This is a film I initially hated. George Lazenby? An abomination. The story? Too slow.
But then the film got to me. I found out that Lazenby is probably the most believable Bond…he was in the Aussie special forces. The fight scenes are painfully real and devoid of quick cutting BS.
But what I love most about the film is (spoiled so as not to ruin the best part)is the relationship with Diane Rigg. It takes the Bond franchise to a whole new level.
Too bad that Lazenby had to be an asshole. We could have avoided the regrettable Roger Moore era.
I thought the plot with the hypnotized hotties distributing bioweapons was incredibly stupid. The rest was pretty good, though. I particularly like the theme song.
Agreed. Possibly the best script of the entire series, and some wonderful set pieces. Tied with From Russia with Love for my all-time favorite Bond film.
I’ll admit some of my affection for the film had something to do with the fact that it came out when I was about 15, and the hormonal juices were flowing. The sequence of Bond’s busy night hopping from bed to bed at Piz Gloria made quite an impression, and Ms. Rigg…rowwrrrr.
Rigg was strong, intelligent, quick, and just plain fun… and not just for 10 minutes but every moment she was on screen. She was everything in a woman that a little boy watching a movie might hope was real.
The Living Daylights was a terrific film, and Timothy Dalton was vastly underrated as Bond; he was probably the closest the movies have come to Book Bond.
I haven’t seen the film in years, but I remember the fight scenes being very clunky. The camera suddenly cut to a wide shot right before any punch connected. Maybe I’m remembering wrong.
I’ll have to give it another go. It’s reputation seems to have improved in recent years. Lazenby’s performance never bothered me, but the film itself always seemed a little off. It’s probably because it was actually trying to tell story with characters, whereas I was expecting just another Bond film.
I agree - and it’s one of the things I enjoy about Daniel Craig, too.
One of the reasons it’s a great movie was because it moved away from the over-the-top comedy gags and weird supervillains, without feeling grimdark. Bond was a far more proactive character here, but there was still plenty of room for minor characters to shine. The movie also has something of a massive gambit pileup, as everybody has their own agenda that Bond has to negotiate.
Love the Living Daylights but in the opening sequence they would have had the double o’s parachute in at night, no? Otherwise they would have been sitting ducks.
I like Dalton as Bond, but much of the rest of The Living Daylights doesn’t really work. The whole thing is kicked off when a Russian stages his defection and even dupes his girlfriend into pretending to be a sniper to make it look real. (Bond, of course, susses this out instantly.) I’m wondering, though, what do you tell your girlfriend, the cellist, to get her to point a sniper rifle out a window?
