I never knew Licence to Kill was considered “bad” its definitely one of my favourites

I love when David has Joe Darlington on. The two of them always have amazing Bond movie discussions together!

I absolutely love Licence to Kill. I will say that it is absolutely the closest thing to a Fleming novel that we’ve ever gotten on screen. I dare you to read all of the novels, watch this film, and say all of the elements aren’t there. It follows the Fleming structure perfectly.

Really enjoyed this chat. My underdog film is Tomorrow Never Dies: -The story was decades ahead of it's time. -Kick ass pre-title sequence (second best in whole franchise for me) -First Brosnan Bond movie written specifically for his traits, mixing Connery and Moore together. -Backseat driver scene -Motorcycle stunts -Wai Lin and combat generally -Old school end scene infiltrating a secret base (boat) and destroying it, saving the girl and ignoring the rescue party -David Arnold TND conforms to the classic Bond formula and is real fun ride.

Moonraker for me. Roger at his most charming and - though a little silly - I just find it SO much fun. Stunning locations and THAT aerial scene at the beginning...Brilliant.

Licence To Kill my number 1 since childhood. Don't care about issues with that film. Dalton is amazing!

License to kill isn't a bad movie at all IMO. Timothy Dalton was ultra underrated as Bond. While I also thought spectre was a good not great movie. Spectres opening was spectacular and memorable.

License to Kill for Dalton's performance and Q has a big role here and any scene with him is very enjoyable....I'll throw in Sanchez as a great villian and the tanker scene closer as a top 5 ending in the series...

I'm definitely with Joe on Octopussy. It's always been one of my favorites, too - I didn't realize it was considered a "bad" Bond film until I watched this! Joe nailed it about how climactic the end of the movie was. I'm also with Ray. Licence to Kill was something spectacular. It shows how on-the-pulse EON was about what was popular - and having Bond as the hero of an American style action movie is a delicious twist on an oversaturated genre.

Timothy Dalton was a great Bond ! He is my second favorite next to Sir Sean Connery. I have read the books , Dalton was spot on. Way ahead of Craig's portrayal of the gritty Bond.

For me, it's "The Man with the Golden Gun." I understand all the criticisms of the film; but it has a special place in my heart. It was the first film my parents let me go alone to watch in the theater. It also co-stars Christopher Lee, and I've always been a Lee/Dracula fan. All of which came together when I was privileged to meet Mr. Lee many years later.

Interesting because with my circle of friends, Licence to Kill is viewed as a highly regarded film with some even calling it their favourite.

My underdog is TMWGG. Scaramanga is one of the best Bond villains. The style--Scaramanga's base, the Peninsula Hotel, Scaramanga's yacht--is some of the best of any movie. The locations are great and really part of the story. The Hong Kong scenes could not have been shot anywhere else (compare SKYFALL, where Bond in Shanghai could have been any random large city) and involved real local characters. The plot is unique and interesting, and leads to an iconic confrontation between Bond and Scaramanga. Great Bond girls. This is my favorite Roger Moore movie.

For me, it's TMWTGG. Just love so many elements like Scaramanga, Nick Nack, locations (island especially), bad one-liners, and even Mary Goodnight. But, I know it isn't a good movie. It's just one that I still enjoy.

My underdog has to be Tomorrow Never Dies, my favourite Brosnan movie. Goldeneye always seems to be championed as his best (& occasionally TWINE) but for me, TND ticks all the boxes - Michelle Yeoh is a terrific Bond girl, the action is great & the villain’s motivation, like Goldfinger, is simply wealth, not world domination. And the icing on the cake is Pierce’s best performance as Bond.

For someone who just turned 40, watched Bond films when I was a kid on Saturday evening (in the uk) I’d somewhat forgotten all about my joy and love of the films. It wasn’t until lockdown that I found The Bond Experience channel, then only last year did I purchase all the films. I’ve been trough them one a week and am going through them now a second time. I don’t have many options on underdogs yet but I know that I enjoyed “license to kill” very much. I’m just hear because it’s entertaining and David and his crew do amazing videos.

