The 2022-2023 Film Journal Entry #62: "The Living Daylights"

The 2022-2023 Film Journal Entry #62: "The Living Daylights"

The 2022-2023 Film Journal Entry #62

By Xavier E. Palacios

"The Living Daylights"

4 out of 5

Directed by John Glen

Rated PG-13

In the first film starring Timothy Dalton as agent 007, the murder of other 00 spies entangles James Bond in an international conspiracy, led by a nasty American arms dealer and the deceitful Soviet Union General Koskov, to financially swindle opposing sides in armed conflicts across the world, causing further death and destruction. Consequently, Bond uses the celloist, Kara Milovy, loyal girlfriend to Koskov, to get to the center of this villainous plot, even as the two are falling in love.

Sorry my brother and I are late with this cinematic year's James Bond entry! But better late than never. Having finished Daniel Craig's era two film journals ago, and Pierce Bronsan's in 2022, we start Timothy Dalton's brief tenure as agent 007 with 1987's The Living Daylights. After hearing some odd things here and there about Dalton's era for many years, I was curious to see what exact kind of 007 picture we were going to get. I am very happy to say that not only did I enjoy The Living Daylights quite a bit from beginning to end, but this James Bond flick is also one of the better installments I have seen in this series.

There are a few lesser elements in this film than other series' entries. The villains are solid but not fantastic. Brad Whitaker, a disgraced and expelled West Point student and a war nut, is a foolish American with a convincing bloodlust. General Koskov is appropriately a tricky foe who gives Bond trouble. The pair's violent henchman, Necros, has all the makings of a great henchman with his remarkable talent for disguises both physical and vocal. Yet none of the trio will likely leave an impact on me, even though I appreciate them. The opening sequence, with Bond and two other 00-agents training in Gibraltar in an exercise that goes wrong thanks to an assassin, is okay. The opening title sequence is also just okay. So is the very '80s and electronic titular song by A-ha, though I could get used to this tune one day. The film's action is all around fun but nothing truly spectacular except for the plane stunts in the finale. Perhaps the superb action sequences in entries like Skyfall, Goldeneye, and Tomorrow Never Dies have spoiled me in this regard.

Also, the inventor, Q, and his MI6 technicians developing for the CIA a boom box with a secret rocket launcher called a "ghetto blaster" is . . . well, quite unfortunate. Yikes. Likewise, the climax heavily involves and trivializes the Russian occupation of Afghanistan in a way that, at least in the twenty-first century, is just downright uncomfortable. I am not touching this particular subject with a ten, no, thirty-foot pole. 'Nuff said.

Otherwise, pretty much everything in The Living Daylights works very well, giving me exactly what I love about the James Bond series. A film I can simply sit back and enjoy without any kind of strings attached. A circus performance of the highest order! The action is thrilling because, being a 1987 picture, there is no CGI for the filmmakers to fall back on and safety regulations were not as strict as they are today. So, when Bond and Necros are hanging by a net outside a plane as its flying high in the sky, I know the two really are in danger right on the celluloid film. The snow chase is also a good time, too. The finale, filled with effective explosions and actual suspense, kept me involved right to the credits.