The Living Daylights (1987) | Timothy Dalton's Gritty James Bond Debut | VHSSB

<p>Chris takes the controls this week with The Living Daylights, the 1987 James Bond adventure that introduced Timothy Dalton as 007 following Roger Moore’s retirement from the role. Directed by Bond veteran John Glen and produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, the film had an estimated $40 million budget and paired Dalton with Maryam d’Abo, Jeroen Krabbé, Joe Don Baker, John Rhys-Davies and Art Malik. Filming took the production from Pinewood Studios to Gibraltar, Vienna and Morocco, with Dalton throwing himself into the action and performing a surprising amount of the stunt work himself.</p><p>Released in the summer of 1987, The Living Daylights earned roughly $191.2 million worldwide, comfortably keeping the Bond machine rolling into its fourth decade. Dalton’s harder-edged, more serious interpretation divided some contemporary critics: Roger Ebert felt the new Bond lacked the humour the series needed, while other reviewers welcomed the return to a more grounded, Fleming-inspired 007. Over the years, Dalton’s brief two-film run has developed a strong following among Bond fans, with The Living Daylights increasingly remembered as an interesting bridge between the larger-than-life Moore era and the tougher Bonds that followed.</p><p><strong>TRAILER GUY PLOT SYNOPSIS</strong></p><p>When a Soviet general decides he’d quite like to defect without acquiring any additional ventilation holes, 007 is sent to make sure he reaches the West alive. But when Bond spots a beautiful cellist holding the rifle that’s supposed to kill his man, something doesn’t quite add up. Mainly because James Bond has apparently discovered the revolutionary espionage technique of asking, “Hang on... does any of this make sense?”</p><p><strong>FUN FACTS</strong></p><ul><li><p>The Living Daylights takes its title from Ian Fleming’s James Bond short story, first published in 1962. The opening portion of the film retains the basic idea of Bond protecting a defector from a sniper before the movie heads off into an original adventure.</p></li><li><p>Norwegian band a-ha performed the title song, with Bond composer John Barry also involved in its production. The collaboration was reportedly not always harmonious, but the resulting track became one of the unmistakably &#39;80s entries in the Bond song catalogue.</p></li><li><p>This was John Barry’s final James Bond score, ending a remarkable association with the series that stretched back to Dr. No and his arrangement of the James