The 007 Project: The Living Daylights

 

Synopsis in 3 sentences or less:

Bond is tasked with helping Soviet officer Georgi Koskov defect in Czechoslovakia, and while on the mission, he spares the life of Kara, Koskov's girlfriend, who is a cellist posing as a sniper. Koskov is later revealed to be corrupt and working with an American arms dealer to deliver weapons to the Soviets while buying opium from the Afghan mujahideen. Bond helps Kara see Koskov's true colors, and they work to stop his scheme. 

Memorable Quote:
Relax, Georgi. Our engineers have spent months perfecting this.  ~Bond

How many times have you done this before?  ~Koskov

You're the first!  ~Bond

Highlight:

The opening sequence in Gibraltar is lit. A year ago I wouldn't have known what it means to be lit, but ever since I've been spending more time on Discord with gamers younger than I am, I've learned the lingo and have become cool af, no cap. 

Lowlight:

The Afghan action sequence is much too long, and it's unclear to me how the mujahideen play into everything. Like they're selling opium to Whitaker and Koskov, but then they're attacking them and Bond is treating them as allies, I don't really get it. 

Most interesting piece of IMDB trivia:

Christopher Reeve turned down a million-dollar offer by Albert R. Broccoli to play Bond in this film. Had he accepted, he would have been the only American (as of 2021) to play the role.

(I don't know if this is actually true, I don't see it anywhere else online.)

Other thoughts, observations, and questions I didn’t ask when I was in fourth grade:

• I actually remember seeing this movie in the theater -- I was 6 years old. Why my parents took a 6 year-old to see a Bond movie I do not understand, but hopefully I still turned out ok. 
• Some notable actors in this movie to mention:
• Jeroen Krabbe as Koskov, also appeared in The Fugitive as Dr. Nichols. 
• Andreas Wisniewski as Necros, also appeared in Die Hard, Mission Impossible 1, and Mission Impossible 4. Here's a one-minute video of his MI appearances. He's really good in this movie, by the way.  
• Joe Don Baker as Whitaker, appears later in Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies as Bond ally Jack Wade. He's not really that good in this movie, by the way. 
• John Rhys Davies as Pushkin, also appeared in Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Last Crusade.
• Caroline Bliss as Miss Moneypenny, not really notable other than she's cute and I would have liked her to have more screen time. 
• John Terry as Felix Leiter, not really notable other than he was not very good and I would have liked him to have less screen time. 
• 35:00 mark -- Q gives Bond a key that opens 90% of the world's locks, how cool is that. 
• 1:28:45 -- Funny how Bond is about to leave the prison without freeing the Afghan prisoner from the cell and stops only when he asks. Also is the prisoner supposed to be the mujahideen leader?  It seems like that's what they're suggesting, but if so, he acts like two different people (in the cell he seems like a buffoon). 
• 1:50:16 -- Why is Kara trying to get on the plane now, like couldn't they have talked about the plan beforehand and she could have come along with him earlier? Also once she is in the cockpit, he says "Hold it steady," but how could a cellist know how to fly a massive Soviet plane like that? And why in the world does she open the hatch?

Final Analysis:

This movie doesn't do much for me. I like Dalton (will talk about him more next post), but there aren't many highlights or rewatchable moments, and the villains (except for Necros) are underdeveloped and cartoonish. Ranking it 12 out of 15.