The Living Daylights

1987 • 130 minutes

About this movie

Armed with razor-sharp instincts and a licence to kill, James Bond battles diabolical arms merchants bent on world domination in this thrilling, lightning-paced adventure. Timothy Dalton brings energy, humour and ruthless cunning to his debut performance as Agent 007.

Ratings and reviews

An old school adventure for a more realistic 007 as Timothy Dalton imbues Bond with a tortured humanity. Director John Glen keeps the epic action setpieces as thrilling as ever and Ah-ha's theme song remains as memorable as ever.

After Roger Moore's seven films of humorous, self parody spy adventures, Timothy Dalton's take is a serious, gritty return to form. However, if too jokey was bad, then too serious is even worse.

I think this was a good film. Probably a little better than A View to a Kill. Timothy Dalton's Bond was much darker and more romantic than Connery's, Lazenby's, and Moore's.