My personal 'Defending "BAD" James Bond Movie' is "A View to a Kill". THE best ever James Bond theme song by Duran Duran. GREAT villain pair with Christopher Walken and Grace Jones. I LOVE Patrick Macnee as Bond's sidekick (just wish he wouldn't have been killed off so soon in the film). One of John Barry's better Bond scores. Final appearance of Louis Maxwell as Moneypenny. Roger Moore is as charming as ever. Not the best Bond movie by any means, but is vastly better than others (Die Another Day, Quantum of Solace, License to Kill, No Time to Die, Never Say Never Again, Diamonds Are Forever). I even like View better than For Your Eyes Only.

Licence to Kill is one of the best of the bunch. I personally do not rate any of the Craig movies after Casino Royale at all. And Diamonds are Forever is my go to 007 outing if I'm in a bad mood. It makes me smile.

For me it has to be Diamonds are Forever. The dialogue, the title song, the wittiness, the soundtrack, it just has a enough for me to always appreciate it and it’s one I grab and watch a lot.

Licence to kill is not an underdog anymore and today it is often consider as being among the best - It deserves to be considered on the greats. It just works and the casting is easily one of the best castings of the entire series. BTW Talisa Soto does a great job in LTK. What´s all that about her A-game being bad? She is much more enjoyable here than many character in No Time To Die... David Dencik is SO over the top in No time to die. It looks as if he is in the wrong movie. And why is Krests exploding head goofy? It looks real to me and its scary as hell... It´s not goofy at all. Its practical effects at its best. There are no plotholes in Licence To Kill. And Sanchez DOES find out, that Bond is a secret agent. In fact Bond tells him himself when they drink coffee. You should be able to remember that. In my opinion Quantum Of Solace is Craigs second best movie despite some quick editing. Its got a great plot that doesn´t distract you. Its a great follow up to Casino Royale. The whole water privatization plot is VERY realistic actually. Love the villain because of his plot.

Licence to Kill was upper 1/3 Bond IMHO. Spectre should remain forever condemned for wasting what should have been the master casting of Christoph Waltz as Blofeld. I’ve never been more disappointed by Bond movie…except maybe the last one.

I love Diamonds Are Forever. It shows how even a supervillain like Blofeld has to rely on street level thugs to do the grunt work. We get to see the whole chain of command from the street to the top. Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd make particularly memorable characters. And the incidental music throughout the film is fantastic.

Octopussy and Licence To Kill are among my favorite in the series. Octopussy had the right balance for a Roger Moore movie: the humor is fun, exciting action scenes where you feel Bond is in danger (unlike in Moonraker), the gadgets are believable, an interesting plot with good villains and great Bond girls. Licence To Kill has my favorite action scenes in the franchise, one of the best villains (druglord 80s' cliche but Robert Davi makes him "bondian", sophisticated and menacing), and it was the first Bond I saw in theatre. I was disapointed Dalton did not returnded for another movie and was a bit underwelmed with Goldeneye (too much back to the formula, poor music score and without memorable action scenes).

My underdog is definitely The World is not Enough. It is the most Fleming of the Pierce Brosnan era, he was the best in the role in this film and Sophie Marceau’s Elektra King is a powerful and emotional villain.

David Zaritsky, as you are always fond of saying, there are no bad James Bond films, only one's we like less than others.

Our entire family loves Joe Darlington, 95% of the time agree with Joe Darlington, and have been listening to him from the early days of his podcast - thanks for continuing to have him on so much

Need more of this style of series. Fantastic video I felt like I was one of the chums drinking and talking Bond. Brilliant video.

I like how Octopussy was discuss as a proper Espioage film (Cold War) unlike any other Bond films, which was a defence that I like the most!

An interesting video concept, to defend the undefendable in a For and Against debate. Very well done. In a move that I hope does not reduce the sale of books to a mere trickle, my favourite Craig is Quantum. Every shot is beautifully framed, the music is sublime, Craig is at his best dressed, and then there is action. As Bond fans, we rewatch these films to death. Quantum to this day maintains in me an excitement that all other Bonds cannot provide. A Persistence of Vision may allow one to better understand the action, one can remember from previous viewings what is about to come, but one can still be excited by it. I will leave my thoughts to the other entries for another time. I do not wish to outstay my welcome.

MOONRAKER IS AWESOME. Great action movie, Great sifi, Great bond movie and best Roger Morre performance as bond. Unrealistic and camp? Yes, and that makes it even better. Not a guilty pleasure, just a pleasure.

