The Living Daylights

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280px
The Living Daylights
Caption: The Living Daylights movie poster
Bond: Timothy Dalton
Writer: Ian Fleming (story)
Screenplay: Richard Maibaum,
Michael G. Wilson
Director: John Glen
Music: John Barry
Composer: John Barry
Pål Waaktaar
Performer: a-ha
Distributor: United Artists
Released: 1987
Runtime: 130 min.
Preceded by: A View to a Kill
Followed by: Licence to Kill
Budget: $40,000,000
Worldgross: $191,200,000
Admissions: 48.9 million
R t: 76%
Imdb: File:3hv out of 5.png 6.5/10 (9,346 votes)
Imdb id: 0093428


The Living Daylights is the fifteenth James Bond film made by EON Productions. It is the first of two portrayals for Timothy Dalton as the British Secret Service agent, Commander James Bond. Produced by Albert R. Broccoli, his stepson Michael G. Wilson, and his daughter Barbara Broccoli, it was released in 1987.

The film's title is taken from Ian Fleming's short story "The Living Daylights," first published in The London Sunday Times colour section on February 4, 1962. The first American publication was in the June 1962 issue of Argosy under the title "Berlin Escape". In 1966 it was the second story to be added to the short story collection Octopussy and The Living Daylights, published two years after Fleming's death.

This was the last film to make use of an Ian Fleming story title until 2006's Casino Royale.

Plot summary

In the prologue, Agents 002, 004, and 007 parachute onto Gibraltar to test its defences. 002 is captured almost immediately by the SAS, while James Bond and 004 start scaling the cliffs to the base. As they ascend an assassin appears and sends a tag reading Smert' Shpionam down the rope before cutting it, sending Agent 004 to his death. Bond witnesses the incident and gives chase to the assassin, ending in an explosives-laden Land Rover careening down Gibraltar's narrow roads and then into the air. Bond escapes with his reserve parachute while the assassin is killed when the Land Rover explodes in mid-air.

The early part of the film has much of the original short story's plot dealing with Bond assisting in the defection to the West of a devious KGB General, Georgi Koskov (Jeroen Krabbé), covering his intermission escape from a concert hall in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia (now Bratislava, Slovakia). Bond notices that the sniper protecting Koskov is a beautiful cellist from the orchestra, Kara Milovy (Maryam d'Abo). Suspecting she is not an assassin, he shoots the rifle out of her hands, sparing her life, whilst facilitating Koskov's escape from the hall.

In England, General Koskov informs MI6 that the KGB is being run by power-hungry General Leonid Pushkin (John Rhys-Davies). According to Koskov, Pushkin has revived the old policy of Smert' Shpionam — literally, Death to Spies (SMERSH), a programme of Western spy assassinations — and as such Pushkin needs to be eliminated. This story is credible given the recent murder of Bond's partner in the Gibraltar training exercise. Shortly afterwards a group then believed to be KGB agents, led by the assassin Necros (Andreas Wisniewski), raids the safe-house where British Intelligence have Koskov and snatch him back East.

Bond leaves to kill General Pushkin. Q supplies him with a new Aston Martin and an electric key-finder featuring skeleton keys, which is also capable of releasing a non-lethal stun gas and exploding. Bond discovers that Kara Milovy is in fact General Koskov's girlfriend, and begins suspecting that Koskov's defection and recapture were staged. He returns to Bratislava, posing to Milovy as Koskov's friend; shortly afterwards the pair flee to Vienna, Austria, in the Aston Martin. They are pursued by KGB, but Bond and Milovy escape using the Aston Martin's weapons. Bond, however, is forced to destroy the car, whereupon he and Milovy sled down a snow-covered hill in the girl's cello case.

At the opera in Vienna, Bond excuses himself from Milovy to meet his MI6 contact, Saunders, in a café. Saunders has investigated Koskov's story and discovered a tenuous link between him and a greedy arms dealer, "General" Brad Whitaker (Joe Don Baker). Later in the film, it is revealed that Whitaker was merely a self-styled general, as he had been expelled from West Point for cheating, and had never served as a military officer. The Stradivarius cello Milovy owns, though bought by Koskov, was funded by Brad Whitaker. Whitaker had arranged to supply the KGB with Western high-technology weapons through Koskov, and Koskov is attempting to deliver the down payment in diamonds. Pushkin is in fact investigating Koskov, and so Koskov wants him dead. Unable to use Necros as the Soviets are too familiar with him, which would only jeopardize their plans, Koskov intends to deal with Pushkin by having the British kill him. After Whitaker learns about Koskov's plan, he agrees to it but wants Necros to ensure that Pushkin is dead.

