I absorbed a couple of the classics on TV during various British bank holidays, Goldfinger, Moonraker etc, but it wasn’t until the Daniel Craig films that I really got interested in the Bond back catalogue. Born in 1987, I grew up during the Pierce Brosnan era, and had a marginal interest in the films. It certainly does feel light-years from A View to a Kill, released only 4 years earlier and indeed light-years away from any previous film in the Bond franchise.Īdmittedly, I’ve only really been a Bond fan for the last decade or so. According to the British Board of Film Classification, the rating is justified for “moderate bloody violence and injury detail”. In short, the film is an action packed Bond adventure that sees 007 going rogue in an effort to take down Sanchez and avenge Della’s death.Ĭurrently, Licence to Kill is the only installment of the franchise (in the UK) to hold a 15 rating, making it the highest rated Bond film to date. From there the film takes a rather sinister turn involving murder, implied rape, body mutilation and cocaine smuggling. Naturally, Sanchez escapes custody as his goons kidnap Felix and his new bride Della. However when compared with Shirley Bassey, Nancy Sinatra and Carly Simon, for me, Gladys Knight isn’t quite in the same league.Īfter the credits, the wedding is in full swing, Sanchez is locked away for life and everyone lives happily ever after, making Licence to Kill the shortest 007 film of all time. The previous 2 installments, The Living Daylights and A View to a Kill used much more pop-oriented songs. Gladys Knight’s Licence to Kill does return the series to a more classic, diva lead ballad as the title track. Not the best, nor the worst title segment of a Bond movie. I’m pretty indifferent on both the opening credits and the theme song. Nevertheless, the wedding kicks off, as does the title sequence. After a daring aerial take down of the criminal Franz Sanchez, the groomsmen hand him over to the relevant authorities and parachute down extravagantly to the wedding chapel, thus startling the guests and completely taking the focus off of the bride. That’s certainly why I was delayed at my own wedding. As most grooms inevitably do on the morning of their big day, the chaps had to swing by a drug lord’s hideout to apprehend him. The film opens with the groom’s party en route, via helicopter, to Felix Leiter’s marriage ceremony. Regardless, Licence to Kill is obviously a more memorable and pithy title. Struggling in the sense that A) they didn’t know what it meant or B) thought it was referring to his drivers licence. Timothy Dalton’s second and final outing as Commander Bond was 1989’s action packed Licence to Kill. Originally titled Licence Revoked (in keeping with the plot of the film), the title was tweaked as it became evident in post-production that a great number of Americans were struggling with the word “revoked”.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |