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The Living Daylights | 
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Director: John Glen (ii) Actors: Timothy Dalton, Maryam D'abo, Jeroen Krabbe, Joe Don Baker, John Rhys-davies Studio: MGM (Video & DVD) Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98 Buy New: $5.49 You Save: $9.49 (63%)
New (45) Used (19) from $5.43
Avg. Customer Rating: 150 reviews Sales Rank: 12263
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dts Surround Sound, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc Languages: Korean (Original Language), English (Original Language), French (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), Mandarin Chinese (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed) Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) Number Of Items: 1 Running Time: 131 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Shipping Weight (lbs): 1 Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: M107396 UPC: 027616073945 EAN: 0027616073945 ASIN: B000NDEXPM
Theatrical Release Date: July 31, 1987 Release Date: May 22, 2007 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Shipping: Expedited shipping available Shipping: International shipping available Condition: ******BRAND NEW****** THE SOURCE FOR RARE MEDIA, THOUSANDS OF CUSTOMERS SATISFIED, AND OVER 250 000 ITEMS IN STOCK, BUY FROM A TRUSTED SOURCE, ESTABLISHED SINCE 1998 - INETVIDEO ~~~
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description James Bond finds himself helping a Soviet general escape from the Iron Curtain only to see a cellist holding a rifle on his subject. When the general is recaptured Bond decides to track him by finding out why a concert cello player would try and kill her benefactor. He escapes with her first to Vienna then to Morocco finally ending up in a prison in Soviet occupied Afghanistan as he tracks down the elements in this mystery.System Requirements:Run Time: 131 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: PG UPC: 027616073945 Manufacturer No: M107396
Amazon.com
Timothy Dalton made his 007 debut in the lean, mean mode of Sean Connery, doing away with the pun-filled camp of Roger Moore's final outings. This James Bond is ruthless, tough, and romantic. The Living Daylights, set during the thaw of the cold war, begins with the defection of Russian KGB General Koskov (Jeroen Krabb) and his revelation of a Soviet plot to eliminate Britain's secret agent force. Assigned to eliminate Koskov's Soviet boss (John Rhys-Davies), Bond uncovers a conspiracy involving Koskov and an American arms dealer (Joe Don Baker). Veteran series director John Glen's action scenes have never been better--especially the show-stopping mid-air battle on the net of a speeding cargo plane--and he returns the series to the smart, rough, high-energy adventures that made the Bond reputation. --Sean Axmaker
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| Customer Reviews: Read 145 more reviews...
Great Fun June 16, 2008 Fun movie to watch a lot of action silly at times, but I really enjoyed it, if you not a Bond fan, you will still like this movie, much better than the other Bond move that Dalton was in.
Third Best Bond June 5, 2008 Dalton is the third best Bond IMO (Connery & Craig coming first). This one movie is better than the entire Roger Moore run. It's much closer to the books & Ian Fleming's original vision. The downside - it is slow moving & unnecessarily sprawling. The movie runs 2 hours 11 minutes - it could have been a tight 1 hour 45 minutes, IMO.
Small quibble. Good script, great cast, excellent score, fun action. With a more mature tone than the Moore series. Recommended, especially if you loved Casino Royale.
A bad start for Dalton February 16, 2008 "The Living Daylights" is a disappointment for several reasons. The biggest reason is the surprisingly unengaging plot. The second reason is that Timothy Dalton doesn't seem comfortable playing James Bond. He's not a bad actor but instead of making his own interpretation of the character (like he did in the next movie, "Licence To Kill") he seems to be imitating Roger Moore. The reason is most likely that the script was written with Moore in mind. Lois Maxwell was replaced by Caroline Bliss as Miss Moneypenny and she didn't seem right for the part at all.
"The Living Daylights" was not a good start for Dalton. Luckily the series did improve.