Fun conversation. I agree with the production value issues with LTK. If only Lewis Gilbert and Guy Hamilton had continued making more bond films. They built the mold imo. My guilty fav is probably Moonraker. Seems that was underrated at the time but I thought it brought a sense of epic class even though it went a little over the edge with the slapstick at times.

Kyle's comment about having the rifle from Q Branch in the boat is GENIUS. Literally Chekov's Gun. It would have made that scene so much more satisfying.

I’m glad Joe Darlington depend Octopusy convincingly. He say a lot on his review podcast. I’m equally Roger Moore and Daniel Craig fan, Octopusy is one the top 5 James Bond of Roger Moore that I don’t mind watching a lot.

Man with the Golden Gun is a very nicely crafted film with plenty of suspense and fun. Moonraker is a bit long, but generally very good.

Love hearing and seeing you guys together :D. It makes me laugh how Die Another Day is not even included xD

Great defenses for each movie, enjoyable discussion. Thank you, gentlemen! For anyone interested in seeing Dalton play a slick mean bad boy: watch Framed! Dalton is the villain. It's a 4 episode long BBC drama from the early 90's. It's like watching him do a different version of Bond and shows how Dalton could be very charming and seductive if he so wanted . I think it proves he chose to play Bond as a everyman , where he could have chosen to play Bond more as a charismatic person, as he does in Framed.

Glad someone else liked Spectre, after my first watch I was so happy to have enjoyed an old school bond film. I also like QoS , infact I'd kinda rate all Craig films as equally 'above average' with none standing out that much either side. If i had to say my underdog pick, based on lists I have seen it would be 'For your eyes only'. It's easily top 3 for me and I never tire of it, love the locations, love the variety of action, love basically all the characters (except Bibi). Who would have thought slightly more serious Roger Moore was the winning formula.

In our spectre episode from a while back, I pitched the Q lap gun idea for the finale. I’ll assume Kyle was impressed with my concept lol! Kidding of course! Loved this one!

Quantum of Solace - it's an art Bond film. It has a great score and looks beautiful; the fight scenes, the opera, Camille's character, the cheek of when they freefall from the plane and still have change to get the bus to the nearest town; Dominic Greene's sidekick in a neckbrace after encountering Bond; the exploding hotel inferno; the Aston chase. It isn't an all rounder like the other Craig Bonds due to being rushed and the Writers Strike. It does feel like a Bond throwback - one of the female characters has a jokey rather than an actual name, and in this movie Bond is more jokey, almost channelling Roger Moore! Also some strange loose ends - M gets shot, but immediately bounces back and the poor lone hotel worker (housekeeper/manager?) who is abused, escapes and then has their workplace blown up. What happens to her?

I rate all these films high..great discussion !!! Very good points by everyone!!!! Totally agree with Kyle on Spectre!!👏 so nice to hear this from another fan of the franchise!

I love your channel David, and this was a really fun, thoughtful, well moderated chat on an interesting topic. I may be the the only one who feels this way, but the not so subtle digs, to all out bashing toward NTTD in every second video is starting to become really off putting. It wasn’t one of the four to be discussed here, and somehow it got almost as many negative references as those films that were to be dinged. If you are aware how often you’re doing it and don’t care, that’s complete cool. But just in case it’s completely off the cuff, do know it is becoming a bit grating for this particular fan of that film. Otherwise, thanks for all the awesome hard work that you put into giving us such regular, top tier content. :)

You are looking really good Joe, it looks like you have been training. Im happy to see you doing well.

Enjoyed that lads, please do another on simpler lines..you make a good crew....

There's nothing "bad" about LICENCE TO KILL. It's a cold, hard-edged film, that is very true to the novels. Dalton is a fantastic Bond. Compared to the bloated SKYFALL, SPECTRE, and NO TIME TO DIE, QUANTUM OF SOLACE's sparse approach comes across as fresh, and innovative. I have come to like QOS more and more, over the years. That's why I eat the peppers 😀

My underdog is definitely A View To A Kill. -Best bond soundrack -Christopher Walken is a top vilain -The stable scenes are vintage Bond, where he does actual spy work and gets to meet the vilain and his henchpersons -I like an older bond in his leather jacket -I don't mind Stacey Sutton. As a kid, I got cold sweat during the fire/elevator shaft scene Another underdog I quite like is Diamonds Are Forever, but I can't really defend it with arguments.