As Saunders leaves the café he is killed by Necros, who detonates a bomb slamming the sliding front door of the café on to Saunders. Necros leaves behind a balloon with the words Smert' Shpionam on it, unaware that Bond already suspects the true motives behind the trail of clues lain for him. Bond returns to Milovy, and they immediately leave for Tangier, Morocco, where Whitaker operates.

Bond and Pushkin meet. Pushkin reveals to Bond that he had been investigating Koskov for embezzlement of government funds, and adds that the KGB abandoned Smert' Shpionam decades earlier, confirming Bond's suspicions that a third party is behind the plot. Bond and Pushkin decide to fake Pushkin's assassination, forcing Whitaker and Koskov to progress with their scheme; Bond "kills" Pushkin as he speaks to a trade convention in Tangier. Ironically, Bond saves Pushkin; Necros was about to kill Pushkin before Bond appeared and shot him first. Bond escapes from the police and is picked up by Felix Leiter (again, the CIA man is a different actor; first-time viewers of The Living Daylights are tricked into, at first, thinking he is an enemy).

Thinking Pushkin is dead, Koskov contacts Milovy, convincing her that Bond is KGB looking to kill him. She assists in capturing Bond for him, grasping too late that Koskov has fooled her, and had intended killing her in his defection. After being captured by Koskov, Bond and Milovy are flown to a Soviet air base in Afghanistan, at the height of Soviet occupation. They escape, helped by Bond's key-finder, and free a prisoner to be hanged the next day. The prisoner is Kamran Shah, leader of the local Mujahideen. Bond discovers that Whitaker and Koskov are paying diamonds for a large shipment of opium, which would turn a profit within days of distribution in the streets of the US, and so continue supplying the Soviets with arms.

The Mujahideen help Bond and Milovy infiltrate the air base. Bond plants a bomb in the back of the cargo airplane transporting the drugs, but Koskov recognises him. Bond hijacks the airplane, while the Mujahideen attack the airbase. Milovy, at the last minute, joins Bond in the airplane take off and assumes the controls while Bond leaves to defuse his bomb. Necros, however, has stowed away on board, and attacks Bond. Milovy accidentally opens the cargo door, and Bond and Necros are sucked out, on the cargo net holding the opium; Necros and Bond fight. Necros is left hanging from Bond's boot. As he pleads for mercy, Bond cuts his bootlaces, dropping Necros to his death.

Bond barely defuses the bomb, and Milovy flies over Kamran Shah's Mujahideen, who are being pursued by Soviet soldiers across a bridge. Bond drops his bomb onto the bridge, killing the Soviets, helping the Mujahideen win their battle.

Bond arrives at Whitaker's residence, and pops in as General Whitaker is playing a battle in his terms. When Bond tells him that the opium is burned, Whitaker is determined to kill him. He takes out a heavy assault rifle with a shield. When Bond uses up all of his bullets, Whitaker makes a glib remark: "Well, you've had your 8, now I'll have my 80!". Whitaker fires like crazy and taunts Bond with remarks about new technology with weapons.

In the final confrontation with Whitaker, Bond's key-finder saves him again, when using the plastic explosive to topple a bust of Wellington onto Whitaker (an appropriate death for a man who styled himself in wax as Napoleon). The KGB save Bond's life when agents, led by General Pushkin, burst in and kill the Whitaker guard who had cornered Bond. General Koskov is there, too, and, while not killed, he is to be flown back to Moscow "in the diplomatic bag", per Pushkin's order.

