The Living Daylights (1987) Review

 "Why didn't you learn the violin?"
-James Bond



James Bond (Timothy Dalton) assists Soviet General Georgi Koskov (Jeroen Krabbé) in his defection.  In return, Koskov tells MI6 that their agents are being targeted for assassination by the head of the KGB, General Pushkin (John Rhys-Davies).  After 004 is killed, Bond is sent to assassinate Pushkin, but Bond quickly starts to suspect Koskov isn't telling the whole truth.


What Works:

The Living Daylights is the first Bond film for Timothy Dalton, who is one of my favorites and the most underrated Bond.  Dalton plays the character the most accurately to the book.  He's dark, cynical, and doesn't seem to enjoy his job very much.  Dalton makes the character his own and does a spectacular job.  It's a breath of fresh air after A View to a Kill.  Dalton isn't entire humorless, but his wit is extraordinarily dry, which works for the character.

The Living Daylights is also the most espionage focused film since probably From Russia with Love.  It's much more grounded and gritty than the last few films and foreshadows the Daniel Craig era.  I love the story with all of the spy games and not really knowing who to trust.

The villains are another high point.  The main duo are Koskov and Brad Whitaker (Joe Don Baker).  I'm a big fan of Jeroen Krabbé in The Fugitive and he gets to be a little more villainous here.  He's a smug son of bitch who thinks he is smarter than everyone else and comes off as truly despicable.  Joe Don Baker doesn't have a ton of screen time, but makes the most of it, to the point where he was brought back as a new character for two more Bond movies.

The best of the villains is the blonde assassin, Necros (Andreas Wisniewski), my favorite of all the blonde assassins in the series.  Necros has a kick-ass introduction where he launches a one-man raid on an MI6 safehouse.  It's a badass sequence and I love seeing Necros use a variety of voices and characters to slip inside.  

Necros also gets an incredible fight sequence as he and Bond dangle from a net being dragged being a plane...in midair.  The fact that they had stunt-guys actually film this is insane.  I don't know if they could get away with filming it like that today, but it looks amazing.

Finally, the snowy car chase is another excellent sequence.  We get to see another classic Bond car in actions, with all sorts of nasty toys.  Even after the car is destroyed, the chase continues using a cello case of all things.  It's unique and very funny.


What Sucks:

I only have minor nitpicks with this movie.  The Bond girl, Kara (Maryam d'Abo), is occasionally annoying and it would have been nice to have Koskov get an onscreen comeuppance instead of an implied execution offscreen.  

General Pushkin's role in the film was originally supposed to be the character of General Gogol (Walter Gotell), who had been in every movie in the series since The Spy Who Loved Me.  Unfortunately, he was in poor health and could not film that significant a role, so the character of Pushkin was created instead.  It's too bad.  Rhys-Davies does a perfectly fine job and I'm not going to hold it against the movie, but it would have had a lot more emotional impact to have Bond faced with killing Gogol.


Verdict:

The Living Daylights is a great return to form for the series,  The tone and story are well done, Timothy Dalton is fantastic, the villains are great, and the action is badass.  Aside from a few nitpicks, this movie has definitely got it going on.

 9/10: Great 


#1. Octopussy

#2. The Spy Who Loved Me

#3. From Russia with Love

#4. Goldfinger

#5. The Living Daylights

#6. Moonraker

#7. On Her Majesty's Secret Service

#8. Live and Let Die

#9. Dr. No

#10. For Your Eyes Only

#11. Thunderball

#12. You Only Live Twice

#13. A View to a Kill

#14. The Man with the Golden Gun

#15. Diamonds Are Forever


   

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