408 replies to this topic

[Righty007]

I've probably already said this here but I love Licence to Kill and it's in my top 5 favorite Bond films.

[Mr_Wint]

No offence but I think that says more about your own expectations of what a Bond film should be than it does anything else. I don't find this film remotely boring, yet GE (for instance) really is tedious IMO -despite it having more and bigger action scenes. Personally, I don't equate pacing with action (which possibly you do) but rather plot momentum which (unusually for a Bond film) LTK has plenty of - this has nothing to do with how strong the story is (which admittedly is fairly routine here) but how events unfold. Of course it's all a matter of personal taste but my point is that in LTK the action is dictated by the plot and not (as it is in most Bond movies) the other way round. I think your comments about Lewis Gilbert are pretty strange, considering two of his three Bond films (YOLT & MR) are two of the worst structured and ill-disciplined films of the entire series.

I know what pace is, but thanks anyway.

You are completely true that I have certain expectations when it comes to a Bondfilm, and LTK is sadly not even remotely close. I consider films like YOLT/MR to be true masterpieces compared to LTK, so my comment about Gilbert isn't strange at all (again, I'm using my own expectations).

Integrating exciting action with the narrative is always a challenge, but in LTK they solved that problem by simply removing the exciting action. I dont know what you are talking about when you say that the action is dictated by the plot. Maybe you mean the fight scene at the Barrelhead Bar. But that one is rather pointless since its just confusing why Bond needs Pam Bouvier in the first place.

[Mister E]

No offence but I think that says more about your own expectations of what a Bond film should be than it does anything else. I don't find this film remotely boring, yet GE (for instance) really is tedious IMO -despite it having more and bigger action scenes. Personally, I don't equate pacing with action (which possibly you do) but rather plot momentum which (unusually for a Bond film) LTK has plenty of - this has nothing to do with how strong the story is (which admittedly is fairly routine here) but how events unfold. Of course it's all a matter of personal taste but my point is that in LTK the action is dictated by the plot and not (as it is in most Bond movies) the other way round. I think your comments about Lewis Gilbert are pretty strange, considering two of his three Bond films (YOLT & MR) are two of the worst structured and ill-disciplined films of the entire series.

I think LTK's excecution and pacing is pretty tedious. Bond is not given much to do and can get pretty boring watching the film. The writers wanted to make realistic Fleming Bond film, but instead they just watered down the LIVE and LET DIE novel film by removing the spectacle and giving us nothing in return. Also the biggest problem Bond far was letting everyone else have time to play expect Bond who felt like a stiff even in the casino scene.

[goose007]

The Living Daylights!!! Without a doubt!!!

[double o ego]

^ Seconded.

[Orion]

Licence To Kill. I prefer the tone and style, i feel it works because its very different to what came before it.

[Sir David Niven]

I would definitely have to go with TLD -- which is closer to a 'real' film than many other Bondfilms. I have no affection whatsoever for LTK. Too much of it seems like a bad riff on Miami Vice. Bond should set trends, not follow them.

[Judo chop]

LTK makes me sad. Makes me want to get outside and play. Makes me curl up into the fetal position shivering at the thought that nobody in this world or the next loves me.

[Mister E]

LTK makes me sad. Makes me want to get outside and play. Makes me curl up into the fetal position shivering at the thought that nobody in this world or the next loves me.

Whenever you feel that way, you know who to turn to ...........















......someone else.

[Publius]

LTK makes me sad. Makes me want to get outside and play. Makes me curl up into the fetal position shivering at the thought that nobody in this world or the next loves me.

It has a strangely uplifting effect on me. A lot like A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS in that regard.

[DaveBond21]

I voted for THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS, but I'm a fan of both

Me too.

TLD - love the plot, the locations, Tim as Bond, the car chase & cello ride, Vienna, and the cargo net on the back of the plane fight.



LTK - great villian, sexy Bond girls, love the way Bond destroys Sanchez's organisation from within. Great ending.

[Major D.Smythe]

Licence To Kill, my #1 Bond film.

[5thstreet]

Great films! Both of them. I think with LTK Timothy Dalton was before his time....

