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Perfect
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It’s bond ! James Bond
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
After Roger Moore finally decided enough was enough after 1985's 'A View To A Kill', the producers of Bond were left quite open as to who their leading man would be. Although Moore had nearly hung up his Walther PPK several times during the early 80's, and other candidates such as James Brolin had been screen tested, he always came back for more. Not this time though, which meant that the producers and writers created a story for the next film but didn't really have any idea who would play Bond! As such, The Living Daylights is seen by many as quite a formulaic because the role wasn't really tailored for anyone in particular. A younger Pierce Brosnan was nearly cast, but couldn't oblige due to contractual reasons (I wonder how different this film would have been with Brosnan in the lead...) and so the baton was passed to Welshman Timothy Dalton, someone who Cubby Broccoli had been after since OHMSS. To my mind, Dalton was an excellent choice - he approached the role with passion and wanted to bring the character back to that of the Fleming novels and away from the cartoon-esque, indestructable and tongue-in-cheek performance of Moore. I would draw a parallel with this sudden change in '87 with what has just happened with Bond, hence my review title - the series had run away with itself and gone far too fantastical (invisible cars...say no more!) and so Daniel Craig is an inspired choice to bring the series back to its roots. Unfortunately for Dalton, people were not ready for this yet. Of his two films, this one is the better one. He offers a powerful performance as Bond, echoing the cold, tarnished man that Fleming wrote about. Although the story wasn't taliored to his strengths, he makes it his own wherever he can. My only criticism is that he felt awkward delivering comedic lines written for Moore. The story itself is a testament to the times - the last days of the Cold War, the occupation of Afghanistan and a greedy arms dealer form the backdrop for this outing; the AIDS consciousness that dominated all during this time meant that 007 behaved himself and became a one-woman man. The Bond set pieces are there - a parachute jump onto the Rock of Gibraltar, a fight on the back of a Hercules transport aircraft whilst airbourne and a snazzy new Aston Martin with the usual 'optional extras'. The story is well paced and peaks at the appropriate times, and Dalton is supported by a stong cast worthy of mention. Jeroen Crabbé is well cast as the weasly defector, and the excellent John Rhys Davies, at full height in his pre-Middle Earth days, gives a solid performance as the new head of the KGB. Art Malik turns up as the very English head of the Afghan resistance, which stretches things a little, but is entertaining none the less! Hopefully people, having seen the excellent Casino Royale, may revisit the Dalton era and give him a little more credit. His films were constrained by the times and by the producers being too nervous to deviate from the formula that took them through the 70's and 80's, which was a shame as Dalton brought a little more humanity back to the role. As Bond films go, this one has it all. What makes it special for me is the performance of Dalton which brought a new take on the role and paved the way for both Brosnan and Craig.Read full review
The Living Daylights Features Timothy Dalton in his 1st role as Jmaes Bond, in another action packed edition to the hugely entertaining franchise. In this instalment of the James Bond series, Agent 007 is assigned to protect a Russian defector from the KGB. When the defection proves to be an elaborate ploy, Bond woos her anyway, and together they follow a trail to a crooked American arms dealer supplying weapons to Afghanistan. The action Scenes are Breathtaking 9/10
I have to admit I was rather let down by this 2 disk Ultimate Edition dvd. The picture quality is excellent and is an inprovement on the Special Edition release. What lets it down is the new extras, or should I say lack of extras. There are two deleated scenes which is annoying as there is a bootleg video which contains lots of footage not contained in the cinema release, so why not include this footage even if the quality isnt all that good ? There are no new commentarys either. It would have been great if Timothy Dalton had recorded one giving his insight into playing Bond. So is it worth upgrading to this release ? In my opinion the answer is no, save yourself some money and stick to your origional release especially if it contains the Sam Neil screen test footage which was removed from later pressings due to copyright infractions. Review by Dave NewRead full review
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