Colm Currie
Writing things so you don't have to
Project Bond: The Living Daylights
Well, well, well. What have we here? Timothy Dalton, you dark horse, you. This was an unexpected pleasure. I’m not sure if I was just so utterly sick of Roger Moore, or if Dalton was genuinely brilliant, but this was one of my favourite Bond films so far.
After Moore was sacked or quit, depending on whose account of the situation you believe, a lengthy and complex casting process ended up with Dalton taking over the role of James Bond. Immediately he puts his own stamp on the character, appearing much more suave and much more threatening than Moore (or even Connery, for the most part) did. His first assignment is to kill Kara Milovy, rumoured KGB sniper and confirmed orchestra cellist, who is attempting to shoot a KGB defector. He does not shoot to kill, however, instead knocking the gun from her hand. His ally, Saunders,
threatens to grass him up to M for not following orders, and Bond does not seem at all bothered whether or not he keeps his job. This is a Bond who does not care, a Bond with little to lose, a dangerous Bond.
M does not fire Bond, but does reprimand him for acting on instinct, rather than orders. Already, Dalton has conveyed more emotion and more of a personality than his predecessor. He does not have Connery’s eyebrows, but he does have a disdainful look of which Liz Lemon would be proud, and of which Moore could only dream. He stands up to M when threatened with forced leave, and insists on finishing the mission himself, although he does so by going somewhat rogue, pursuing Kara, convinced that she is not a killer, and can help him. She can and does, but her allegiance is often unclear to the audience, as with most characters in this intricate instalment.
Dalton’s Bond is a bit more driven, a bit darker, a bit more determined, whereas Moore just did what he was told most of the time. He is willing to go a bit further to get results, not afraid to put a gun in John Rhys-Davies’s face after tying up his ladyfriend. He’s also a very snappy dresser, something that is true of his predecessors but to a lesser extent, although the knot in his tie is conspicuously small. The brooding, menacing vibe of this Bond does not go especially well with the hint of a Welsh accent, but Dalton pulls it off superbly.
This film combines a lot of the best elements of Bond so far, with more genuine espionage work than we’ve seen for some time, high stakes, unsteady alliances, delicately balanced conspiracies, and a much darker, more interesting lead character. I found the conclusion slightly too long and more reminiscent of Moore’s day than I’d like, but overall this was an excellent effort, and I am already disappointed that Dalton’s Bond only lived twice.
Colm Currie 
An outstanding share! I have just forwarded this onto
a co-worker who had been conducting a little homework on this.
And he in fact bought me breakfast because I stumbled upon it for him…
lol. So let me reword this…. Thank YOU for
the meal!! But yeah, thanx for spending the time to talk about this matter here on your
web page.
Pingback: Project Bond Review | Colm Currie