The Living Daylights (1987)

Today the James Bond marathon continues with the 15th official film, The Living Daylights (1987).

SYNOPSIS:
James Bond (Timothy Dalton) aids in the defection of a KGB officer, General Georgi Koskov (Jeroen Krabbé).  Ordered to kill the sniper preventing the defection, Bond notices she's a beautiful cellist he had just been watching perform, and chooses to shoot her rifle instead, scaring the living daylights out of her.  General Koskov is debriefed, claiming that KGB General Leonid Pushkin (John Rhys-Davies) is responsible for the latest several 00 agent deaths, having reenacted the old WWII policy of Smert Shpionam (death to spies).  Koskov is then kidnapped by the KGB, and M (Robert Brown) sends 007 to assassinate General Pushkin before any more agents are assassinated.  But Bond smells a rat, and tracks down the sniper he spared, using her to find his way to Koskov and find out what's really going on...

REVIEW:
This is the first of two Timothy Dalton films.  He was known for playing a much more strict and sometimes cruel James Bond.  Witty one-liners are minimal and he's more forceful and demanding with people than previous Bonds.  The classic gentleman Bond went away with Roger Moore and we're now experiencing a taste of a gritty, dark Bond.  Although I'm getting a little ahead of myself; the next film will explore a darker side of Bond than this one.

Those piercing blue eyes can make anyone feel on edge

Timothy Dalton was actually considered for the role after Sean Connery left the franchise, but turned it down twice.  Later, he was offered the role when Roger Moore decided not to return for For Your Eyes Only (1981).  But Moore changed his mind at the last minute and decided to keep the role for 3 more films.  Interestingly, Pierce Brosnan was cast as James Bond for The Living Daylights (1987), but had to turn down the role due to a commitment to the TV show, Remington Steele.  It would be 7 more years (and two more films) before Brosnan would be picked up for the role.

Caroline Bliss takes over the role of Miss Moneypenny. Up until this film, she was only the second actress to play Moneypenny since the franchise began in 1962.  She was a tall, young blonde, dressed a little nerdy for Bond's taste, although it doesn't prevent him from engaging in playful banter with her.

Cute, but a bit too bookwormish for Bond

As you may recall from my From Russia with Love (1963) review, Smert Shpionam ("death to spies" in Russian) was the full title of a real-world Soviet organization in the '40s to root out any and all spies; although the title was condensed to "SMERSH" (SMERt SHpionam) by Joseph Stalin.  SMERSH was the original evil terrorist organization that Ian Fleming used in his novels before SPECTRE; although his was a fictional version of the real-world defunct organization.  So when M finds out that Smert Shpionam is supposedly being revived by General Pushkin, it gives him motive to send Bond to assassinate him.

Q (Desmond Llewelyn) provides Bond with a keyring that beeps when you whistle, so you can find it. Whistle the first few notes of "Rule Britannia," though, and it releases a stun gas that effects anyone within 5 feet of it. Also, if you give a wolf whistle, it will explode.  Q-Branch also brought back the Aston Martin with a new model: the V8 Vantage Volante.  Decked out with missiles, lasers, rocket motor, radio scanner, and tire spikes and retractable skis for the winter.  It also featured a self-destruct button.

The return to the Aston Martin brand

We also see Q-Branch testing out a "Ghetto Blaster." It's a large '80s Boom Box with a hidden missile launcher inside.  Q excitedly exclaims, "It's for the Americans!"

Back in my day, listening to music on the go doubled as exercise!

There's an arms dealer (Brad Whitaker) in this film, played by Joe Don Baker.  The actor would return to the series later as a CIA agent (Jack Wade) to help out Bond in two films.  This would be the second time an actor has returned to the series after playing a role on the opposing side.  Charles Gray played a British agent living in Japan in You Only Live Twice (1967), and then played Ernst Stavro Blofeld in Diamonds Are Forever (1971).

Whitaker is guilty of Stolen Valor too, having been kicked out of West Point, yet wearing a 5-Star General rank

This is also the first time we've seen Felix Leiter (John Terry), James Bond's friend and counterpart in the CIA, since Live and Let Die (1973).  Although his role was limited, Bond finds out they're both on essentially the same mission from different countries, so they pool their resources to help each other out.

This film gets its title from the 14th and final James Bond novel, "Octopussy and The Living Daylights," by Ian Fleming.  More specifically, it takes its name from the short story within, "The Living Daylights."  It was about James Bond being assigned as a sniper to assist with Agent 272 escaping from East Berlin.  Bond is ordered to eliminate a KGB sniper by the code name "Trigger."  But when he see the sniper, he realizes she's the beautiful cellist he witnessed performing the past three nights.  Choosing not to kill her, he instead shoots her rifle, allowing Agent 272 to escape successfully.  Bond admits that despite Agent 272's successful escape, not killing the sniper will probably mark the mission as a failure, and he hopes M fires him for it.  A good chunk of this short story ended up in this film, except the agent was replaced with a defecting KGB general, and the sniper happened to be just a cellist, not an actual sniper.

The self-titled theme song was performed by "a-ha," a Norwegian pop band.  It was also the last James Bond song co-written by John Barry.  You can listen to it here:

RECOMMENDATION:
This was an entertaining film, taking you from Czechoslovakia to Vienna, to Afghanistan, to Tangier.  Lots of different climates and cultures, ending with a climactic fight scene while hanging out the back of a massive cargo plane in the air.  It was a very enjoyable, and a good start to Timothy Dalton's role as James Bond.  I'd highly recommend it!