James Bond Series Rewatch: 'The Living Daylights'

The Living Daylights represented a tonal shift in the James Bond series. Sean Connery was the smooth, suave, secret agent. Roger Moore added a bit of camp and fun to the role. Timothy Dalton tried to give a more serious take on the super spy role, to mixed results. Yes, there were some lighter moments, some attempts at humor. They just didn’t land. And that’s because Dalton couldn’t pull it off.

From Rotten Tomatoes:

“Assigned to facilitate the defection of a Russian agent, secret agent James Bond soon discovers that the situation is much more complicated than it appears. This entry in the popular action series finds 007 battling drug smugglers, international mercenaries, arms dealers, and a beautiful markswoman.”

Bond: Timothy Dalton
M: Robert Brown
Q: Desmond Llewelyn
Moneypenny: Caroline Bliss
Director: John Glen
Song: “The Living Daylights” by A-ha

Opening Scene

The Living Daylights actually gets off to a pretty good start. This feels like a classic Bond opening. A good action scene with some tension, a fun introduction to 007, and an unexpected meeting between Bond and a beautiful woman. If the movie could have maintained this feeling throughout, it would have been a much better movie.

Still Trying to Have Fun

While Dalton seemed to put all his efforts into being the most serious Bond ever, there are parts that hearken back to the more light-hearted side of the series.

Pipeline to the West

In this case, it’s a literal pipeline, as MI6 uses it to help General Georgi Koskov defect from the Soviet Union.

And let’s briefly talk about Koskov, shall we? The man is such a clown.

I mean, just look at this guy. Sure, he needs to act grateful for being safely smuggled out of the Soviet Union. But come on, he comes off as an imbecile. Doesn’t quite fit with the normal depiction of the Russians. Koskov may have been intended as comedic relief, but comes off more as stupid rather than funny.

Snow Chase

Aside from the very end of the opening scene, this might be the only other time where Dalton is having any fun at all. This is the kind of scene I love to see included, but unfortunately it felt completely out of place here. It didn’t quite fit with the rest of the movie’s tone. Still fun though.

Brad Whitaker

It’s worth noting that Joe Don Baker is one of just a select few to play both a villain and ally in different Bond movies. He returns as CIA agent Jack Wade in Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies.

Whitaker didn’t really do all that much until this ending fight with Bond.

Now that’s a villain I can get behind. He’s smart, has an insane villainous plan, and is the fun kind of crazy. It’s that last part where The Living Daylights missed the mark. It holds back on the crazy until the very end, where it will have the least possible impact. Why???

That kind of villain can be so much fun in a movie like this. But as I’ve said before, The Living Daylights didn’t seem overly concerned with providing fun for its viewers. And we’re all worse off for it. There are definite pieces here that could have made a very solid movie.

Timothy Dalton

“The Forgotten Bond.” That’s not an official nickname, but it seems fitting. Everyone knows Connery, Moore, Brosnan, and Craig. Heck lots of people even know Lazenby, given the circumstances around his casting and the fact that he was only in one movie.

But Dalton? The man was in two average, mostly forgettable (by Bond standards, at least) movies. Though to be fair, it’s been a minute since I’ve seen Licence to Kill, so I’m curious to see how I like that one after so much time in between viewings. While every actor who has taken on the 007 mantle brings their own unique style to the character, Dalton feels like the biggest outlier. Perhaps there was a reason Pierce Brosnan was Eon’s first choice for Bond in The Living Daylights.

But there’s still credit to be given. While Dalton doesn’t completely work for me as James Bond, he had his vision for the character and he went for it. No matter what the result, you have to respect that.