Cast & characters

The Women of The Living Daylights

Picture Name Actress
100px Kara Milovy Maryam d'Abo Of all the Bonds, Timothy Dalton's is the most chaste. Kara Milovy is the lead Bond girl of The Living Daylights; in fact, she is the only Bond girl in the movie other than Linda in the pre-title sequence. Some pointed to the fact that Bond is becoming "monogamous" in the age of AIDS and HIV, in any case, by the next movie, he is bed hopping again. In the film, Kara is a naive and innocent Czechoslovakian cellist used by her "boyfriend" and benefactor Koskov. To make his defection realistic, she posed as an assassin, ready to shoot him with a high powered rifle, not knowing that she was being set up to be killed. However, Bond refrained from shooting her when he realized she didn't know how to properly hold a rifle. Before she knows it, Kara is drawn into Bond's convoluted world of international intrigue and betrayal. Kara is the last Bond girl so far to ecstatically moan: "Oh James!".
100px Linda Kell Tyler Linda is the pre-title sequence Bond Girl. Floating on a yacht in the Mediterranean, she was on the phone complaining to her girlfriend Margot that if only she "could find a real man". As if on cue, Bond landed on the canopy of her yacht after dispatching an assassin, borrowing her phone to contact headquarters. Sensing that she has found a "real man" at long last, she poured champagne and invited him to join her.

Crew

Soundtrack

File:007TLDsoundtrack.jpg
Original The Living Daylights soundtrack cover

The title song of the film, "The Living Daylights", was recorded by pop group a-ha. The Living Daylights is the final Bond film to be scored by composer John Barry. a-ha and Barry reportedly did not collaborate well, resulting in two versions of the theme song. Barry's film mix is heard on the soundtrack and the a-ha greatest hits collection Headlines and Deadlines. The a-ha preferred mix can be heard on their 1988 album Stay on These Roads. The original soundtrack only had 12 tracks, later re-releases by Rykodisc and EMI added 9 additional tracks.

Track listing

  1. The Living Daylights — a-ha
  2. Necros Attacks
  3. The Sniper Was A Woman
  4. Ice Chase
  5. Kara Meets Bond
  6. Koskov Escapes
  7. Where Has Everybody Gone — The Pretenders
  8. Into Vienna — Not used in film
  9. Hercules Takes Off
  10. Mujahadin And Opium
  11. Inflight Fight
  12. If There Was A Man — The Pretenders
  13. Exercise At Gibralter
  14. Approaching Kara
  15. Murder At The Fair
  16. "Assassin" and Drugged
  17. Airbase Jailbreak
  18. Afghanistan Plan
  19. Air Bond
  20. Final Confrontation
  21. Alternate End Titles — Not used in film

In addition to the above, the film features a number of pieces of classical music — naturally, since it involves an international-standard cellist in Kara Milovy. Mozart's 40th Symphony in G minor (1st movement only) is being performed by the orchestra at the Conservatoire in Bratislava when Koskov defects. As Moneypenny relates to Bond, Kara is next to perform Borodin's String Quartet in D minor — 007 joins a small audience and tells Kara afterwards that her performance was "exquisite". Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations and an opera (in Vienna) also feature. And at the end of the film, Kara performs the Concert for cello in Ut minor by Dvořák before a rapturous audience including M, General Gogol (but not Kamran Shah, who arrives too late) and Bond — though she does not know it until he surprises her in her dressing room afterwards.

Vehicles & gadgets

  • Aston Martin V8 Vantage (Series 2) — Equipped with the usual weapons, including side skis, spiked tires, missiles, lasers, rocket propulsion, a self-destruct device and a modified radio to tune in to police/military bands.
  • Keychain — Bond's keychain, designed by Q-Branch, also is an explosive triggered by a wolf whistle. It also could deploy stun gas (when the user whistles the first few bars of "Rule Britannia"), and contains lockpicks capable of opening 90% of the world's locks.
  • Ghetto Blaster — Never used by James Bond; it is seen tested in Q-Branch for American allies. The ghetto blaster is an '80s–style rocket-firing, stereophonic, cassette tapedeck.
  • Scouring Pig — Used to initially to clean and check the natural gas pipeline from USSR to West Europe. It's converted here specially to smuggle a man out of the Eastern bloc, with Koskov being the first.
  • Harrier — This V/STOL aircraft evacuates Koskov after his defection to the west.

