The Living Daylights
Encyclopedia
The Living Daylights is the fifteenth entry in the James Bond series
and the first to star Timothy Dalton
as the fictional
MI6
agent 007. The film's title is taken from Ian Fleming
's short story
, "The Living Daylights". It was the last film to use the title of an Ian Fleming story until Casino Royale
(2006).
The beginning of the film resembles the short story, in which Bond acts as a counter-sniper
to protect a Soviet defector, Georgi Koskov. He tells Bond that General Pushkin, head of the KGB
, is systematically killing British and American agents. When Koskov is seemingly snatched back, Bond follows him across Europe
, Morocco
and Afghanistan
.
The film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli
, his stepson Michael G. Wilson
, and his daughter Barbara Broccoli
. The Living Daylights was generally well received by most critics and was also a financial success, grossing $US191.2 million worldwide.
James Bond is assigned to aid the defection of a KGB
officer, General Georgi Koskov
, covering his intermission escape from a concert hall in Bratislava
. During the mission, Bond notices that the KGB sniper assigned to prevent Koskov's escape is a female cellist from the orchestra. Disobeying his orders to kill the sniper, he instead shoots the rifle from her hands, then uses a gas pipeline to smuggle Koskov across the border in to Austria, then on to Britain. In his post-defection debriefing, Koskov informs MI6
that the KGB's old policy of Smert Spionam
, meaning Death to Spies, has been revived by General Leonid Pushkin, the new head of the KGB. Koskov is later abducted from the safe-house and assumed to have been taken back to Moscow. Bond is directed to track down Pushkin in Tangier and kill him in order to forestall further killings of agents and escalation of tensions between the Soviet Union and the West. Although Bond's prior knowledge of Pushkin initially leads him to doubt Koskov's claims, he agrees to carry out the mission when he learns that the assassin who killed 004 (as depicted in the pre-title sequence) left a note bearing the same message, "Smert Spionam."
Bond returns to Bratislava to track down the cellist, Kara Milovy. He determines that Koskov's entire defection was staged, and that Milovy is actually Koskov's girlfriend. Bond convinces Milovy that he is a friend of Koskov's and persuades her to accompany him to Vienna, supposedly to be reunited with him. Meanwhile, Pushkin meets with arms dealer Brad Whitaker
in Tangier, informing him that the KGB is cancelling an arms deal previously arranged between Koskov and Whitaker.
During his brief tryst with Milovy in Vienna, Bond meets his MI6 ally, Saunders, who discovers a history of financial dealings between Koskov and Whitaker. As he leaves their meeting, Saunders is killed by Necros (Koskov and Whitaker's henchman), who again leaves the message "Smert Spionam."
Bond and Milovy promptly leave for Tangier, where Bond confronts Pushkin. Pushkin disavows any knowledge of "Smert Spionam", and reveals that Koskov is evading arrest for embezzlement
of government funds. Bond fakes Pushkin's assassination
, inducing Whitaker and Koskov to progress with their scheme. Meanwhile, Milovy contacts Koskov, who tells her that Bond is actually a KGB agent and convinces her to drug him so he can be captured.
Koskov, Necros, Milovy, and the captive Bond fly to a Soviet air base in Afghanistan
, where Koskov betrays Milovy and imprisons her along with Bond. The pair escape and in doing so free a condemned prisoner, Kamran Shah, leader of the local Mujahideen
. Bond and Milovy discover that Koskov is using Soviet funds to buy a massive shipment of opium
from the Mujahideen, intending to keep the profits with enough left over to supply the Soviets with their arms.
With the Mujahideen's help, Bond plants a bomb aboard the cargo plane carrying the opium, but is spotted and has no choice but to barricade himself in the plane. Milovy drives a jeep into the back of the plane as they take off, and Necros also leaps aboard at the last second. After a struggle, Bond throws Necros to his death and deactivates the bomb.
The film concludes with Bond returning to Tangier to dispatch Whitaker, as Pushkin arrests Koskov.
in the series, an idea that eventually resurfaced with the "reboot
" of the franchise in 2006. SMERSH's acronym from Fleming's novel's "Smiert Shpionam" – "Death to spies" – formed the storyline.
, work began on scripts for the next Bond film, with the intention that Roger Moore
would once again reprise the role of James Bond. However, Moore, who by the time of the release of The Living Daylights would have been 59 years old, decided to retire from the role after 12 successful years and 7 films.
This led to a significant search for a new actor to play Bond. Timothy Dalton
, Sam Neill
, Lewis Collins
, and Pierce Brosnan
were screen-tested for the role in 1986. Dalton had been considered to replace Sean Connery
in 1968, which he refused feeling that he was too young. He was originally the producers' first choice for The Living Daylights but turned down the role because he was busy with the film version of Brenda Starr
, while Collins and Neill failed the screen-test.
The producers offered the role to Brosnan after a three-day screen-test. At the time, he was contracted to the television show Remington Steele
which had been cancelled by the NBC
network due to falling ratings. The announcement that he would be chosen to play James Bond caused a surge in interest in the series, which led to NBC exercising (on the very last day) a 60-day option in Brosnan's contract to make a further season of the show. NBC's action caused drastic repercussions, as a result of which Albert R. Broccoli withdrew the offer given to Brosnan, citing that he did not want the character associated with a contemporary TV series. Not surprisingly, this led to a drop in interest in Remington Steele, and only 5 new episodes were filmed before the show was finally cancelled. The edict from Broccoli was that "Remington Steele will not be James Bond."
In the intervening period, Dalton was offered the role once again, which he accepted. For a period, the filmmakers had got Dalton, but he had not signed a contract. A casting director persuaded Robert Bathurst
, an actor who would become known for his roles in Joking Apart
and Cold Feet
, to audition for Bond. Bathurst believes that his "ludicrous audition" was only "an arm-twisting exercise" because the producers wanted to persuade Dalton to take the role by telling him they were still auditioning other actors.
