My favorite thing about Dalton is definitely his attitude towards how the character should be played. That level of respect for the character and Ian Fleming is so great to see
It's odd because I personally think Sean Connery nailed the part but he admitted in an interview [which is on the Diamonds are Forever DVD] that he only read a couple of the books.
@@sandersson2813 I'm not disagreeing. It's common for characters to have a life of their own in adaptations. The Shadow and Tarzan. I just appreciate it when an player keeps in touch with the sources instead of reinventing a character.
Dalton was the best Bond ever. When I saw it at the cinema when it first came out it was such an antidote to the tired old format of Roger Moore's films. Dalton felt real. He looked handsome but also looked like he could handle himself in a fight. He was the finest actor to have played the role and thus brought an extra sense of gravitas to the part. Licence to Kill for me really cemented his reputation as the ultimate Bond. After him, Brosnan was nothing more than a Bond designed by committee. He was a little of Roger, a little of Sean, he was not his own Bond, just a combo "greatest hits" version. And Craig? Well he gets all the glory as being the tough, no nonsense Bond, but Dalton was one who had it all, the looks, the attitude and the acting chops. All hail Dalton!
I entirely agree that Dalton, was a very much needed reprieve from the way Moore portrayed the role. I was to young to be allowed in the theaters when his films came out, so Pierce Brosnan was my first Bond to be seen in the movie theaters. I like Dalton better in license to kill, but first movies had been tough for all if the actors, casino royale us a bit of the exception, all the other first outings needed more time to grow on me. Dalton was a great Bond, just my personal tie for first place are Connery and Craig.
I'll take Dalton as my idea of Bond over Craig any day. Love his deadpan reply before he drives off. "Sorry old man, section 5, paragraph 4, need to know.... Sure you understand." Love it.
Craig just tries too hard to seem like Bond, but he's too blank, short and Russian henchman-esque, and he's so stiff and awkward. Dalton Bond would say to him, "Why didn't you learn the violin?"
I like Craigs Bond too, for different reasons. He's actually the hard ass, stereotypically hot agent that Brosnan came only so close to but it's Daltons Bond who's the smoothest (after Connery of course) of the modern ones and has the perfect mixture of everything: hard kicking, smoothly charming, funnily witty/wittily funny and stoicly intelligent. He's believabke and imho perfectly represents a normal secret agent who is just that much better and successful than others that he made a legendary reputation for himself.
Why not recycle Golden Eye idea of the other 00 agent as a nemesis for 007? Dalton as retired 00 agent against his old agency, pretty much him following up Licence to Kill, and 007 trying to stop him?
One of the most powerful scenes in my opinion was when Bond revealed to Kara that he was the one sent to kill her during Koskov's fake defection. This might be such a soap opera moment, and it is further weakened by the fact that we knew from the start, and Kara doesn't give much of a reaction to it. But I still love the scene, and especially Dalton's way of presenting it: In a few seconds before he falls unconscious, Bond has to convince Kara that he is actually a good guy, and his proof is the fact that he actually spared her life instead of killing her like he was told to. There is so much to this short dialogue, and his words still get to me every time: "I was... the one they sent to kill you." Not only is this the moment Kara realizes that Koskov has played her for a sucker, but also that the man she fought to be a heartless killer has actually spared her.
I think it does breath new life as Lois Maxwell had outstayed her welcome a bit. If you watch 'the living daylights' premier video on UA-cam, Lois Maxwell hosts and has a very catty interview with Caroline Bliss which is off the scale awkward.
@@skakirask She is the same age as Samantha Bond but I guess they wanted a whole new cast [other than Desmond of course] when they 'soft rebooted' [as we'd call it now] with Brosnan.
I've always preferred the living daylights over licence to kill, I think it strikes the balance better between fun sillyness and dark grittyness. But I still love license to kill.
weak villains in living daylights, but the story is decent, excellent soundtrack, love the cold war feel about it. Licence to kill had better Bond girls, Q moments and better villain
I like how complex the plot is in TLD, for the first time since FRWL it feels like a proper cold war thriller that could have been a hit without the Bond name on it. That said it still feels like a Bond film, and very specifically it feels like a return to the early Connery days where the material is being taken seriously. LtK is a very different thing, probably the least traditionally Bond-y Bond film, at least of the EON series, with a plot that plays out more like a Jean Claude Van Damme movie. But it's boosted by Dalton's committed performance and a stellar villain, which is the one thing TLD lacks. And I like the idea of Bond infiltrating a villain's organisation and winning his trust so he can bring him down from the inside, that feels like a really original way to tell a Bond story. So they both have their plus points but I'd probably favour TLD if pushed.
@@craigcharlesworth1538 I will point out that LTK was inspired by 'Fistful of Dollars'/Yojimbo and other films like 'Raw Deal' [which even features Robert Davi] and the revenge plot is stock as you say. I would also add For Your Eyes only was a Cold War story too. I agree Sanchez is better than the villains here but I'd go for TLD too.
I watched both The Living Daylights and License To Kill recently - first time in 25 years - and The Living Daylights went slightly down in my estimation and License To Kill went way up. But, I still think The Living Daylights is the better film due to the right balance of elements.
You wound me, Calvin, I absolutely adore Kara. 😭🥰 I think it’s nice to get a relatively normal, even naïve, person as the Bond girl. Not every Bond girl needs to kick ass and be “special” somehow. (This coming from a woman who also really likes Tracy and Vesper)
I quite like her for that reason. It also helps we get scenes with her and Bond 'dating' like we do with Vesper and Tracy rather than just have Bond kiss the women at the end with no build up such as Melina in For your eyes only.
I also like how she is just a normal, naïve girl, but still manages to be decisive, and quite helpful as a result. She isn’t a jaded badass, but does hold her own actually really well. Not a dead weight damsel, just innocent.
Kara's utter innocence is her charm. I love how she's the most inconsequential and normal person who just ended up in the middle of a bad situation. It's very much in line with classic spy thrillers.
I understand the kara comments. BUT the mary goodnight comparison is not warranted. She is clumsy like goodnight BUT she isn’t an agent like goodnight is. She should be totally lost and confused. She kinda got roped into this situation and isn’t supposed to be prepared for any situation remotely close to this. Shes a CELLIST.
It's important to remember that the Mujahedin was not a monolith, and wasn't the Taliban under a different name either. The Taliban only emerged in 1992, four years after the Russians left. At this time a four year civil war between differing factions of the former Mujahedin started, which the Taliban won with the help of Pakistani intelligence. Other factions of the former Mujahedin remained opposed to the Taliban and allied with the west.
The sad fate of Kamran Shah is that an Oxford educated fluent English speaker who allied with a British spy and actually met the Head of British Intelligence and the ex-head of the KGB was probably killed by the Taliban after the came to power
@@jonathancampbell5231 Shah was likely a fictionalized version of Ahmad Shah Massoud, "the Lion of Panjshir" who was the best known resistance leader by the west at the time. Although he wasn't "educated at Oxford" he was a relative moderate and later was a leader of the Northern Alliance against the Taliban. He was indeed assassinated by a suicide bomber shortly before 911.
Great point. I am frequently annoyed by the narrative that the CIA aided the Taliban and then got their just desserts with 9/11. It was much more complicated than that and letting the USSR take Afghanistan would have been far worse. The failure in Afghanistan directly contributed to the fall of the USSR. The film accurately portrays the romanticized view of the Mujahedin that the western media was pushing at the time, but it also acknowledged that Afghanistan was a big part of the drug trade.
Dalton is certainly the closest to Fleming's Bond and probably my favourite to portray 007. Both his Bond films are excellent. I always liked Licence To Kill the best out of the two for years, but it's swung to The Living Daylights in the past year. It perfectly encapsulates the Bond formula. He comes across as a legit badass, but has a level of charm and suave I think was missing from Craig's Bond.
Dalton also has a sense of imagination, maturity and intelligence also sorely missing from Craig’s Bond, whose recklessness is far removed from what James Bond - cinematic or Fleming’s - is about.
@@jonathanfurzeland4740 I wish he had too, he'd have fit perfectly in Goldeneye. No, Craig unfortunately didn't work for me either. He did angry, brooding and vengeful well enough, but that's all he bloody did.
While I do have my problems with this film, I have an easy time looking past them because I just love Dalton’s performance. 60% of why I love this film is simply watching Dalton play James Bond (with 25% to all the cool action scenes, 10% John Barry’s score and 5% everything else). Kara is an OK character - I used to find her annoying, over the years I’ve come to appreciate her as a good example of ‘normal person thrown into a world they have no experience of’ - she’s not used to the world of spies and espionage, of course she’d have difficulty flying a plane. Not the best Bond lady, but she’s fine. My main problem with this film is the stakes are never raised particularly high. Coming off of previous films where death and destruction on a large scale were the stakes with potential nuclear weapons going off, here the villain’s plot simply being to sell drugs feels a bit limp. I mean, yeah heroin’s bad, but it doesn’t feel as catastrophic as whole cities being obliterated. Especially since there’s a line where they say the drugs are going to New York - well, that’s all unwell and bad for New York, but I as a viewer don’t care because New York and its drug problems are not a thing in this film. Maybe if Bond had gone to New York during his adventure and seen first-hand the damage heroin does, maybe it would have helped raise the stakes, but as is, it feels completely unrelated to the plot. Simply changing it from New York to London could’ve helped because then at least it’s personal to Bond. I think that’s why the Afghanistan bits are where the plot drags because it fails to live up to audience expectations: we’ve been lead to believe there’s a sinister conspiracy at work, Spiert Spionam killing spies, what could it all be leading up to? And it all turns out to be two men selling drugs to finance an arms deal. It just feels a bit “oh, that’s it?” Yes, drug addiction and war are problems, but they weren’t problems caused by the villains - contrast with Max Zorin destroying Silicon Valley which was a problem entirely down to his doings (or at least it would’ve been if he hadn’t been foiled). I think tying in with this is the problem that neither villain is particularly megalomaniacal - OK, they want to make the villains more human than typical Bond fare, but they never feel particularly threatening. I think if they had made Koskov the head villain and had Whittaker be a Ouromov style deputy-head (or heck, just have him be a henchman) it would’ve worked better. I like Jeroen Krabbé and appreciate the amount of character he was able to give Koskov, but I think the character’s missing that villainous air that would’ve given the scheme some bite, probably because he’s having to share it with Joe Don *Mitchell!* Baker who never really goes anywhere with his character. And yes, the plot is rather convoluted and requires two or three viewings to fully understand, which is never a good thing for popcorn action films. But, yes, as I said, I can overlook those problems because it’s a fun action film with a strong central performance from an actor who really gives a sh*t. As you said, it’s fun without being silly, which is exactly where I like my Bond films (well, I don’t mind a little darkness - I love Licence to Kill after all).
I quite like how Cara is just a normal, naïve girl, but still manages to be decisive, and quite helpful as a result. She isn’t a jaded badass, but does hold her own rather well by the end. Not a dead weight damsel, just… well… innocent.
@30:05 I always loved this shot of Dalton with the classic gun barrel homage here, seeing bond point his gun directly at the camera with the spotlight on him.
And don’t forget strawberry jam in the boot good God, those are great and salt corrosion and we have nothing to declare except a cello always cracks me up and don’t forget the wolf whistle
Fun fact: The actor that plays Necros, Andreas Wisniewski, also portrays the first henchman that John McClane kills in Die Hard, meaning this guy probably holds the record for most henchman roles in Christmas-themed action movies.
I absolutely love how you actually slowed down the part where Dalton squeeze the life out of that balloon and we get a really good look at his facial expression. I always liked that bit, because he truly looks angry and quite dangerous!
Much like You Only Live Twice and Octopussy, this is a film that only gets better with time. Dalton was so good and he's definitely one of my favorite actors to helm the role.
