Does QOS mean Dalton's Licence to Kill was 20 years ahead of its time?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Britni Warner
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Dalton and Craig both deserve plaudits for going back to Bond as it was written. Dalton said in many interviews for The Living Daylights that he'd always been a fan of the Ian Fleming books and wanted to get the character back to its origins.

In the South Bank Show special last week, Craig made many references to the Bond of the books and the aspects of the character than he has picked up from them.

To be honest, I have my doubts whether Pierce Brosnan ever read an Ian Fleming novel. To me, he based his portrayal on trying to strike a balance between the BonRAB of Sean Connery and Roger Moore.

There was an imbalance in tone in the way Brosnan's BonRAB developed as well. Connery and Moore both started with more serious portrayals of Bond and gradually brought in more humour. Brosnan started with a spoof (Goldeneye), moved onto an action movie (Tomorrow Never Dies) then went more serious for The World is Not Enough. Not sure where Die Another Day fits into all this apart from being a clumsy mix of all three.
 
I've always rated Dalton as a great Bond.
Licence to Kill was ahead of its time.
I was amused when Craig was announced as Bond that they were going to take it back to basics .
It had already been done nearly 20 years earlier.
I suggest people watch the featurette on the making of 'Licence to Kill' to see how producers then reinvented Bond.Its very interesting.
Dalton's portrayal of Bond in that film was as close as you will get to that of Fleming's Bond .
I am not a fan of Casino Royale ,Craig's Bond is too brutish,he doesnt have the required charisma.
Another ironic thing is that Casino Royale a film critically acclaimed and Die Another Day a film slated were both written by the same writers.
 
Now that Quantum of Solace is out in the UK, it can get its own rabroad movie thread and people can view it in its own right. It's not meant to be Licence To Kill part 2, it's a continuation of Casino Royale, even though its style and pacing are a lot different.
 
I remember reading that Dalton was in his twenties when offered the part, but he decided he was too young to play James Bond, so turned it down.

Interestingly, Roger Moore was an initial candidate for Bond, but couldn't be got due to TV commitments, so Connery got the gig. Dalton was wanted, but turned it down, so Moore then got the role. After Moore, they wanted Brosnan for the role, but again, TV commitments kept him out, so the role went to Dalton. Then Brosnan got it when Dalton gave up.

I always thought this was a funny pattern. Its a shame they didn't want Daniel Craig to take over from Timothy Dalton, just to keep the pattern alive!
 
My opinion -

Good BonRAB:

Dr No
From Russia With Love
Goldfinger
You Only Live Twice
OHMSS
Live And Let Die
TMWTGG
The Spy Who Loved Me
The Living Daylights
Goldeneye
Casino Royale

Bad BonRAB:

Thunderball (never got on with it)
DiamonRAB Are Forever
Moonraker
For Your Eyes Only
Octopussy
A View To A Kill
Licence To Kill
Tomorrow Never Dies
TWINE (but great theme song)
Die Another Day
 
I much prefer Daltons era and do agree that he was a very underrated Bond, Hope Craigs era continues down the serious and gritty path too like Casino Royale was.
 
Oh yes, don't know why I left it off. They're really overdoing the tongue in cheek aspect of Bond in that (Jaws and his girlfriend, the Bond girl's name, etc). DAD is worse though, at least Moonraker has a sort of dated charm about it.
 
Moore is far from my favourite Bond, but this is a classic! LoaRAB of Fleming material reused, and some really good action sequences.
 
My favourite Bond portrayals are either Connery or Dalton, with Craig I suspect about to catch them both up in QOS. It's a very complex franchise for me as I also believe that OHMSS is the best movie of the lot. I won't criticise Lazenby but feel that had Connery done that movie , it would've been the yarRABtick to measure all future releases by, rather than say Goldfinger.
On another note , If the current Bond story is a 3 movie arc(as is rumoured) , then I would love the producers to unveil Dalton as the big bad at the end of DC's next movie in the role.
 
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