Maryam d'Abo, a former model, was cast as the Czech cellist Kara Milovy. In 1984, d'Abo had attended auditions for the role of Pola Ivanova in A View To a Kill. Barbara Broccoli included d'Abo in the audition for playing Kara which she later passed.
Originally, the KGB general set up by Koskov was to be General Gogol
; however, 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 was Gogol's final appearance in a James Bond film. Morten Harket
, the lead vocalist of the rock group A-ha
(which performed the film's title song), 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.
Director John Glen decided to include the macaw
from For Your Eyes Only
. It was seen chirping in the kitchen of Blayden House when Necros attacks MI6's officers.
Other actors considered for the role of James Bond included; Mel Gibson
, Mark Greenstreet
, Lambert Wilson
, Antony Hamilton
, Christopher Lambert
, Findlay Light, Andrew Clarke
and Sean Bean
(who would later play 006 in GoldenEye
)
at its 007 Stage in UK, as well as Weissensee in Austria
. The pre-title sequence was filmed on the Rock of Gibraltar
and although the sequence shows a hijacked Land Rover
careering down various sections of road over several minutes before bursting through a wall and towards the sea, the location mostly used the same short stretch of road, at the very top of the Rock, shot from numerous different angles. The beach defences seen at the foot of the Rock in the initial shot were also added solely for the film, to an otherwise non-military area. The action involving the Land Rover switched from Gibraltar, to Beachy Head
in the UK for the shot showing the vehicle actually getting airborne. Trial runs of the stunt with the Land Rover
, during which Bond escapes by parachute from the tumbling vehicle, were filmed in the Mojave Desert
, although the final cut of the film uses a shot achieved using a dummy.
Other locations included Germany, the United States, and Italy. The desert scenes were done in Ouarzazate
, Morocco
. The conclusion of the film included the Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna
and Elveden Hall
, Suffolk
.
Principal photography
commenced at Gibraltar on 17 September 1986. Aerial stuntmen B.J. Worth and Jake Lombard performed to the pre-credits parachute jump. Both the terrain and wind were unfavourable. Consideration was given to the stunt being done using cranes but aerial stunts arranger B.J. Worth stuck to skydiving and completed the scenes in a day. The aircraft used for the jump was a C-130 Hercules
, which in the film had M's office installed in the aircraft cabin. The initial point of view for the scene shows M in what appears to be his usual London office, but the camera then zooms out to reveal that it is, in fact, inside an aircraft. Although marked as a Royal Air Force
aircraft, the one in shot belonged to the Spanish Air Force and was used again later in the film for the Afghanistan sequences this time in "Russian" markings. During this later chapter, a fight breaks out on the open ramp of the aircraft in flight between Bond and Necros, before Necros falls to his death. Although the plot and preceding shots suggest the aircraft is a C-130, the shot of Necros falling away from the aircraft show a twin engine cargo plane, a C-123 Provider
. Worth and Lombard also doubled for Bond and Necros in the scenes where they are hanging on a bag in a plane's open cargo door.
The press would not meet Dalton and d'Abo until 5 October 1986, when the main unit travelled to Vienna.
Almost two weeks after the second unit filming on Gibraltar, the first unit started shooting with Andreas Wisniewski and stunt man Bill Weston. During the course of these three days it took to film this fight Weston fractured a finger, and Wisniewski knocked him out once. The next day finds the crew on location at Stonor House
doubling for Bladen's Safe House, the first scene Jeroen Krabbé filmed.
. Following Bond's use of the Aston Martin DBS
in On Her Majesty's Secret Service
, the filmmakers then turned to the brand new Lotus Esprit in 1977s The Spy Who Loved Me
, which reappeared four years later in For Your Eyes Only
. Despite the iconic status of the submersible Lotus however, Bond's Aston Martin DB5
is recognised as the most famous of his vehicles. As a consequence, Aston Martin returned with their V8 Vantage
.
The car (B549 WUU) in the film is somewhat confusing. At the beginning of the film, the car appears at the Bladen safe house as a V8 Volante (convertible), complete with Volante badges. The car used in these scenes was a production Volante owned by Aston Martin Lagonda chairman, Victor Gauntlett
. Later, for the Czechoslovakia
scenes, the car is fitted with a hardtop ("winterised") at Q Branch, and these scenes feature a non-Volante V8 saloon
, fitted with the same number plate and badges as the initial car. Two cars were used during later filming.
. The soundtrack is notable for its introduction of sequenced electronic rhythm tracks overdubbed with the orchestra—at the time, a relatively new innovation.
The title song of the film, "The Living Daylights
", was co-written with Paul Waaktaar-Savoy
of the Norwegian pop-music group A-ha
and recorded by them. The group and Barry did not collaborate well, resulting in two versions of the theme song. Barry's film mix is heard on the soundtrack (and on A-ha's later greatest hits album Headlines and Deadlines). The version preferred by the band can be heard on the 1988 A-ha album Stay on These Roads
. However, in 2006 Pal Waaktaar-Savoy complimented Barry's contributions "I loved the stuff he added to the track, I mean it gave it this really cool string arrangement. That's when for me it started to sound like a Bond thing". The title song is one of very few 007 title songs that is not performed / written by a British or American performer in the history of the series.
In a departure from conventions of previous Bond films, the film would become the first to use different songs over the opening and end credits. The song heard over the end credits, "If There Was A Man", was one of two songs performed for the film by Chrissie Hynde
, of The Pretenders
. The other song, "Where Has Everybody Gone", is heard from Necros's Walkman in the film. The Pretenders were originally considered to perform Daylights title song. However, the producers had been pleased with the commercial success of Duran Duran
's "A View to a Kill", and felt that A-ha would be more likely to make an impact in the charts.
The original soundtrack release was released on LP and CD by Warner Bros. and featured only 12 tracks. Later re-releases by Rykodisc
and EMI
added nine additional tracks, including alternate instrumental end credits music. Rykodisc's version included the gunbarrel and opening sequence of the film as well as the jailbreak sequence, and the bombing of the bridge.