It's funny. I remember in childhood enjoying the movie but being confused by the plot--for instance, failing to remember that the Afghanistan sequence and the Czechoslovakia car chase were from the same film. The benefit of escapist entertainment is that you don't have to understand it to be entertained. But as an adult, I respect the attempt to inject a certain realism into the script, re the complexity of the villains' plot. Neither as a child or an adult, I never considered The Living Daylights a Top 5 Bond film. But I do think it is one of the better Bond films, and is the superior Dalton film.
For my money, The Living Daylights and Goldeneye are the two films that nail the tone best. Serious, but not overly dark, and with just the right amount of humor.
Look at Koskov's face after Pushkin says "in a diplomatic bag" - Koskov knows that means he's dead! Now you could say he somehow escaped his guards outside the building before they could execute him and maybe that would have provided possibility for a 3rd Dalton script bringing him back BUT as that 3rd Dalton script never happened and he didn't return in any of the Brosnan films either it should be taken as read that he didn't escape.
I love The Living Daylights it was the film that got me seriously into James Bond especially the Fleming novels. When i read a Bond novel its Timothy Dalton i see as Bond. Just a shame Dalton did not go on to do more movies.
If anything, the third act does feel like a classic western to me; something that feels strangely fitting for a bond movie, and rather surprising that this is the only one of the movies to actually do something like that. I get your criticisms, i really do, but i believe that if one were to view this movie as part cold-war spy thriller, part spaghetti western; it actually works quite well :)
I am glad that we live in a more enlightened age, where people appear to appreciate Dalton's Bond more than in previous years. Great review, certainly your funniest yet.
I have to say I was surprised how invested I was in whether Calvin’s Bond fan card would be revoked. Every time he said something mildly negative I was fearful. And that ending 😂
Just to clarify a common misconception, the Mujahideen was NOT just an early version of the Taliban. In fact, the Northern Alliance, the group that allied with the US against the Taliban, were ALSO Mujahideen. The Northern Alliance was also the remnants of the government that took over after the Mujahideen beat the Soviets, only to get overthrown in turn by the Taliban. So it's a bit more complicated than just "we were friends with them in the 80's and now we're enemies."
Maybe. But in that part of the world, they change sides to the leader who they think has a better chance of victory, who has the most money and the 'What's in it for me' is never far from their thoughts.
I agree. While it's undoubable that certain elements of the Mujahideen morphed into the Taliban it's not entirely black and white, especially in 20th century International politics. Onr of the reasons it's so fascinating really.
The first Bond film I ever watched and for me, it’s still the best. The pacing, the score, the locations, the riveting action sequences and Dalton’s intense gritty performance brought Bond back to reality. You couldn’t have asked for a better debut tbh.
The Living Daylights was my introduction to Bond as a young man - primarily because my older sister was really into it... she loved Timothy Dalton, loved Andreas Wisniewski (she had some German friends at the time, so I think she was really digging German culture in general), we knew John Rhys Davies from the Indiana Jones movies, and... y'know, for some reason, I never had any problem with the complexity of the plot. I think as a kid, I just followed it all as it happened, and because of that is maybe why the naivete of Kara didn't bother me so much... she's not a spy, she's not world-weary... she's a cello player. She doesn't really get to anticipate or deduce anything... she follows the notes that are handed to her. As an adult, I can totally understand how that becomes annoying to some, so I don't think you're wrong to feel as you do about her. I guess Maryam D'Abo's performance - plus a bit of my own nostalgia - allows me to just enjoy it. As well, I never once saw Whitaker as the main villain. It always seemed clear to me that Koskov was the brains behind the whole scheme; Whitaker was only in it for the money to sell his arms, but he wasn't Kamal Khan... yes, Koskov and Orlov have essentially the same motives, but there was something nefarious about Khan's duplicity with manipulating Octopussy and her crew (cult?), murdering other agents, etc. HE was the brains behind that plot, while Koskov is the brains behind this one. And yes, it might've been nice to see him and Bond have a showdown, but he came for Koskov and Whitaker stood in the way... if anything, Whitaker is an over-glorified henchman at that point, one that Bond takes down. And sure, Koskov then leaves the movie alive (probably will be tried, convicted, probably either executed or at least sentenced to Siberia... or something like that)... but that also has a bit of the realistic vibe that I think Dalton wanted. The Cold War was starting to wind down a bit, and I think having the villains be a Russian general plotting for military superiority in Afghanistan and an American arms dealer I think placed emphasis more on the idea that it was not a blue vs. red, us vs. them issue. As well, I think this movie DOES suffer a bit, as you say, from being a hangover from the Moore era... the balance between Dalton's need for a darker, grittier realism undoubtedly informed his performance, but I think it reflects in Koskov still being alive at the end. Sure, there could've been a showdown between him and Bond, but... I get an intense amount of satisfaction in hearing Pushkin say, "in a diplomatic bag." It never ceases to put a smile on my face. And I will say, despite your misgivings about this movie, I enjoyed your review and really appreciate that you could look at its finer points and still enjoy it on some level. I do think the humor that we are given works - it's got a tiny bit of the Moore tone, but I think Dalton plays it well... his performance in this always struck me as his balance of his view of Bond and an awareness of the needs of the producers and the audience to not be too dark. I love Dalton's duology, but I do often feel like there MIGHT have been a better transition between The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill if there had been a movie in between... not a third one to follow LtK, but one between TLD and LtK... alas, that was never to be. Oh well...
This has a special place in my heart as it was the first James Bond movie I went to see at the cinema when it was first release. It was my 14th birthday and my late father took me and my brother to see it at the Odeon in Coventry.I remember wondering how the new Bond would be as up to that point. Roger Moore was ‘my’ Bond. My trepidation had been quenched by the end of the pre-credit Gibraltar sequence, I knew we were going to get a more serious Bond and Timothy was WAAAAY ahead of his time and I love this movie mainly because of the memories attached to it. RIP dad and thank you. Xx
32:54 I think it’s a callback to Thunderball, since the nuclear bombs in that film have “Handle Like Eggs” printed on them as well. Or maybe it’s just a common saying and the reoccurrence is coincidence. I don’t know - the only thing I handle like eggs are eggs. Never have I had the inclination to make a human heart & nuclear bomb omelette.
Since Dalton took over the role in the late 80s when AIDS awareness was at it's height, he became the "safe sex" Bond. One woman in this film (well 2 with the lady on the boat at the beginning) and just 2 in the next film. I think Moore went through about 5 or 6 per film.
Yes it's interesting to see how these things evolve; following Dalton's, Brosnan's era was probably the most pronounced one when it comes to sex and seduction. Craig's in this regard has been all over the place: I completely buy him as a womanizer who finds the one he would settle with in CR as his chemistry with Eva Green is second to none, but I've never bought into him sleeping with Gemma Arterton in QoS. In SF on the other hand I'm ok with the tête-à-tête he has with Moneypenny and then Severine in Macau, but then again his "waste of a good scotch" sounds false...
The number of women doesn't matter than much as long as he used protection. Maybe he's such a manly man that he refuses to and they let him. If so, there must be nurseries full of baby Bonds.
@@rafachrzaszcz6997 I'm not score keeping. I seem to remember 4 ladies in Moonraker. But the idea is the tone, Moore is having causal sex without consequences while Dalton is far more romantic and committed. Moore meets a Brazilian agent in Moonraker and after a 2 minute conversation after just meeting her starts undoing her dress. Can't imagine Bond doing that today.
@@taker68 we have to understand the 70s reality. Those times Moore had some status of a living legend - just like Elvis in 1950s. People just wanted to watch him and the ladies - to fall in love with him. I know that life doesn't look like that, I've had many love failures, and maybe that's why especially men like to watch Bond - to see the things they can't achieve themself.
I like that Bond isn’t central in the Kitchen fight and the airfield fight. Its sort of like when you play a video game and you’re supposed to have AI allies. Its annoying when its all up to you and your allies never show up. Bond was never supposed to be Commando like Rambo. He’s a secret agent, but not a one man show. It makes him more realistic.
And what an exciting Christmas present. TLD is a top 5 Bond film for me as it just strikes the right balance between hardboiled spy story and Bond film theatrics for my taste. I have a great time with your videos even when we rate the films differently, and I've been looking forward to this one for months. Certainly didn't disappoint. Hope you had a very happy Christmas, Calvin!
Crummy villains aside, this one is kind of the perfect Bond film for me - a nice mix of Fleming influence and silly John Glen/Cubby humor, exciting and beautifully crafted action scenes courtesy of Arthur Wooster and the stunt crew, a delightful cast of secondary characters, a good Barry score, and a breezy pace generally. Dalton rules too, and he fits like a glove with the jaded late Cold War setting.
Love the review! The Living Daylights is actually in my top 10 favorite Bond films list, but I completely understand the criticisms you have. The Afghanistan part is my least favorite part of the film and I think Kara can be annoying at times, but I still really like her character. I really have no idea why I like the film so much lol. I put it in the same category as Octopussy where it's a film that I can just pop on and watch on a Sunday afternoon. I was waiting so long for this review and I'm so glad I finally got to watch it. I can't wait to see what you have in store for us in 2022. Have a very Merry Christmas, Calvin!
Aside from the review itself, the quality of editing from Calvin has certainly increased. Can only imagine the amount of time this took. Well done that man!
The Living Daylights has always been one of my favorite Bond films and is easily my favorite one from the '80s. I enjoy how it's a return to form and has a very From Russia With Love plot while still utilizing source material from the Living Daylights short story as well as atmosphere. It's the last Bond film to deal with the Cold War; at the end of the movie Bond and the Soviets represented by General Pushkin have become allies and Kara is allowed to travel between East and West with ease. I always appreciated that (unless I'm mistaken) it's the only time that James Bond goes to a real life war zone when him and Kara get taken to Soviet occupied Afghanistan. Now obviously the movie was filmed in Morocco but it's still cool the producers decided to set it in Afghanistan during the on going Soviet war there. I also liked the attack on the Bladon safe house, always cool when some of the action takes place back in England. And what can you say about Timothy Dalton that hasn't already been said? The guy walked so Daniel Craig could run. He really brought some of that Fleming style back to the character that we hadn't had in a long time. I really like the supporting cast in this movie too. While General Koskov is a bit forgettable, Brad Whitaker is such different Bond villain than we're used to; his battle dioramas are truly awesome it has to be said haha. And Necros is easily the best Red Grant-esqe henchmen since FRWL. General Pushkin is a great potential enemy turned ally. I even like John Terry as Felix Leiter though I may be biased since he's played by John Terry who played Captain Lockhart in Full Metal Jacket the same year and that's one of my favorite movies of all time. Since both movies were shot at Pinewood, I guarantee he was filming both his scenes at the same time. Another Bond ally in the film I liked was Art Malik as Kamran Shah, he was very likable and gave a human face to the Mujahadeen. Problem is as you said, the Afghanistan scenes are when the plot gets really convoluted and it's unclear why certain characters are doing what they're doing; it makes no sense for even Koskov to be selling arms for opium to the Snow Leopard militia even if he is just an opportunist. Then there's Kara who seems to get a lot of criticism for not being a great Bond girl but I think she's totally acceptable. She's way more independent and pro active than Stacy Sutton who by the end of A View To A Kill becomes Olive Oil from Popeye. And M, Q, and Moneypenny were all good in the movie especially Caroline Bliss being a worthy replacement to Lois Maxwell but didn't get a chance to show off her talents as much. As far as gadgets go this movie is one of the best for them. They all feel practical and realistic especially the explosive keychain. The Winterized Aston Martin Volante is just awesome and IMO is the best car in the series after the Goldfinger DB5. Great review!
