All change again in Bond land. Roger Moore got his bus pass and Timothy Dalton has been hired to take over as James Bond, the fourth actor to play the role.

Bond is sent to help a KGB defector, Georgi Koskov, offering his services as a counter-sniper to aid his escape. However, shortly after coming to the UK Koskov is then re-kidnapped, presumably by the KGB. Bond then investigates and the plot thickens.

It is hard to believe that we are looking at a piece of work from the same director as Octopussy and A View to a Kill. The Living Daylights is a gritty thriller, with a Bond-spin, and it works.

Dalton is moodier than Moore and while Moore’s don’t-give-a-shit charm will be missed, his replacement provides a much needed breath of fresh air to this now stuffy franchise.

This is a rare entry into the catalogue that manages to balance realism and silliness to good effect. The gags and gadgets are still there, but Glen doesn’t linger on them. He makes a joke then cuts right through it with action.

The jokes are still just as stupid, but the quick-fire blink-and-you’ll-miss-it pace makes the film witty rather than smug.

This is the first time in a decade a Bond film has made an effort to get the audience interested in its actual story. It’s tense, genuinely intriguing and easy to follow without being hackneyed and simplistic.

The way the characters are woven into the plot feels natural, it’s a well written script. At no point do we feel like there are throwaway lines or extraneous characters, and everything happens for a reason.

The performances are on-point. Dalton lacks the glint in his eye that Moore had, but makes up for it by acting like an actual spy. He seems to be able to blend in when he needs to and unlike Moore actually tries to get the job done as quickly as possible.

Maryam D’Abo plays Kara Milovy, the ex-girlfriend of the defector. She’s alluring, funny and smart. The two (her and Dalton) have an on-screen chemistry that again has been sorely missed in the last few films. They have a brief fling in Vienna that’s enjoyable rather than creepy.

It’s worth mentioning that Bond befriends her and gains her trust by making her think he’s friends with Koskov. This is a cold new angle to the character we haven’t seen before. It serves as a gentle reminder that he’s a dangerous person, and not always the good guy.

Let’s put the brakes on all the praise for a second, The Living Daylights isn’t a perfect film. The soundtrack is less annoying than A View to a Kill but the synthesizers, probably cool at the time, only serve to age the film now.

The real weak point lies with the villains. There are plenty of bad people doing bad things but at no point do we really think they are posing any threat. There’s a blond Nazi guy with exploding milk bottles, a fat general in a fake army and a less fat general in the same fake army.

Sadly this is probably why this film won’t make many top-5 lists. It’s a thrill ride but it doesn’t quite do enough to make a lasting impression.

It would be a crime not to mention the stand-out cinematography in the film. It’s not particularly consistent, but there are some truly magnificent scenes in the desert, amongst others. Not to sound like a broken record but this is yet another aspect we haven’t seen since the Connery days.

The Living Daylights is, to all extents, a return to form for the Bond series. For whatever reason it has failed to make a historical impact and is seldom mentioned in discussions about Bond. However, it deserves re-visiting; it’s a fresh, original entry in the series and is gripping from end-to-end.

http://benoliver999.com/film/2015/07/26/thelivingdaylights/

Great entry into the series and wonderful debut for Dalton who was charming, and for me far and away better than any of Roger Moore's movies (though found some of his to be entertaining enough). Not all that fond of this theme song but still catchy enough I suppose. Also features some great aerial stuntwork. **3.75/5**

See ya Moore and hello new Bond.

So after that terrible mess known as "A view to a kill", which I didn't like at all. Actually I thought that movie sucked. If you want to know what I truly thought of that film then check out my review of it. So Roger Moore is out and now we got a new Bond.

Timothy Dalton (in my opinion) has to be the most charming, bad-ass, and the by far the best Bond since Connery. He wasn't mean or a A-hole like Moore was, but was a Simpy man saving the day.

The action scenes in this movie was so impressing and so well shot. I couldn't guess what was visual effect's or green screen in some scenes.