One Of The Greatest Bonds of All Time! December 14, 2007 Dalton is fantastic! I can't say enough how much I wish Dalton had been given more films to play Bond in. He is hands down my favorite pre-Brosnan Bond, bringing a humanity and an intelligence to the role that was unparralled up to that point. If you enjoy your Bond with brains, tons of action and great emotional depth, you need to see this film, (and License to Kill, Dalton's other Bond film.)
Better than most eighties Bond films December 6, 2007 8 out of 8 found this review helpful
The Living Daylights is directed by John Glen. The first stars Timothy Dalton, and co-stars Jeroen Krabbe, Maryam d'Abo, Joe Don Baker, John Rhys-Davies, Art Malik, Robert Brown, Desmond Llewelyn, Caroline Bliss, John Terry, Geoffrey Keen, Walter Gotell, Andreas Wisniewski, and Thomas Wheatley. John Barry contributes the musical score, and A-HA performs the title song. The Pretenders also contribute two songs.
Following a mission with some fellow double-O agents to test the level of security at the Rock of Gibraltar, James Bond is sent on another new mission. A Soviet leader has decided to defect, and Bond is sent to cover his escape. During his getaway, Bond crosses paths with a cellist from an orchestra playing in the area. However, upon learning that the Soviet leader defecting and the cellist were romantically involved, begins to suspect there may be a sinister scheme about to go down. Bond chases him across the globe, aiming to foil whatever evil plot may be in motion.
This isn't a great Bond film, but it's certainly far from bad. I would have to call this one of the "middle of the road" entries in the series. Timothy Dalton's portrayal of Bond is terrific, there are some excellent scenes throughout the movie, and from start to finish, this film doesn't reek of the campy feel that polluted the latter two Moore-era films. A step in the right direction for the series, but not the masterpiece I had hoped for.
Timothy Dalton deserves serious praise for his take on the role of James Bond. With just the right look to portray the character, as well as a no-nonsense attitude more akin to the Bond of the Ian Fleming novels, he plays Bond like no one else. While certainly not my favorte Bond actor (Sean Connery will always hold that position in my mind,) Dalton certainly gives the performance of Bond closest to Ian Fleming's original vision of the character.
Once again we get a hit-and-miss supporting cast. Maryam d'Abo is good as Kara Milovy, the former lover of the so-called defecting Soviet general, whom almost immediately falls under Bond's protection when an evil scheme is realized. There's an interesting variety of characters here, but most of them are forgettable and you won't remember them after you've watched the film. Not that the acting here is bad, by any means, it's just that there are other Bond films that do it better.
The film does have its share of exciting scenes, most notable a scene near the end where Bond pursues a villain, while hanging from cargo netting on the back of an airplane - with a bomb set to detonate all the while. Another one of my personal favorites is a scene where Bond and Milovy are forced to escape down a snowy hill - riding on the latter's cello case. Downhill snow-ski scenes had been done to death in the Bond series at this point, but this film certainly puts a new twist on it.
This was the final Bond film to have its score composed by series regular John Barry. With this film, to fit in with the eighties time frame, Barry used more synths, pianos, drum machines, and other instrumentation usually not used extensively in a Bond film. The result is one of his more unique scores - definitely a nice way to end his over two decades of work on the series. A-HA, the European pop act best known for its classic hit Take On Me, performs the title song to the film. It's distinctly eighties as well and feels dated, but it's still one of my personal favorite Bond film themes. The Pretenders, another popular rock-pop act of the day, also contribute some music to the film, and it too is great. A good film, and good music to go along with it.
Ultimately, The Living Daylights isn't one of the best James Bond films, but it's not a weak entry by any means. Dalton brought a portrayal of Bond truer to the Fleming novels than any actor before him, and this is one of the film's true strengths. If you're a fan of the series, this is an underrated entry you might want to check out. I had reservations, but I am giving it a marginal recommendation.
Thumbs up
As always, the version of the film you should buy is the 2006 remastered one. The frame-by-frame restoration of the picture looks incredible. It's definitely the best looking DVD release on the market.
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