Brilliant review as always! These long in depth reviews that you do on each film in the series are almost the gold standard at this point - and are really just about the definitive reviews on them available anywhere. But this time around, the little fun skits that you produce which always accompany them, have risen to another level! Not only are they always hilarious( especially loved the Bond police and the intelligence community laughing stock bits!!) but I see that they require alot of work - acting,props, costumes and some heavy editing. The fact that you do all this extra stuff just to entertain all of us here in the Bond Community is just great and I think I speak for all of us when I tell you it's really appreciated by us - it is a big part of everything you do! I love this film! It's my favorite film of the Dalton Era and I am happy that he is finally getting some recognition for how much he influenced both Brosnan and especially Craig's tenure as James Bond. He was clearly ahead of his time with his serious approach and audiences of the time were definitely not ready for it - so it's great that these days his important contribution to the series is finally getting recognition from the fans! Awesome job as always! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Calvin - thanks for entertaining us all year long!!
The Living Daylights is so underrated. It's a great Bond film with fantastic music, stunt work and action sequences. Yes the villains are a bit weak and the story does feel like it's two scripts mashed together but it's still good fun and Dalton is amazing as James Bond.
The living daylights was the last already released Bond film I ever saw when them Bond marathons started on ITV. It’s one of the films I could randomly watch on its own outside of a Bond film marathon, I do genuinely love it that much. I’d be lying if didn’t agree that the villains in the film are a bit of weakness. Plus there are a couple of technically better films in the series. For Calvin’s comments comparing Kara to Goodnight. It’s a comparison I’ve never really considered before. But I find Kara to be much more central to the plot that Goodnight ever was in TMWTGG, so I struggle to really dislike Kara at all
This was a really fun review! Have to say it! "The Living Daylights" is one of my absolute favorite Bond movies and I watch them all. I love the whole series. Kara is one of my two favorite Bond girls (Vesper is the other one) and there are a lot of really great Bond girls. Great chemistry between her and Bond and I like that there is a normal feel to her. I don't think think they have to be larger than life always. She's just someone who got caught up in something totally different than her usual life. Timothy Dalton had a fabulous debut in the role and I'm saying this as a big Sir Roger Moore fan. He played the role closer to what Ian Flemming had in mind for the character from everything I've heard. Your videos are great and I really enjoy them.
Calvin! Kara Milovy IS a great Bond girl!!! My favorites are: Domino Derval, Aki, Anya Amasova, Octopussy, Stacey Sutton, Kara Milovy, Natalya Simonova. *** "The Living Daylights"(1987) was an absolute climax of the franchise! They made the best Bond movie ever!!!
I like the Dalton films but it’s a shame they came at a - frankly - tired point in the franchise’s history. I think maybe if Dalton had been able to take the reins in from A View to a Kill (sorry Roger - he’s my favourite too but Octopussy was a better send-off) audiences might have warmed & gotten more on-board with him. Three or four Dalton films would have been great before the rebirth with GoldenEye in my opinion.
I think it would have been a good opportunity to switch directors as well. As competent a craftsman as Glen was his style was getting stale towards the late 80's, certainly compared to contemporary action films. The leap forward in Goldeneye 8 years later was astronomical.
I think Dalton suffered from having followed Moore after only a 2 year gap. Both Brosnan [6 years] and Craig [4] had a good gap between there predecessors so fans were eagar for a new film.
“Stuff my orders. I only kill professionals… Go ahead tell M what you want. If he fires me, then I’ll thank him for it” Ladies and Gentlemen meet James Bond, the character that Fleming created. A conflicted and existentialistic professional assassin who in one part takes pride in his job and his theories. The hotel scene between Bond and Pushkin is one such example, the way Dalton handles his weapon and the way he grabs and strips Pushkin’s shows the distain he has. But when he meets Kara, the man shows just how much he loathes his job. I for one bought the relationship between Bond and Kara, he clearly has feelings for Kara, and he at times revels in this woman’s naivety and innocence, so much so that he is pained at shattering her illusion at Koskov and at what he represents. This gritty and humane take on the character is pure phenomenal, as exemplified in Saunders’ death scene. Bond is clearly pained and hurt over the death and he wants vengeance. Dalton is phenomenal and IMO the best Bond to date.
Basically this! The scene where Saunders is killed, I could write 10 pages on why that scene is the best anyone has ever played Bond. Phenomenal stuff!
I saw this at the cinema when it came out, I was only 10, I remember the ghetto blaster line was so funny back then, it got everyone laughing. Dalton did seem to re-energise the bond fans, we were all really excited to see a new more serious bond.
Having gone through the whole of the Bond series earlier in the year with my GF, who'd only ever seen one or two, getting to Dalton felt like a big moment. I remember his films from when I was a child in the late 80s. He always seemed "offish," cold and clinical to my very young mind, and having gone from Connery through Lazenby and Moore, getting to Dalton felt like a grand tonal shift. When we got to The Living Daylights, I'd just finished the Casino Royale novel, and if Dalton isn't the most accurate portrayal of what Fleming wrote then I don't know what is. TLD is in my top 5. I understand its issues, particularly late on and with some of its antagonists, but that opening act and Dalton just nail it. The V8 chase scene is sublime, Bratislava (which I visited in 2017) looks lovely, and Saunders' turnaround and tragedy is a great little arc. I often wonder what a Dalton Goldeneye would be like, in much the same way I wonder how Casino Royale would have been with Brosnan. I'm more than happy we has Brosnan and Craig in both both, but there's always the "what if?" looming.
Love this movie and dalton really was Fleming’s bond. The sniper scene and interrogation scene of Pushkin is just the best in the whole series, Bond is doing real spy-work in this one, a true cold war thriller, i think Dalton plays bond perfect in this one, he’s intense and tough, elegant and smart and he did alot of he’s own stunts and studied the character more then any other bond actor, he nailed it, all the way down to little details, like subtly not liking the coffee in the fair scene, Bond in the books doesnt like coffee. He really deserved a third movie and i always imagine Dalton in for your eyes only, it would have been a perfect trilogy of the dalton era in my view.
I think Tim Dalton is the most plausible Bond. He looks like he could have been a Commander in the RN. Let's hope Henry Cavill is the next one. He reminds me of Dalton, my favourite.
I can't help but wonder if Pierce Brosnan became Bond here and went throughout until Die Another Day. With Joe Don Baker playing Whitaker in this film and later CIA Agent Jack Wade in Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies. I wonder how things would've been handled because I can't imagine anyone else playing Jack Wade than Baker. Great review, by the way Calvin. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but I do have a soft spot for this film and Dalton's duo era as its pretty much the darker part of Bond with License to Kill and Living Daylights was a stepping stone to that long before Craig's Era would delve into it.
There would have still been a gap between 1989 and 1995 as that was mostly due to outside issues and maybe there would have still been a been a change in actor for the 'relaunch' but like many Bond sliding doors moments we'll never know.
I was really looking forward to watching this review, since Living Daylights is my all-time favourite Bond movie. As such, I must say: Great review! You didn't thrash the movie as much as I feared, and even your criticism is totally valid. I myself am not a huge fan of Kara as a Bond girl, and I do feel that after a whole number of Bond girls actually contributing something to the plot and becoming a valuable asset to Bond himself (even Stacy whose expertise at one point made Bond understand the whole plan of Max Zorin better in "View to a Kill"), we finally got back to the "villain's girlfriend" trope that had already been passé the last time we saw that in "The Man with the Golden Gun". Even though David claimed in your discussion about "Living Daylights" that Kara had somewhat of a character arc, I really don't see it. I have thought a lot about why I like this movie best of the entire series, although objectively I think that three of the others are better, including "License to Kill". But subjectively I came to the conclusion that it just combined all the right elements for me: Dalton is my favourite Bond. He is the most believable, most human and most intense Bond version on the screen; he really conveys the aspects of a dark, cold secret agent (something that Roger Moore only occasionally and involuntarily showed, like in killing Loque during "For Your Eyes Only"). He brought the thriller aspect back to the series, even thoguh John Glen had already shifted the tone of the series during the Moore era. The death of Saunders was brutal and shocking. Also: It was a spy plot worthy of a James Bond novel, unlike "License to Kill" which would become a revenge story like a lot of 80s action movies (like Steven Seagal could have played the part). The action scenes were great, I especially liked the big battle in Afghanistan (to this day the last large battle scene in the entire series). And the music was superb. The nostalgia factor plays into it as well, but overall I still like this movie best of them all, and I frequently rewatch it and have fun with it. It has its flaws, but this actually gives the movie some character and makes it even more enjoyable for me.
@@calvindyson My pleasure! I am a huge fan of your in-depth reviews and watch them frequently, and since you started to really take those movies apart (in a good sense) I had been eagerly waiting for this one.
I've always believed that Timothy and his films have been seriously underrated - he wanted to return to the original gritty of Ians books (in which Bond was a genuine basket case; messed-up background, drank and smoked far too much, almost a psycho etc.). I'd actually forgotten that scene with 007s "FFS" in the cockpit - BRILLIANT! Plus Saunders was pretty good - started off as a typical spineless civil-servanty pedantic jobsworth but grew into his (characters) boots (before being chopped out of them). Excellent review, full marks. Thank you. [My favourite Bond - Brosnan, favourite film - Life and Let Die].
Pushkin's mistress is played by Virginia Hey who was memorable as the bad-ass statuesque "Warrior Woman" in Mad Max2: The Road Warrior. She was the one hit by arrows on top of the truck in the end chase.
A Living Daylights Review for Christmas? Hey Santa, where we going? I swear, it’s started snowing. Set my hopes up way too high, The living’s in the gifts we buy. Comes the morning and the reindeer fly away, Hundred thousand presents, mine’s a photo frame. I’ve been waiting now for one of us to say, Mix some eggnog, let us piss the day away. Oh, The Christmas Daylights!
I think Dalton's debut Bond film(TLD) was very strong/great! Actually, the same story with Brosnan(GE)! All the others actors had a weaker debut... By the way, I really like Maryam d'Abo! Kara Milovy was maybe not the sexiest and smartest, but definitely the cutest and most important Bond girl! At least for me...
Dalton, for me. Started the trend where the debut film for a new Bond is my personal favourite from that actor ( with Goldeneye and CR being my favourites from Brosnan and Craig respectively) I live the living daylights, and the pre title sequence has, for me one of the best Bond reveals in the series (second only to Dr No)
TLD is so close to a perfect Bond film. You right the plot is too complex. Imagine the drug plot gone and insted Koskov wanted Puskin dead so he could take over the KGB. Simple plot but still makes a great film.
For me, the best Bond films are those that embody the elements of both the cinematic and the literary facets of Fleming's creation. Goldeneye, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, From Russia with Love, and Living Daylights are the films that do the best job at that.
Calvin - “Handle Like Eggs” also appears on one of the atomic bombs in “Thunderball.” (In the underwater scene when the Spectre divers are retrieving the bombs from Vulcan.)
Great review as always! This was the first Bond film I saw in the cinema - on my 10th birthday - so it holds quite a special and momentous place in my heart! I remember the intensity of Dalton’s performance even then. The score and music is some of the best of the whole series, particularly the end credits song by The Pretenders. But oh, the Aston Martin! I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it and it still looks amazing today, and was chuffed to bits it made an appearance in No Time to Die.
I had a lot of free time during the pandemic (as I assume most have), so I ended up watching every Bond movie several times and ranking them. One of the things that surprised me was that Dalton ended up being my favourite Bond (based on the average ranking of his movies).
One of my favorites! I'm glad to see it getting more attention within the Bond community these days. Dalton was fantastic and I'm glad he's getting the recognition for his time as Bond now that he didn't back in the 80s. Hope you had a merry Christmas, Calvin!
I love how you always respect other people’s opinions, Calvin. Don’t worry, I also prefer Licence to Kill over The Living Daylights. By the way, me and my dad recently rewatched Never Say Never Again and I enjoyed it up until the ending. The ending battle is so boring, and makes absolutely no sense. Me and my dad were questioning everything, like how Bond and Leiter got those jet pack things that they use to fly out of the water, how the American crew knew exactly where to pick Bond up, how Bond managed to find Largo and the bomb, and how everyone knew where to find them. Thank you so much for this review, I’ve been looking forward to it for ages and it’s great and funny as always. It’s my extra Christmas present. It really warms my heart to see how passionate you are about this. Hope you had a really great Christmas and that you and your family and loved ones are well! Xxxxx
Have to agree about the sniper sequence - one of my favorites in the whole series, and so good to see some actual 'craft' from Bond. Dalts plays it perfectly.
