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I blind-bought the Timothy Dalton Bond films...

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S

SolidChamp

Banned
...License to Kill and The Living Daylights.

I hear these are much different than all that came before them (Moore, Connery, Lazenby), but I don't know much about them. I heard they're actually quite good and I wasn't a big Timothy Dalton fan (hadn't really seen him in anything) until Hot Fuzz; dude is fantastic in that film and has an amazing time with his character. I tipped my hat to the man and it made me want to delve into his Bond films at some point.

Anyway, found these both on blu-ray tonight and it was an impulse buy.

Without spoiling anything, if people want to try and articulate why they like them (if you like them), that would be awesome.
 
S

SpaceWolf

Banned
f4d251ffc6937ff42d103f04e5882746.jpg


Best Moneypenny.
 
D

DSmalls84

Member
I like them because they have a much more serious and dark tone in comparison to the cheesy Roger Moore films that came before them. Basically they were Daniel Craig style Bond films that came about 20 years too early. Some people don't like them because the humor is dialed back a bit and dry but I think it works well. Enjoy.

Edit: Also a-Ha theme song for the Living Daylights is ace.
 
S

Solo

Member
Because they are a return to the roots of Bond as a character after a decade of decadence. Dalton was a firm believer in holding true to Fleming and his portrayal of Bond is, alongside with Daniel Craig's work in his first 2 films, the closest thing we've seen to literary Bond.

The Living Daylights is flat out one of the best Bond films ever made in every respect and Licence To Kill, while an oddity in a lot of ways, is the grittiest and most savage Bond film they ever made. Timothy Dalton is also probably the best actor to ever play Bond (or at least tied with Craig). Like Craig, he can say a ton without actually speaking.
 
F

Fury451

Banned
This guy is the best thing about them.
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The context of when these movies were released is pretty important. Coming off of the more campy era of Roger Moore, this was a pretty grounded, human, cold war spy type of Bond. The action is good, the plots are fairly good, but the best part is really Dalton's portrayal of Bond. He is more human, but also more deadly. I'm not sure if it's necessarily what people wanted at that time from a Bond movie, because it really didn't play things for laughs as much as the previous ones had started to.

As other have mentioned, this is The precursor to the current Craig Bond people like, and is more in line with the original portrayal of James Bond from the source writings.
 
S

Solo

Member
In an alternate universe there wouldnt have been a writers strike or financial troubles and Dalton would have starred in at least 4-5 films and gone down in history as the best Bond.
 
S

SolidChamp

Banned
Solo said:
Because they are a return to the roots of Bond as a character after a decade of decadence. Dalton was a firm believer in holding true to Fleming and his portrayal of Bond is, alongside with Daniel Craig's work in his first 2 films, the closest thing we've seen to literary Bond.

The Living Daylights is flat out one of the best Bond films ever made in every respect and Licence To Kill, while an oddity in a lot of ways, is the grittiest and most savage Bond film they ever made. Timothy Dalton is also probably the best actor to ever play Bond (or at least tied with Craig). Like Craig, he can say a ton without actually speaking.
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jambo said:
Dalton was Craig style Bond 20 years before the world was ready.

Great films.
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DSmalls84 said:
I like them because they have a much more serious and dark tone in comparison to the cheesy Roger Moore films that came before them. Basically they were Daniel Craig style Bond films that came about 20 years too early. Some people don't like them because the humor is dialed back a bit and dry but I think it works well. Enjoy.

Edit: Also a-Ha theme song for the Living Daylights is ace.
Click to expand...

giphy.gif
 
S

Solo

Member
And has been mentioned, Dalton's films represent an incredibly interesting moment in time - the end of the Cold War. The Berlin Wall came down in 1991, which under different circumstances would have been when his third film would have been released.
 
S

Solo

Member
Oh, and if you're a fan of John Barry's scores (he composed the music for almost every Bond film up to an including The Living Daylights before walking away), The Living Daylights is his Bond opus.
 
G

GoldenEye 007

Member
Loved The Living Daylights. One of my favorites.... You'll be in for a treat with that one.

License to Kill? Isn't a favorite. Maybe because it was so greusome (by Bond standards) and I never got used to that. Also was meh on the whole 80s drug war theme. Maybe I need to give it another chance as Timothy's Bond is very underrated. As others have said, those performances are the precursors to Craig's Bonds.
 
