The Living Daylights

The living Daylights was released in 1987. The British spy drama stars Timothy Dalton.

The actor replaced the famous Roger Moore and went on to only play James Bond in two movies.

Theatrical Poster

The film was produced on a budget of $40 million and subsequently generated a box office revenue of $191.2 million.


The Movie

Timothy Dalton plays MI6 agent 007 James Bond in this 1987 release. He is assigned to help a KGB general defect to the West.

Dalton appears with the beautiful Maryam d’Abo who plays Kara Milovy. A cellist and undercover KGB agent and girlfriend of Koskov. Ultimately Bond discovers the defection to be staged.

The Cast

  • Timothy Dalton as James Bond 007
  • Maryam d’Abo as Kara Milovy
  • Joe Don Baker as Brad Whitaker
  • Art Malik as Kamran Shah, a leader in the Afghan Mujahideen
  • John Rhys-Davies as General Leonid Pushkin
  • Jeroen Krabbé as General Georgi Koskov
  • Andreas Wisniewski as Necros
  • Thomas Wheatley as Saunders
  • Julie T. Wallace as Rosika Miklos
  • Desmond Llewelyn as Q
  • Robert Brown as M
  • Walter Gotell as General Anatol Gogol
  • Caroline Bliss as Miss Moneypenny
  • Geoffrey Keen as Frederick Gray 
  • Virginia Hey as Lubavitch
  • John Terry as Felix Leiter
  • Nadim Sawalha 
  • John Bowe as Colonel Feyador

Soundtrack

Above all, the film contains one of the most successful 007 scores. Most notable from the soundtrack is the song, “The Living Daylights” which was performed by the Norwegian pop band A-Ha.

Conclusion

Timothy Dalton only appeared in two James Bond films. In addition to The Living Daylights, he appeared one last time in License To Kill, which was released in 1989. The film furthermore marked the important return of Astin Martin as Bond’s official car, after a stint with lotus and their Esprit models.

Critics were relatively pleased with the film. As Rita Kempley from the Washington Post wrote:

“The best Bond ever. He’s as classy as the trademark tuxedo, as sleek as the Aston Martin. Like Bond’s notorious martini, women who encounter his carved-granite good looks are shaken, not stirred.”

Movie Trailer

Reference

The Living Daylights – Wikipedia