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John Glen's fifth and final entry as director in the franchise that has now grossed over $4 billion at the worldwide box-office is a vast change from its fifteen 007 predecessors. Indeed, Timothy Dalton's second and last performance as the famous Commander is arguably nothing like previous EON James Bond films. The odd touch of profanity and very noticeable increase in graphic violence resulted in a '15' certificate for the film, and these signals possibly pointed to a backlash in response to the Hollywood actioners of the 1980s and Bond's answers to the shared target audience. Even though some fans appreciate the continued hard-edged and dramatic portrayal of Bond, which is close to Fleming's original character from Dalton, the originally titled Licence Revoked (American test audiences did not know what the word 'revoked' meant) was not able to avoid commercial disappointment. Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli does capture the spirit of the first Connery roles in his final production credit, but he has to visit the extremities of Michael G. Wilson's "vendetta" plot involving a drug lord to bring the rawness many viewers post-Moore were desperate for.
Dalton delivers the Craig-esque human essence of the superspy and the daring move away from having an actual mission set out for him makes Bond a very rogue character. However, this causes problems as Glen loses the Bond gloss of familiarity. We are treated to a fine performance from Desmond Llewelyn's Q in the field, but the gadgets only make a limited appearance and Dalton has no playtime with a designated car. Carey Lowell's Pam Bouvier and Talisa Soto's Lupe Lamora are very shallow and wooden with even the classically-trained Dalton unable to salvage them from one-dimensionality. Luckily, Robert Davi's ruthless Franz Sanchez is menacing enough to rescue credibility and he is ably backed-up by a young Benicio del Toro and his portrayal of Dario - a fine henchman with a psychotic look, even if he is underused. One has to remember that drug lords were seemingly running riot at the time of filming, and Davi is believable, bringing a real danger to the series with an original plot.
The stunts are what you expect from a Bond picture but are by no means stale sequences with the final tanker chase being an obvious highlight. The locations, while not globetrotting like Octopussy (1983) or some of the newer entries, look stunning. The Florida Keys has always been a favourite destination for many vacationers and seeing the Seven Mile Bridge momentarily from a brief aerial shot is simply breathtaking. It's just a shame that Dalton's Bond couldn't jet our eager eyes to other overwhelming vistas in at least another performance as 007. However, even though his entries do not make an appearance on the average filmgoer's radar, Dalton's portrayal of cinema's most famous hero has gone on to strongly influence his successors.
The extras
The film is very sharp in terms of image with no pixelation and the 5.1 sound makes Licence to Kill feel like a recent blockbuster. The two commentary tracks on Disc One are very good; the first deals with John Glen and the cast while Michael G. Wilson and the crew chip in for the second. On Disc Two, "Location Scouting with Peter Lamont" illustrates some nice facts, including a shot of the crew having a meal without lighting because the owner of the house hadn't kept up to date with paying the electricity bill! "On Set with John Glen" is a short but good look at various elements of the film from the director's perspective, and "Bond '89" is an interesting feature with insight from Dalton, Broccoli and others. "Ground Check with Corkey Fornof" is an aerial co-ordinator's look at the plane sequences, and the nine deleted scenes, though many of them are obviously unnecessary, are good inclusions. The standard "Inside" documentary spills some more thoughts and feelings, interesting especially when the crew talk about the supposed ghost on the set of the tanker chase. The "Production Featurette" along with "Kenworth Truck Stunt" are average, even though the latter illustrates some fine detail. The theatrical trailers and two music videos are pleasant enough but the image database is a complete waste of disc space.
The summary
Dalton's quest for vengeance may be one of Bond's truest cinematic incarnations in accordance with Fleming's novels, but something is lacking here which makes another 'realistic' adventure, Casino Royale (2006), such a success. A valiant attempt without feeling like a James Bond film, Glen serves up more of an action flick.