I don’t really agree that Whittaker is the main villain in the piece. It’s clearly Koskov, because he’s the one orchestrating the entire scheme to kill his rival, Pushkin, and cover up his arms dealing. Whittaker is just a guy Koskov is using to sell his stolen guns.
The Living Daylights(1987) had a great team of actors: Timothy Dalton, John Rhys-Davies(What a performance! Great as Dalton!), Jeroen Krabbe, Joe Don Baker, Robert Brown, Geoffrey Keen, Walter Gotell(What a nice man!)... In addition the best story, best pre-credit sequence, best score, one of best title songs(A View To A Kill was better), best locations, best stunts and special effects... I think 1965 & 1977 & 1987 & 1995 were the greatest Bond fims EVER!!!
This is my #1 bond film. Definitely for nostalgia but also I feel it's very underrated as it checks all the boxes of what Bond adventures are. Your review was excellent and I loved all the skits sprinkled in, can't wait for more!
Great late Christmas video. I love the living daylights, but acknowledge its faults. And I definitely used to be a member of the Bond fan police. I’m glad I’m out of it now, but Dalton is still my favourite Bond. Merry Christmas Calvin.
Dalton's Bond movies are my favorite Bond movies, of them all. He has class and can be hard as nails when dispencing of the bad guys, the vibe of the movies, specially for those days. Right after Moore's stent, i get that the grittier approach wasn't appreciated by fans, but screw them, those two movies are killer. Bond is not a clown, he's a spy but glad to see, that every actor has movies that are great watches, but, rather read the book of OHMSS, then watch the movie.
When I was very young Timothy Dalton was my favourite Bond, but for a really dumb reason. TNT (I think) would show Bond marathons and since, at the time, they didn’t have the rights to the Brosnan movies Dalton’s films were the newest ones I was able to see. In my 8/9 year old mind newest = best = favourite. Now that I’m in my 30s he’s still my favourite Bond, but now it’s because of his absolutely phenomenal portrayal of the character.
13:26 As well has having Bond involved, the 'Ministry of Defense' should have been killed by Necros when Koskov is 'captured'. Not only would this have a big impact-given he's appeared in the 5 previous films, but having a government minister killed would give M even more motive to send Bond to kill Pushkin later.
I never considered this but that's a briliant idea :0 if the filmmakers had been in the same frame of mind as two years later when they made LTK, it might well have been reality!
I really enjoy the Timothy Dalton movies and greatly appreciate his love and respect for the genuine portrayal of 007. I only wish he was able to make that 3rd film which would have released around 1991 or 92ish. I must say when anyone mentions Sam Neill I always wish I could experience a parallel universe for a day where he played James Bond from 1987 to 1992 for 3 films.
Saunders' death marks the culmination of a number of references to 'The third man', also set in Vienna: besides the repeated line 'Balloon, mein Herr?', there's a key scene set on the Ferris wheel at the Prater (the amusement park you mention). The connection? Beyond two Ms in the cast - a delightful Bernard Lee and, more briefly, Robert Brown - a certain Guy Hamilton was assistant director, on top of which John Glen worked in the sound department. You can't blame him for wanting to pay tribute to an earlier classic.
The Living Daylights is definitely my go to Bond Film when I’m in the mood to watch one at random. There’s just something about it that keeps me coming back over and over.
_TLD_ is #2 in my Bond ranking. Not just a great franchise entry but one of the best Action films of the 1980s. A proper Cold War thriller with a smart & witty script, Dalton is on point, D'Abo is adorable, Barry goes out on top with a majestic score, _Die Hard -_ level Action, & a surprising feel good ending. I love _TLD_ so much.
I would classify Kara alongside Tatiana Romanova rather than with Mary Goodnight. The essential difference is that Britt Ekland plays Mary so broadly that she might as well be in a Carry On film, whereas Maryam d'Abo treats Kara as a real person who's completely out of her element, much as Daniela Bianchi did in FRWL. (Mary really should've been more similar to Tatiana: they're both government agents with a desk job who are being thrust into a dangerous mission, essentially like making Moneypenny into a Bond girl.) While it's easy for me to explain why I prefer Kara over Mary Goodnight or Tiffany "Why Am I Suddenly a Buffoon in the Third Act" Case, I admit that it's harder to argue for Kara's advantage over Stacey Sutton. I want to say that it's a matter of Maryam giving a better performance than Tanya Roberts did, but I'm convinced that it's more a case of one actress having far better chemistry with the actor playing Bond than the other did. Poor Roger Moore just felt like an affectionate grandfather while looking after Stacey, whereas Timothy Dalton played up the conflicted romantic feelings so well that any problems with Kara's characterization felt negligible.
Calvin, that was fantastic, thank you! I don't remember enjoying a new video over Christmas this much since the Only Fools and Horses special, To Hull And Back. And that was a *long* time ago... All the best to you for '22, thanks for all the great videos this year.
Great review Calvin and a welcome and fun watch for this sleepy, carb-fuelled Christmas period! TLD is a film that ages like fine wine for me. Each time I marathon the series, this one seems to rise higher in my list and has now sneaked into my top 10. Dalton plays the part like he's been ready for it for years - it's sad that he only got two. He is so utterly convincing and his commitment to getting the role right cannot be doubted. I'm in the camp that would happily sacrifice A View To A Kill for one more Dalton, which also gives Moore a better finale in Octopussy.
You continue to take your content to greater heights Calvin, this is your best and most entertaining review yet. Hope you have a nice rest of the holidays and cheers to even more success for your channel in 2022!
Timothy Dalton is a great actor. I think his Bond movies are a little pidgeonholed on the 80s but overall he's James Bond. He's a little less pronounced on the comic relief moments but in the dramatic moments he's nails. Maybe I'm in the minority, but in the dramatic moments is where Bond films really shine.
Great way to spend boxing day calvin, been looking forward to this for months and the review did not disapoint. I love this film but its great to see a different perspective. Keep up the good work and I look forward to licence to kill.
Great review and video, very funny Calvin🤣. It is one of my favorites, but I understand the issues. For quality action scenes, Dalton and direction it'll always get my vote.
I've since had the opportunity to finally watch this film, and I gotta say, it's instantly become my favourite, and Dalton blows it out of the water here. The Living Daylights seems to do everything right (save for Bond's and Saunders's horrible notch lapel tuxedos), and Koskov is a refreshingly down-to-earth villain: he doesn't want nuclear war, a new human race, forced disarmament or to hold the world ransom, he just wants to embezzle. It gets a little contrived at the end (Koskov's temporary survival and constructing a reason for the Mujahideen to be involved in trading opium with their Soviet enemies), but until that point, it's a clear winner for me, and Dalton a welcome breath of fresh air compared to Moore (admittedly my least favourite Bond). I'd consider Koskov the main villain here, Whittaker really is his Kamal Khan, and like Khan, Whitaker has the final battle without being the primary villain (as Orlov is offed halfway through the film). Have to disagree about Kara tho, she beats Vesper and Tracy in my book, who I never really felt as strongly about as most seem to. They both felt more like conquests; Lazenby's Bond's sleeping around makes the "one true love" thing hard to buy (Tracy calling herself "the woman you just bought" feels true throughout the film), and Bond and Vesper always felt more like two people temporarily bonding (no pun intended) over a shared traumatic situation to me, their eloping at the end is the one thing that feels off to me about Casino Royale. I don't think Bond takes a liking to Kara because she's naive or childlike, paired with his "stuff my orders!" attitude at the film, I rather believe he sees a refreshing change in her, someone who's not part of his world and not "tainted" by his job. I find their romance one of the most believable in the series. And of course TLD has arguably the best (YMMV) theme song until (or possibly even surpassing) Casino Royale and Skyfall.
For me Dalton is the best Bond actor after Connery (I appreciate Brosnan a lot, too). I prefer LTK over TLD, but I put the last one easily in the top 10 of my favourite 007 films: Dalton, as I said, is great, Kara seems ok, the soundtrack and the title track are astonishing and I adore the V8 Vantage. The plot is pretty flat and a bit convoluted, but the 80s aestethic makes me appreciate TLD quite a lot, like the more serious tone.
My favorite thing about Dalton is definitely his attitude towards how the character should be played. That level of respect for the character and Ian Fleming is so great to see
It's odd because I personally think Sean Connery nailed the part but he admitted in an interview [which is on the Diamonds are Forever DVD] that he only read a couple of the books.
The films really arent like the books, so why shoyld the character be?
He gave a literary performance in a pastiche movie. Not unlike Basil Rathbone in the Universal series.
@@jjrbarnett The point is it wasn't required just as it wasnt required to stick to the plot of the book.
@@sandersson2813 I'm not disagreeing. It's common for characters to have a life of their own in adaptations. The Shadow and Tarzan. I just appreciate it when an player keeps in touch with the sources instead of reinventing a character.
Dalton was the best Bond ever. When I saw it at the cinema when it first came out it was such an antidote to the tired old format of Roger Moore's films. Dalton felt real. He looked handsome but also looked like he could handle himself in a fight. He was the finest actor to have played the role and thus brought an extra sense of gravitas to the part. Licence to Kill for me really cemented his reputation as the ultimate Bond. After him, Brosnan was nothing more than a Bond designed by committee. He was a little of Roger, a little of Sean, he was not his own Bond, just a combo "greatest hits" version. And Craig? Well he gets all the glory as being the tough, no nonsense Bond, but Dalton was one who had it all, the looks, the attitude and the acting chops. All hail Dalton!
Dalton was the Craig of the 80s. He’s fantastic and I love him. He should have done at least one more film after LTK.
Absolutely agree. He was definitely the most real Bond to portray the character on screen.
Although I personally disagree with some of your opinions, I'm really happy Dalton has some fans. I liked him more than sean and Roger growing up.
This. So much this!
I entirely agree that Dalton, was a very much needed reprieve from the way Moore portrayed the role. I was to young to be allowed in the theaters when his films came out, so Pierce Brosnan was my first Bond to be seen in the movie theaters. I like Dalton better in license to kill, but first movies had been tough for all if the actors, casino royale us a bit of the exception, all the other first outings needed more time to grow on me.
Dalton was a great Bond, just my personal tie for first place are Connery and Craig.
I'll take Dalton as my idea of Bond over Craig any day. Love his deadpan reply before he drives off. "Sorry old man, section 5, paragraph 4, need to know.... Sure you understand." Love it.
Craig just tries too hard to seem like Bond, but he's too blank, short and Russian henchman-esque, and he's so stiff and awkward. Dalton Bond would say to him, "Why didn't you learn the violin?"
@@DM-kv9kjSo true.
I like Craigs Bond too, for different reasons. He's actually the hard ass, stereotypically hot agent that Brosnan came only so close to but it's Daltons Bond who's the smoothest (after Connery of course) of the modern ones and has the perfect mixture of everything: hard kicking, smoothly charming, funnily witty/wittily funny and stoicly intelligent.
He's believabke and imho perfectly represents a normal secret agent who is just that much better and successful than others that he made a legendary reputation for himself.
What'd Craig do?
Dalton is such a brilliant actor in general.
If they brought him back to play a villain, I’d be all for that.
He is a great Cartoon/Bond style villain in The Rocketeer.
He should be M or Q in the next film
Why not recycle Golden Eye idea of the other 00 agent as a nemesis for 007? Dalton as retired 00 agent against his old agency, pretty much him following up Licence to Kill, and 007 trying to stop him?
They did bring him back as a villain.
In Hot Fuzz!
