|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Living Daylights is the fifteenth James Bond film made by EON Productions. It is the first of two portrayals for Timothy Dalton as the British Secret Service agent, Commander James Bond. Produced by Albert R. Broccoli, his stepson Michael G. Wilson, and his daughter Barbara Broccoli, it was released in 1987. The film's title is taken from Ian Fleming's short story "The Living Daylights," first published in The London Sunday Times colour section on February 4, 1962. The first American publication was in the June 1962 issue of Argosy under the title "Berlin Escape". In 1966 it was the second story to be added to the short story collection Octopussy and The Living Daylights, published two years after Fleming's death.
The search for a new James BondIn 1985, Roger Moore retired from playing James Bond after the release of his seventh outing, A View to a Kill. This led to a major search for someone to play the character in the next film. Timothy Dalton, Sam Neill, Lewis Collins, Sean Bean, and Pierce Brosnan were among those screen-tested for the role in 1986. Timothy Dalton, who had been linked with the part to replace both Sean Connery in 1969 (which he refused because he felt he was too young) and Roger Moore in 1981 (when there was speculation he would step down) and was originally the producers first choice for The Living Daylights, was forced to turn down the role because he was busy with the film version of Brenda Starr, while Lewis Collins, Sam Neill and Sean Bean were passed over. The producers eventually offered the role to Pierce Brosnan. At the time, Brosnan was contracted to the television show Remington Steele, which had at the time been cancelled by the NBC network due to falling ratings. The announcement that Brosnan had been chosen to play James Bond caused a surge in interest in the series, which led to NBC exercising an option in Brosnan's contract to make a further season of the show. NBC's action in doing this caused significant repercussions, with Albert R. Broccoli withdrawing the offer of James Bond from Pierce Brosnan, citing that he did not want the character associated with a current TV series. This led to a drop in interest in Remington Steele, with the show cancelled following an abbreviated fourth season.
Plot summarySpoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Image:Daltonbondgibraltar.jpg Timothy Dalton makes his first on screen appearance The early part of the film has much of the original short story's plot dealing with Bond assisting in the defection to the West of a devious KGB General, Georgi Koskov (Jeroen Krabbé), covering his intermission escape from a concert hall in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia (now Bratislava, Slovakia). Bond notices that the sniper protecting Koskov is a beautiful cellist from the orchestra, a girl named Kara Milovy (Maryam d'Abo). Suspecting she is not an assassin, he shoots the rifle out of her hands, sparing her life, whilst facilitating Koskov's escape from the hall. In England, General Koskov informs MI6 that the KGB is being run by power-hungry General Leonid Pushkin (John Rhys-Davies). According to Koskov, Pushkin has revived the old policy of Smert' Shpionam — literally, Death to Spies (SMERSH), a programme of Western spy assassinations — and as such Pushkin needs to be eliminated. This story is credible given the recent murder of Bond's partner in the Gibraltar training exercise. Shortly afterwards a group then believed to be KGB agents, led by the assassin Necros (Andreas Wisniewski), raids the safe-house where British Intelligence have Koskov and snatch him back East. Bond leaves to kill General Pushkin. Q supplies him with a new Aston Martin and an electric key-finder featuring skeleton keys, which is also capable of releasing a non-lethal stun gas and exploding. Bond discovers that Kara Milovy is in fact General Koskov's girlfriend, and begins suspecting that Koskov's defection and recapture were staged. He returns to Bratislava, posing to Milovy as Koskov's friend; shortly afterwards the pair flee to Vienna, Austria, in the Aston Martin. They are pursued by KGB, but Bond and Milovy escape using the Aston Martin's weapons. Bond, however, is forced to destroy the car, whereupon he and Milovy sled down a snow-covered hill in the girl's cello case. At the opera in Vienna, Bond excuses himself from Milovy to meet his MI6 contact, Saunders, in a café. Saunders has investigated Koskov's story and discovered a tenuous link between him and a greedy arms dealer, "General" Brad Whitaker (Joe Don Baker). Later in the film, it is revealed that Whitaker was merely a self-styled general, as he had been expelled from West Point for cheating, and had never served as a military officer. The Stradivarius cello Milovy owns, though bought by Koskov, was funded by Brad Whitaker. Whitaker had arranged to supply the KGB with Western high-technology weapons through Koskov, and Koskov is attempting to deliver the down payment in diamonds. Pushkin is in fact investigating Koskov, and so Koskov wants him dead. Unable to use Necros as the Soviets are too familiar with him, which would only jeopardize their plans, Koskov intends to deal with Pushkin by having the British kill him. After Whitaker learns about Koskov's plan, he agrees to it but wants Necros to ensure that Pushkin is dead. As Saunders leaves the café he is killed by Necros, who detonates a bomb slamming the sliding front door of the café on to Saunders. Necros leaves behind a balloon with the words Smert' Shpionam on it, unaware that Bond already suspects the true motives behind the trail of clues lain for him. Bond returns to Milovy, and they immediately leave for Tangier, Morocco, where Whitaker operates. Bond and Pushkin meet. Pushkin reveals to Bond that he