Octopussy contains excellent scenes. The auction scene alone is one of my all time favorite Bond moments. However, the story construction of the film is a hot mess. Making the Faberge Egg the mcguffin needlessly complicated the plot and most of the scenes in India were often dumb filler. The jewelry smuggling was really an after thought compared to the vastly more important threat of an atomic bomb going off in an Air Force Base.

Who in their right mind considers Licence To Kill a bad Bond film? That film is top 10. It essentially set the stage for what later went on to become Craig's Bond. And it brought some much needed grit to the franchise.

Wow! this was great discussion! I agree with much of what was said and all the films have something to enjoy.

Licence to Kill is a top Bond and one of my favourites. I really think Octopussy and Quantum are underrated. Spectre is just bad. Brofeld? Come on! 🤮

Although Die Another Day has some very weak elements, and is not a favourite of mine by any stretch and I will not defend any of the negatives too much, one thing that is often missed is that DAD made huge sums of money at the box office. Considering it was the fourth film for Brosnan, not adjusting for inflation, Die Another Day was the highest-grossing James Bond film until the release of Casino Royale. It performed extremely well financially and also introduced younger viewers to Bond as it appealed more to an adolescent audience, hopefully many of them now sticking with the franchise. For all of its faults, it was the last time the forth movie for an actor in the series was released just three years after the previous effort! Brosnan had 4 films in 7 years after a six year gap form Dalton - Craig had five of variable quality in 15 years. The special effects get a lot of stick, especially the cringy surfing scene, yet at the time it was still considered difficult to create CGI fluid effects without massive budgets for the effects. The movie was produced at a time when the typical 90s action tropes were seen as dated, but the realistic feel of Bourne and Casino was yet to become mainstream. A lot of action genre movies of the early 2000s suffered from being made when the genre was changing very quickly: MI2, etc. tried to loose the 90s vibe but couldn't quite offer something that would stand the test of time against the harder edged movies that would follow. DAD is pretty dire I grant you, but it got people talking about the invisible car, it shook things up a bit for a forth film for Brosnan.

Great video guys!!

Great episode. Everyone fought their corner well. I already love Octopussy and LTK but still not totally on board with QOS and SP! My underdog might have to become TMWTGG. Living in SE Asia will do that. Shitload of abbreviations there.

Great video guys ! Thanks again

Great discussion. I’m with Joe: the clown scene in Octopussy is a highlight in the series. Very intense. Reminds me of North By Nortwest when the police tells Cary Grant to be ashamed of himself after gw told themhe is dangerous killer. It is surreal, but makes sense in the story.

Quantum of Solace was cut like an MTV video. I didn't like it the first time I watched it. After that, I loved it.

It's not considered canon but I would encourage any 007 movie viewer to give Never Say Never Again another shot. It hits all the marks and IMO Sir Sean's performance was far superior to his work in Diamonds Are Forever

Great choices guys! And nice job defending your underdogs! If I had to choose one to defend its Tomorrow Never Dies. For me this is the most fun Bond film from Brosnan’s tenure. Not perfect by any means. But all the necessary elements are there. Locations, style, and ACTION! Oh my gosh the action! Kudos to Vic Armstrong and the stunt team! When I’m in the mood for some popcorn and a straightforward Bond action film, I’m reaching for TND!

I am getting sick of people saying Licence To Kill is bad just because it’s inspired by Miami Vice, when clearly it wasn’t.

Can’t agree more about the roger Moore clown scene. He is raging against a flood of soldiers, pushing him away from his objective. In his voice you hear fear, anger, frustration, and even pain. He’s going to end like his friend, he’s going to fail. It’s a very human moment for Moore. People focus on his costume, not his mannerisms. Any moment when it looks like failure for bond, when he throws his last bits of energy into the situation, in defiance of the probably outcome, is a compelling moment in my eyes

Great video discussion! I agree that it was a big miss not bringing back Hinx in NTTD. HE was one of the best henchmen in the series and one of the best elements of SPECTRE. What if Hinx did return in NTTD and he sacrificed himself instead of Bond?