Additionally, the film featured a number of pieces of classical music, as the main Bond girl, Kara Milovy, is a cellist. Mozart's 40th Symphony in G minor
(1st movement) is performed by the orchestra at the Conservatoire in Bratislava when Koskov flees. As Moneypenny tells Bond, Kara is next to perform Alexander Borodin
's String Quartet in D major. and the finale to Act II of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro (in Vienna) also feature. Before Bond is drugged by Kara, Kara is practicing the Cello solo from the first movement of Dvořák's
cello concerto in B minor.
At the end of the film, Kara and an orchestra perform Tchaikovsky
's Rococo Variations
to rapturous applause.
attended the film's premiere on 27 June 1987 at the Odeon Leicester Square Cinema in London. The Living Daylights grossed the equivalent of $US191.2 million worldwide. In the United States it earned $US51,185,000., including an opening weekend of $US11,051,284, surpassing the $US5 million grossed by The Lost Boys
that was released on the same day.
In the film, Koskov and Whitaker repeatedly use vehicles and drug packets marked with the Red Cross. This action angered a number of Red Cross Societies, which sent letters of protest regarding the film. In addition, the British Red Cross
attempted to prosecute the filmmakers and distributors. However, no legal action was taken. As a result, a disclaimer was added at the start of the film and some DVD releases.
The Living Daylights has a "Fresh" score of 73% on Rotten Tomatoes
. IGN lauded the film for bringing back realism and espionage to the franchise and showing James Bond's dark side. Many including John J. Puccio and Chuck O'Leary praised Timothy Dalton's performance and his performing most of the stunts himself. The Washington Post even said Dalton developed "the best Bond ever." However, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times
criticised the lack of humour in the protagonist.
(1990). This version omitted such scenes as 004's grotesque thud as his body slams against the cliffs of Gibraltar. Also omitted is the part where Russian soldiers are caught without pants in the barracks shower during the fight scene at the Russian air base in Afghanistan.
James Bond (film series)
The James Bond film series is a British series of motion pictures based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond , who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. Earlier films were based on Fleming's novels and short stories, followed later by films with original storylines...
and the first to star Timothy Dalton
Timothy Dalton
Timothy Peter Dalton ) is a Welsh actor of film and television. He is known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill , as well as Rhett Butler in the television miniseries Scarlett , an original sequel to Gone with the Wind...
as the fictional
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
MI6
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
agent 007. The film's title is taken from Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
's short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
, "The Living Daylights". It was the last film to use the title of an Ian Fleming story until Casino Royale
Casino Royale (2006 film)
Casino Royale is the twenty-first film in the James Bond film series and the first to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond...
(2006).
The beginning of the film resembles the short story, in which Bond acts as a counter-sniper
Counter-sniper tactics
Counter-sniper tactics involves tactics used by a sniper against another sniper.The occurrence of sniper warfare has led to the evolution of many counter-sniper tactics in modern military strategies...
to protect a Soviet defector, Georgi Koskov. He tells Bond that General Pushkin, head of the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
, is systematically killing British and American agents. When Koskov is seemingly snatched back, Bond follows him across Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
.
The film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli
Albert R. Broccoli
Albert Romolo Broccoli, CBE , nicknamed "Cubby", was an American film producer, who made more than 40 motion pictures throughout his career, most of them in the United Kingdom, and often filmed at Pinewood Studios. Co-founder of Danjaq, LLC and EON Productions, Broccoli is most notable as the...
, his stepson Michael G. Wilson
Michael G. Wilson
Michael Gregg Wilson, OBE is the producer and screenwriter of many modern James Bond movies.-Background:Wilson was born in New York City, New York, the son of Dana and actor Lewis Wilson. His father was the first actor to play the DC Comics character Batman in live action, which he did in the...
, and his daughter Barbara Broccoli
Barbara Broccoli
Barbara Dana Broccoli, OBE is an American film producer.-Life and career:Broccoli was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of the famous James Bond producer Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli and actress Dana Wilson Broccoli...
. The Living Daylights was generally well received by most critics and was also a financial success, grossing $US191.2 million worldwide.
Plot
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
officer, General Georgi Koskov
General Georgi Koskov
General Georgi Koskov is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the James Bond film The Living Daylights. He was portrayed by Jeroen Krabbé.-In the film:...
, covering his intermission escape from a concert hall in Bratislava
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
. During the mission, Bond notices that the KGB sniper assigned to prevent Koskov's escape is a female cellist from the orchestra. Disobeying his orders to kill the sniper, he instead shoots the rifle from her hands, then uses a gas pipeline to smuggle Koskov across the border in to Austria, then on to Britain. In his post-defection debriefing, Koskov informs MI6
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
that the KGB's old policy of Smert Spionam
SMERSH (James Bond)
SMERSH is a Soviet counterintelligence agency featured in Ian Fleming's early James Bond novels as agent 007's nemesis. СМЕРШ is an acronym from two Russian words: "SMERt' SHpionam" meaning "Death to Spies"...
, meaning Death to Spies, has been revived by General Leonid Pushkin, the new head of the KGB. Koskov is later abducted from the safe-house and assumed to have been taken back to Moscow. Bond is directed to track down Pushkin in Tangier and kill him in order to forestall further killings of agents and escalation of tensions between the Soviet Union and the West. Although Bond's prior knowledge of Pushkin initially leads him to doubt Koskov's claims, he agrees to carry out the mission when he learns that the assassin who killed 004 (as depicted in the pre-title sequence) left a note bearing the same message, "Smert Spionam."
Bond returns to Bratislava to track down the cellist, Kara Milovy. He determines that Koskov's entire defection was staged, and that Milovy is actually Koskov's girlfriend. Bond convinces Milovy that he is a friend of Koskov's and persuades her to accompany him to Vienna, supposedly to be reunited with him. Meanwhile, Pushkin meets with arms dealer Brad Whitaker
Brad Whitaker
Brad Whitaker is a fictional character and a major antagonist in the James Bond film The Living Daylights. He was portrayed by American actor Joe Don Baker. Baker also played Jack Wade, Bond's CIA contact in GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies....
in Tangier, informing him that the KGB is cancelling an arms deal previously arranged between Koskov and Whitaker.
