Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6523 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-07-17
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Box set, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Greek, Dutch, Norwegian, Finnish, English, Danish, Swedish, Hindi
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 126 minutes

Special Features
THE ULTIMATE EDITION CONTAINS: NEVER BEFORE RELEASED ON DVD: DECLASSIFIED: MI6 VAULT Deleted Scenes With Introduction by John Glen • Happy Anniversary, 007 Silver Anniversary Featurettes Timothy Dalton: The New James Bond/Vienna Press Conference Timothy Dalton: On Acting • Dalton and d’Abo Interviews The Ice Chase Outtakes - Deleted Footage With Director John Glen Narration 007 MISSION CONTROL Interactive Guide Into the World of The Living Daylights NEVER BEFORE RELEASED ON DVD: MISSION DOSSIER Audio Commentary Featuring Director John Glen and Members of the Cast and Crew • Inside The Living Daylights • Ian Fleming: 007’s Creator ‘The Living Daylights’ Music Video Performed by a-ha • The Making of ‘The Living Daylights’ Music Video MINISTRY OF PROPAGANDA Original Trailers, TV Spots, Photo Gallery & Radio Communications

Synopsis
In this instalment of the James Bond series, Agent 007 is assigned to protect a Russian defector from the KGB. When the defection proves to be an elaborate ploy, Bond woos her anyway, and together they follow a trail to a crooked American arms dealer supplying weapons to Afghanistan. Digitally restored.

Customer Reviews

Duty has no sweethearts
My personal favourite of all the Bond movies, Timothy Dalton's debut in the role is an original, hard-edged cold war adventure film with interesting characters, a believable plot, some strong acting (Joe Don Baker takes the honours), and a truly awesome final stunt sequence. And Dalton, though he has his detractors, is easily the closest to Fleming's original literary Bond; he plays the part as a professional spy, and not a playboy. One of the most underrated thrillers of the 1980s. Top marks.

A worthwhile addition to the pantheon of Bond movies
This is a good old fashioned mid-80's spy thriller based around the theme of Soviet defections and dodgy arms deals. The Living Daylights stars my favourite Bond girl - Maryam D'Abo as cellist Kara Milovy, so I'm biased towards this film from the outset.

Timothy Dalton is fine as the new Bond here and brings his own personality to the role. Highlights include the Gibraltar pre-credit sequence, the one man raid on British Intelligence in the depths of the English countryside, the car chase through the snows of the former Czechoslovakia and the cargo plane sequence at the end. Some bits do perhaps go on a bit though e.g. the Afghan uprising.

It's worth pointing out that this Bond outing has great music throughout. The DVD also contains a package of useful extras.

A new Bond - better than I thought it would be
Timothy Dalton's first outing as Bond is better than I thought it would be. Dalton provides a certain gravitas to the role. It was a pleasure to watch someone who played Bond straight; for too long Roger Moore parodied the role and had too great a twinkle in his eye.

The notable change in style is exemplified by the thankfully greatly reduced gags and one-liners, and it was a refreshing change to watch a Bond movie where it took 61 minutes before he kissed a woman, and even then he this was only after a long courting. John Glen, the director, mentions in the commentary that the advent of AIDS definitely influenced the script.

The usual fancy set of locations is visited - Gibraltar, Vienna, Tangier - although it was amusing to see Bond helping the Afghan fighters attack the Russians in Afghanistan. How times have changed!

The accompanying commentary mentions how Bond may be different, but the production crew remain largely the same - and this is part of the problem. Perhaps they took their jobs for granted, since the same usual errors in continuity, editing, and shameless undercranking frequently dog the movie. And all those shots aimed at Bond and not one of them hits home!

The commentary, by the way, is mainly given by John Glen; there is no sign of any words from Timothy Dalton. The other extras include deleted scenes; different angles of the ice-chase sequence; a 45-minute documentary on bond's 25th anniversary, hosted by Roger Moore (this is just a rehash of former film-scenes); minor featurettes on the car etc; and interviews with the leading stars at the time of the film's release.