The Living Daylights (1987)

Timothy Dalton made his 007 debut in the lean, mean mode of Sean Connery, doing away with the pun-filled camp of Roger Moore's final outings. This James Bond is ruthless, tough, and romantic. The Living Daylights, set during the thaw of the cold war, begins with the defection of Russian KGB General Koskov (Jeroen Krabb) and his revelation of a Soviet plot to eliminate Britain's secret agent force. Assigned to eliminate Koskov's Soviet boss (John Rhys-Davies), Bond uncovers a conspiracy involving Koskov and an American arms dealer (Joe Don Baker). Veteran series director John Glen's action scenes have never been better--especially the show-stopping mid-air battle on the net of a speeding cargo plane--and he returns the series to the smart, rough, high-energy adventures that made the Bond reputation. --Sean Axmaker

Amazon.com

3 stars out of 4

The Bottom Line:

This first outing by Timothy Dalton impresses on almost every level, from its hard-edged Bond to its (mostly) serious plot to its villainous villains; distinctly underrated in almost every quarter, The Living Daylights is a film worth seeking out. December 28, 2008

What happened to Timothy Dalton?

I really enjoyed this film a lot since the first time I saw it which was in high school. I recently picked it up because it was not availible in blu-ray! Bummer:( I think Dalton should been the Bond of both the 80's and 90's. I do not know if I really ever cared for Brosnan. This film was great evidence that the franchise would continue in the strongest way. I only Dalton and that beautiful Astin Martin would have lived to see another day. I miss Dalton alot because he was a terrific actor. December 24, 2008

Great Fun

Fun movie to watch a lot of action silly at times, but I really enjoyed it, if you not a Bond fan, you will still like this movie, much better than the other Bond move that Dalton was in. June 16, 2008

Third Best Bond

Dalton is the third best Bond IMO (Connery & Craig coming first). This one movie is better than the entire Roger Moore run. It's much closer to the books & Ian Fleming's original vision. The downside - it is slow moving & unnecessarily sprawling. The movie runs 2 hours 11 minutes - it could have been a tight 1 hour 45 minutes, IMO.

Small quibble. Good script, great cast, excellent score, fun action. With a more mature tone than the Moore series. Recommended, especially if you loved Casino Royale. June 5, 2008

A bad start for Dalton

"The Living Daylights" is a disappointment for several reasons. The biggest reason is the surprisingly unengaging plot. The second reason is that Timothy Dalton doesn't seem comfortable playing James Bond. He's not a bad actor but instead of making his own interpretation of the character (like he did in the next movie, "Licence To Kill") he seems to be imitating Roger Moore. The reason is most likely that the script was written with Moore in mind. Lois Maxwell was replaced by Caroline Bliss as Miss Moneypenny and she didn't seem right for the part at all.

"The Living Daylights" was not a good start for Dalton. Luckily the series did improve. February 16, 2008

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