Same here

Gotta give Dalton respect for turning down the role at first because he felt he was too young. His dedication to the character was very admirable.

@@cinemaarts8795 Aw absolutely. Genuinely putting the character first. And him a young, hungry actor looking for big opportunities too.

He is a wonderful ambassador of the series. He doesn't go on many chat shows to discuss it. But when he does, he does it with reverence.

💯

Yea Dalton played it straight, Brosnon played it Rodger Moore style which made a nice segway back to a serious Bond again with Craig

Both of his are in my top 3 favourites. Never made a bad one. All other Bonds made at least one (except Lazenby)

Craigs a fine actor but his Bond movies are shite.

Licence to Kill is one of my favourite bond films.

Thanks and agreed. Fans I guess weren’t ready for it then.

You say that, but The Living Daylights + Licence to Kill were both hits at the box office, then rentals on VHS/Betamax + LaserDisc, and then later to buy etc so some were ready!

The Living Daylights and Licence To Kill tanked at the box office. Stop rewriting history please. I'm a Bond fan and I hated the Daniel Craig films.

@@ysthafellgynghori8423they did not tank, they may have been among the lower earning films of the series, but they both still made a fairly hefty profit, many tens of millions worldwide, bearing in mind this was 30 odd years ago, so when adjusted for inflation that figure would look pretty dam good

Agree entirely. Dalton and Craig are the best Bond.

Definitely underrated. Definitely.

There are actually two different versions of his third. One is an action comedy and the other is a techno thriller.

💯💯💯

I thought Roger Moore retired because they wanted to take the franchise in a different direction, and his age of course. Bond died after Tomorrow Never Dies.

Licence to Kill is my favourite Bond movie as well. It's excellent 80's cheese and I love all the characters in it, most of all Dalton's portrayal of a James Bond gone rogue.

I really enjoyed both his films as Bond just to bad he didn't get 1 or 2 more before Brosnan.

Dalton was a very good actor. If all had gone to plan he'd have had 2 more Bonds. As it was there was a 6 year hiatus. Living Daylights is like a modern FRWL.@@bartsullivan4866

Dalton? Best Bond ever. Hands down.

Licence To Kill is one of my 2 favourite Bond films. Can't really spit it with Diamonds Are Forever.

I always saw Roger Moore's Bond as the Adam West Batman of the James Bond series of Films. Cheesy goodness, that you just never took seriously, but also enjoyed all the eye candy he brought to the screen via the femme fatales as well as lovers of the character. Two different characters yet same level of cheesiness, when I go back and watch Moore's bond...I have expect him to start doing the Bat-toosey. lol

I like that different actors bring different energy. It would grow stale if they were all cut from the same cloth.

Roger Moore was fantastic

Entertainment value, no.1: Roger Moore Close to original character, no.1: Timothy Dalton As interesting and with the depth of Barbie's Ken, no.1: Pierce Brosnan

Thanks!

That wasn't totally his decision. MGM also wanted a new face. But Cubby was loyal and wanted him back for a third.

Agree

Me too Dalton was far better than Brosnan in the role. If truth be said, Dalton and Lazenby were the best Bonds in the entire franchise because they were the only two actors who wanted to play Bond faithful to the Books. While the others decided to ditch the Bond of the Books. Dalton and Lazenby bravely decided to play the serious Bond of the Books knowing full well. Audiences might like the Books interpretation of Bond. Shame that Dalton and Lazenby only got few Bond movies to do.

@@rohanmarkjay I'll be completely honest. I own a few of the Bond books but have never found the time to read them. That said, I've had a lot of conversations with those that have and I've seen several video essays and I agree with you that Dalton definitely seems the closest to the books. I've never had a problem with books differing from what ends up on screen so long as it's entertaining and even though Dalton is my favourite, I like the Bond movies, they're often great entertainment. I really enjoyed Goldeneye and still want that to exist but I definitely wanted more Dalton.

I agree. As a big fan of the two Dalton films, I'm glad this third film didnt get made considering how silly it sounds like it wouldve been. If we couldnt have gotten a third film with the same tone as the first two, dalton's legacy is best left standing on the two we got.

This script sounds wild af. I cannot even imagine Dalton getting caught up in such a mess.

It would have been toned down in the filming and editing of it. After all, they filmed the magic carpet escape for Living Daylights, but cut it out of the final print.

I think his two Bond entries are the best ones - I can't believe that Licence to Kill is the lowest grossing Bond film - it's easily one of the best. To think that Diamonds are Forever, Octopussy, Quantum of Solace and any of the Brosnan ones after Goldeneye did better than it is such a poor reflection of the cinema-going public.

