Day 15 - The Living Daylights (1987) - Film Review

Starring: Timothy Dalton, Maryam d'Abo, Jeroen Krabbe & Joe Don Baker

Screenplay: Richard Maibaum & Michael G. Wilson

Directed By: John Glen

Certificate: PG

After getting arguably every ounce of mileage possible out of Roger Moore, Day 15 brings us to another reset with Timothy Dalton taking up the mantle of Bond. With the help of 007, a KGB General has successfully defected to the West. His reasoning lies with the fact that one General Leonid Pushkin has revived the KGB's old policy of Smiert Spionam - death to spies. MI6 agents are being targeted under the new rules, and weakening the new détente between the Soviet Union and the West. Bond is tasked with dispatching General Pushkin to prevent any further agents from being killed first, but might British intelligence be being duped?

Before talking about the film proper, I should probably admit that I had quite a bit of bias going into this one. Although this was my first time watching the film, there were a couple of things I knew about it that already put it at an advantage. Firstly, I knew the eponymous theme song as performed by a A-ha pretty well. Remember back when I said that I had three all-time favourite Bond themes? Well 'The Living Daylights' is the second of those three. I adore this song. It builds on the shift towards a more upbeat pop sound from the last theme and is ridiculously catchy. It might be the most atypical Bond theme and it sadly doesn't tend to get a lot of love. But it's so smooth and encapsulates the best of 80s sound. Also, I of course knew that this was Timothy Dalton's first Bond film and while I hadn't yet seen him in the role before, Dalton might be my favourite actor to play Bond. I know him best for his turn as Simon Skinner in 'Hot Fuzz' and if there's anything that's clear from his performance there, when he gets a role that he likes he thoroughly commits to it. I'd also say he has possibly the most intensive demeanour of all the Bond actors, so I was really keen to see what he would bring to the series.

So how does Dalton get on? Well he absolutely impressed me, and after the oft-criticized silliness of the Moore films, I think he was the perfect choice to follow him up. This Bond feels like the most dangerous and rough-cut yet, and I'm not sure whether that's solely due to Dalton himself or a shift in tone from the screenwriters and director. Either way it works. There's a dark side to this Bond and an anger in his eyes - it honestly surprised me during the fairground sequence when Bond accidentally pulls his gun out on an innocent child. Even though Dalton seems to have undergone a reappraisal in recent years, the most common complaint about him sees to be that he plays the role too seriously and is humourless, which... while I don't agree I can see where someone might be coming from with that. Initially I felt the same kind of way, but around the fifty minute mark Bond and Kara escape a bunch of armed guards by crossing the border into Austria. Not only do they sled their way across in a cello case, but he holds up the cello to the border guards and zips past them shouting that that's all they have to declare. It's one my favourite bits from a Bond film so far, and it's where I could click my fingers and says: that's James Bond right there. Something else Dalton is fantastic with is the action sequences. In line with his revised demeanour, the fights feel rough and deadly again, and have a noticeable freshness to them now a much younger actor is helming them. I've complained about some arbitrary and drawn-out ski chase sequences in some of the recent films, but here Bond's making a getaway on a frigging cello case - I can't ask for better really can I?

It's not just a new lead actor that leaves 'The Living Daylights' feeling like such a breakaway. Throughout you can feel the filmmakers doing their best to keep Bond as modern and up to date as possible. It's there in the score which is probably one of the strongest of the series, taking a leaf from the main theme and spicing itself up to incorporate a more contemporary sound. Even the ever-reliable Desmond Llewellyn as the loveable Q is testing out a grenade launcher disguised as a boom box which he calls a "ghetto blaster". MI6 also gets its biggest shake-up since the passing of Bernard Lee as M, with Ms Moneypenny being recast after consistently being played by Lois Maxwell right from Day 1. It's not necessarily the push to modernity that I anticipate in a couple of days when we get round to the Pierce Brosnan era, but credit where it's due for recognizing that Bond does need updating if the series is to remain relevant with audiences.

As for any other aspects of the film, there was very little that let the side down as far as I could see. I initially thought that we might've been in for another megalomaniacal villain out to trigger nuclear war between the West and East. But while Cold War politics provide the backbone of 'The Living Daylights', it's constantly fresh and engaging. It's the more grounded, less exaggerated approach to a Bond villain too, or should I say villains since the film gives us three working together to make a profit. There's Koskov, the KGB agent Bond rescues in the opening, who turns out to be double crossing both the British and the Russians. There's Brad Whitaker, an American arms dealer with a misguided grandiose vision of himself as a warlord. And there's Necros, the henchman of the group and the muscular, physical threat to Bond. On their own these three wouldn't cut much of an impression but they're a great unit together, and the climactic firefight at the Afghan base is one hell of a spectacle. Maryam d'Abo was also a pleasant surprise as Kara - she's incredibly likeable in the role and certainly one of the more engaging Bond girls of the series. There's a genuine affection for each other struck up between Bond and Kara, and I always welcome seeing Bond start to care for someone before going straight for the hanky-panky. 

So what's the overall verdict on 'The Living Daylights'? Well maybe I have poor taste and shoot me down if you want, but I honestly think it's my favourite Bond film so far. I had an inkling that at the very least I would like this one, but it surpassed pretty much every expectation I had of it. Timothy Dalton as Bond does it for me, and so does the bulk of everything else in here. It's not perfect but it's a damn good time all the same. After a couple of misfires, the last two films would appear to suggest that we're back on track so let's keep it up as we head into 'Licence To Kill'.

8/10

NEXT TIME - Licence To Kill