@@SamnissArandeen 🔥
One of the most powerful scenes in my opinion was when Bond revealed to Kara that he was the one sent to kill her during Koskov's fake defection. This might be such a soap opera moment, and it is further weakened by the fact that we knew from the start, and Kara doesn't give much of a reaction to it. But I still love the scene, and especially Dalton's way of presenting it: In a few seconds before he falls unconscious, Bond has to convince Kara that he is actually a good guy, and his proof is the fact that he actually spared her life instead of killing her like he was told to. There is so much to this short dialogue, and his words still get to me every time: "I was... the one they sent to kill you." Not only is this the moment Kara realizes that Koskov has played her for a sucker, but also that the man she fought to be a heartless killer has actually spared her.
I actually love Caroline Bliss as Moneypenny. I think the more geeky look is cute and I would listen to her Barry Manilow collection any time.
I think it does breath new life as Lois Maxwell had outstayed her welcome a bit.
If you watch 'the living daylights' premier video on UA-cam, Lois Maxwell hosts and has a very catty interview with Caroline Bliss which is off the scale awkward.
@@jamesatkinsonja I agree and I've heard about that little encounter as well.
Agreed. I wish she had more screen time/appeared in more Bond films.
@@skakirask She is the same age as Samantha Bond but I guess they wanted a whole new cast [other than Desmond of course] when they 'soft rebooted' [as we'd call it now] with Brosnan.
I exploded with laughter when she started with Barry Manilow, it was like "Hello, mom, why are you in a Bond movie?"
I've always preferred the living daylights over licence to kill, I think it strikes the balance better between fun sillyness and dark grittyness. But I still love license to kill.
weak villains in living daylights, but the story is decent, excellent soundtrack, love the cold war feel about it. Licence to kill had better Bond girls, Q moments and better villain
I like how complex the plot is in TLD, for the first time since FRWL it feels like a proper cold war thriller that could have been a hit without the Bond name on it. That said it still feels like a Bond film, and very specifically it feels like a return to the early Connery days where the material is being taken seriously. LtK is a very different thing, probably the least traditionally Bond-y Bond film, at least of the EON series, with a plot that plays out more like a Jean Claude Van Damme movie. But it's boosted by Dalton's committed performance and a stellar villain, which is the one thing TLD lacks. And I like the idea of Bond infiltrating a villain's organisation and winning his trust so he can bring him down from the inside, that feels like a really original way to tell a Bond story. So they both have their plus points but I'd probably favour TLD if pushed.
@@craigcharlesworth1538 I will point out that LTK was inspired by 'Fistful of Dollars'/Yojimbo and other films like 'Raw Deal' [which even features Robert Davi] and the revenge plot is stock as you say. I would also add For Your Eyes only was a Cold War story too. I agree Sanchez is better than the villains here but I'd go for TLD too.
I watched both The Living Daylights and License To Kill recently - first time in 25 years - and The Living Daylights went slightly down in my estimation and License To Kill went way up. But, I still think The Living Daylights is the better film due to the right balance of elements.
@@doctorlolchicken7478 for me License to Kill is Bond/Scarface crossover film, you can imagine Sanchez being in a rivalry with Scarface
You wound me, Calvin, I absolutely adore Kara. 😭🥰 I think it’s nice to get a relatively normal, even naïve, person as the Bond girl. Not every Bond girl needs to kick ass and be “special” somehow.
(This coming from a woman who also really likes Tracy and Vesper)
I quite like her for that reason. It also helps we get scenes with her and Bond 'dating' like we do with Vesper and Tracy rather than just have Bond kiss the women at the end with no build up such as Melina in For your eyes only.
I also like how she is just a normal, naïve girl, but still manages to be decisive, and quite helpful as a result. She isn’t a jaded badass, but does hold her own actually really well. Not a dead weight damsel, just innocent.
@@AndorRadnai much better written character than Stacey also imo
Kara's utter innocence is her charm. I love how she's the most inconsequential and normal person who just ended up in the middle of a bad situation. It's very much in line with classic spy thrillers.
Yeah I quite like Kara too
I understand the kara comments. BUT the mary goodnight comparison is not warranted. She is clumsy like goodnight BUT she isn’t an agent like goodnight is. She should be totally lost and confused. She kinda got roped into this situation and isn’t supposed to be prepared for any situation remotely close to this. Shes a CELLIST.
It's important to remember that the Mujahedin was not a monolith, and wasn't the Taliban under a different name either. The Taliban only emerged in 1992, four years after the Russians left. At this time a four year civil war between differing factions of the former Mujahedin started, which the Taliban won with the help of Pakistani intelligence. Other factions of the former Mujahedin remained opposed to the Taliban and allied with the west.
The sad fate of Kamran Shah is that an Oxford educated fluent English speaker who allied with a British spy and actually met the Head of British Intelligence and the ex-head of the KGB was probably killed by the Taliban after the came to power
@@jonathancampbell5231 Shah was likely a fictionalized version of Ahmad Shah Massoud, "the Lion of Panjshir" who was the best known resistance leader by the west at the time. Although he wasn't "educated at Oxford" he was a relative moderate and later was a leader of the Northern Alliance against the Taliban. He was indeed assassinated by a suicide bomber shortly before 911.
Aided by the CIA . Who then may have given the Taliban wepon's lest we forget
I think that they were going for a more Ahmad Shah Massoud type of character here.
Great point. I am frequently annoyed by the narrative that the CIA aided the Taliban and then got their just desserts with 9/11. It was much more complicated than that and letting the USSR take Afghanistan would have been far worse. The failure in Afghanistan directly contributed to the fall of the USSR. The film accurately portrays the romanticized view of the Mujahedin that the western media was pushing at the time, but it also acknowledged that Afghanistan was a big part of the drug trade.
Dalton is certainly the closest to Fleming's Bond and probably my favourite to portray 007. Both his Bond films are excellent. I always liked Licence To Kill the best out of the two for years, but it's swung to The Living Daylights in the past year. It perfectly encapsulates the Bond formula. He comes across as a legit badass, but has a level of charm and suave I think was missing from Craig's Bond.
Dalton also has a sense of imagination, maturity and intelligence also sorely missing from Craig’s Bond, whose recklessness is far removed from what James Bond - cinematic or Fleming’s - is about.
@@curiouscase0075 Absolutely, you're spot on. Dalton had all the qualities needed, whereas Craig was fairly one dimensional.
@@jonathanfurzeland4740 I wish he had too, he'd have fit perfectly in Goldeneye. No, Craig unfortunately didn't work for me either. He did angry, brooding and vengeful well enough, but that's all he bloody did.
Dalton also perfectly embodied the physical look of Fleming's Bond, which Craig sorely lacked.
@@scottcarroll9201 Lacked in physical appearance? Uhh... You do know that Craig is the only one who has Fleming's Bond's blue eyes, right?
While I do have my problems with this film, I have an easy time looking past them because I just love Dalton’s performance. 60% of why I love this film is simply watching Dalton play James Bond (with 25% to all the cool action scenes, 10% John Barry’s score and 5% everything else). Kara is an OK character - I used to find her annoying, over the years I’ve come to appreciate her as a good example of ‘normal person thrown into a world they have no experience of’ - she’s not used to the world of spies and espionage, of course she’d have difficulty flying a plane. Not the best Bond lady, but she’s fine.
My main problem with this film is the stakes are never raised particularly high. Coming off of previous films where death and destruction on a large scale were the stakes with potential nuclear weapons going off, here the villain’s plot simply being to sell drugs feels a bit limp. I mean, yeah heroin’s bad, but it doesn’t feel as catastrophic as whole cities being obliterated. Especially since there’s a line where they say the drugs are going to New York - well, that’s all unwell and bad for New York, but I as a viewer don’t care because New York and its drug problems are not a thing in this film. Maybe if Bond had gone to New York during his adventure and seen first-hand the damage heroin does, maybe it would have helped raise the stakes, but as is, it feels completely unrelated to the plot. Simply changing it from New York to London could’ve helped because then at least it’s personal to Bond. I think that’s why the Afghanistan bits are where the plot drags because it fails to live up to audience expectations: we’ve been lead to believe there’s a sinister conspiracy at work, Spiert Spionam killing spies, what could it all be leading up to? And it all turns out to be two men selling drugs to finance an arms deal. It just feels a bit “oh, that’s it?” Yes, drug addiction and war are problems, but they weren’t problems caused by the villains - contrast with Max Zorin destroying Silicon Valley which was a problem entirely down to his doings (or at least it would’ve been if he hadn’t been foiled).
I think tying in with this is the problem that neither villain is particularly megalomaniacal - OK, they want to make the villains more human than typical Bond fare, but they never feel particularly threatening. I think if they had made Koskov the head villain and had Whittaker be a Ouromov style deputy-head (or heck, just have him be a henchman) it would’ve worked better. I like Jeroen Krabbé and appreciate the amount of character he was able to give Koskov, but I think the character’s missing that villainous air that would’ve given the scheme some bite, probably because he’s having to share it with Joe Don *Mitchell!* Baker who never really goes anywhere with his character.
And yes, the plot is rather convoluted and requires two or three viewings to fully understand, which is never a good thing for popcorn action films.
But, yes, as I said, I can overlook those problems because it’s a fun action film with a strong central performance from an actor who really gives a sh*t. As you said, it’s fun without being silly, which is exactly where I like my Bond films (well, I don’t mind a little darkness - I love Licence to Kill after all).
I quite like how Cara is just a normal, naïve girl, but still manages to be decisive, and quite helpful as a result. She isn’t a jaded badass, but does hold her own rather well by the end. Not a dead weight damsel, just… well… innocent.
@30:05 I always loved this shot of Dalton with the classic gun barrel homage here, seeing bond point his gun directly at the camera with the spotlight on him.
It’s my favorite shot from this movie
"Stuff my orders! I only kill professionals" one of my favorite lines from Dalton
And don’t forget strawberry jam in the boot good God, those are great and salt corrosion and we have nothing to declare except a cello always cracks me up and don’t forget the wolf whistle
Fun fact: The actor that plays Necros, Andreas Wisniewski, also portrays the first henchman that John McClane kills in Die Hard, meaning this guy probably holds the record for most henchman roles in Christmas-themed action movies.
Wait, The Living Daylights is a Christmas Movie?
@@davidjames579 no, it isn't.
He also Plays Max’s henchman in the original Mission:Impossible and even cameos again in Ghost Protocol.
OHMSS will always be the Bond Christmas movie to me
I absolutely love how you actually slowed down the part where Dalton squeeze the life out of that balloon and we get a really good look at his facial expression. I always liked that bit, because he truly looks angry and quite dangerous!
Much like You Only Live Twice and Octopussy, this is a film that only gets better with time. Dalton was so good and he's definitely one of my favorite actors to helm the role.
It's funny. I remember in childhood enjoying the movie but being confused by the plot--for instance, failing to remember that the Afghanistan sequence and the Czechoslovakia car chase were from the same film. The benefit of escapist entertainment is that you don't have to understand it to be entertained. But as an adult, I respect the attempt to inject a certain realism into the script, re the complexity of the villains' plot.
Neither as a child or an adult, I never considered The Living Daylights a Top 5 Bond film. But I do think it is one of the better Bond films, and is the superior Dalton film.
YOLT ages worse each year.
YOLT has aspects that. Definitely do not age well 😭
The ending of this video was bloody hilarious!! Well done, Calvin.
So he's keeping his license to review.
For my money, The Living Daylights and Goldeneye are the two films that nail the tone best. Serious, but not overly dark, and with just the right amount of humor.
I love that KGB generals get surnames from classic Russian writers (Gogol, Pushkin). Wish they had generals named Tolstoy, Chekhov and Dostoyevskiy.
i didnt know that , thought they just made up those names
@@postersandstuff Read more books.
Would be to on the nose IMO. Imagine a british general named Shakespeare.
@@fritzkaraldo8452 Star Trek bagged Chek(h)ov first.
