Kill.
16th for me - which seems pretty low, but as I look at my list I see five Connerys, five Moores, two Brosnans, and one each from Lazenby, Craig and Dalton himself ranked higher, and I can't do much about that. The Living Daylights just fits near the bottom of my "Good" Bond films, which makes it better than nine others and eminently watchable - and it may slip if I reappraise and decide that TND should be higher than 17th. The only serious criticism I have for TLD is that I feel zero threat, menace, capability nor credibility from the character of General Whitaker. The film would have been much better without him.
Bond doesn't seem to understand that a woman who can swap a cello for a rifle and then go calmly back to her normal business is not the typical Bond girl that he can bone between card games at a casino. This Bond girl has made it to the elite ranks of a communist society and is not impressed by the visit to an amusement park in Vienna that Bond offers her, because her boyfriend Koskov has taken her to better places. The Bond girl remains a mystery- is she really smitten with Bond or does she just pretend it because she's afraid of him and doesn't trust him? Koskov is a depraved Casanova who has done a hatchet job on the girl's emotions. The film's biggest shortcoming is in the weakness of the portrayal of Koskov, in the actor's inability to express the sheer maliciousness of the man. With better choices of actors for portraying the villains, The Living Daylights could have been the best film in the Bond series.
Why the history? Why the recap of the movie?
I just don't get these reviews. It's as if the people didn't take any writing classes or know what good writing is or how to describe it or articulate it.
I think the problem with Dalton is much like Craig - he lacks warmth with his beady little eyes, and it doesn't really look like he enjoys being James Bond like Connery did.
I would urge you to listen to now playing podcast review of this movie and really get an idea of how to do criticism.
@AnnoyingCritic-is7rp Instead of treating this as a troll comment, I instead went and listened to the entire review you mentioned (plus part of another), and you know what I was shocked to hear? Both the history surrounding the film and a short recap of the movie within the first 8 minutes! But let me address your two points:
1. Why the history? Art always exists in some context, and reviewing art is tough when you ignore both the time the piece was made and how it plays out over the years. Try reviewing Never Say Never Again without talking about how and why it came to be; it's harder than it seems. Plus, Now Playing Podcast not only discussed the production history, but even the political context of the Afghan rebels.
2. Why the recap? Because it may have been a while since people have seen the film and a reminder is appreciated, or people are just so interested in a reviewer that they'll watch reviews on things they have never seen. I know I have, and I've read a few comments on my other videos that confirm that there are a few in my small pool of subscribers that do this as well. Plus, great film reviewers from the past included recaps in their reviews, such as Roger Ebert, Gene Siskel, and Richard Roper.
I don't think you need to take a writing class to review a film, much as you don't need to cook to have an opinion of a restaurant (though I've taken several writing and analysis classes, both undergrad and graduate level). But if you have taken those classes, I bet those professors made you recap some of the plot of whatever novel/play/film you were talking about, and if you excelled in those classes, I'm willing to bet good money you talked about the history of the projects as part of the paper.
I get that you disagreed with this review and you're expressing your opinion. That's great; I encourage you to continue to do so. But other than your thoughts on Dalton, the rest of the comment made little sense to me. Now Playing Podcast is a great group and they are doing wonderful work, but I fail to see how they are doing film critique better or worse than anyone else. In fact, they reminded me a lot of a group I used to listen to back in college called Spill.com. Roundtable discussion, varied unscripted opinions, fun dynamic and so on. Absolutely, champion their work and get the word out about them. But having sampled some of their content, I can't say they are doing anything more or less than a lot of other great groups I've listened to.
Do not watch Rambo 3!🤣
Well, I've only seen First Blood Part 1 and Rambo 5. Loved the first and really didn't like 5. Is Rambo III just as bad?
The score for this is just plain dull.
No way.