The villain of the film was just the basic evil guy doing evil stuff to make Bond blink twice. Yeah the villain wasn't anything great. The Bond chick in the film that I can't even remember her name, but she was so useless and to be honest got in the way in a lot of things. Now normally who will get some cool Bond girl in the past films and some in the new ones, but this one got on my nervous.

Overall rating: 'The Living Daylights' is a big improvement from "A view to a kill" if I must say, but it isn't the best Bond film I've seen. But I won't lie, it was a lot of fun to watch.

Solid Bond film with Timothy Dalton taking over as 007

"The Living Daylights" was the first of two James Bond films featuring Timothy Dalton as 007. It's a solid Bond flick, but rarely cited when the best films of the franchise are discussed. The "problem" isn't Dalton because he makes a fine James Bond and was what the series needed in 1987 (when the film was released). Although the Roger Moore era (1973-1985) is my favorite stretch of the franchise, mainly because they're so all-around entertaining, Roger was just too old in 1987 to continue in the role (he was 60 years-old). Plus I think everyone was craving a more serious Bond by 1987 and Dalton delivers the goods.

There’s a lot of good in "The Living Daylights." It features a great opening sequence involving skydiving at the Rock of Gibraltar followed by a Jeep-going-down-the-mountain segment. The events switch to Bratislava, Slovakia (but shot in Vienna, Austria) where everything slows down to dramatic intrigue. A short while later there's a cool winter chase episode with Bond and his romantic interest (Maryam d'Abo) in a car with skis (also shot in Austria).

The action-packed last act takes place in Afghanistan (but shot in Morocco and the Mojave Desert). This part of the movie increases in suspense as James and his babe try to get out of the country on a cargo plane, and the film still doesn't end at that point. This climax features three or four excellent suspense scenes and some funny quips as well.

Unfortunately, the film is weak in the area of women. D'Abo is decent in a doe-eyed, winsome way, but her presence is never really capitalized on; she looks good in slacks though. Other than her, there are only brief flashes of women with no one particularly standing out, except maybe a blonde in white shorts.

The cast also includes Joe Don Baker, Jeroen Krabbé, John Rhys-Davies and Andreas Wisniewski, mostly villains or possible villains.

BOTTOM LINE: Although "The Living Daylights" is not a highlight of the series, it's still a worthwhile Bond flick with the usual staples, albeit shaky in the female department. Aside from Timothy Dalton, who makes a refreshing Bond, the opening and ending sequences are the best parts.

The film runs 2 hours, 10 minutes.

GRADE: B-

So Roger Moore has handed the baton of Ian Fleming's "007" to Timothy Dalton and this first outing is not at all bad. The story is, perhaps, not the best but this is still an action packed adventure with loads of pyrotechnics and daft gadgets that really does move along swiftly for over two hours. "Bond" is assigned to aid would-be defector "Gen. Koskov" (Jeroen Krabbé) from Berlin, along the way encountering the lethal cellist "Kara" (Maryam d'Abo). A bit of fun with the no-nonsense Julie T. Wallace, a Harrier jump jet and and soon-to-be-trashed English stately home set a scene for the ensuing narrative that mixes perilous international espionage with glamour and plenty of entertainment. Blonde baddie Andreas Wisniewski must have done wonders for the sales of 501s, hammily megalomanic arms dealer Joe Don Baker likewise for the sale of toy soldiers and Desmond Llewelyn continues to provide our hero with plenty of imaginatively designed toys to help him escape from certain death! Art Malik is maybe not the most convincing as an Afghan freedom fighter, and I missed Lois Maxwell's few scenes as the love-struck "Moneypenny", but otherwise this is a thoroughly enjoyable piece of good-humoured and pacily directed cold war bravado. It does look better on a big screen - some of the cinematography, especially the aerial photography - lends itself well to a bigger screen and a bit of A-ha at the beginning sets it all off nicely. Not the best of the franchise, but it augers well for this new incarnation.