During his brief tryst with Milovy in Vienna, Bond meets his MI6 ally, Saunders, who discovers a history of financial dealings between Koskov and Whitaker. As he leaves their meeting, Saunders is killed by Necros (Koskov and Whitaker's henchman), who again leaves the message "Smert Spionam."
Bond and Milovy promptly leave for Tangier, where Bond confronts Pushkin. Pushkin disavows any knowledge of "Smert Spionam", and reveals that Koskov is evading arrest for embezzlement
Embezzlement
Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted....
of government funds. Bond fakes Pushkin's assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
, inducing Whitaker and Koskov to progress with their scheme. Meanwhile, Milovy contacts Koskov, who tells her that Bond is actually a KGB agent and convinces her to drug him so he can be captured.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, where Koskov betrays Milovy and imprisons her along with Bond. The pair escape and in doing so free a condemned prisoner, Kamran Shah, leader of the local Mujahideen
Mujahideen
Mujahideen are Muslims who struggle in the path of God. The word is from the same Arabic triliteral as jihad .Mujahideen is also transliterated from Arabic as mujahedin, mujahedeen, mudžahedin, mudžahidin, mujahidīn, mujaheddīn and more.-Origin of the concept:The beginnings of Jihad are traced...
. Bond and Milovy discover that Koskov is using Soviet funds to buy a massive shipment of opium
Opium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
from the Mujahideen, intending to keep the profits with enough left over to supply the Soviets with their arms.
With the Mujahideen's help, Bond plants a bomb aboard the cargo plane carrying the opium, but is spotted and has no choice but to barricade himself in the plane. Milovy drives a jeep into the back of the plane as they take off, and Necros also leaps aboard at the last second. After a struggle, Bond throws Necros to his death and deactivates the bomb.
The film concludes with Bond returning to Tangier to dispatch Whitaker, as Pushkin arrests Koskov.
Cast
- Timothy DaltonTimothy DaltonTimothy Peter Dalton ) is a Welsh actor of film and television. He is known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill , as well as Rhett Butler in the television miniseries Scarlett , an original sequel to Gone with the Wind...
as James BondJames Bond (character)Royal Navy Commander James Bond, CMG, RNVR is a fictional character created by journalist and novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. He is the main protagonist of the James Bond series of novels, films, comics and video games...
: an MI6 agent assigned to look into the deaths of and conspiracies against several of his allies. - Maryam d'AboMaryam d'AboMaryam d'Abo is an English film and television actress, best known as Bond girl Kara Milovy in the 1987 James Bond film The Living Daylights.-Early life:...
as Kara MilovyKara MilovyKara Milovy, played by Maryam d'Abo, is a fictional character in the 1987 James Bond film The Living Daylights.-Film biography:Bond has been informed that General Georgi Koskov is willing to defect from the Russians. As Koskov runs across the road to meet Bond, 007 spots a sniper, whom he...
: Koskov's girlfriend. - Jeroen KrabbéJeroen KrabbéJeroen Aart Krabbé is a Dutch actor and film director who has appeared in many Dutch and international films.-Biography:...
as General Georgi KoskovGeneral Georgi KoskovGeneral Georgi Koskov is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the James Bond film The Living Daylights. He was portrayed by Jeroen Krabbé.-In the film:...
: Main villain and a renegade Soviet general. - Joe Don BakerJoe Don BakerJoe Don Baker is an American film actor, perhaps best known for his roles as a Mafia hitman in Charley Varrick, deputy sheriff Thomas Jefferson Geronimo III in Final Justice, real-life Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser in Walking Tall, brute force with a badge detective Mitchell in Mitchell, James...
as Brad WhitakerBrad WhitakerBrad Whitaker is a fictional character and a major antagonist in the James Bond film The Living Daylights. He was portrayed by American actor Joe Don Baker. Baker also played Jack Wade, Bond's CIA contact in GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies....
: An American arms dealer and self-styled general. Baker called his character "a nut" who "thought he was Napoleon". - John Rhys-DaviesJohn Rhys-DaviesJohn Rhys-Davies is a Welsh actor and voice actor. He is perhaps best known for playing the charismatic Arab excavator Sallah in the Indiana Jones films and the dwarf Gimli in The Lord of the Rings trilogy...
as General Leonid Pushkin: The new head of the KGBKGBThe KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
, replacing General Gogol. - Art MalikArt MalikArt Malik is a Pakistani-born British actor who achieved international fame in the 1980s through his starring and subsidiary roles in assorted British and Merchant-Ivory television serials and films...
as Kamran Shah: a leader in the Mujahideen. - Andreas Wisniewski as Necros: Koskov's henchman, who poses repeated threats to Bond.
- Thomas WheatleyThomas Wheatley (actor)Thomas Wheatley is an English actor. He was born at Chelmsford, Essex in August 1951 and now lives inChiswick, west London.-Stage:* Oliver Twist at the Lyric Hammersmith* The Road to Ruin at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond...
as Saunders: Bond's ally. - Robert Brown as MM (James Bond)M is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, as well as the films in the Bond franchise. The head of MI6 and Bond's superior, M has been portrayed by three actors in the official Bond film series: Bernard Lee, Robert Brown and since 1995 by Judi Dench. Background =Ian Fleming...
: The head of MI6. - Desmond LlewelynDesmond LlewelynDesmond Wilkinson Llewelyn was a Welsh actor, famous for playing Q in 17 of the James Bond films between 1963 and 1999.-Early life:...
as QQ (James Bond)Q is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. Q , like M, is a job title rather than a name. He is the head of Q Branch , the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service...
: MI6's "quartermaster", who supplies Bond with multi-purpose vehicles and gadgets useful in the latter's mission. - Geoffrey KeenGeoffrey KeenGeoffrey Keen was an English actor who appeared in supporting roles in many famous films.-Early life:Keen was born in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England, the son of stage actor Malcolm Keen. He was educated at Bristol Grammar School. He then joined the Little Repertory Theatre in Bristol for whom...
as Frederick Gray: The British Minister of Defence - Caroline Bliss as Miss MoneypennyMiss MoneypennyJane Moneypenny, better known as Miss Moneypenny, is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. She is secretary to M, who is Bond's boss and head of the British Secret Service...
