"We have nothing to declare?": Let's discuss... The Living Daylights (1987)/ Poll

Luds

jaguar007 said:

PrinceKamalKhan said:
. I'll admit I was old to enough to see TLD at the cinema in widescreen and it was quite an experience. It's been my favorite later period(1987-present) Bond film ever since. It was 19 long years before another similar experience with CR.

Agreed. Prior to CR, TLD was the last Bond movie I had walked out of feeling satisfied. While I enjoyed LTK and the Brosnan films, they all left me underwhelmed (as did QoS).

Never had the chance myself for a new entry, but fortunately I had the pleasure of seeing some Connery and Moore flicks on the big screen. CR was close and I hope not to go too much longer without the same feeling.

MajorDSmythe said:
I believe (and people are going to disagree with me now) he got Flemings Bond.

Couldn't agree with you more Major.

The_Reaper

All the Bonds films either suffer or thrive b/c of the era in which they were released.

Gaz1961

TLD might seem a bit "flat" and 80s now but back in 87 after years and years of tired old Carry On Roger it was a breath of fresh air and a new lease of life for a tired old series. Dalton remains my favourite ever Bond and TLD gets a 9 from me, surpassed only by LTK which gets a well-earned 10. Yes. Dalton is the man.

SirHenryLeeChaChing

My top ten are all masterpieces to me. The Living Daylights is definitely one of them

The first thing I think about when considering TLD is what a breath of fresh air this movie was for the series. Not that I didn't get two masterpieces out of Sir Roger and greatly respect his contribution towards the longevity of the series, but he was clearly long in the tooth in a physical sense and in a perfect world, I would have preferred he sailed off with Octopussy and had Dalton in one movie earlier. I was longing for a Bond that would make me feel like I did when I was a kid and Connery was the one and only Bond.

One of the things I love the most about TLD is the Cold War feel, which was still as real in 1987 as it was in 1963. It captured that same intensity I first saw in FRWL. From a book standpoint, Dalton really gets the character. It's what he was going for and he definitely nailed it the way Fleming had envisioned him more so than perhaps any other. Watching the movie for the first time (at the now defunct Eric Theater in Concordville, PA) with my father and younger brother, it took me a little while to get used to "the new guy" because he seemed a little stiff in his initial scene with Saunders. By the time he picked up Saunders in Austria I was starting to see that he could pull this off and then some. The whole Koskov kidnap was one of the best post PTS scenes in the series. Another thing I love about the movie is all the twists and turns in the storyline, and that it also wasn't easy to tell who was a good guy and who wasn't in the first viewing. By the time Bond and Kara get to Vienna, Dalton shows he knows how to relax the character and the stiffness has disappeared. What sold me and made Dalton my 2nd favorite Bond (which he remains to this day although Craig is starting to seriously challenge that and we'll see) was his interrogation of Pushkin. The look in his eyes, the way he held the silenced Walther PPK nearly dead still were the mannerisms you would expect in real life. It was just how I thought Bond should be.

The romance between Bond and Kara is totally believable as well and brought along at the right pace. Maryam D'Abo plays Kara just the way she should for the vast majority of the movie. She's a citizen and aside from her career, is generally overwhelmed by the situation she's in, as she should be. She wants to get a better life than she has and thinks Koskov is going to make her dreams come true, but she doesn't count on falling for Bond and it compromises her feelings. Bond is also falling for her as well and it all adds a memorable quality to the film. I don't buy that towards the end she is slugging army guys like a professional agent but that's minor in terms of the overall quality of her performance. She remains one of my favorite leading ladies to this day, and has been a wonderful ambassador for the franchise.

The villains here aren't among the better ones in the series, which is probably why I have the movie at a strong number 6 in my rankings but no more. Necros is a good henchman and underrated in my opinion. Really good job by Wisniewski, who was not known for his acting abilities at that point. Koskov is OK, not really menacing like a good villain or even a general should be. He's gotten soft from living the good life and lost his edge. Jeroen Krabbe showed he could be plenty menacing in "No Mercy" so it's just the way the script was written. Whitaker was weak as the so-called mastermind and money man of the operation. I liked Joe Don Baker better as Jack Wade to tell the truth. The supporting cast does well with what they have to do.

The music is yet another classic Barry score, sans the theme song. The song works well within the movie, but I never cared for a-ha. I love "If There Were A Man" and I never pictured Chrissie Hynde doing such a great vocal. The lyrics mirror Kara's feelings for Bond, and it was a great way for Barry to bow out of the series.

I know I'll always prefer LTK just a little bit more because Dalton improved even more in the role and the villains were awesome, but TLD remains one of my favorites in the series and one I still thoroughly enjoy to the day. On a scale of 1-10, a solid 9 to 9.5 and that's my take on the film.