[Jose]

Hmm. Hard to really decide. I like both. But if I really really had to choose, I'd go with The Living Daylights. Licence to Kill is great but there's something about TLD that's better. Both are great movies though. Some of the characters in Licence were just awkward (for me anyway).

[Mr.Stamper]

It will have to be the living daylights classic film.

[Ellis Quarterman]

Has to be TLD - fave bond, fave bond film, fave film ever actually

[sthgilyadgnivileht]

You see, this is the funny thing. I'd say LTK is a much better paced movie than TLD (in fact it's one of the tightest and leanest of the entire series); sure it lacks the big action set-pieces normally associated with the Bond films but not a single second is wasted; everything that happens is fully in service of advancing the plot (unlike say, the car chase in the preceding film which is there entirely for it's own sake and only because we're an hour in and it's about time we got a few explosions etc).

I wouldn't call LTK "paced" at all. The plot (or whatever we should call it) is moving forward extremely slow. The scenes in Key West seems to go on forever, forever and forever... and when they go to "Isthmus" we enter a new eternity. When Sanchez finally holds his speech for the druglords you have to start using all kind of tricks to stay awake.

But I dont blame Glen for this. There was a true lack of inventive ideas from the writers and simply not enough story to tell for a film this long. I mean, imagine what would've happened if Lewis Gilbert ever got this script in his hand... he would've film the first 50 pages in one take.

I think you are right about the pace and ideas but I think it would be more apt to say writer than writers! I don't think Maibaum had much script input at all (owing to the Writers Guild strike) and I think LTK suffers because of it. To me the script lacks all the hallmarks of Maibaum - its just not well constructed enough somehow.

[Ultraussie (Jordan.adams)]

License To Kill.

[DR76]

THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS, of course. I saw the movie five times. It's one of my favorite Bond films.

[NecroVMX]

I don't even have to think about it...The Living Daylights. Not that I find anything wrong with Liscence To Kill, but TLD was the first Bond movie I ever saw and therefore has that nostalgic factor.

[Jake007]

I know on my profile it says LTK, but my favorite Dalton film is TLD.

[Quincy]

LTK for me.

[bondrules]

TLD

[Willowhugger]

Share your theories on what you liked and didn't like.

[Safari Suit]

I've always felt that TLD was the "transitional" film and that LTK was the start of the Dalton era proper. Unfortunately it started almost as soon as it finished.

[Vanish]

As far as The Living Daylights is concerned, I really like Dalton's performance, the music, the locations, and the return to more intricate spy stuff. I didn't care for the villains or the occasionally languid pacing, though.

With License to Kill, I really liked the relatively dark approach, Robert Davi as Sanchez, Michael Kamen's unique score, Dalton's focused performance, and the palpable sense of danger created by the nature of the storyline. LTK also is more satisfying in the Bond girl department.

I really enjoy both films though. Ultimately I'd give LTK the edge, but it's close.

[jaguar007]

TLD is one of my favorite Bond films, much of that is due to Dalton's performance, the opening Czhec. Republic scene and Bond's encounter with Pushkin in the hotel room. A couple of the best scenes in the entire series.

[Turn]

There's a lot of give-and-take in these films in comparing them.

IMO:
TLD - Better teaser sequence, main girl, supporting characters, locations, storyline, gadgets, music.

LTK - Better villains, climax/showdown, "Bond, James Bond", Felix Leiter.

Other aspects are more of a toss-up: both have good action and fights, Binder credits are pretty much equal, etc.

I still like TLD somewhat better, maybe because of the debut of a new, more Fleming-like Bond and the excitement of the 25th anniversary. But I still like LTK a lot, too, so it's a fun comparison.

[HH007]

I love both movies and I go back and forth on which one I like better. I love the very "Bondian" plot of TLD, yet I also love the darker, rather "un-Bondian" plot of LTK. LTK had a much more memorable villain and hotter Bond girls, that's for sure, but I have to be in a certain frame of mind to enjoy it, whereas TLD I can watch just about any time. So I give the edge to TLD.

[Nicolas Suszczyk]

I prefer Licence to Kill because it has a better villain and better action scenes. The plot is a bit MiamiVice-esque, but I stay with Licence to Kill anyway.