Locations

Film locations

Shooting locations

Trivia

  • Timothy Dalton had originally been considered for the role of James Bond as a replacement for Sean Connery, but had ruled himself out as being too young.
  • Both Sam Neill and Pierce Brosnan were screen-tested for the role of James Bond in 1986. Brosnan was successfully signed for the role, but his contract to the television programme Remington Steele forced him to withdraw; he would later become James Bond in the 1995 film GoldenEye. Maryam d'Abo, however, earned her Kara Milovy role with her screen test with Brosnan; she was not in the running for a role in the film, but had been hired to act opposite the 007 contenders; impressed, the producers gave her the part.
  • Sean Bean auditioned for the role of Bond in this film. He later played Bond's fellow agent turned enemy in GoldenEye.
  • Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson wrote a first draft of a script portraying Bond as a young lieutenant in the Royal Navy; Cubby Broccoli rejected the idea on the grounds that people in general didn't want to see Bond starting out in his career. EON Productions later revisited this idea, in part, almost 20 years later for their adaptation of Casino Royale.
  • In the opening sequence in Gibraltar, Timothy Dalton's stunt double Simon Crane plays the first SAS man killed by the imposter and the film's stunt co-ordinator Paul Weston plays the officer who shoots Bond (“'old on, you're dead!”). Originally a stunt man was cast in the crucial part of the villainous imposter but it soon became apparent they needed a real actor. Carl Rigg was cast at the last minute — a house-husband awaiting his next acting gig, he had to leave his baby with a neighbour to fly to Gibraltar.
  • Georgi Koskov is a rare villain who is arrested at the end of the movie instead of being killed off by Bond (though some have speculated that the line “in the diplomatic bag” implies he is to be executed and his corpse flown home). Jeroen Krabbe said in an interview with Empire magazine that he would love to return as Koskov.
  • Originally, the KGB general set up by Koskov was to be General Gogol; however, actor Walter Gotell was too sick to handle the major role, and the character of Leonid Pushkin replaced Gogol, who appears briefly at the end of the film, having transferred to the Soviet diplomatic service. This is Gogol's final appearance in a James Bond film (Gotell died in 1997).
  • a-ha's lead vocalist, Morten Harket, was offered a small role as a villain's henchman in the film, but declined, because of lack of time and because he felt they wanted to cast him due to his popularity rather than his acting.
  • In a cameo role, series composer John Barry conducts the orchestra in Vienna at the end of the film. Producer Michael G. Wilson also continues his string of Bond film cameo appearances; he can be seen as a member of the opera house audience.
  • The principal artwork for this film — a woman in a sheer white dress, holding a pistol as James Bond stands in the gun barrel pose — was controversial in some parts of the world, with complaints raised that it glorified violence against women (though no such action occurs in the film).
  • The Living Daylights is the first Bond film since Moonraker to not have its title announced in the end credits of the previous film, nor has any Bond film since had its title announced in the end credits of the previous film.
  • To save the production money, a C-123 Provider was used in place of the larger — and therefore more expensive to hire — C-130 Hercules. However the C-123 is a two-engined plane so John Richardson's remarkably realistic C-130 model was used for most flying shots. The C-123 was also used for the "net fight" between Bond and Necros — when Necros falls away, it is possible to see two engines instead of four.
  • The sequence of Bond parachuting out of the Land Rover in Gibraltar was filmed at Beachy Head in Sussex. Vehicles were catapulted over the cliff with dummies extracted by fishing line to release the parachute upon exiting. The first shot was scrapped due to onlookers visible in the background. The filming took on its own action movie, when the boat at the bottom of the cliffs positioned to film the descent got into difficulty in a heavy swell, and the local Eastbourne lifeboats were launched to pull the crew off the cliffs, resulting in bravery awards for some members. When the film opened in Eastbourne, Desmond Llewellyn who lived locally at Bexhill attended with some 'Bond gadgets' as a thank you. Part of the filming contract stipulated that remnants of impacted vehicles some 550 feet below had to be cleared up.


The James Bond films
Official films
Dr. No | From Russia with Love | Goldfinger | Thunderball | You Only Live Twice | On Her Majesty's Secret Service | Diamonds Are Forever | Live and Let Die | The Man with the Golden Gun | The Spy Who Loved Me | Moonraker | For Your Eyes Only | Octopussy | A View to a Kill | The Living Daylights | Licence to Kill | GoldenEye | Tomorrow Never Dies | The World Is Not Enough | Die Another Day | Casino Royale | Bond 22
Unofficial films
Casino Royale (1954 TV) | Casino Royale (1967 spoof) | Never Say Never Again




External links

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