@@fritzkaraldo8452 Maybe not Shakespeare... but a General Scott would not sound out of place. Or a General Greene, General Hardy etc
Look at Koskov's face after Pushkin says "in a diplomatic bag" - Koskov knows that means he's dead!
Now you could say he somehow escaped his guards outside the building before they could execute him and maybe that would have provided possibility for a 3rd Dalton script bringing him back BUT as that 3rd Dalton script never happened and he didn't return in any of the Brosnan films either it should be taken as read that he didn't escape.
I love The Living Daylights it was the film that got me seriously into James Bond especially the Fleming novels. When i read a Bond novel its Timothy Dalton i see as Bond. Just a shame Dalton did not go on to do more movies.
If anything, the third act does feel like a classic western to me; something that feels strangely fitting for a bond movie, and rather surprising that this is the only one of the movies to actually do something like that. I get your criticisms, i really do, but i believe that if one were to view this movie as part cold-war spy thriller, part spaghetti western; it actually works quite well :)
Spot on!
I am glad that we live in a more enlightened age, where people appear to appreciate Dalton's Bond more than in previous years. Great review, certainly your funniest yet.
I have to say I was surprised how invested I was in whether Calvin’s Bond fan card would be revoked. Every time he said something mildly negative I was fearful. And that ending 😂
The score is great, even "the Pretenders-Where has everybody gone?" was a bit of fun as the song Necros listens to on the way to the mansion.
He's the only henchman badass enough to get his own theme song!
I think Where Has Everybody Gone should have been the main theme.
Just to clarify a common misconception, the Mujahideen was NOT just an early version of the Taliban. In fact, the Northern Alliance, the group that allied with the US against the Taliban, were ALSO Mujahideen. The Northern Alliance was also the remnants of the government that took over after the Mujahideen beat the Soviets, only to get overthrown in turn by the Taliban. So it's a bit more complicated than just "we were friends with them in the 80's and now we're enemies."
Maybe. But in that part of the world, they change sides to the leader who they think has a better chance of victory, who has the most money and the 'What's in it for me' is never far from their thoughts.
I agree. While it's undoubable that certain elements of the Mujahideen morphed into the Taliban it's not entirely black and white, especially in 20th century International politics. Onr of the reasons it's so fascinating really.
They were Jihadis. Kara would not have been allowed to wander around, and everyone meeting at the party at the end was a Moore moment.
The first Bond film I ever watched and for me, it’s still the best. The pacing, the score, the locations, the riveting action sequences and Dalton’s intense gritty performance brought Bond back to reality. You couldn’t have asked for a better debut tbh.
Timothy Dalton is like a fine wine that ripens and improves over the passage of time.
The Living Daylights was my introduction to Bond as a young man - primarily because my older sister was really into it... she loved Timothy Dalton, loved Andreas Wisniewski (she had some German friends at the time, so I think she was really digging German culture in general), we knew John Rhys Davies from the Indiana Jones movies, and... y'know, for some reason, I never had any problem with the complexity of the plot. I think as a kid, I just followed it all as it happened, and because of that is maybe why the naivete of Kara didn't bother me so much... she's not a spy, she's not world-weary... she's a cello player. She doesn't really get to anticipate or deduce anything... she follows the notes that are handed to her. As an adult, I can totally understand how that becomes annoying to some, so I don't think you're wrong to feel as you do about her. I guess Maryam D'Abo's performance - plus a bit of my own nostalgia - allows me to just enjoy it.
As well, I never once saw Whitaker as the main villain. It always seemed clear to me that Koskov was the brains behind the whole scheme; Whitaker was only in it for the money to sell his arms, but he wasn't Kamal Khan... yes, Koskov and Orlov have essentially the same motives, but there was something nefarious about Khan's duplicity with manipulating Octopussy and her crew (cult?), murdering other agents, etc. HE was the brains behind that plot, while Koskov is the brains behind this one. And yes, it might've been nice to see him and Bond have a showdown, but he came for Koskov and Whitaker stood in the way... if anything, Whitaker is an over-glorified henchman at that point, one that Bond takes down. And sure, Koskov then leaves the movie alive (probably will be tried, convicted, probably either executed or at least sentenced to Siberia... or something like that)... but that also has a bit of the realistic vibe that I think Dalton wanted.
The Cold War was starting to wind down a bit, and I think having the villains be a Russian general plotting for military superiority in Afghanistan and an American arms dealer I think placed emphasis more on the idea that it was not a blue vs. red, us vs. them issue. As well, I think this movie DOES suffer a bit, as you say, from being a hangover from the Moore era... the balance between Dalton's need for a darker, grittier realism undoubtedly informed his performance, but I think it reflects in Koskov still being alive at the end. Sure, there could've been a showdown between him and Bond, but... I get an intense amount of satisfaction in hearing Pushkin say, "in a diplomatic bag." It never ceases to put a smile on my face. And I will say, despite your misgivings about this movie, I enjoyed your review and really appreciate that you could look at its finer points and still enjoy it on some level. I do think the humor that we are given works - it's got a tiny bit of the Moore tone, but I think Dalton plays it well... his performance in this always struck me as his balance of his view of Bond and an awareness of the needs of the producers and the audience to not be too dark.
I love Dalton's duology, but I do often feel like there MIGHT have been a better transition between The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill if there had been a movie in between... not a third one to follow LtK, but one between TLD and LtK... alas, that was never to be. Oh well...
This has a special place in my heart as it was the first James Bond movie I went to see at the cinema when it was first release. It was my 14th birthday and my late father took me and my brother to see it at the Odeon in Coventry.I remember wondering how the new Bond would be as up to that point. Roger Moore was ‘my’ Bond. My trepidation had been quenched by the end of the pre-credit Gibraltar sequence, I knew we were going to get a more serious Bond and Timothy was WAAAAY ahead of his time and I love this movie mainly because of the memories attached to it.
RIP dad and thank you. Xx
Dear LORD. The "No, I'm John" gag was brilliant. Great facial acting Calvin 🤣🤣
32:54 I think it’s a callback to Thunderball, since the nuclear bombs in that film have “Handle Like Eggs” printed on them as well.
Or maybe it’s just a common saying and the reoccurrence is coincidence. I don’t know - the only thing I handle like eggs are eggs. Never have I had the inclination to make a human heart & nuclear bomb omelette.
Since Dalton took over the role in the late 80s when AIDS awareness was at it's height, he became the "safe sex" Bond. One woman in this film (well 2 with the lady on the boat at the beginning) and just 2 in the next film. I think Moore went through about 5 or 6 per film.
Yes it's interesting to see how these things evolve; following Dalton's, Brosnan's era was probably the most pronounced one when it comes to sex and seduction. Craig's in this regard has been all over the place: I completely buy him as a womanizer who finds the one he would settle with in CR as his chemistry with Eva Green is second to none, but I've never bought into him sleeping with Gemma Arterton in QoS. In SF on the other hand I'm ok with the tête-à-tête he has with Moneypenny and then Severine in Macau, but then again his "waste of a good scotch" sounds false...
The number of women doesn't matter than much as long as he used protection. Maybe he's such a manly man that he refuses to and they let him. If so, there must be nurseries full of baby Bonds.
No, Moore usually sleeped with 2 per film. I think the record was in "A view to kill" with 4 women sexually pleased throughout the movie :)
@@rafachrzaszcz6997 I'm not score keeping. I seem to remember 4 ladies in Moonraker. But the idea is the tone, Moore is having causal sex without consequences while Dalton is far more romantic and committed. Moore meets a Brazilian agent in Moonraker and after a 2 minute conversation after just meeting her starts undoing her dress. Can't imagine Bond doing that today.
@@taker68 we have to understand the 70s reality. Those times Moore had some status of a living legend - just like Elvis in 1950s. People just wanted to watch him and the ladies - to fall in love with him. I know that life doesn't look like that, I've had many love failures, and maybe that's why especially men like to watch Bond - to see the things they can't achieve themself.
I like that Bond isn’t central in the Kitchen fight and the airfield fight. Its sort of like when you play a video game and you’re supposed to have AI allies. Its annoying when its all up to you and your allies never show up. Bond was never supposed to be Commando like Rambo. He’s a secret agent, but not a one man show. It makes him more realistic.
And what an exciting Christmas present. TLD is a top 5 Bond film for me as it just strikes the right balance between hardboiled spy story and Bond film theatrics for my taste. I have a great time with your videos even when we rate the films differently, and I've been looking forward to this one for months. Certainly didn't disappoint. Hope you had a very happy Christmas, Calvin!
Crummy villains aside, this one is kind of the perfect Bond film for me - a nice mix of Fleming influence and silly John Glen/Cubby humor, exciting and beautifully crafted action scenes courtesy of Arthur Wooster and the stunt crew, a delightful cast of secondary characters, a good Barry score, and a breezy pace generally. Dalton rules too, and he fits like a glove with the jaded late Cold War setting.
Love the review! The Living Daylights is actually in my top 10 favorite Bond films list, but I completely understand the criticisms you have. The Afghanistan part is my least favorite part of the film and I think Kara can be annoying at times, but I still really like her character. I really have no idea why I like the film so much lol. I put it in the same category as Octopussy where it's a film that I can just pop on and watch on a Sunday afternoon. I was waiting so long for this review and I'm so glad I finally got to watch it. I can't wait to see what you have in store for us in 2022. Have a very Merry Christmas, Calvin!
Why do people love Octopussy??🐙🐙😱😱
@@minilite7184 because we all enjoy it and think it’s great
@@jonathanfurzeland4740 oh I couldn’t agree with you more!!!!! Fantastic film, in every shape and form. I can’t wait to watch it again!
@@jonathanfurzeland4740 you just can’t beat it, can you? Heaven
@@jonathanfurzeland4740 I got an Octopussy poster for Christmas!!!!!
Aside from the review itself, the quality of editing from Calvin has certainly increased. Can only imagine the amount of time this took. Well done that man!
The Living Daylights has always been one of my favorite Bond films and is easily my favorite one from the '80s. I enjoy how it's a return to form and has a very From Russia With Love plot while still utilizing source material from the Living Daylights short story as well as atmosphere. It's the last Bond film to deal with the Cold War; at the end of the movie Bond and the Soviets represented by General Pushkin have become allies and Kara is allowed to travel between East and West with ease. I always appreciated that (unless I'm mistaken) it's the only time that James Bond goes to a real life war zone when him and Kara get taken to Soviet occupied Afghanistan. Now obviously the movie was filmed in Morocco but it's still cool the producers decided to set it in Afghanistan during the on going Soviet war there. I also liked the attack on the Bladon safe house, always cool when some of the action takes place back in England. And what can you say about Timothy Dalton that hasn't already been said? The guy walked so Daniel Craig could run. He really brought some of that Fleming style back to the character that we hadn't had in a long time. I really like the supporting cast in this movie too. While General Koskov is a bit forgettable, Brad Whitaker is such different Bond villain than we're used to; his battle dioramas are truly awesome it has to be said haha. And Necros is easily the best Red Grant-esqe henchmen since FRWL. General Pushkin is a great potential enemy turned ally. I even like John Terry as Felix Leiter though I may be biased since he's played by John Terry who played Captain Lockhart in Full Metal Jacket the same year and that's one of my favorite movies of all time. Since both movies were shot at Pinewood, I guarantee he was filming both his scenes at the same time. Another Bond ally in the film I liked was Art Malik as Kamran Shah, he was very likable and gave a human face to the Mujahadeen. Problem is as you said, the Afghanistan scenes are when the plot gets really convoluted and it's unclear why certain characters are doing what they're doing; it makes no sense for even Koskov to be selling arms for opium to the Snow Leopard militia even if he is just an opportunist. Then there's Kara who seems to get a lot of criticism for not being a great Bond girl but I think she's totally acceptable. She's way more independent and pro active than Stacy Sutton who by the end of A View To A Kill becomes Olive Oil from Popeye. And M, Q, and Moneypenny were all good in the movie especially Caroline Bliss being a worthy replacement to Lois Maxwell but didn't get a chance to show off her talents as much. As far as gadgets go this movie is one of the best for them. They all feel practical and realistic especially the explosive keychain. The Winterized Aston Martin Volante is just awesome and IMO is the best car in the series after the Goldfinger DB5. Great review!