S

sirap

Member
License to Kill was amazing. I remember watching it as a kid and thinking 'holy shit, Bond is a badass"
 
L

Lucky Forward

Member
SolidChamp said:
I wasn't a big Timothy Dalton fan (hadn't really seen him in anything) until Hot Fuzz; dude is fantastic in that film and has an amazing time with his character. I tipped my hat to the man and it made me want to delve into his Bond films at some point.
Click to expand...

Incidentally, I thought Dalton was great in The Rocketeer too, where he played an Errol Flynn type swashbuckling 30's movie star with villainous inclinations.
 
N

Nairume

Banned
Solo said:
Oh, and if you're a fan of John Barry's scores (he composed the music for almost every Bond film up to an including The Living Daylights before walking away), The Living Daylights is his Bond opus.
Click to expand...
This is still one of my favorite tracks from a Bond film ever.
 
J

Jackpot

Banned
The Living Daylights is my favourite Bond movie. Great soundtrack, action, and a not too off-the-rails plots. Following the super-campy Roger Moore films it was a much needed relief.
 
S

Solo

Member
The Bond 50 documentary Everything or Nothing has a complete history of the film franchise and interviews with all the Bonds, and if you listen to Dalton's part, he just gets it.

"The movies had become so pastiche. Before you go too long, you've become a parody of yourself. You've lost depth, you've lost texture, you've lost contradictions, you start to get shallow.

What makes these movies work? What is it that got them going? You've got to go back to the beginning. Here was a hero who murdered in cold blood. The dirtiest, toughest, meanest, nastiest, brutalist hero....we'd ever seen! This is what started those movies. I wanted to bring people back to believing in this character. To bring my reality to it. Because I've always liked a challenge."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfMhMvBV4N0&t=5m56s
 
Badlucktroll

Badlucktroll

Member
Didn't Dalton turn down Goldeneye because he was sick of waiting? (There was a copyright lawsuit at the time). "Timothy Dalton announced he didn't want to play the role again. This opened the door for Pierce Brosnan. Several title and concept changes changed The Property of a Lady into this film."
 
P

Prime crotch

Banned
Badenergytroll said:
Didn't Dalton turn down Goldeneye because he was sick of waiting? (There was a copyright lawsuit at the time). "Timothy Dalton announced he didn't want to play the role again. This opened the door for Pierce Brosnan. Several title and concept changes changed The Property of a Lady into this film."
Click to expand...

He didn't want to keep doing the then current Bond and wanted something more serious, like Goldeneye was, but at the time that's not what they offered him.
 
F

FairFriend

Member
Dalton is perhaps the only romantic Bond, in both the literary and literaly meaning of the word. Definitely the one you can relate with the most. He dispalys any kind of emotion, from anger to regret, from sadness to relief. His portrayal goes places where not even Craig attempted to go. He's an actor on the level of Stewart and McKellen, and that shows.

Plus, he's the best looking Bond. Proof:
latest


Timothy-Dalton-timothy-dalton-13012674-570-722.jpg


18994019.jpg
Click to expand...

With that said let's not shit on Roger Moore's movies just for the sake of praising Dalton, because he is a great actor too and some of his outings are equally entertaing, if a litte outdated.
 
S

soundscream

Member
Solo said:
Because they are a return to the roots of Bond as a character after a decade of decadence. Dalton was a firm believer in holding true to Fleming and his portrayal of Bond is, alongside with Daniel Craig's work in his first 2 films, the closest thing we've seen to literary Bond.

The Living Daylights is flat out one of the best Bond films ever made in every respect and Licence To Kill, while an oddity in a lot of ways, is the grittiest and most savage Bond film they ever made. Timothy Dalton is also probably the best actor to ever play Bond (or at least tied with Craig). Like Craig, he can say a ton without actually speaking.
Click to expand...

Beautifully said.
 
W

Woody Invincible

Banned
FairFriend said:
With that said let's not shit on Roger Moore's movies just for the sake of praising Dalton, because he is a great actor too and some of his outings are equally entertaing, if a litte outdated.
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u wot m8?

