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CBn Reviews 'The Living Daylights'
Forum members review the fifteenth James Bond film

Great reviews, everybody did a solid job (and I'm not just tooting my own horn!). It was nice to see a balance where it was possible, 'cause Lord knows that's hard to achieve for some of these.

And thanks for including me, Qwerty!

I forgot that I had written this review.

It's a 6 from me. I dunno, I guess I don't really like THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS as much as I feel I should. There are some wonderful things about it - a very welcome injection of "grit", "intelligence" (in both senses - Bond actually does some spying for once) and "Fleming"; an absolutely terrific performance by Dalton (although he's neither the Bond of Fleming, nor the sort of big screen Bond we all know and love); the last Barry score (and a bloody good one), etc. - but the film somehow feels less than the sum of its parts. It's lacking in a few areas I can't quite put my finger on, and seems curiously repetitive. Also suffers from a bit of '80s naffness around the edges (the "ghettoblaster" joke), and while his screentime may be shorter, Q-the-bringer-of-unnecessary-and-often-cringeworthy-comic-relief is every bit as intrusive here as he is in LICENCE TO KILL. (Side note: I find it odd that those who slam LTK as "not nearly gritty enough" nearly always give TLD a total pass - there's just as much letting-the-side-down "humour" in this film, if not more: see the aforementioned ghettoblaster gag, the "What kind of girl do you think I am?" sequence, the utterly silly and suspense-free ice chase.... And while LTK's inappropriate so-called audience-pleasing comedy is largely confined to the scene of Bond's first encounter with Q, TLD is peppered with it throughout.)

But don't get me wrong: I'm not a LIVING DAYLIGHTS hater. If CASINO ROYALE turns out to be.... ooh, 70% as good, I'll be delighted. It's just that I don't find Dalton's debut quite the be-all-and-end-all. For some "proper Bond" fun, I'm more likely to sit down to MOONRAKER or even A VIEW TO A KILL. No, DAYLIGHTS remains one of those flicks I admire more than actually like. Now excuse me while I flee the Bond Police.

9. Yes, TLD is my favourite Bond film, but I wouldn't give it a 10 (neither would I give any other Bond film a 10, we haven't seen the perfect one yet). I see what Loomis is saying, yes there are parts where ther film is lacking a certain something, yet I believe that this film is one of the closest we have had to a Fleming novel, only a bit more modern. Dalton is by no means my favourite Bond, yet he is perfect for this film. His portrayal of an actual spy, rather than a comical character (Moore) or a guy who spends 2 hours in front of the mirror (Brosnan) is superb. As Loomis said, we actually see Bond do some spying, and we see genuine reaction from him when things go wrong with Koskov. Dalton portrays emotion brilliantly, and TLD has my all-time favourite scene in a Bond film- the Pushkin interrogation. Absolutly awesome scene, perfectly acted out. Dalton just seems so right for this film, and (this is the first time I've admitted this) had he done more films, he probably would have been my favourite Bond. Alas, we didn't see him fulfill his potential, yet we'll always have The Living Daylights as one of the true greats of the series.

Cheers. We had a nice selection of reviews for this one from the Countdown series.

It is not one of the films I enjoy revisiting time and time again, but it is well made and probably Glen's best effort. Expensive looking but a wee bit downbeat for my tastes.

I certainly understand what you mean. I've often felt that THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS, while I've often cited it as the last "great" Bond film, isn't all that spectacular, and should have been a lot better than it was. There's quite a bit off, and you nailed some of it (the "silly" 80s humor, for instance).

It also lacks some really decent Bond villains, a great Bond girl (sorry, but Kara just isn't all that great), and a rousing finale. That finale with Whitaker has always been somewhat lame. John Glen's direction, as usual, is quite pedestrian, and it doesn't help the film at all. When films are darker and grittier, they need an edge, and Glen's direction just doesn't provide it.

But I'll be the first to admit THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS has some absolutely great moments. Bond as a sniper at Koskov's defection and Bond confronting Pushkin are two of the finer "dark" moments in the series.

On a side note, after MOONRAKER, I think the series took a downward spiral and THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS was part of it. The series really felt as if it had lost the "spark" that gave it so much life previously. It hit its rock bottom in A VIEW TO A KILL (a movie I struggle to sit through), and with the freshness of a new Bond had some life with THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS, only to follow it up with the relatively flat LICENCE TO KILL. Even not-so-good previous entries as DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER and LIVE AND LET DIE had a more life and freshness to them.

GOLDENEYE, I feel, brought back some life to the series, but only had it crushed out of it with TOMORROW NEVER DIES and THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH. DIE ANOTHER DAY, while lively, just didn't have the classy air that Bond needs. So I'm hoping for is a return to form with CASINO ROYALE.

I was in the mood to rate the film an '8' this morning. I was torn between 8 and 9, admittedly.

This was definitely one of the favourites among the series when I was putting this article together - the majority were positive reviews. The poll also definitely shows this.

I have always liked TLD and thought it one of the best in the series. I only re-watched it last night and was surprised to find that Dalton was more humorous than I seem to recall from the first time I saw the film. The only two cringe-worthy jokes I recall are the 'Salt Corrosion' and 'Safety Glass' jokes during the car chase. Otherwise, Dalton delivered a very dry, witty performance, perhaps too dry for any brought up on the later Connery and Moore's Bonds. The plot is a proper espionage story and not an 'end of the world' scenario. The film has good, if not over the top villains; again not in line with the 'traditional' Bond villain. The film has good action sequences: one of the best PTS, and the cargo net fight is one of the best on any film. My only issue is that the ending seems a little messed up. I feel the film should have ended after Bond and Kara have escaped from the plane. Bond dismisses the danger he has just escaped from and says he knows a great restaurant in Karachi to which they could just make dinner. The end credits should have rolled there as they drive off. I wonder if that’s what they intended originally. If you look at the scene where Koskov and the plane collide the explosion looks pretty fatal. Then it cuts to a shot where a relatively unscathed Koskov escapes. So Bond has to infiltrate Whittaker's headquarters. Somehow the scene between Bond and Whittaker, then the Kara concert seem sort of tacked on. This made it seem that the romance between Bond and Kara is very serious, and would have taken some explaining away in the following film. Whittaker could have returned in the next film, after all Sanchez was getting some expensive weapons from somewhere. Overall, TLD one of those Bond films which I liked when I first saw it, but I learned to appreciate it more and more with repeated viewings.

I think there's actually a lot of silliness in DAYLIGHTS, to the point where the film as it is could have worked perfectly well with Moore. And it would have been a much better final outing for Moore than A VIEW TO A KILL, while LICENCE TO KILL would have been quite suitable debut material for Dalton.

The idea that DAYLIGHTS is a splendidly gritty and hard-edged thriller is one of those enduring myths of Bond fandom.

Well Roger was a little too old for AVTAK, I don't think it would have been fair to reel him out for TLD. Some silliness? well ok the Juile T Wallace scene, the Afghan rebel who was at Oxford, the Cello escape are a little silly. Remember this is Bond not King Lear, we're supposed to have some fun.