As I mentioned in my review of A View to a Kill (1985), it was to be Roger Moore’s last turn as James Bond, 007, operative of Her Majesty’s military intelligence, section six (MI6).  He is the longest, and silliest, tenured actor in that role.  Because of that last descriptor, I would call Timothy Dalton next ascending to that position in The Living Daylights(1987) a welcome change.  He brought a gravitas to the character that had been missing for some time, but also with the ability to pull off the occasional one-liner as is another Bond trademark.  He maintains the right air throughout the film.  However, there is one tie to the clown show of the previous era, and that is Joe Don Baker.  Now, to be fair, he has been in some fine pieces of cinema, this one included.  He has also been in a number of forgettable movies, including a few that have ended up on Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988-1999).  Since I am pretty big fan of that show, I cannot help but think of such things when I see him in The Living Daylights.

You can tell something is different right away with The Living Daylights.  James is part of a team MI6 agents called upon to test the defenses of the British naval installation at Gibraltar.  Upon parachuting in, we see one of his fellow spies murdered by a mysterious killer, and he witnesses the offing of the other.  He is able to do away with the assassin, but without getting any further information.  We next see him in the former Czechoslovakia, then a satellite state of the Soviet Union, taking part in an operation to help General Georgi Koskov (Jeroen Krabbé) to defect to the West.  In the process, he is ordered to shoot a presumed KGB sniper.  The KGB, by the way, is the Soviet equivalent of MI6.  Before he pulls the trigger, he notices that it is Kara Milovy (Maryam d’Abo), who is a cellist James took notice of in the orchestra he had just been watching.  Instead of delivering a deadly shot, he aims for her gun.  He then personally helps with General Koskov’s escape.  Once in England, General Koskov reveals a plan by the Soviet Union to kill intelligence officers around the world, which he calls “Smiert Spionam,” or death to spies.  To James, this does not align with the Russian head of the KGB that he knows, General Leonid Pushkin (John Rhys-Davies).  Yet, before any more information can be gleaned, General Koskov is kidnapped from a British safehouse by a Russian agent named Necros (Andreas Wisniewski).  Though James is ordered to go after General Pushkin in the wake of this incident, he is instead more interested in the assassin he had thwarted, learning her name thanks to the research of Miss Moneypenny (Caroline Bliss).  He thus travels to Bratislava to make contact with Kara.  In the process, he learns so more information about General Koskov.  For example, his defection had been a fake, and that he is in a relationship with Kara.  This also feeds into why General Pushkin is interested in her, and they have to dodge KGB operatives in order to escape.  James and Kara travel to Vienna where James meets with Saunders (Thomas Wheatley), the agent he had worked with on the General Koskov operation. Saunders informs James that General Koskov is working with a notorious arms dealer named Brad Whitaker (Joe Don Baker), further eroding any confidence in the Russian officer.  Finally, James confronts General Pushkin, who tells his British counterpart not to trust General Koskov.  General Pushkin also warns Kara that General Koskov wants her dead because she knows too much about the nature of these shady dealings.  However, they do not see the full extent of what Brad and General Koskov intend.  To continue the charade, and so that General Pushkin can provide some assistance without alerting either of their governments, James arranges a fake assassination of General Pushkin.  It also allows for James and Kara to be captured by General Koskov, and they are thereby flown with Brad and the Russian officer to Afghanistan where the next part of their plot is to unfold.  I feel compelled to add here that, instead of just killing James and Kara and thus removing any potential threat, our villains decide to keep the good guys around long enough to be thwarted.  It starts with James using his trademark fancy gadgets to escape from their prison.  In doing so, they also free Afghan freedom fighter Kamran Shah (Art Malik).  In gratitude for doing so, Kamran assists them be giving them shelter. James further convinces Kamran to use some of his rebels to get him to the Soviet base where General Koskov is conducting his business.  Once there, James discovers that the Russians are loading large sacks of opium, enough to buy weapons from the likes of an unscrupulous arms dealer like Brad.  While the Afghans attack, James makes it on to the cargo plane carrying the illicit substances.  Because Kara cannot bear to be away from James, for some reason, she ends up on the vessel, too.  Necros tries to stop James, but he is thrown out from several thousand feet in the air.  James and Kara bail out a little lower to the ground, but they are on hand for the capture of General Koskov, who pleads innocence.  In turn, he blames Brad for everything.  Of course, James infiltrates the self-styled military genius’ house, and their tussle results in Brad’s death.  Kara is then allowed to defect, and we end with her and James having an adult moment in her dressing room after a performance.

One of the interesting things I have found about these Bond movies, and The Living Daylights is no exception, is the level of cooperation between the British and the Soviets.  Most of these were made during the Cold War era, and the assumption would thus be that more often than not the two sides would be depicted as arch-enemies.  To be fair, this is the way their relationship is described at most points.  Where their goals align in these films is when you are dealing with a villain who threatens the destruction of both sides.  This is a little harder to see in this one from a modern perspective, but the 1980s were a time when the war on drugs was just beginning to ramp up.  At any rate, the word that is used for these times when they act in concert is called “détente.”  It means the “easing of hostilities or strained relations, especially between countries.”  This is a great word from a Catholic perspective.  It is something that is preached throughout the Bible, especially in the New Testament.  To be clear, this does not mean that hostilities will not occur.  What matters is the manner in which they are navigated.  A specifically Catholic example that comes to mind in thinking of this is when Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa of Jerusalem offered himself in exchange for the hostages taken by Hamas in their October, 2023, attack on Israel.  The ongoing issue is the keeping of those prisoners by Hamas, though the terrorist organization feels justified given how they feel about Israel’s treatment of Palestine.  Cardinal Pizzaballa’s gesture was meant to achieve détente, though the offer was ultimately rejected.  Clearly, a different tactic is used in the movie, though the idea is to avoid the escalation of tensions.  This should be the goal for more of our world leaders, and one that has been pursued by most of our modern popes.

Joe Don Baker aside, I thought The Living Daylights was not a bad entry into the franchise, as these things go.  I would be so bold as to say that it is better than anything Roger Moore did.  There are some not so great moments in it, including some nudity, but at least Dalton’s Bond is not as much of a womanizer.