: M's secretary. - John TerryJohn Terry (actor)John Terry is an American film, television, and stage actor.-Early life:Terry was born in Florida, where he attended Vero Beach High School. He was also educated at the prestigious Loomis Chaffee prep school in Windsor, Connecticut, and began a career building original custom log homes in North...
as Felix LeiterFelix LeiterFelix Leiter is a fictional CIA agent created by Ian Fleming in the James Bond series of novels and films. In both, Leiter works for the CIA and assists Bond in his various adventures as well as being his best friend. In further novels Leiter joins the Pinkerton Detective Agency and in the film...
: A CIA agent and ally to Bond. - Walter GotellWalter GotellWalter Gotell was a German actor, known for his role as General Gogol, head of the KGB, in the James Bond film series.Gotell was born in Bonn, Germany; his family emigrated to the United Kingdom after the Nazis came to power...
as General Gogol: The retired head of the KGB, now a diplomat shown in a cameo at the end of the film. - Julie T. WallaceJulie T. WallaceJulie Therese Wallace is an English actress.-Biography:Julie T. Wallace is the daughter of the late Scottish actor Andrew Keir, and is the sister of the actors Sean Keir and Deirdre Keir...
as Rosika Miklos: James Bond's contact in BratislavaBratislavaBratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
, CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
who works at the TransSiberian Pipline. - Nadim SawalhaNadim SawalhaNadim Sawalha is a Jordanian-born English actor and father of actresses Julia and Nadia Sawalha.He was born in Madaba in 1935 and came to England from Jordan in the 1950s, to study drama...
cameos as a police chief in Tangiers. Sawalha also appeared in a previous 007 film, The Spy Who Loved MeThe Spy Who Loved Me (film)The Spy Who Loved Me is a spy film, the tenth film in the James Bond series, and the third to star Roger Moore as the fictional secret agent James Bond. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert and the screenplay was written by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum...
(1977), as Aziz Fekkesh. - Waris DirieWaris DirieWaris Dirie is a Somali model, author, actress and human rights activist.-Early years:Waris Dirie was born into a nomadic clan in Galkacyo, Somalia in 1965. At the age of thirteen, she fled her family in order to escape an arranged marriage to a much older man. She landed in London where she...
cameos as Waris Walsh.
Production
Originally the film was proposed to be a prequelPrequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
in the series, an idea that eventually resurfaced with the "reboot
Casino Royale (2006 film)
Casino Royale is the twenty-first film in the James Bond film series and the first to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond...
" of the franchise in 2006. SMERSH's acronym from Fleming's novel's "Smiert Shpionam" – "Death to spies" – formed the storyline.
Casting
In Autumn 1985, following the financial success, but critical disappointment, of A View to a KillA View to a Kill
A View to a Kill is the fourteenth spy film of the James Bond series, and the seventh and last to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted from Ian Fleming's short story "From a View to a Kill", the film is the fourth Bond film after The Spy Who Loved...
, work began on scripts for the next Bond film, with the intention that Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
would once again reprise the role of James Bond. However, Moore, who by the time of the release of The Living Daylights would have been 59 years old, decided to retire from the role after 12 successful years and 7 films.
This led to a significant search for a new actor to play Bond. Timothy Dalton
Timothy Dalton
Timothy Peter Dalton ) is a Welsh actor of film and television. He is known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill , as well as Rhett Butler in the television miniseries Scarlett , an original sequel to Gone with the Wind...
, Sam Neill
Sam Neill
Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill, DCNZM, OBE is a New Zealand actor. He is well known for his starring role as paleontologist Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III....
, Lewis Collins
Lewis Collins
Lewis Collins is an English actor best known for his tough-guy role as Bodie in The Professionals. He was educated at Bidston Primary and Grange School in Birkenhead. He started out as a ladies' hairdresser before playing drums and guitar in pop groups. He had a number of other jobs before...
, and Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
were screen-tested for the role in 1986. Dalton had been considered to replace Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
in 1968, which he refused feeling that he was too young. He was originally the producers' first choice for The Living Daylights but turned down the role because he was busy with the film version of Brenda Starr
Brenda Starr (comic strip)
Brenda Starr, Reporter was a comic strip about a glamorous, adventurous female reporter. It was created in 1940 by Dale Messick for the Chicago Tribune Syndicate....
, while Collins and Neill failed the screen-test.
Remington Steele
Remington Steele is an American television series, co-created by Robert Butler and Michael Gleason. The series, starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan, was produced by MTM Enterprises and first broadcast on the NBC network from 1982 to 1987. The series blended the genres of romantic...
which had been cancelled by the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
network due to falling ratings. The announcement that he would be chosen to play James Bond caused a surge in interest in the series, which led to NBC exercising (on the very last day) a 60-day option in Brosnan's contract to make a further season of the show. NBC's action caused drastic repercussions, as a result of which Albert R. Broccoli withdrew the offer given to Brosnan, citing that he did not want the character associated with a contemporary TV series. Not surprisingly, this led to a drop in interest in Remington Steele, and only 5 new episodes were filmed before the show was finally cancelled. The edict from Broccoli was that "Remington Steele will not be James Bond."
In the intervening period, Dalton was offered the role once again, which he accepted. For a period, the filmmakers had got Dalton, but he had not signed a contract. A casting director persuaded Robert Bathurst
Robert Bathurst
Robert Guy Bathurst is an English actor. Bathurst was born in the Gold Coast in 1957, where his father was working as a management consultant. His family moved to Dublin, Ireland, in 1959 and Bathurst was enrolled at an Anglican boarding school...