LtK was a 15 certificate in UK. I had seen Moore's last 3 and TLD at the cinema but was too young to see this one. It's probably a big reason why the box office was lower and no other Bond has had 15 certificate before or since. It wasn't a family friendly film. The original cut was rated R for America, and even with editing of some violent scenes was still PG13. Dalton was awesome and I'm glad he didn't do what sounds like a very poor third film.

License to Kill was what Man with the Golden Gun should have been.

Love Dalton. His two films are in the five Bond films I'll still watch.

He's my favorite Bond: the tortured one.

What better than Connery? LOLLLLLLL are you real!!!! Dam I have seen some stupid comments in my life, but this one has to take the cake. LOL, Dam you are funny dude.

@@decimustv4257 lol it's obvious you haven't read any of Ian Fleming's books. In fact, Fleming was appalled that Connery was selected and called him the opposite of Bond. Ps...read some books....it's good for you.

He did want to do only one more but cubby said you have to do more because of the time gap but he didn’t want to make that commitment because he didn’t want to overstay his welcome (unlike Roger who REALLY looked way out of place in the 80s) which honestly I applaud him for that and I would’ve done the same thing I would only do it for 3 movies and leave so it be something that I love doing and not that I have to do it because my contract says I have to

He was really good. Put him second to Craig.

When I was a kid I did not understand Daltons take on Bond. Now License to Kill is one of my favorite Bond films and I wish Dalton had done more. Dalton in general is a great actor.

I think that has to do with when you were introduced to the films. People initially resisted Moore because he wasn't like Connery. Then they resisted Dalton because he wasn't Moore. But I'm with you. Dalton is great.

​@thelostadventuresofjamesbo5182 I think you have said something that hits the nail on the head. I grew up with Roger Moore & struggled to appreciate Dalton until I was older. Then I found Moore's take almost childish compared to Dalton. Connery will always be on a pedestal with many, because he was the first but that doesn't mean he was really the best portrayal against the books. For me Craig & Dalton are the best portrayals, but Moore & Brosnan will be the best for those who rate the humour side over grit. So my rating would be Dalton & Craig in top spot, followed by Moore, Connery & Brosnan joint second. Then below that is Lazenby... in my view, way below.. great plot but I have never felt he portrayed the role well enough for either grit or humour

I think one reason people weren't overjoyed with Dalton as Bond is because he wasn't womanizer like Connery & Bond only slept with one per each film, of course both his films were great. I suppose they had to tone down the sexual element of the films because of AIDS Epidemic at that time.

Yeah many don’t realize this but a bunch of the iconic stuff from the movies was changed from the books

Dalton said it best in the Everything or Nothing documentary, "This is terrible. I can't bring my 6 and 7 year olds to see this. Bond wasn't made for 6 and 7 year olds!"

Perhaps like a true theater actor, Dalton was challenged to bring Bond to what Fleming originally envisioned. But after decades of making Bond a super spy caricature, it was difficult for EON to create a serious, realistic spy thriller. Worse is that due to Brosnan's popularity ( everyone being familiar Brosnan's similar type of genre) there is an expectancy and urgency for Brosnan to succeed the Bond Connery and Moore has created.

​@@AndyJay1985That's true, in terms of the books, but the movies were marketed to those kids, and to teens as much as adult men. And the books were read by all too. I went to see Moonraker, aged 7, and loved it, for example. Fleming did not like his books being read by young boys and teens and wrote The Spy Who Loved Me novel deliberately as something they would hate, he thought. As an adult I see lots of things 'wrong' with James Bond as a character, and there's also the weirdness of making an early 1950s character, who is essentially still a pre war sort of person fit into the contemporary world. Bond looked so out of place in Harlem in Live and Let Die because that social history was totally absent from the Bond movies. I shall shut up now.😂

@@Bulletsandblockbusters this! The scene in Licence to Kill where Bond finds Felix with the note saying "he disagreed with something that ate him" was lifted from the Live and Let Die book.

When did he look like a skinny kid in the Remington era?

@southlondonguy1986 The entire run on the show, he was maybe a size 42 jacket.

Brosnan actually was both the lightest and heaviest actor (body weight wise) during his time as Bond. He weighed 165 lbs during GoldenEye and 225 lbs during Die Another Day.

They had plans for a third and a fourth!

What made it even more sad was the decision to make Plastic Piece Brosnan into James Bond.

Whoa! Thats amazing. Thanks for sharing!

So many plans. They just scratched the surface of what they hoped to do with him!

Viewed by itself as just A movie, Licence was a good movie. I just didn't care for it as an entry in the Bond film, precisely because he's not on a mission.

Oh he was on a mission all right, it just wasnt given to him by M.