Fantastic Chat guys. I think i recall that it is mentioned in the LtK novelization that Bond knew Della from way back and introduced her to Leiter or something along the lines. When I read this it made so much more sense why they so intimate with each other at the wedding. Granted it is still a bit too much perhaps of kissing and hugging. But still i could See that happening with an old friend at her wedding. Positive emotions and alcohol...!

My underdog film is A View To A Kill. It's a film I'll die on a hill for that film. It's very very enjoyable for a good time, has good a good score and good villains

Excellent discussion!

I agree absolutely about the clown scene, its intense instead of being comedic, he even has to convince octopussy that despite his suit there could be a ticking clock which could even sabotage her jewellery smuggling operation but she goes with his trust.. and everyone is rewarded

My choice would be the Man with the Golden Gun.

Amazing video guys

25:44 To that point, after Bond is brought to Sanchez's mansion (after the ninja sequence), Bond tells Sanchez that he used to be a British spy. So Sanchez knows about Bond being a secret agent...

Octopussy is awesome...nuff said. I feel the most underrated Bond film is Tomorrow Never Dies. I think there are great aspects within that film and can often get overlooked. Its not perfect, but its a really solid good viewing experience.

'licence to kill' needs no defense...it is one of my favorite bond films, and it is in my top five....

I really like Octopussy and Quantum. I mean, the latter part of Octopussy is a ridiculously long series of chase scenes- that could have been cut down, like when he's trying to get to the circus and is getting stymied by annoying people. But the movie is a lot better than I thought it would be. I liked Q's involvement, both of the main ladies, the music, and the setting in India. Plus some great Moore/Bond scenes, like the Faberge bidding one. And I've just always really enjoyed QoS- it's actually my most viewed of Craig's films. The setting, M, Felix, the action, all fun.

16:58 The reference used in Licence To Kill is not Rashomon, it is Yojimbo. 42:17 Love the face that Joe Darlington is making ! 😆

It is really good that you try and see some good in the BAD Bond movies and not just trash em. its a whole new perspective :)

Thanks for this, great entertainment!! Greetings from Sweden

License to Kill is better than any Craig film Dalton is James Bond I have really soured on the Craig films Very excited for the next 007 though

Licence To Kill for me is still a pretty strong movie if you have read the James Bond novels by Ian Fleming and understand what the filmmakers' intentions were in making the movie. Plus, the action scenes are really great, even better what I have seen in modern movies. It is unfortunate that it was released during a summer that had lots of other major movie squeals in it. Also, as many a Bond fan/ film scholar has noted the poor marketing hurt the movie as well.

Octopussy is genuinely good. Don’t let the title mislead you.

There are no bad Bond but some are better than others 🤣Love your channel ! Thank you all you 4.

@DavidZaritsky. Your words, Direct quote, “…If I’m in the mood for a movie about James Bond…The Dalton ones! You can’t go wrong! Because you get James Bond….Served up on a platter...” Why? Because Dalton, great, consummate actor 1.) He read the Fleming books, understood the Character, and 2.) Is/was Easily 20+ Years ahead of his time.

Great discussion guys. On a broader plotting point across the series, I feel like we've been pushed down the personal back story route in the Craig era by not rooting Bond in our current geo-political world (as it always did). Even a film as silly as MWTGG had the real-world energy crisis as context. Dare I say that this may be for fear of not wanting to offend a certain rising, potentially hostile geo-political power?

Top 5: 1. Licence to Kill 2. OHMSS 3. For Your Eyes Only 4. The Living Daylights 5. Goldeneye Bottom 5: (No particular order) Spectre Die Another Day Thunderball Quantum of Solace Skyfall

Great video! My underrated Bond film: The Man With the Golden Gun!

Wow I totally agree about LTK having a TV look to it. Love it though tbh.

I suppose Quantum is also my underdog film. It's my second favorite Craig film and I strongly prefer it to Skyfall. Definitely catch a lot of flak in the Bond community when I voice that very unpopular opinion.

