Project Bond: The Living Daylights

 "What's the code?

Most Appropriate, a Wolf Whistle."

 

It had been two years since the last James Bond film and big changes were afoot with the release of The Living Daylights in 1987. Replacing Roger Moore was Timothy Dalton as 007, also recast was Miss Moneypenny with Caroline Bliss taking over from Lois Maxwell. It wasn't all change as returning to the franchise was Robert Brown as M and Desmond Llewelyn as Q. Joining the cast is Maryam d'Abo as Kara Milovy, Jeroen Krabbé as General Koskov, John Rhys-Davies as General Pushkin and Art Malik art Kamran Shah.

The intro of this film starts with a different feel to previous Bond films with new ads for MGM and UA both feeling very 80's But then it's on to classic Bond with The Barrel Shot...

We find Bond on a training exercise with 002 and 004, after they parachute onto Gibraltar they have to make it to a military base while evading the soldiers on guard. The problem is there is a real assassin there who quickly dispatches 002 and 004 and it is up to 007 to stop him. After sending the killers car over a cliff Bond parachutes down to a luxury yacht where he ends up with a bikini clad beauty, still the same old Bond, then it's straight into the 80's Synth pop sound of A-ha with a fairly Mediocre Bond Theme.

Back in London Bond is given the mission to bring in a KGB defector, Bond travels to Czechoslovakia where he is to pick up the defector at a Concert Hall during an Orchestral Concert. The Russians have found out about the defection and try to assassinate him before he can escape but the assassin is the attractive blond cellist from the Orchestra (because obviously).

After escaping to the west General Koskov explains another Soviet General, General Pushkin, is reviving an old KGB policy to kill all spies, however before he can give any more info he is kidnapped (presumably by the Russians).

There are twists and turns, double crosses and triple crosses. Bond doesn't know who to believe and who he can trust. He ends up in Russian controlled Afghanistan with the help of The Mujhadeen disrupting a a drug deal between the Russians and Afghan Druglords.

I don't have fond memories of The Living Daylights growing up, I think it was because I was too young to see it when it came out at the pictures and by the time it was on telly I had already seen the Connery and Moore films several times and preferred them. The problem with The Living Daylights is that it seems like a Bond paint by numbers, it's not bad ( I actually really enjoyed it watching it back) but it just feels like a knock off Bond Film. Timothy Dalton although definitely has the right look and is a great actor he just doesn't have the rugged charisma of Sean Connery or the likeable humour of Roger Moore so comes across as quite generic. Maryam d'Abo, although beautiful is a fairly forgettable Bond Girl, as with Dalton she was not bad just not very memorable.

The highlights for me were the supporting cast, Joroen Krabbé chews the scenery when ever he is on screen and John Rhys-Davies is great (as always) and it would have been good to see him return as a regular adversary/ally to Bond. Art Malik is also great as Kamran Shah, the leader of the Mujhadeen, I'm pretty sure the Mujhadeen would eventually become the Taliban in real life so thats some strange heroes to have. We would only have to wait another 2 years before we got another chance to see Dalton as 007, would the next film cement his place as James Bond, we will have to wait and see...

Project Bond will return with Licence to Kill.

Well, that's all for now.

S

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