For months now, I’ve wanted to come back to Bond. For other than the two people who have been reading my column since its inception, there was a time that my column completely revolved around the Bond Franchise, chronicling its history right up to where Roger Moore left the role. Since that time, I’ve wanted to return to writing about the series, but the time has never seemed right. Now, with a new Bond on the horizon, no time could be better. No doubt my 007 obsession is about to sneak up on me once more, and I’ll be having death for breakfast in no time.
One of the things that I love so much about this franchise is its tendency to go in cycles. After Sean Connery left the role of Bond in 1967, his successor George Lazenby, suffered from simply not being Sean Connery. Looking back on Lazenby’s effort, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, the film is absolutely one of the best of the series, preferring low key heroics to epic set pieces and tons of gadgets. Yet Connery’s popularity was simply too much to overcome and the newcomer was ousted after one attempt at the role.
Nearly twenty years later, a new generation of fans that had grown up with Roger Moore as Ian Fleming’s globetrotting hero, and now he was leaving as well. A new 007 would not only have to measure up to the legacy of not only one great Bond, but two. The search for the new Bond was as intense as it was in the late 60’s, as numerous candidates were tried out, including Sam Neill, who had wowed all of the 007 production team, except Executive Producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, who had the final word.
The search continued until Timothy Dalton was chosen for the part. Dalton had actually been a candidate when Connery left the role in 1967, but felt he was too young for the part at the time. Now older and wiser, Dalton felt he was ready, but when the shooting schedule of the film Brenda Starr ran long, the actor would have to drop out once more. The search would continue.
Finally, it was announced that Pierce Brosnan would take over the role from Roger Moore, as his run on Remington Steele was coming to a close. Only when fans found out that Brosnan had been tapped for the coveted role, ratings for Steele went through the roof. NBC called for five more episodes of the show, and cost Brosnan his shot at 007’s tuxedo for the time being. With the next Bond entry being delayed further, Timothy Dalton had enough time to finally become everyone’s favorite spy. In 1987, The Living Daylights premiered and the next chapter of the Bond Saga was born.
The Living Daylights Starring Timothy Dalton, Maryam d’Abo, Jeroen Krabbé, Joe Don Baker, and John Rhys-Davies. Directed by John Glenn.
The world of The Living Daylights was a different place than it ever had been for Ian Fleming’s hero. The Cold War was coming to a close, and with it was fading a driving force that had been a key element to many Bond entries, including great ones such as From Russia With Love, You Only Live Twice, and The Spy Who Loved Me. The USSR of The Living Daylights is a land in turmoil, with power hungry men trying to desperately vie for influence.
At the heart of this chaos is General Georgi Koskov (Jeroen Krabbé), a Soviet turncoat working to get the British to assassinate KGB head General Pushkin (John Rhys-Davies). Koskov claims that Pushkin has reinstituted SMERSH, a Soviet organization determined to eliminate all enemy spies. Also, an arms dealer name Brad Whitaker (Joe Don Baker), a madman who sees himself as a new Napoleon, is also involved behind the scenes, and could be supplying the Russians with supplies and information to complete their mission.
In order to be able to survive all this chaos, Bond would have to adapt. Timothy Dalton knew that the heroics of previous Bonds would have to change in order for him to become 007. Dalton felt that the super-heroics of previous 007’s would make it too hard for audiences to identify with the character, and that he would go back to the Fleming novels for inspiration.
Unfortunately for Dalton, when he took the role of Bond, the series was in flux. When the script for The Living Daylights was being developed, no one was sure who exactly would play 007, so apparently writers took much of their inspiration from the template of Roger Moore’s previous Bond films. Many sequences include tongue in cheek humor, such as a ridiculous chase involving 007 and the film’s Bond Girl Kara Milovy (Maryam d’Abo). The duo ride a cello case down a hillside while Soviet forces try to take them down, which is completely absurd, but when Moore was Bond, this would have been a sequence the actor would have thrived in. Moore’s “wink wink” approach to the character was electrifying and fun, but with Dalton’s dour 007 the sequence doesn’t mesh as well with what the actor wanted to accomplish.
Where Dalton does excel is in many of the film’s numerous action sequences, especially a climactic Afghanistan desert showdown. The return of Bond’s Aston Martin is also a reason to rejoice, as a chase involving the car is fun while it lasts. Dalton is able to bring more gravity to the role, which is also reflected in his being with only one woman for the majority of the film, as the “safe sex” mantra of the late 80’s was even starting to peek through the fantasy world of 007. Too bad the film’s script was unable to really suit the harder Bond that Dalton wanted to create.
It doesn’t help that the villains this time around leave a lot to be desired. In 1995’s Goldeneye Joe Don Baker would be cast as the jokey CIA Agent Jack Wade, which would suit the acto’s abilities much more than the campy Whitaker. He comes off more as a buffoon than a menacing heavy who could actually challenge Bond. Much better is his henchman; Necros (Andreas Wisniewski), who is able to make a formidable physical opponent for our hero, even as all of the film’s other heavies are less than impressive.