, an actor who would become known for his roles in Joking Apart
Joking Apart
Joking Apart is a BBC television sitcom written by Steven Moffat about the rise and fall of a relationship. It juxtaposes a couple, Mark and Becky , who fall in love and marry, before getting separated and finally divorced...
and Cold Feet
Cold Feet
Cold Feet is a British comedy-drama television series produced by Granada Television for the ITV network. The series was created and principally written by Mike Bullen as a follow-up to his award-winning 1997 Comedy Premiere of the same name. The storyline follows three couples experiencing the...
, to audition for Bond. Bathurst believes that his "ludicrous audition" was only "an arm-twisting exercise" because the producers wanted to persuade Dalton to take the role by telling him they were still auditioning other actors.
Maryam d'Abo, a former model, was cast as the Czech cellist Kara Milovy. In 1984, d'Abo had attended auditions for the role of Pola Ivanova in A View To a Kill. Barbara Broccoli included d'Abo in the audition for playing Kara which she later passed.
Originally, the KGB general set up by Koskov was to be General Gogol
General Gogol
General Anatol Alexis Gogol is a fictional character in the James Bond films The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View to a Kill, and The Living Daylights. In the films, he is the head of the KGB. In his final appearance in The Living Daylights, he has transferred from...
; however, 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 was Gogol's final appearance in a James Bond film. Morten Harket
Morten Harket
Morten Harket is a Norwegian musician, best known as the lead singer of the Norwegian synthpop/rock band A-ha, which released nine studio albums and topped the charts in several countries after their breakthrough hit "Take on Me" in 1985. A-ha disbanded in 2010. Harket has also released four solo...
, the lead vocalist of the rock group A-ha
A-ha
A-ha were a Norwegian pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. The band was founded by Morten Harket , Magne Furuholmen , and Pål Waaktaar...
(which performed the film's title song), 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.
Director John Glen decided to include the macaw
Macaw
Macaws are small to large, often colourful New World parrots. Of the many different Psittacidae genera, six are classified as macaws: Ara, Anodorhynchus, Cyanopsitta, Primolius, Orthopsittaca, and Diopsittaca...
from For Your Eyes Only
For Your Eyes Only (film)
For Your Eyes Only is the twelfth spy film in the James Bond series and the fifth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It marked the directorial debut of John Glen, who had worked as editor and second unit director in three other Bond films. The screenplay by Richard Maibaum...
. It was seen chirping in the kitchen of Blayden House when Necros attacks MI6's officers.
Other actors considered for the role of James Bond included; Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
, Mark Greenstreet
Mark Greenstreet
Mark Greenstreet is a British actor who first came to prominence in the 1985 BBC television serial Brat Farrar. First and foremost a stage actor, Greenstreet played many of the great leading roles from the works of Shakespeare, Chekhov and Ibsen to Orton, Wilde and Coward in the UK and around the...
, Lambert Wilson
Lambert Wilson
Lambert Wilson is a French actor. He is internationally known for his portrayal of The Merovingian in The Matrix He was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, the son of Georges Wilson, who was an actor, theatrical manager and director of the Theatre National de Paris.Wilson screen tested for The...
, Antony Hamilton
Antony Hamilton
Antony Hamilton was an Australian actor, model, and dancer.-Early life:Hamilton was born in Liverpool, England, was adopted by an Australian RAF-hero and his wife soon after birth, and grew up on a sheep farm in Australia. He attended the Scotch College in Adelaide, where dance and ballet was a...
, Christopher Lambert
Christopher Lambert
Christophe Guy Denis "Christopher" Lambert is an American-born French actor who has appeared in French, European and American productions. He is best known for his role as Connor MacLeod, or simply "The Highlander", from the movie and subsequent movie franchise series of the same name...
, Findlay Light, Andrew Clarke
Andrew Clarke (actor)
Andrew Clarke in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, is an Australian actor most known for his television work. Andrew Clarke was one of the most popular Australian actors in the 1980s and 1990s. He is also a two-time Logie winner.-Career:...
and Sean Bean
Sean Bean
Shaun Mark "Sean" Bean is an English film and stage actor. Bean is best known for playing Boromir in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and, previously, British Colonel Richard Sharpe in the ITV television series Sharpe...
(who would later play 006 in GoldenEye
GoldenEye
GoldenEye is the seventeenth spy film in the James Bond series, and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was directed by Martin Campbell and is the first film in the series not to take story elements from the works of novelist Ian Fleming...
)
Filming
The film was shot at the Pinewood StudiosPinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, approximately west of central London. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows to commercials to pop promos.The purchase of Shepperton...
at its 007 Stage in UK, as well as Weissensee in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. The pre-title sequence was filmed on the Rock of Gibraltar
Rock of Gibraltar
The Rock of Gibraltar is a monolithic limestone promontory located in Gibraltar, off the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. It is high...
and although the sequence shows a hijacked Land Rover
Land Rover
Land Rover is a British car manufacturer with its headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire, United Kingdom which specialises in four-wheel-drive vehicles. It is owned by the Indian company Tata Motors, forming part of their Jaguar Land Rover group...
careering down various sections of road over several minutes before bursting through a wall and towards the sea, the location mostly used the same short stretch of road, at the very top of the Rock, shot from numerous different angles. The beach defences seen at the foot of the Rock in the initial shot were also added solely for the film, to an otherwise non-military area. The action involving the Land Rover switched from Gibraltar, to Beachy Head
Beachy Head
Beachy Head is a chalk headland on the south coast of England, close to the town of Eastbourne in the county of East Sussex, immediately east of the Seven Sisters. The cliff there is the highest chalk sea cliff in Britain, rising to 162 m above sea level. The peak allows views of the south...
in the UK for the shot showing the vehicle actually getting airborne. Trial runs of the stunt with the Land Rover
Land Rover
Land Rover is a British car manufacturer with its headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire, United Kingdom which specialises in four-wheel-drive vehicles. It is owned by the Indian company Tata Motors, forming part of their Jaguar Land Rover group...
, during which Bond escapes by parachute from the tumbling vehicle, were filmed in the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
, although the final cut of the film uses a shot achieved using a dummy.