If Olive knew how to use a rifle with rock salt
Brilliant review as always!
These long in depth reviews that you do on each film in the series are almost the gold standard at this point - and are really just about the definitive reviews on them available anywhere.
But this time around, the little fun skits that you produce which always accompany them, have risen to another level!
Not only are they always hilarious( especially loved the Bond police and the intelligence community laughing stock bits!!)
but I see that they require alot of work - acting,props, costumes and some heavy editing.
The fact that you do all this extra stuff just to entertain all of us here in the Bond Community is just great and I think I speak for all of us when I tell you it's really appreciated by us - it is a big part of everything you do!
I love this film!
It's my favorite film of the Dalton Era and I am happy that he is finally getting some recognition for how much he influenced both Brosnan and especially Craig's tenure as James Bond.
He was clearly ahead of his time with his serious approach and audiences of the time were definitely not ready for it - so it's great that these days his important contribution to the series is finally getting recognition from the fans!
Awesome job as always!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Calvin - thanks for entertaining us all year long!!
The Living Daylights is so underrated. It's a great Bond film with fantastic music, stunt work and action sequences. Yes the villains are a bit weak and the story does feel like it's two scripts mashed together but it's still good fun and Dalton is amazing as James Bond.
The effort you put into these dude. Well planned, executed and performed essays. Bravo
Thanks very much, James! Appreciate it 😁😁
The living daylights was the last already released Bond film I ever saw when them Bond marathons started on ITV. It’s one of the films I could randomly watch on its own outside of a Bond film marathon, I do genuinely love it that much. I’d be lying if didn’t agree that the villains in the film are a bit of weakness. Plus there are a couple of technically better films in the series. For Calvin’s comments comparing Kara to Goodnight. It’s a comparison I’ve never really considered before. But I find Kara to be much more central to the plot that Goodnight ever was in TMWTGG, so I struggle to really dislike Kara at all
This was a really fun review! Have to say it! "The Living Daylights" is one of my absolute favorite Bond movies and I watch them all. I love the whole series. Kara is one of my two favorite Bond girls (Vesper is the other one) and there are a lot of really great Bond girls. Great chemistry between her and Bond and I like that there is a normal feel to her. I don't think think they have to be larger than life always. She's just someone who got caught up in something totally different than her usual life. Timothy Dalton had a fabulous debut in the role and I'm saying this as a big Sir Roger Moore fan. He played the role closer to what Ian Flemming had in mind for the character from everything I've heard.
Your videos are great and I really enjoy them.
Dalton will always be my favourite 007 - he was miles ahead of Daniel Craig.
Calvin! Kara Milovy IS a great Bond girl!!! My favorites are: Domino Derval, Aki, Anya Amasova, Octopussy, Stacey Sutton, Kara Milovy, Natalya Simonova. *** "The Living Daylights"(1987) was an absolute climax of the franchise! They made the best Bond movie ever!!!
Dalton is one of my favorite bonds mostly because of the dark edginess and almost Shakespearean like approach he had in playing 007
"No, I'm John." I laughed much harder at that part than I probably should have. Well done as always :P
This review is pure genious. You have always new ideas and new gags to spice up the already interesting reviews. I cannot wait for the next one.
I like the Dalton films but it’s a shame they came at a - frankly - tired point in the franchise’s history. I think maybe if Dalton had been able to take the reins in from A View to a Kill (sorry Roger - he’s my favourite too but Octopussy was a better send-off) audiences might have warmed & gotten more on-board with him. Three or four Dalton films would have been great before the rebirth with GoldenEye in my opinion.
I think it would have been a good opportunity to switch directors as well. As competent a craftsman as Glen was his style was getting stale towards the late 80's, certainly compared to contemporary action films. The leap forward in Goldeneye 8 years later was astronomical.
I think Dalton suffered from having followed Moore after only a 2 year gap. Both Brosnan [6 years] and Craig [4] had a good gap between there predecessors so fans were eagar for a new film.
Objectively, Octopussy was definitely a better end for Roger. But I’m so torn because AVTAK is one of my favourites!
The best scenario for Dalton would be if AVTAK was never made. Unfortunately for planet Earth; we wouldn't get the Duran Duran song.
@@robobikenobi yeah that song is one of the best things ever
“Stuff my orders. I only kill professionals… Go ahead tell M what you want. If he fires me, then I’ll thank him for it”
Ladies and Gentlemen meet James Bond, the character that Fleming created. A conflicted and existentialistic professional assassin who in one part takes pride in his job and his theories. The hotel scene between Bond and Pushkin is one such example, the way Dalton handles his weapon and the way he grabs and strips Pushkin’s shows the distain he has. But when he meets Kara, the man shows just how much he loathes his job. I for one bought the relationship between Bond and Kara, he clearly has feelings for Kara, and he at times revels in this woman’s naivety and innocence, so much so that he is pained at shattering her illusion at Koskov and at what he represents. This gritty and humane take on the character is pure phenomenal, as exemplified in Saunders’ death scene. Bond is clearly pained and hurt over the death and he wants vengeance. Dalton is phenomenal and IMO the best Bond to date.
Basically this! The scene where Saunders is killed, I could write 10 pages on why that scene is the best anyone has ever played Bond. Phenomenal stuff!
@@tcaudiobooks737 Please upload it when you write it. No doubt it would be enlightening
Yep, got a lot of time for Dalton, the closest to Flemings Bond, I wish he'd more Bond films.
@@RighteousBrother Could not agree more. Great to see you on here👍
I saw this at the cinema when it came out, I was only 10, I remember the ghetto blaster line was so funny back then, it got everyone laughing. Dalton did seem to re-energise the bond fans, we were all really excited to see a new more serious bond.
Having gone through the whole of the Bond series earlier in the year with my GF, who'd only ever seen one or two, getting to Dalton felt like a big moment. I remember his films from when I was a child in the late 80s. He always seemed "offish," cold and clinical to my very young mind, and having gone from Connery through Lazenby and Moore, getting to Dalton felt like a grand tonal shift. When we got to The Living Daylights, I'd just finished the Casino Royale novel, and if Dalton isn't the most accurate portrayal of what Fleming wrote then I don't know what is. TLD is in my top 5. I understand its issues, particularly late on and with some of its antagonists, but that opening act and Dalton just nail it. The V8 chase scene is sublime, Bratislava (which I visited in 2017) looks lovely, and Saunders' turnaround and tragedy is a great little arc. I often wonder what a Dalton Goldeneye would be like, in much the same way I wonder how Casino Royale would have been with Brosnan. I'm more than happy we has Brosnan and Craig in both both, but there's always the "what if?" looming.
Love this movie and dalton really was Fleming’s bond. The sniper scene and interrogation scene of Pushkin is just the best in the whole series, Bond is doing real spy-work in this one, a true cold war thriller, i think Dalton plays bond perfect in this one, he’s intense and tough, elegant and smart and he did alot of he’s own stunts and studied the character more then any other bond actor, he nailed it, all the way down to little details, like subtly not liking the coffee in the fair scene, Bond in the books doesnt like coffee. He really deserved a third movie and i always imagine Dalton in for your eyes only, it would have been a perfect trilogy of the dalton era in my view.
Not Fleming's Bond. More 80s Bond.
I think Tim Dalton is the most plausible Bond. He looks like he could have been a Commander in the RN. Let's hope Henry Cavill is the next one. He reminds me of Dalton, my favourite.
I can't help but wonder if Pierce Brosnan became Bond here and went throughout until Die Another Day. With Joe Don Baker playing Whitaker in this film and later CIA Agent Jack Wade in Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies. I wonder how things would've been handled because I can't imagine anyone else playing Jack Wade than Baker.
Great review, by the way Calvin. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but I do have a soft spot for this film and Dalton's duo era as its pretty much the darker part of Bond with License to Kill and Living Daylights was a stepping stone to that long before Craig's Era would delve into it.
Well, Connery didn't bat an eye that Blofeld from DAF and Mr Henderson from YOLT were identical twins either
There would have still been a gap between 1989 and 1995 as that was mostly due to outside issues and maybe there would have still been a been a change in actor for the 'relaunch' but like many Bond sliding doors moments we'll never know.
I was really looking forward to watching this review, since Living Daylights is my all-time favourite Bond movie. As such, I must say:
Great review!
You didn't thrash the movie as much as I feared, and even your criticism is totally valid. I myself am not a huge fan of Kara as a Bond girl, and I do feel that after a whole number of Bond girls actually contributing something to the plot and becoming a valuable asset to Bond himself (even Stacy whose expertise at one point made Bond understand the whole plan of Max Zorin better in "View to a Kill"), we finally got back to the "villain's girlfriend" trope that had already been passé the last time we saw that in "The Man with the Golden Gun". Even though David claimed in your discussion about "Living Daylights" that Kara had somewhat of a character arc, I really don't see it.
I have thought a lot about why I like this movie best of the entire series, although objectively I think that three of the others are better, including "License to Kill". But subjectively I came to the conclusion that it just combined all the right elements for me: Dalton is my favourite Bond. He is the most believable, most human and most intense Bond version on the screen; he really conveys the aspects of a dark, cold secret agent (something that Roger Moore only occasionally and involuntarily showed, like in killing Loque during "For Your Eyes Only"). He brought the thriller aspect back to the series, even thoguh John Glen had already shifted the tone of the series during the Moore era. The death of Saunders was brutal and shocking. Also: It was a spy plot worthy of a James Bond novel, unlike "License to Kill" which would become a revenge story like a lot of 80s action movies (like Steven Seagal could have played the part). The action scenes were great, I especially liked the big battle in Afghanistan (to this day the last large battle scene in the entire series). And the music was superb.
The nostalgia factor plays into it as well, but overall I still like this movie best of them all, and I frequently rewatch it and have fun with it. It has its flaws, but this actually gives the movie some character and makes it even more enjoyable for me.
Thanks so much for this! Particularly as you're a big fan of the film I loved reading your perspective, thanks!
@@calvindyson My pleasure! I am a huge fan of your in-depth reviews and watch them frequently, and since you started to really take those movies apart (in a good sense) I had been eagerly waiting for this one.
I've always believed that Timothy and his films have been seriously underrated - he wanted to return to the original gritty of Ians books (in which Bond was a genuine basket case; messed-up background, drank and smoked far too much, almost a psycho etc.). I'd actually forgotten that scene with 007s "FFS" in the cockpit - BRILLIANT! Plus Saunders was pretty good - started off as a typical spineless civil-servanty pedantic jobsworth but grew into his (characters) boots (before being chopped out of them). Excellent review, full marks. Thank you.
[My favourite Bond - Brosnan, favourite film - Life and Let Die].
This is a Christmas miracle. My favourite Bond movie. The soundtrack is just phenomenal.
Pushkin's mistress is played by Virginia Hey who was memorable as the bad-ass statuesque "Warrior Woman" in Mad Max2: The Road Warrior. She was the one hit by arrows on top of the truck in the end chase.
A Living Daylights Review for Christmas?
Hey Santa, where we going?
I swear, it’s started snowing.
Set my hopes up way too high,
The living’s in the gifts we buy.
Comes the morning and the reindeer fly away,
Hundred thousand presents, mine’s a photo frame.
I’ve been waiting now for one of us to say,
Mix some eggnog, let us piss the day away.
Oh, The Christmas Daylights!
I think Dalton's debut Bond film(TLD) was very strong/great! Actually, the same story with Brosnan(GE)! All the others actors had a weaker debut... By the way, I really like Maryam d'Abo! Kara Milovy was maybe not the sexiest and smartest, but definitely the cutest and most important Bond girl! At least for me...
