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Comments
If Dalton do another Bond film, I don't think it would've warmed the people to him still, especially if looking at how the critics viewed him in negative light.
Brosnan managed to brought the great blend of Connery's suave and Moore's sophistication.
If LTK had no Bond going rogue and departing too much from the formula or followed the same pattern as TLD, I think it would've done well, as James Bond already has a name, people back then were just alienated to see Bond gone rogue and brutal, which was a first at the time, just like people getting shocked with Bond getting married and having a dramatic ending in OHMSS.
Insofar as it's all hypothetical, who knows? My suspicion is that's very unlikely though, even if Dalton had returned after the six years. Again, Bond had been around for a while, and a change in direction for Dalton's era would have looked very similar to the GE we got in all likelihood - the story, when it would have come out etc. If framed as Bond's triumphant return I think it could have been successful. As successful as the GE we got? No, not necessarily (although not necessarily not either), and ultimately this would be such a different timeline it's tricky to say where it would have gone from there. But as much as it was a critical time for Bond, and they made the right choices to ensure its success, I don't think Dalton himself would have tanked the franchise (critics were quite harsh on new Bonds anyway at that time, probably because they still had Connery at the back of their mind. Moore had a fair bit of criticism in his early films from them too).
I don't see any reason why they wouldn't have. I think he was good enough an actor, and they seemed to work out how to play to his strengths and depict his Bond.
Oh, I highly doubt a more formulaic film would have done any better, at least in itself. Again, look at Bond's reputation at the time (this was in the midst of the action movie era of the 80s, and it's understandable to see why questions about Bond's relevancy were asked, not dissimilar to how people questioned Bond's relevancy during the stretch of the Craig era where we got MI films and other big franchises supposedly 'outshining' the franchise. And obviously look at where we are now). Look at the films LTK went against that year (honestly, it's kind of an extraordinary situation. Not dissimilar to the films OHMSS went up against in '69 in its own way).
The more revenge driven, brutal take on a Bond adventure was arguably even a way of trying to maximise success at that time. There's definitely a Die Hard/Lethal Weapon element to it, and much like OHMSS there's no reason why a 'different' Bond adventure like that couldn't have worked. I think as is the case with these things it comes down to a number of factors, and only a certain amount has anything to do with the film itself (another reason I've seen cited is that the marketing wasn't as strong for this film as it could have been).
That said, this film made money. It didn't flop. It's certainly not an embarrassment of a film either.
To quote Cubby also "No Bond .movie ever lost money!" Who knows about GE , the money men sounded like they weren't going to bankroll another Bond film with Dalton, I prefer to believe the story Dalton only wanted to come back for One, and Cubby wanted him to do several! I certainly dont believe the series would have ended if he came back, that's just nonsense. Bond always did well in Europe, and I think he could well have carried on! To end, it is satisfying to see him and his two films reappraised , and he was ahead of his time, with Craig was getting lauded for what Dalton was trying to do with the character, make him more human!