Other locations included Germany, the United States, and Italy. The desert scenes were done in Ouarzazate
Ouarzazate
-See also:* Tizi n'Tichka: The mountain pass that leads to Ouarzazate* List of Movies shot in Morocco-External links:* at IMDb...
, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
. The conclusion of the film included the Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and Elveden Hall
Elveden Hall
Elveden Hall is a large privately owned house overlooking the large Elveden Estate in Elveden, Suffolk, England. It is located centrally to the village and is close to the A11 and the Parish Church....
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
.
Principal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
commenced at Gibraltar on 17 September 1986. Aerial stuntmen B.J. Worth and Jake Lombard performed to the pre-credits parachute jump. Both the terrain and wind were unfavourable. Consideration was given to the stunt being done using cranes but aerial stunts arranger B.J. Worth stuck to skydiving and completed the scenes in a day. The aircraft used for the jump was a C-130 Hercules
C-130 Hercules
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed, now Lockheed Martin. Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medical evacuation, and cargo transport...
, which in the film had M's office installed in the aircraft cabin. The initial point of view for the scene shows M in what appears to be his usual London office, but the camera then zooms out to reveal that it is, in fact, inside an aircraft. Although marked as a Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
aircraft, the one in shot belonged to the Spanish Air Force and was used again later in the film for the Afghanistan sequences this time in "Russian" markings. During this later chapter, a fight breaks out on the open ramp of the aircraft in flight between Bond and Necros, before Necros falls to his death. Although the plot and preceding shots suggest the aircraft is a C-130, the shot of Necros falling away from the aircraft show a twin engine cargo plane, a C-123 Provider
C-123 Provider
The C-123 Provider was an American military transport aircraft designed by Chase Aircraft and subsequently built by Fairchild Aircraft for the United States Air Force...
. Worth and Lombard also doubled for Bond and Necros in the scenes where they are hanging on a bag in a plane's open cargo door.
The press would not meet Dalton and d'Abo until 5 October 1986, when the main unit travelled to Vienna.
Almost two weeks after the second unit filming on Gibraltar, the first unit started shooting with Andreas Wisniewski and stunt man Bill Weston. During the course of these three days it took to film this fight Weston fractured a finger, and Wisniewski knocked him out once. The next day finds the crew on location at Stonor House
Stonor
Stonor Park is a private park and historic country house at Stonor, about north of Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, England, close to the county boundary with Buckinghamshire.-Setting:...
doubling for Bladen's Safe House, the first scene Jeroen Krabbé filmed.
The return of Aston Martin
The film reunites Bond with British car maker Aston MartinAston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars, based in Gaydon, Warwickshire. The company name is derived from the name of one of the company's founders, Lionel Martin, and from the Aston Hill speed hillclimb near Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire...
. Following Bond's use of the Aston Martin DBS
Aston Martin DBS
The Aston Martin DBS is a GT car produced by the British manufacturer Aston Martin Lagonda Limited. Originally produced from 1967–72, it featured in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service...
in On Her Majesty's Secret Service
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the sixth spy film in the James Bond series, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. Following the decision of Sean Connery to retire from the role after You Only Live Twice, Eon Productions selected an unknown actor and model, George Lazenby...
, the filmmakers then turned to the brand new Lotus Esprit in 1977s The Spy Who Loved Me
The Spy Who Loved Me (film)
The Spy Who Loved Me is a spy film, the tenth film in the James Bond series, and the third to star Roger Moore as the fictional secret agent James Bond. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert and the screenplay was written by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum...
, which reappeared four years later in For Your Eyes Only
For Your Eyes Only (film)
For Your Eyes Only is the twelfth spy film in the James Bond series and the fifth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It marked the directorial debut of John Glen, who had worked as editor and second unit director in three other Bond films. The screenplay by Richard Maibaum...
. Despite the iconic status of the submersible Lotus however, Bond's Aston Martin DB5
Aston Martin DB5
The Aston Martin DB5 is a luxury grand tourer that was made by Aston Martin. Released in 1963, it was an evolution of the final series of DB4. The DB series was named honouring David Brown ....
is recognised as the most famous of his vehicles. As a consequence, Aston Martin returned with their V8 Vantage
Aston Martin V8 Vantage (1977)
The Aston Martin V8 Vantage was hailed at its 1977 introduction as "Britain's First Supercar" for its top speed. Its engine was shared with the Lagonda, but it used high-performance camshafts, increased compression ratio, larger inlet valves and bigger carburettors mounted on new manifolds for...
.
The car (B549 WUU) in the film is somewhat confusing. At the beginning of the film, the car appears at the Bladen safe house as a V8 Volante (convertible), complete with Volante badges. The car used in these scenes was a production Volante owned by Aston Martin Lagonda chairman, Victor Gauntlett
Victor Gauntlett
Malcolm Victor Gauntlett was an English petrochemical entrepreneur and car enthusiast, best known for forming the largest independent petrol retail business in the United Kingdom, and for reviving Aston Martin.-Biography:...
. Later, for the Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
scenes, the car is fitted with a hardtop ("winterised") at Q Branch, and these scenes feature a non-Volante V8 saloon
Aston Martin V8
The Aston Martin V8 is a two-door coupé automobile manufactured in the United Kingdom from 1969 to 1989.Aston Martin's customers had been clamouring for an eight-cylinder car for years, so Aston Martin designed a larger 2-door saloon for V8 applications. The engine was not ready, however, so in...
, fitted with the same number plate and badges as the initial car. Two cars were used during later filming.
Music
The Living Daylights was the final Bond film to be scored by composer John BarryJohn Barry (composer)
John Barry Prendergast, OBE was an English conductor and composer of film music. He is best known for composing the soundtracks for 12 of the James Bond films between 1962 and 1987...
. The soundtrack is notable for its introduction of sequenced electronic rhythm tracks overdubbed with the orchestra—at the time, a relatively new innovation.
The title song of the film, "The Living Daylights
The Living Daylights (song)
"The Living Daylights" is the song performed by A-ha for the James Bond film of the same name. It was co-written by guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy and Bond composer John Barry.-Origin and recording:...
