7 replies to this topic

[manfromjapan]

LICENCE TO KILL (John Glen, 1989)
Probably the most under-rated (and violent) Bond film, Timothy Dalton's second and final outing as 007 harks back to Fleming with it's mean-spirited and ruthless presentation of the character, but ditches the humour and much of the glamour casual fans have come to expect. The result is an adventure that feels more authentic, exciting and compelling, with a Bond that bleeds, swears and makes costly mistakes, over 15 years before Daniel Craig played it the same way. Bond is hunting a Latin American druglord (Robert Davi, one of the best villains) who has maimed his best friend Felix Leiter (David Hedison reprising his role from LIVE AND LET DIE), and in the process has his licence to kill taken away (ironic for a film called LICENCE TO KILL - the working title was actually 'Licence Revoked'). The appearance of Desmond Llewelyn's 'Q' late in the film brings some much needed humour, although some believe he kills the mood. The tanker chase finale is one of the action highlights of the series.

[DaveBond21]

That is quite a good review. I am a fan of LTK. I think it helps that I didn't watch 80's cop shows or 80s or 90s drugs n cops movies.

I love the way Bond destroys Sanchez's organisation slowly from within, planting seeds of doubt in his mind, in a Shakespearian way.

[sharpshooter]

That is a good review there, manfromjapan.

Licence To Kill is one of my very top favourite Bond films. Great villains, good plot, Dalton giving a great performance oozing Fleming's Bond, and an overall dark nature and hard violence.

[Rene Mathis]

That is a good review there, manfromjapan.

Licence To Kill is one of my very top favourite Bond films. Great villains, good plot, Dalton giving a great performance oozing Fleming's Bond, and an overall dark nature and hard violence.

I agree with all those, but the film is such a cheap nasty looking thing, for the first time in the series the motto of 'put the money on the screen' failed, there was no money for this movie, and it shows big time.
To me, no matter how good some of its parts are, its just not a Bond film, although the tanker chase at the end is excellent.

[Turn]

I agree with all those, but the film is such a cheap nasty looking thing, for the first time in the series the motto of 'put the money on the screen' failed, there was no money for this movie, and it shows big time.
To me, no matter how good some of its parts are, its just not a Bond film, although the tanker chase at the end is excellent.

I could never understand why people have a problem with the LTK's production. It wasn't meant to be a glamorous mission and that was reflected in the surroundings. The film was more focused on Bond and his attempt for revenge than "look at the beautiful location."

Compare LTK to the precredits of TWINE where Bond is in Bilbao Spain to recover King's money from a Swiss banker. They intentionally show the Guggenheim Museum even if it makes no sense for Bond to be dealing with a Swiss banker in Spain. Is TWINE a better film just because they squeezed in an exotic locale? Same with the skiing scene in the same film. Often scenes with exotic locales can distract from weak stories.

I wasn't bothered by LTK's supposed lack of exotic locations because I was too busy watching Dalton and enjoying the story to worry about locations. Same with CR which didn't necessarily feature incredible locations. Different strokes, I guess.

[Rene Mathis]

I agree with all those, but the film is such a cheap nasty looking thing, for the first time in the series the motto of 'put the money on the screen' failed, there was no money for this movie, and it shows big time.
To me, no matter how good some of its parts are, its just not a Bond film, although the tanker chase at the end is excellent.

I could never understand why people have a problem with the LTK's production. It wasn't meant to be a glamorous mission and that was reflected in the surroundings. The film was more focused on Bond and his attempt for revenge than "look at the beautiful location."

I wasn't bothered by LTK's supposed lack of exotic locations because I was too busy watching Dalton and enjoying the story to worry about locations. Same with CR which didn't necessarily feature incredible locations. Different strokes, I guess.

I think its more of a case of 'We have no money for this film, lets make a more focused bond on his attempt for revenge etc' Peter Lamont kinda confirms this on the Inside LTK dvd when he recalls a discussion with Cubby that went kinda like -
'I think you're mad for filming in Mexico etc, its not up to scratch' to which Cubby replied 'Well if we dont film the picture there we dont film the picture at all'
As to the exotic locations, thats a major reason that sets the Bond films apart from the rest of em, any film can have great characters and stories, but Bond films need to have a certain style, globetrotting feel.
As for Casino Royale I thought the locations were incredible and used stunningly, but that may be because we've recently suffered through TWINE and DAD filmed on soundstages.

[ACE]

The result is an adventure that feels more authentic, exciting and compelling, with a Bond that bleeds, swears and makes costly mistakes, over 15 years before Daniel Craig played it the same way.

Stimmt, klopt, right! Dalton DNA is in Dan.

(Robert Davi, one of the best villains)

Agree. Second to Goldfinger IMO. Well-written and played with sincerity by Robert Davi. Wish some of his background from the Gardner novel had been included.

Good observations, mfj.

[onlyone007]

Re: the exotic locations complaints

They are completely valid, the Siskel and Ebert video review for LTK I saw a little while ago touches on this at the end as Siskel questions the film's lack of traditional Bond style and Ebert basically counters that the sets are great but that there really aren't any location establishing shots which is completely true. I'm not sure if this is because of the budget or the fact that they weren't allowed to use them by Mexico or what. Glen really should just add some extra shots for a director's cut, give the LTK detractors that "Bond atmosphere" they want, not that EON would actually let him or anything but one can imagine.