Dalton, for me. Started the trend where the debut film for a new Bond is my personal favourite from that actor ( with Goldeneye and CR being my favourites from Brosnan and Craig respectively)
I live the living daylights, and the pre title sequence has, for me one of the best Bond reveals in the series (second only to Dr No)
TLD is so close to a perfect Bond film. You right the plot is too complex. Imagine the drug plot gone and insted Koskov wanted Puskin dead so he could take over the KGB. Simple plot but still makes a great film.
The Afghanistan bit should have been cut. It would have worked better.
For me, the best Bond films are those that embody the elements of both the cinematic and the literary facets of Fleming's creation. Goldeneye, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, From Russia with Love, and Living Daylights are the films that do the best job at that.
Calvin - “Handle Like Eggs” also appears on one of the atomic bombs in “Thunderball.” (In the underwater scene when the Spectre divers are retrieving the bombs from Vulcan.)
I believe it shows up in few other Bond movies. Like an underused running joke.
Great review as always! This was the first Bond film I saw in the cinema - on my 10th birthday - so it holds quite a special and momentous place in my heart! I remember the intensity of Dalton’s performance even then. The score and music is some of the best of the whole series, particularly the end credits song by The Pretenders. But oh, the Aston Martin! I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it and it still looks amazing today, and was chuffed to bits it made an appearance in No Time to Die.
I had a lot of free time during the pandemic (as I assume most have), so I ended up watching every Bond movie several times and ranking them. One of the things that surprised me was that Dalton ended up being my favourite Bond (based on the average ranking of his movies).
The french version leaves no doubt about the imminent execution of Koskov at the end
One of my favorites! I'm glad to see it getting more attention within the Bond community these days. Dalton was fantastic and I'm glad he's getting the recognition for his time as Bond now that he didn't back in the 80s.
Hope you had a merry Christmas, Calvin!
I love how you always respect other people’s opinions, Calvin. Don’t worry, I also prefer Licence to Kill over The Living Daylights. By the way, me and my dad recently rewatched Never Say Never Again and I enjoyed it up until the ending. The ending battle is so boring, and makes absolutely no sense. Me and my dad were questioning everything, like how Bond and Leiter got those jet pack things that they use to fly out of the water, how the American crew knew exactly where to pick Bond up, how Bond managed to find Largo and the bomb, and how everyone knew where to find them. Thank you so much for this review, I’ve been looking forward to it for ages and it’s great and funny as always. It’s my extra Christmas present. It really warms my heart to see how passionate you are about this. Hope you had a really great Christmas and that you and your family and loved ones are well! Xxxxx
@@jonathanfurzeland4740 yeah me too
@@jonathanfurzeland4740 I often hum it
@@jonathanfurzeland4740 yes I like it up until the end
@@jonathanfurzeland4740 yeah and some of the music in it is pretty awful
@@jonathanfurzeland4740 Connery is the best thing about the film
A colleague and friend of mine (in Austria) has been an extra in the movie. He plays a policeman in the pipeline-Borde crossing scene...
Have to agree about the sniper sequence - one of my favorites in the whole series, and so good to see some actual 'craft' from Bond. Dalts plays it perfectly.
I don’t really agree that Whittaker is the main villain in the piece. It’s clearly Koskov, because he’s the one orchestrating the entire scheme to kill his rival, Pushkin, and cover up his arms dealing. Whittaker is just a guy Koskov is using to sell his stolen guns.
The Living Daylights(1987) had a great team of actors: Timothy Dalton, John Rhys-Davies(What a performance! Great as Dalton!), Jeroen Krabbe, Joe Don Baker, Robert Brown, Geoffrey Keen, Walter Gotell(What a nice man!)... In addition the best story, best pre-credit sequence, best score, one of best title songs(A View To A Kill was better), best locations, best stunts and special effects... I think 1965 & 1977 & 1987 & 1995 were the greatest Bond fims EVER!!!
I absolutely love this film. Proper old school Spy thriller story 👍🏼👍🏼
This is my #1 bond film. Definitely for nostalgia but also I feel it's very underrated as it checks all the boxes of what Bond adventures are. Your review was excellent and I loved all the skits sprinkled in, can't wait for more!
Great late Christmas video. I love the living daylights, but acknowledge its faults. And I definitely used to be a member of the Bond fan police. I’m glad I’m out of it now, but Dalton is still my favourite Bond. Merry Christmas Calvin.
Dalton's Bond movies are my favorite Bond movies, of them all.
He has class and can be hard as nails when dispencing of the bad guys, the vibe of the movies,
specially for those days. Right after Moore's stent, i get that the grittier approach wasn't appreciated by fans, but screw them, those two movies are killer.
Bond is not a clown, he's a spy
but glad to see, that every actor has movies that are great watches, but, rather read the book of OHMSS, then watch the movie.
When I was very young Timothy Dalton was my favourite Bond, but for a really dumb reason. TNT (I think) would show Bond marathons and since, at the time, they didn’t have the rights to the Brosnan movies Dalton’s films were the newest ones I was able to see. In my 8/9 year old mind newest = best = favourite.
Now that I’m in my 30s he’s still my favourite Bond, but now it’s because of his absolutely phenomenal portrayal of the character.
13:26 As well has having Bond involved, the 'Ministry of Defense' should have been killed by Necros when Koskov is 'captured'. Not only would this have a big impact-given he's appeared in the 5 previous films, but having a government minister killed would give M even more motive to send Bond to kill Pushkin later.
I never considered this but that's a briliant idea :0 if the filmmakers had been in the same frame of mind as two years later when they made LTK, it might well have been reality!
I really enjoy the Timothy Dalton movies and greatly appreciate his love and respect for the genuine portrayal of 007. I only wish he was able to make that 3rd film which would have released around 1991 or 92ish. I must say when anyone mentions Sam Neill I always wish I could experience a parallel universe for a day where he played James Bond from 1987 to 1992 for 3 films.
Saunders' death marks the culmination of a number of references to 'The third man', also set in Vienna: besides the repeated line 'Balloon, mein Herr?', there's a key scene set on the Ferris wheel at the Prater (the amusement park you mention).
The connection? Beyond two Ms in the cast - a delightful Bernard Lee and, more briefly, Robert Brown - a certain Guy Hamilton was assistant director, on top of which John Glen worked in the sound department. You can't blame him for wanting to pay tribute to an earlier classic.
It's interesting that Glen also paid tribute to an earlier film he worked on, OHMSS, in For Your Eyes Only.
The Living Daylights is definitely my go to Bond Film when I’m in the mood to watch one at random. There’s just something about it that keeps me coming back over and over.
Omg, that wolf whistle in Kara's dressing room just had me crying tears of laughter. That was amazing!!!
_TLD_ is #2 in my Bond ranking. Not just a great franchise entry but one of the best Action films of the 1980s. A proper Cold War thriller with a smart & witty script, Dalton is on point, D'Abo is adorable, Barry goes out on top with a majestic score, _Die Hard -_ level Action, & a surprising feel good ending. I love _TLD_ so much.
Timothy Dalton deserved more Bond Films to work on...
Plain and Simple...
I would classify Kara alongside Tatiana Romanova rather than with Mary Goodnight. The essential difference is that Britt Ekland plays Mary so broadly that she might as well be in a Carry On film, whereas Maryam d'Abo treats Kara as a real person who's completely out of her element, much as Daniela Bianchi did in FRWL. (Mary really should've been more similar to Tatiana: they're both government agents with a desk job who are being thrust into a dangerous mission, essentially like making Moneypenny into a Bond girl.)
While it's easy for me to explain why I prefer Kara over Mary Goodnight or Tiffany "Why Am I Suddenly a Buffoon in the Third Act" Case, I admit that it's harder to argue for Kara's advantage over Stacey Sutton. I want to say that it's a matter of Maryam giving a better performance than Tanya Roberts did, but I'm convinced that it's more a case of one actress having far better chemistry with the actor playing Bond than the other did. Poor Roger Moore just felt like an affectionate grandfather while looking after Stacey, whereas Timothy Dalton played up the conflicted romantic feelings so well that any problems with Kara's characterization felt negligible.
I love The Living Daylights, but I'd have a heck of a struggle trying to explain the plot to anyone.
Calvin, that was fantastic, thank you! I don't remember enjoying a new video over Christmas this much since the Only Fools and Horses special, To Hull And Back. And that was a *long* time ago... All the best to you for '22, thanks for all the great videos this year.
Great review Calvin and a welcome and fun watch for this sleepy, carb-fuelled Christmas period! TLD is a film that ages like fine wine for me. Each time I marathon the series, this one seems to rise higher in my list and has now sneaked into my top 10. Dalton plays the part like he's been ready for it for years - it's sad that he only got two. He is so utterly convincing and his commitment to getting the role right cannot be doubted. I'm in the camp that would happily sacrifice A View To A Kill for one more Dalton, which also gives Moore a better finale in Octopussy.
You continue to take your content to greater heights Calvin, this is your best and most entertaining review yet. Hope you have a nice rest of the holidays and cheers to even more success for your channel in 2022!
6:19 Wait up... Is this the same guy who drove the black Peugeot, chacing Bond and Melina in that yellow 2CV in For Your Eyes Only?
Timothy Dalton is a great actor. I think his Bond movies are a little pidgeonholed on the 80s but overall he's James Bond. He's a little less pronounced on the comic relief moments but in the dramatic moments he's nails. Maybe I'm in the minority, but in the dramatic moments is where Bond films really shine.
Great way to spend boxing day calvin, been looking forward to this for months and the review did not disapoint. I love this film but its great to see a different perspective. Keep up the good work and I look forward to licence to kill.
"Handle like Eggs" was seen in Thunderball or maybe "You Only Live Twice" on a bomb in a scene. Might even have been "The Spy Who Loved Me"
Great review and video, very funny Calvin🤣. It is one of my favorites, but I understand the issues. For quality action scenes, Dalton and direction it'll always get my vote.
I've since had the opportunity to finally watch this film, and I gotta say, it's instantly become my favourite, and Dalton blows it out of the water here. The Living Daylights seems to do everything right (save for Bond's and Saunders's horrible notch lapel tuxedos), and Koskov is a refreshingly down-to-earth villain: he doesn't want nuclear war, a new human race, forced disarmament or to hold the world ransom, he just wants to embezzle. It gets a little contrived at the end (Koskov's temporary survival and constructing a reason for the Mujahideen to be involved in trading opium with their Soviet enemies), but until that point, it's a clear winner for me, and Dalton a welcome breath of fresh air compared to Moore (admittedly my least favourite Bond). I'd consider Koskov the main villain here, Whittaker really is his Kamal Khan, and like Khan, Whitaker has the final battle without being the primary villain (as Orlov is offed halfway through the film).
Have to disagree about Kara tho, she beats Vesper and Tracy in my book, who I never really felt as strongly about as most seem to. They both felt more like conquests; Lazenby's Bond's sleeping around makes the "one true love" thing hard to buy (Tracy calling herself "the woman you just bought" feels true throughout the film), and Bond and Vesper always felt more like two people temporarily bonding (no pun intended) over a shared traumatic situation to me, their eloping at the end is the one thing that feels off to me about Casino Royale.
I don't think Bond takes a liking to Kara because she's naive or childlike, paired with his "stuff my orders!" attitude at the film, I rather believe he sees a refreshing change in her, someone who's not part of his world and not "tainted" by his job. I find their romance one of the most believable in the series.
And of course TLD has arguably the best (YMMV) theme song until (or possibly even surpassing) Casino Royale and Skyfall.
For me Dalton is the best Bond actor after Connery (I appreciate Brosnan a lot, too). I prefer LTK over TLD, but I put the last one easily in the top 10 of my favourite 007 films: Dalton, as I said, is great, Kara seems ok, the soundtrack and the title track are astonishing and I adore the V8 Vantage. The plot is pretty flat and a bit convoluted, but the 80s aestethic makes me appreciate TLD quite a lot, like the more serious tone.