These schizophrenic internal problems with the film lead to mediocre box office, especially in the United States. Lukewarm critical reception also forced film makers to make a real attempt to take Bond in a different direction for his next adventure. Going with Dalton’s direction for 007, MI6’s greatest hero would go on his most personal and serious adventure in decades.
License to Kill Starring Timothy Dalton, Carey Lowell, Robert Davi, Talisa Soto, David Hedison, Wayne Newton, and Benicio Del Toro. Directed by John Glen
Of all of Bond’s adventures, perhaps the one that comes closest to actual reality is License to Kill. Timothy Dalton’s take on Bond gets the full spotlight here, he’s cool and violent, reminding me of Connery’s Bond in Dr. No in the moment where he coldly eliminates Anthony Dawson’s Professor Dent. Bond’s mission this time out isn’t even for the British government. For the first time, Bond is an agent on the run, with no country backing him.
Foremost, License to Kill can be considered the franchise’ first Revenge movie. When Drug Kingpin Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi) feeds long time Bond ally and CIA Agent Felix Leiter (David Hedison) to hungry sharks, Bond goes for vengeance. Problem is, the British have no jurisdiction in South and Latin America, so Bond goes off the grid to try and take down his foe. Helped by the CIA’s Pam Bouvier (Carey Lowell), Bond utilizes subterfuge and cunning to get close to Sanchez and make him destroy his own organization from within.
License to Kill is a bit of a paradox. You can see the intentions of the movie’s film makers and star throughout the picture, trying desperately to return to the roots of Ian Fleming stark novels. This allows for a tighter production, as the film features less passages of boisterous comedy and plays to Timothy Dalton’s strength as a more serious actor. The film’s villain does not aim for the impossibility of world domination, instead opting for the riches and power he can attain by running a drug cartel.
Both Dalton and Davi are pretty respectable in these roles, as each brings a level of ruthlessness that had perhaps never been reached in the 007 franchise before. In fact, some footage from the film had to be excised so the film would not receive an “R” rating, which is a first for the series. Sanchez is seen actually whipping his cheating girlfriend in one scene, and kills many of his own henchmen in horrible ways. Benicio Del Toro’s Dario is an equally sadistic subordinate to Davi’s Sanchez makes quite an impression on screen. These are not your typical Bond villains, as they seem to be over the top in the ways that they harm people instead of for their outrageous schemes or locations.
On the DVD for the film, Producer Michael G. Wilson likens License to Kill to Yojimbo as Bond rides into town and fools the villain into killing many of his associates. Dalton’s Bond does have a darkness that the character has never possessed on screen, as he takes vengeance for his comrade by feeding a turncoat to the very same sharks and also sets another villain on fire. Perhaps this darkness alienated audiences though, as Dalton again failed in his attempt to replace Roger Moore as 007 in the public’s eye.
The film’s only humor seems to come from supporting roles as Desmond Llewelyn Q returns in a larger role, as well as Wayne Newton making his 007 debut as a scheming Televangelist working for Sanchez. Llewelyn even gets to have fun with getting into some costumes, as his big fake mustache is guffaw worthy at times. Each actor gets the film’s few laughs as Dalton does what he can in the film to cut down on the one-liners.
When Bond Producers released On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and For Your Eyes Only in 1969 and 1981 each was a response to a need from fans to see smaller, more personal adventures from 007 after the grandiose epics of You Only Live Twice and Moonraker. While each film considered perhaps better entries than their big budget predecessors, neither was able to elicit huge box office either. License to Kill can firmly be put in the same category, as it failed miserably to find an audience. On the other hand, like On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and For Your Eyes Only the film’s reputation seems to grow further with each year.
The film’s locations were apparently an omen to the movie’s box office failure, as the crew experienced several unexplained accidents. One featured a rocket that went astray and hit a local worker two miles away from where they were filming. Another instance had Dalton himself nearly getting in an auto accident. Even Cubby Broccoli himself had to leave the set, as the thin Mexican air made him deathly ill.
Whether it failed to be a smash, it’s hard to argue that the film didn’t accomplish what it set out to do. License to Kill features more real world situations and adventure. Everything from the film’s villains to its Mexican locations are millions of miles away from the over the top backdrops of The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, and Goldfinger. Unfortunately, it may be this real world association which caused fans to turn on License to Kill, as it didn’t provide the escape that they could get from other films in the same Summer, such as Batman and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. No matter what the reason, License to Kill left the series at its lowest point, with no direction and no star, as Timothy Dalton left the series.
The Timothy Dalton era is often looked at as the dark portion of the Bond Franchise. Perhaps even worse than George Lazenby, who is largely just forgotten, Dalton is looked upon as the worst of the 007’s. Perhaps it’s unfair to look at him this way, as he did try to change the character and came along in a complicated time. Now, as Daniel Craig is about to take the role away from the third actor to have a long running tenure as 007 in Pierce Brosnan, will he be denied as Lazenby and Dalton were before him? Time will be the only way to tell whether Craig will join the ranks of Connery, Moore and Brosnan as the beloved or wait with Lazenby and Dalton as the forgotten.
Picture Credits: bondmovies.com, impawards.com