had been investigating Koskov for embezzlement of government funds, and adds that the KGB abandoned Smert' Shpionam decades earlier, confirming Bond's suspicions that a third party is behind the plot. Bond and Pushkin decide to fake Pushkin's assassination, forcing Whitaker and Koskov to progress with their scheme; Bond "kills" Pushkin as he speaks to a trade convention in Tangier. Ironically, Bond saves Pushkin; Necros was about to kill Pushkin before Bond appeared and shot him first. Bond escapes from the police and is picked up by Felix Leiter (again, the CIA man is a different actor; first-time viewers of The Living Daylights are tricked into, at first, thinking he is an enemy). Thinking Pushkin is dead, Koskov contacts Milovy, convincing her that Bond is KGB looking to kill him. She assists in capturing Bond for him, grasping too late that Koskov has fooled her, and had intended killing her in his defection. After being captured by Koskov, Bond and Milovy are flown to a Soviet air base in Afghanistan, at the height of Soviet occupation. They escape, helped by Bond's key-finder, and free a prisoner to be hanged the next day. The prisoner is Kamran Shah, leader of the local Mujahideen. Bond discovers that Whitaker and Koskov are paying diamonds for a large shipment of opium, which would turn a profit within days of distribution, and so continue supplying the Soviets with arms. The Mujahideen help Bond and Milovy infiltrate the air base. Bond plants a bomb in the back of the cargo aeroplane transporting the drugs, but Koskov recognises him. Bond hijacks the aeroplane, while the Mujahideen attack the airbase. Milovy, at the last minute, joins Bond in the aeroplane take off and assumes the controls while Bond leaves to defuse his bomb. Necros, however, has stowed away on board, and attacks Bond. Milovy accidentally opens the cargo door, and Bond and Necros are sucked out, on the cargo net holding the opium; Necros and Bond fight. Necros is left hanging from Bond's boot. As he pleads for mercy, Bond cuts his bootlaces, dropping Necros to his death. Bond barely defuses the bomb, and Milovy flies over Kamran Shah's Mujahideen, who are being pursued by Soviet soldiers across a bridge. Bond drops his bomb onto the bridge, killing the Soviets, helping the Mujahideen win their battle. Bond arrives at Whitaker's residence, and pops in as General Whitaker is playing Pickett's Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg in his terms. When Bond tells him that the opium is burned, Whitaker is determined to kill him. He takes out a submachine gun with a shield. When Bond uses up all of his bullets, Whitaker makes a glib remark: "Well, you've had your 8, now I'll have my 80!" Whitaker fires like crazy and taunts Bond with remarks about new technology with weapons. In the final confrontation with Whitaker, Bond's key-finder saves him again, when using the plastic explosive to topple a bust of Wellington onto Whitaker (an appropriate death for a man who styled himself in wax as Napoleon). Bond sums it up, "He met his Waterloo." The KGB save Bond's life when agents, led by General Pushkin, burst in and kill the Whitaker guard who had cornered Bond. General Koskov is there, too, and, while not killed, he is to be flown back to Moscow "in the diplomatic bag", per Pushkin's order. Cast & characters
CrewImage:Wisniewski(Necros).jpg KGB agent Necros
Soundtrack'The Living Daylights' was the final Bond film to be scored by composer John Barry. 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 recorded by pop group a-ha. 'a-ha and Barry did not collaborate well, resulting in two versions of the theme song.[2] Barry's film mix is heard on the soundtrack and the a-ha greatest hits collection Headlines and Deadlines. The a-ha preferred mix can be heard on their 1988 album Stay on These Roads. However in 2006 a-ha's Pal Waaktaar 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".[2] Image:007TLDsoundtrack.jpg Original The Living Daylights soundtrack cover In a departure from conventions of previous Bond films, the film uses 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 as source music in the film (from Necros's Walkman). The Pretenders were originally considered to perform the film's 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. In the event, The Living Daylights briefly reached the top ten in both the UK and US chart. The original soundtrack release featured only 12 tracks. Later re-releases by Rykodisc and EMI added 9 additional track, including an alternate instrumental end credits. Track listing
In addition to the above, the film features a number of pieces of classical music — naturally, since it involves an international-standard cellist in Kara Milovy. Mozart's 40th Symphony in G minor (1st movement only) is being performed by the orchestra at the Conservatoire in Bratislava when Koskov defects. As Moneypenny relates to Bond, Kara is next to perform Borodin's String Quartet in D major — 007 joins a small audience and tells Kara afterwards that her performance was "exquisite". Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations and an opera (in Vienna) also feature. And at the end of the film, Kara performs the Dvořák cello concerto in B minor before a rapturous audience including M, General Gogol (but not Kamran Shah, who arrives too late) and Bond — though she does not know it until he surprises her in her dressing room afterwards. Vehicles & gadgetsImage:Aston Martin Volante.jpg The offical car the Aston Martin V8 Vantage (Series 2) equipped with frontal rocket launchers
LocationsFilm locations
Shooting locations
Trivia
References
|
Sites |
Searched sites for "The Living Daylights" |
|
No sites found. |
Sorry, no matching site records were found. |
Want your site listed here?
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
