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The Living Daylights (1987)     
Preceded by:
A View to a Kill (1985)
Succeeded by:
Licence to Kill (1989)
See our
full list
of James Bond films.
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Director:
John Glen |
COUNTRY
UK |
GENRE
Spy/Action |
NORWEGIAN
TITLE
I
skuddlinjen |
RUNNING
TIME
131
minutes |
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Producers:
Albert R. Broccoli
Michael G. Wilson |
Screenwriters:
Richard Maibaum
Michael G. Wilson |
Review
After 57-year-old Roger Moore had done his
seventh James Bond film with A View to a Kill in 1985, and thus
become the oldest Bond in the franchise, a record that still stands, it
was clear to almost everyone that the series needed a change. Eon's
reply was to cast the stage-trained, 40-year-old Welsh actor Timothy
Dalton (after first having offered the part to Pierce Brosnan, who
turned out to be unavailable due to scheduling conflicts). Dalton's more
serious, dramatic interpretation of Bond was an obvious step away from
Moore's more lighthearted persona. Dalton is arguably also the most
British-looking Bond. With his stern gaze with chin lowered, he at
times looks more like The Black Adder than like Roger Moore. And when he
goes in to woo the somewhat out of place Maryam d'Abo, he seems almost
as uncomfortable as Moore did doing action sequences towards the end.
Conversely, Dalton is good in those. And The Living Daylights is
at its best when concentrating on small-scale action and spy elements.
The script is clever; it actually pays a little respect to the
repercussions of some of the conflicts depicted, something which makes
the film more relatable and dramatically valid. Also the action is more
realistic and gritty, even if the characters involved in it are still
the same recognisably dichotomic Bond archetypes. Does this create a
discrepancy? Well, yes, because in heart and form, this is still an
entry in the 007 series, not
The Spy Who Came In From the Cold.
End note: The title song by Norwegian 80s pop sensation a-ha is one of
the best of the series.
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