This is a great discussion boys 🍸

Diamonds are Forever is mine. I can see why it's not anyone's favourite but it was an Important bond film because they were trying to figure out a path for future bonds and introduce Bond to a new decade the 70's along with expanding his American base. So not a perfect Bond but so many elements are great like Wint and Kidd, Blofield , Tiffany and the campy feel does lend itself to being an easy watch as for Connery he doesn't Bring his best game but isn't as bad as people make out. OH and Jimmy Dean is hilarious.

I have to agree with Joe on all the points he raised to defend Octopussy. Always loved Licence to Kill. I do disagree with it being compared to a TV movie as you just wouldn't get the same calibre of insane stunt work in a TV movie or TV show back in the 80's. I've never had any problem with Quantum of Solace. As far as the quick cut editing goes, I tend to compare the use of these processes to other films and if it isn't as distracting as it is in films like The Bourne series or Taken 3 or Aeon Flux then I tend to give it a pass. And I've never experienced any problem in following the action in Quantum of Solace. I actually think it is well framed enough to be able to tell what is going on. The number of quick cuts is annoying for some scenes but not others. Rather reminiscent of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, where you would have quick cuts for some action scenes but not others. I do think the battle at the climax of Quantum is the best choreographed action scene in the film. Far superior to the similar scene in SPECTRE, which is rather lethargic and unimaginative. Then there s SPECTRE. I just can't get into that film. It's just there. It feels disjointed and I don't find anything inspired or imaginative about it. It's the film that really introduced the story arc in Craig's era. You know it wasn't really planned out from the beginning. It feels tagged on and ill-conceived. Craig's final two films are way down at the bottom of my rankings list because of that unnecessary story arc. Loved his first three movies though.

I grew up watching Sir Roger, I'm 42, but you could set your watch in UK for a film on Saturday night. I've actually met all 007s, Sir Roger was such a gentleman, Sir Sean gave me a bear hug, (I look scarily like him). Tim Dalton bought me and my best mate a drink, George I met at a book signing, Pierce in the same theatre bar as Tim, Dan, I've known for years.

Licence to Kill is a top 10 Bond film for me. Dalton the closest to Fleming's Bond, Sanchez one of my favourite villains, Pam perfect for Dalton. It has an excellent plot and climactic ending. Agree though there is no sense of style for Bond and is not as cinematic as other Bond films such as The Living Daylights or Goldeneye in that era. I enjoyed Octopussy watching it earlier this year, Spectre is too long and Quantum of Solace suffers from poor script due to writer's strike as well as the editing. QoS does have the best tactical and casual Bond outfits .

I have no nostalgia for LtK, it’s one of only a couple Bond films I hadn’t seen prior to me getting the Bond 50 collection in back in 2012. It doesn’t have the style of the other films because none of the other films are revenge thrillers. I don’t need the style in this movie, It’s a violent revenge thriller & that’s what I got! I love it!

QOS is totally underrated. It holds up after multiple viewings better than many of the “ popular” Bond films.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Scenery, style, girls the villains, especially for the Christmas vibe. Makes curling cool.

I think the idea behind "Brofeld" was to quickly make the two arch enemies despite no longer having the previous shared history the two had from all their clashes in the original canon.

So I just divide the Bond films into 3 categories. The Gold Standard Bond films like FRWL, GF, OHMSS, TSWLM, GE, CR & SF, The Average Bond films category, which I think most Bond films fall into with varying degrees. So if it weren't for certain things some films could have been Gold Standard or the opposite. The Not So Good Bond films category which I only consign DAF, VTAK, DAD, Q, SP & NTTD. Though I enjoy DAF, and parts of all the others. Even the not so good Bond films have some good things in them.

I guess I really am a newbie to Bond because I love 3 out of the 4 you talked about lol

I like the points Kyle from easy smiles raised about Spectre. I now appreciate Spectre more

We did an episode with Mr Being James Bond on Octopussy. I was not a fan of that film but after our conversation with Joe I really saw it in a different light. Kudos to Joe for bringing his A game in praise for this film 👍🏻

Licence to Kill is in my TOP 3. Going up and down, was 1 once. I just love it.

What i don't understand is why all the bond movies have not been released yet on 4k?

Great to see the Fab Four together again!!!!

License To Kill has always been top 5 for me. I think people don’t like how different it is to the others. Daniel Craig era certainly helped people open their minds the film.