", was co-written with Paul Waaktaar-Savoy
Paul Waaktaar-Savoy
Paul Waaktaar-Savoy is a Norwegian musician and songwriter. He is best known for his work as guitarist in the Norwegian pop band A-ha...
of the Norwegian pop-music group A-ha
A-ha
A-ha were a Norwegian pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. The band was founded by Morten Harket , Magne Furuholmen , and Pål Waaktaar...
and recorded by them. The group and Barry did not collaborate well, resulting in two versions of the theme song. Barry's film mix is heard on the soundtrack (and on A-ha's later greatest hits album Headlines and Deadlines). The version preferred by the band can be heard on the 1988 A-ha album Stay on These Roads
Stay on These Roads
Stay on These Roads is the third full-length album by the rock band A-ha. It was released on 3 May 1988 through Warner Bros. Records.-Recording:...
. However, in 2006 Pal Waaktaar-Savoy complimented Barry's contributions "I loved the stuff he added to the track, I mean it gave it this really cool string arrangement. That's when for me it started to sound like a Bond thing". The title song is one of very few 007 title songs that is not performed / written by a British or American performer in the history of the series.
In a departure from conventions of previous Bond films, the film would become the first to use different songs over the opening and end credits. The song heard over the end credits, "If There Was A Man", was one of two songs performed for the film by Chrissie Hynde
Chrissie Hynde
Christine Ellen "Chrissie" Hynde is an US musician best known as the leader of the rock/new wave band the Pretenders. She is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, and has been the only constant member of the band throughout its history.-Early life and career:Hynde is the daughter of a part-time...
, of The Pretenders
The Pretenders
The Pretenders are an English rock band formed in Hereford, England in March 1978. The original band consisted of initiator and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde , James Honeyman-Scott , Pete Farndon , and Martin Chambers...
. The other song, "Where Has Everybody Gone", is heard from Necros's Walkman in the film. The Pretenders were originally considered to perform Daylights title song. However, the producers had been pleased with the commercial success of Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
's "A View to a Kill", and felt that A-ha would be more likely to make an impact in the charts.
The original soundtrack release was released on LP and CD by Warner Bros. and featured only 12 tracks. Later re-releases by Rykodisc
Rykodisc
Rykodisc Records is an American record label. It is owned by Warner Music Group, operates as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance.-Company history:...
and EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
added nine additional tracks, including alternate instrumental end credits music. Rykodisc's version included the gunbarrel and opening sequence of the film as well as the jailbreak sequence, and the bombing of the bridge.
Additionally, the film featured a number of pieces of classical music, as the main Bond girl, Kara Milovy, is a cellist. Mozart's 40th Symphony in G minor
Symphony No. 40 (Mozart)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote his Symphony No. 40 in G minor, KV. 550, in 1788. It is sometimes referred to as the "Great G minor symphony," to distinguish it from the "Little G minor symphony," No. 25. The two are the only minor key symphonies Mozart wrote....
(1st movement) is performed by the orchestra at the Conservatoire in Bratislava when Koskov flees. As Moneypenny tells Bond, Kara is next to perform Alexander Borodin
Alexander Borodin
Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin was a Russian Romantic composer and chemist of Georgian–Russian parentage. He was a member of the group of composers called The Five , who were dedicated to producing a specifically Russian kind of art music...
's String Quartet in D major. and the finale to Act II of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro (in Vienna) also feature. Before Bond is drugged by Kara, Kara is practicing the Cello solo from the first movement of Dvořák's
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
cello concerto in B minor.
Cello Concerto (Dvorák)
The Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104, B. 191, by Antonín Dvořák was the composer's last solo concerto, and was written in 1894–1895 for his friend, the cellist Hanuš Wihan, but premiered by the English cellist Leo Stern.- Structure :...
At the end of the film, Kara and an orchestra perform Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
's Rococo Variations
Variations on a Rococo Theme
The Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33, for cello and orchestra was the closest Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ever came to writing a full concerto for cello and orchestra. The style was inspired by Mozart, Tchaikovsky's role model, and makes it clear that Tchaikovsky admired the Classical style very...
to rapturous applause.
Release and reception
The Prince and Princess of WalesDiana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
attended the film's premiere on 27 June 1987 at the Odeon Leicester Square Cinema in London. The Living Daylights grossed the equivalent of $US191.2 million worldwide. In the United States it earned $US51,185,000., including an opening weekend of $US11,051,284, surpassing the $US5 million grossed by The Lost Boys
The Lost Boys
The Lost Boys is a 1987 American teen comedy horror film directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Kiefer Sutherland, Jami Gertz, Corey Feldman, Dianne Wiest, Edward Herrmann, Alex Winter, Jamison Newlander, and Barnard Hughes....
that was released on the same day.
In the film, Koskov and Whitaker repeatedly use vehicles and drug packets marked with the Red Cross. This action angered a number of Red Cross Societies, which sent letters of protest regarding the film. In addition, the British Red Cross
British Red Cross
The British Red Cross Society is the United Kingdom branch of the worldwide impartial humanitarian organisation the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with over 31,000 volunteers and 2,600 staff. At the heart of their work...
attempted to prosecute the filmmakers and distributors. However, no legal action was taken. As a result, a disclaimer was added at the start of the film and some DVD releases.
The Living Daylights has a "Fresh" score of 73% on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. IGN lauded the film for bringing back realism and espionage to the franchise and showing James Bond's dark side. Many including John J. Puccio and Chuck O'Leary praised Timothy Dalton's performance and his performing most of the stunts himself. The Washington Post even said Dalton developed "the best Bond ever." However, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
criticised the lack of humour in the protagonist.
Broadcast television versions
The Living Daylights was the last James Bond movie to make its American network broadcast television premiere on ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
(1990). This version omitted such scenes as 004's grotesque thud as his body slams against the cliffs of Gibraltar. Also omitted is the part where Russian soldiers are caught without pants in the barracks shower during the fight scene at the Russian air base in Afghanistan.