Sapiens said:
Receding hairline, nose too big, chin too small, chin-dimple too far past the ass-looking threshold, haircut is too side-puffy, eyes are asymmetrical, beard-shadow is too dark.

Not my bond. #notmybond
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I'm dead lol
 
Sapiens

Sapiens

Member
Receding hairline, nose too big, chin too small, chin-dimple too far past the ass-looking threshold, haircut is too side-puffy, eyes are asymmetrical, beard-shadow is too dark.


Also, he is smoking.

Not my bond. #notmybond
 
M

massivekettle

Member
Dalton was amazing, but you can't really shit on Brosnan and Moore as their movies were byproducts of their respective eras (70s - silly, late 90s/early 00s - PC revolution).

Brosnan nailed it in Goldeneye (which was, IIRC, written for Dalton). I'm sure that they would have nailed Craig's movies too.
 
K

KernelPanic

Member
They had some brief Roger Moore-isms in there too.

"Salt Corrosion"

"He got the boot"

One of my favorite movies is Living Daylights.
 
G

gabbo

Member
Badenergytroll said:
Didn't Dalton turn down Goldeneye because he was sick of waiting? (There was a copyright lawsuit at the time). "Timothy Dalton announced he didn't want to play the role again. This opened the door for Pierce Brosnan. Several title and concept changes changed The Property of a Lady into this film."
Click to expand...

Didn't his contract run out in the intervening years, and didn't resign once the film actually got back on track?
 
The Elite

The Elite

BOSS
Still the best Bond IMO.

They really do strike the perfect tone for the character IMO. They keep the playful aspect of the early films without delving into absurd comedy but also stay true to the literary character. I think Craig's Bond, at least in the first two films, went a little too hard style for me. Dalton strikes the perfect mix.
 
R

Ridley327

Member
I rewatched both films recently. It's interesting that they both share the same issue (flimsy romantic subplots that feel jarring against the more "business first, pleasure distant second" approach Dalton wanted), but they did reaffirm my admiration of the dedication and integrity Dalton displayed in the role. He's essentially what would have happened if the Bond Connery played in the first two films was allowed to continue. I liked that EON actually rose to the occasion to mold License to Kill more around his interpretation, even with the production issues they ran into.
 
I

Imm0rt4l

Member
If Dalton had done goldeneye he would have had 3 great movies, but he has to settle for 2. Brosnan and Craig only had one.
 
C

Cheebo

Banned
GoldenEye's first draft was written for Dalton. Can you imagine how incredible that film would have been if we didnt get all the legal issues and Dalton getting tired of waiting and backing out?

Could have been something really special.
 
K

KittenMaster

Member
I remember doing my first watches of the Bond movies, and coming off of the Moore era and not sure what to expect with The Living Daylights and the new Bond. Once I saw Dalton on screen though, I took one look at him and thought, "That is James Bond." If James Bond were a real person, Timothy Dalton was that James Bond.

Both of his movies ended up amazing. Living Daylights nailed the James Bond formula, and License to Kill subverted it.

Dalton was amazing, but you can't really shit on Brosnan and Moore as their movies were byproducts of their respective eras (70s - silly, late 90s/early 00s - PC revolution).
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I agree, although I'm pretty sure Roger Moore far preferred the more humorous tone so he ended up far more suited for those tone of movies than other Bond actors would (evidence: just look at Diamonds are Forever, that is a Roger Moore movie starring Sean Connery). All things considered, the movies were going to be really campy and silly with or without Moore so in that respect I think Moore did a fine job being entertaining no matter the context.

Brosnan got screwed over for sure, I feel like his recent career is him taking movies that let him try to prove he can be a gritty Bond (which I think he can).
 
S

Shadybiz

Member
I gotta rewatch these real soon; haven't seen them in probably 20 years or so. A friend and I recently went in on the Bond Collection together...might have to fire one up today.
 
8

80s Bad Guy

Banned
Because of that Bond OT I as actually rewatching Living Daylights last night. It might be my favorite. Silly final fight aside, it has so many great moments.
 
P

Penguin

Member
License to Kill is top 3 Bond for me.

Wish he had more time with the role... him in Goldeneye would have been interesting
 
Moff

Moff

Member
I didn't like them as a kid, but I think they aged excellently, there are many worse bonds from the connery/moore/brosnan era than the both daltons
 
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