The Living Daylights [Import]

Two years after Roger Moore's swansong, Timothy Dalton, possessing Sean Connery's bravado and cutthroat attitude, made his Bond debut in 1987's The Living Daylights. In only one try, Dalton hit his stride as the quintessential English gentleman secret agent with a license to kill and he had displayed tremendous potential to be a staple like Connery and Moore. Sadly, Dalton became a short-timer like George Lazenby when he simply stepped down and Brosnan had taken the torch and hasn't let go ever since. However, Dalton makes the most of his tenure in The Living Daylights, making this particular energetic Bond flick as one of the best, yet most underrated 80's Bond movie.

The plot has some twists and turns and excellently written and excellently executed. After a riveting, no-holds-barred opening sequence where his fellow double agents were murdered, Bond sets out to free a KGB officer, General Georgi Koskov (Jeroen Krabbe), a defector who unravels a top-secret Soviet plot called Operation Smiert Spionem, of whom his superior General Leonid Puskin (John Rhys-Davies) had devised. Koskov is abducted, but it turns out to be nothing but a doublecross, as it turns out he is aligned with an American arms dealer, Brad Whitaker, who wants in on Smiert Spionem, to eliminate all enemy spies including 007. Hot on their trail, Bond tags along with Koskov's Slovakian cellist girlfriend, Kara Milovy (Maryam D'Abo from TV sitcom, The Wonder Years) and together, they unravel a sophisticated weapons plot.

The Living Daylights is a strong, bold entry in the Bond series. The only true weak points are the two villains, Koskov and Whitaker. However, this film revolves around Dalton and his superb performance more than makes up for it. Dalton is true to form of to the Bond of the Ian Fleming novels, as he is uncompromising, bold, serious, ruthless and he shows a darker side to Bond, more so than Connery ever could. As professional and instinctive as he plays himself out to be, Dalton shows his softer, romantic side, paired up with Kara Milovy. Speaking of which, Maryam D'Abo is a refreshing Bond girl as well, as she does not display the toughness and or independence previous Bond girls have and in that regard, she's somewhat of an antithesis to the typical Bond girl. D'Abo, nonetheless turns in the strongest acting performance of a Bond girl. As for the storyline, it is sensible, but sophisticated and you could say the oversophistication of the plot is a flaw to the flick. But the first-rate pulse-pounding action supports the well-thought script. Noteworthy sequences are the botched Gibraltar training pre-title scene, the Austrian ski chase, and the Afghan desert battle. All in all, The Living Daylights stands out as Dalton's moment in the sun.

Another top notch blu-ray transfer with the usual package of extras. Timothy Dalton debuts as Bond in this first of two films he would do as the British secret agent.
Dalton excels as Bond. He captures both Bond's dangerous and debonair side. He does a nice job with the Bond quips. He can certainly fight. One quibble. He tries maybe a little too hard to find Bond's human side. I prefer the more unflappable performances by the likes of Connery and Moore, the two long-serving Bonds that preceded him. There is lots of action and adventure around the plot involving phony KGB defections, arms and drug dealing. The action moves from locales such as Giblratar, Vienna, Tangiers and Afghanistan. Norwegian pop-stars Aha, handles the title song. This would be John Barry's final stint as Bond composer. He scored 11 of the first 15 films, including all of the '60s classics, but for the first Bond film Doctor No, although for that film he did collaborate with Monty Norman on the famous James Bond theme, before taking over composing duties outright for the next 6 movies.
This 1987 entry, 15th in the series is top notch entertainment and is generally ranked high by hardcore Bond fans. Fans of the Ian Fleming books, will notice the nod to Fleming's title short-story as well, in the film's early going, in which Bond is assigned to take-out a KGB sniper, who threatens the defection of General Koskov. The scenario is a re-worked version of Fleming's original early '60's story.

Toujours exellent film,
Timothy Dalton, fait bien son role de James Bond. Ce film ne semble pas viellir avec le temps, tres bon scénario, comme la plupart des film de 007.
Merci Amazone!