License to Kill review (sent this to Robert Davi on twitter, and he thanked me!)

edited July 2013 in Bond Movies Posts: 9
Look, I'm no expert, I don't consider myself a great writer by any means but here's a review I wrote for my favorite Bond film of all time. Feel free to leave comments on the review or debate with me what you liked or disliked about it. I love movies!

http://pgsrealmoviereviews.blogspot.com/2012/04/retro-review-licence-to-kill.html

Comments

  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,374
    Welcome, @sromgrom! That is very cool. However, you can post this link in the official 'License to Kill' review thread, seen here:

    http://mi6community.com/index.php?p=/discussion/3480/licence-to-kill-1989#Item_2
  • edited July 2013 Posts: 6,432
    That's pretty cool, one of my favourite Bond movies, probably in my top five or six. Kudos to you. welcome to the site. Looks stunning on Bluray, really elevates the look of the film.
  • Posts: 169
    There's a lot to admire in LTK although I still rate it a notch below TLD. I liked Dalton's performance and I think Sanchez was about the toughest, meanest villain in the entire series. I love it that Robert Davi responded to your review! I only wish the EON team had a little more faith in the dark tone itself and hadn't added some of the lighter material, such as the laser camera and Wayne Newton's role. It seemed to me like a pointless attempt at catering to those who enjoy the comedic elements in some of the Moore films. I think that goofy asides in an otherwise serious Bond film are more detrimental than serious asides in an otherwise goofy Bond film.
  • edited July 2013 Posts: 11,189
    Great to hear that Davi actually took the time to respond. He was easily the best character in a sometimes exciting but uneven film.

    In reference to Dr_Yes's comments I think it's interesting how out of place the Q scene is in the film. The character of Q seems to have changed completely from the days of Tb when he openly voiced his dissatisfaction of equipping Bond in the field "on the run as it were".

    Here's how it would have gone in the 60s:

    M: "007 has gone on the run".
    Q: "Good ..hope the bloody fool gets what's coming to him".

    You can't imagine him casually "dropping round" to see how Bond is coping as a fugitive from MI6.

    Old age obviously made Q a bit softer.
  • Posts: 14,800
    Something odd about Q in LTK is that he never seems to have been sanctioned by MI6 for using government property to help a rogue agent. I was happy to see more of him in the film, but his behavior is out of character, or at least unexplained and he strangely gets away with it.
  • Posts: 615
    Q gets to fulfill a secret, decades-long desire to act as a field agent (of sorts... it is an unsanctioned mission after all).

    And he'd never want Bond to know it, but he's very proud of how 007 has used Q Branch gadgets to save the whole bloody world a time or two. (Even if said gadgets weren't always returned in pristine order.) Thus when Bond is totally on his own in South America, the old fella simply can't leave him out there in the lurch.
  • edited July 2013 Posts: 11,189
    I saw a documentary about Desmond a few days ago and he was told on the set of GF that his approach should be: "everyone likes Bond...except you".

    In the 60s Q did indeed seem to flat out dislike Bond, OHMSS being the exception when he showed a bit more warmth to 007. During the 70s and 80s he did seem to tolerate Bond a bit more but was still often mildly irritated by him. There was a professional distance between the two that became more paternal in the late 80s/whole of the 90s.

    Tbh I rarely got the sense Q would offer on his own to help Bond if he was in trouble.
  • Posts: 14,800
    BAIN123 wrote:
    I saw a documentary about Desmond a few days ago and he was told on the set of GF that his approach should be: "everyone likes Bond...except you".

    In the 60s Q did indeed seem to flat out dislike Bond, OHMSS being the exception when he showed a bit more warmth to 007. During the 70s and 80s he did seem to tolerate Bond a bit more but was still often mildly irritated by him. There was a professional distance between the two that became more paternal in the late 80s/whole of the 90s.

    Sometimes during the Moore era I thought it,seemed that Bond was sometimes equally irritated by Q.
    CraterGuns wrote:
    Q gets to fulfill a secret, decades-long desire to act as a field agent (of sorts... it is an unsanctioned mission after all).

    And he'd never want Bond to know it, but he's very proud of how 007 has used Q Branch gadgets to save the whole bloody world a time or two. (Even if said gadgets weren't always returned in pristine order.) Thus when Bond is totally on his own in South America, the old fella simply can't leave him out there in the lurch.

    I don't buy the secret desire hypothesis. That Q wants to help Bond, sure. That he might act out of professional pride, even. But that he condones and takes part in a rogue action AND that MI6 does not seem to mind I don't buy it.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,459
    Besides, in Octopussy, Q did get to go into the field and help. In his own charming way. :)
  • Posts: 11,189
    Besides, in Octopussy, Q did get to go into the field and help. In his own charming way. :)

    Yeah but it was all sanctioned by the government. Q could get into a lot of trouble doing what he did in LTK ;)
  • Posts: 1,092
    Love it. Nice job.
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