00Beast

The first time I watched TLD, I was blown away at how much "harder-edged" it was than some of the others I had seen at that point in time. I was literally on the edge of my seat (or couch!) during the epic airbase battle in Afghanistan. The fights with Necros and Brad Whitaker towards the end were really entertaining.

PrinceKamalKhan

00Beast said:
The first time I watched TLD, I was blown away at how much "harder-edged" it was than some of the others I had seen at that point in time.

Indeed. Imagine what a relief this was after AVTAK. QOS took the "hard-edge" too far but in TLD, the mixture is just right. TLD is to 1980s Bond what CR is to 2000s Bond.

00Beast

PrinceKamalKhan said:
Indeed. Imagine what a relief this was after AVTAK. QOS took the "hard-edge" too far but in TLD, the mixture is just right. TLD is to 1980s Bond what CR is to 2000s Bond.

Well stated! Especially when you think about Die Another Day coming before Casino Royale, and how Pierce Brosnan had gotten a bit stale; the story itself wasn't as good as GoldenEye or Tomorrow Never Dies. Casino Royale really saved the Bond series just as The Living Daylights did.

thelordflasheart

I LOVED TLD when it first came out.

I started watching the Bond films on TV when I was 11 or 12 (around 1980/81) and I loved the Connery films and OHMSS. Even at that age I found the Moore films too silly and immature for my tastes so I never watched one all the way through - I'd see maybe half an hour and then switch the channel.

One time my friend and I went to see NSNA but it was sold out; my friend loved Moore so we bought tickets for OP instead. This was the first Moore film I saw in its entirety and I thought it was okay. Not great (or good), not bad, but okay.

I saw Dalton on the cover of GQ when he was cast and thought, hmm, he at least *looks* more like what I think Bond looks like (not looking a hundred years old certainly helped!). I read a couple of interviews with him and really liked what he was saying about Bond and Fleming so I decided to see TLD when it came out.

When I saw it I thought "Wow, Bond is back!" I quite liked the film but Dalton was, for me, what really moved it into "great" territory. There were so many little details that he got right (the comma of hair hanging down, the more muted clothes, the fact that Bond would never wear a double breasted suit because it would inhibit access to his shoulder holster) that the Flaming fan in me was smiling.

Of course, coming right after Moore there was a certain "Oh thank god" factor that doesn't factor in now. So what was really interesting to me was to see the film at my local rep cinema a while ago, the first time I had seen it in maybe 15 years. What would I think of it without the context of being delivered from the Moore era? Imagine my surprise when the audience actually cheered when Dalton first showed his face - I wasn't the only Dalton fan!

So how does it hold up? I still think it's a good Bond film. The cold war plot is good, although a little needlessly complex in my opinion. Necros is a great henchman and the fight scenes (especially the kitchen fight) were great. Kara was really interesting - a bit of a "babe in the woods" character, but exactly the type the Bond would fall for in a book because of his chivalry and his protective instincts kicking in. Dalton still impresses - I wouldn't go so far as calling his performance "theatrical" but it is a heightened. But the great thing is the way that he plays the subtext - you always know what his Bond was thinking even when he doesn't verbalize it. And what great joy to see Bond *actually* thinking!

I feel the need to address the "charm" component of Dalton's performance, which a lot of people criticize. I was surprised in the 80's that the only women who told me they found Dalton attractive were women around mid-thirties and up in age, and a small number of "artsy" girls. I guess I'm not the best judge but I thought him a handsome man and quite charming. I'm surprised at people complaining about his sense of humour and lightness of touch - I though he had a great delivery of lines such as "You don't meet too many normal people in this business, Q" and "Must be an atmospheric anomaly". I guess compared to Moore's "punning clown" performance he might not seem as funny, but that's a good thing IMHO. And his "slow burn" humour was great too, such as putting Kara's cello in the back seat, or informing her that they were still in a Russian Air Force base in the middle of Afghanistan when she exclaims "We're free!".

There were some things that didn't work out as well - I never cared for Robert Brown's M or Bliss's Moneypenny, and the two main villians were quite bland. The film on a whole seemed a little flat and lifeless to me which I blame on the direction. Just shooting something that is romantic and classy (such as Bond and Kara's carriage ride) doesn't make it automatically appear that way on film - lighting, camera angles, etc also come into account. Barry's score is quite good though, and I really liked Hynde's If There Was a Man - in fact, I wished they had used that as the main theme.

Also, we got some great scenes such as Saunder's death, the Gibraltor sequence, Bond interogating Pushkin, etc. Lots of great moments that still really hold up well. TLD doesn't just need the context it was released in to appear good, the film itself does that.

00Beast

Nice thoughts there, thelordflasheart! I definately agree with people underrating Timothy Dalton, especially when it comes to his supposed "lack of humor." Whoever thinks that needs to see the scene in License to Kill when Bond has to room with Q,

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