I can attest to the lack of marketing for LTK . I worked at an ABC television affiliate in a major U.S. market that summer, and there were only 4 (4!) commercials that aired to promote the film. I don’t think the other movies released at the time hurt Bond’s chances for better success. Bond shouldn’t worry about “Batman,” or “Lethal Weapon,” etc. Those movies should worry about Bond.

The marketing was gross on License to Kill. I'm still sore about that photoshop poster. Minimal effort possible. Worst Bond poster to one of the best Bond films.

@@JayTemple he's on a personal mission. Mission of revenge. What makes it awesome is that he doesn't have MI6 at his disposal. He has to use his wits. And what makes it hard is how much Bond starts to respect the villains ideals on loyalty while MI6 kinda screwed him. He can identity with a scumbag.

An early draft of goldeneye was for dalton.

GOLDENEYE was indeed written with Dalton in mind. The plot was much more darker and personal. The film's main antagonist was originally named Augustus Trevelyan, Bond's mentor when he was recruited into the MI:6 from the Navy. Trevelyan defected to the Soviet Union with secrets from the financial intelligence and just after the end of the Cold War he planned a cybernetic attack on the WTC in New York. Trevelyan in this script was originally meant to be played by Sir Anthony Hopkins

He needed another film to be better established for the general public.

There were many versions of GoldenEye. Some were written with Dalton in mind and some were written with a generic Bond in mind. With the understanding that the final decision would be made later. Cubby wanted Dalton. MGM wanted to start fresh.

Good point! Lots of great interpretations.

Yeah, nicely said 👌

I agree. Honestly he’s my favorite Bond and i find it said that it took people a long time to realize how great he was as Bond.

Three would have been stretching it. He was 43 when he made Licence to Kill. He'd have been 48 making 17/Property. At a two year gap between films that would have made him 52 come film 19, which is Roger Moore territory for FYEO, Octopussy and Dalton would have wanted to steer well clear of comparisons to A View to a Kill.

⁠@@cooperwolfe5478 I think Dalton was weighed down by the fans’ attachment to (what I see as the ridiculous) Roger Moore formula. My father came of age during the Roger Moore generation, and the general complaint I have heard amounts to “Dalton was not Moore - not confident, nonchalant, and suave enough.” There was also a complaint that the post-Cold War villains were not strong enough. My father loves the Brosnan Bond films because (I think) they effectively amount to the Roger Moore Era Part II. I hate both Moore eras.

Yep, I agree. Brosnan was never as funny as Moore, not as charismatic as Connery, and not as hard-edged as Craig or Dalton. He was a kind of lukewarm hybrid of all those.

I thought Brosnan was excellent in Goldeneye, I think the quality of the scripts thereafter went downhill and he was lumbered with some pretty awful films. Dalton is underrated, though I think Licence to Kill pushes the limits of what a Bond film should be

Yeah ragging on Brosnan? It was never his fault. His charisma and wit was not far behind Connery, he's only other one who's even been in that ballpark. And not as funny? Moore's films sucked by and large aside from The Spy Who Loved Me and Live And Let Die (that slide whistle over the bridge jump was awful) was pretty good, but had issues. Only Moonraker is entertaining, but ridiculous and I kinda don't even think of it as a proper Bond film, but I'll watch it again sometime. Jaws was a great villain after all, although put to better use overall in his first outing. Brosnan was closest again to having the right amount of humor since Connery. The cornball bs they injected is what ruined so many of those. And that's what eventually led to Austin Powers raking the series over the coals and then they got bashful and way over course corrected with Craig's films. One of the reasons why Casino Royale was good as they brought back Martin Campbell (from Goldeneye) to direct it. As far as being hard edged, that's partly down to the writing, tone of the film, editing and music score. He had plenty of edge in Goldeneye, but also finesse. That's what Craig lacked. He came off like a brutal thug. The thing is Ian Fleming's Bond was a boring character. This idea of being slavish to his character is ridiculous. If Sean Connery hadn't have played him like he did in the script that they came up and punched up with ad-libs there might not be a franchise to begin with. It could've began and ended with one film.

💯

That Wilson/Ruggerio script I wouldve liked to have seen made, but it was good they didnt try to get 6 or 7 entries out of Dalton like they did with Moore.

@@fletchbg Dalton should’ve gotten 2 more or at the very least 1 more, it would’ve been a tidy trilogy. Upon reading the outline that Ruggerio wrote I am convinced it would’ve been great, maybe they could’ve dropped the idea of the female cyborg and it would’ve been perfect.

Brosnan was always great and came to bat with whatever bs they handed him to act out. As others have said he was born to play the role. It's a shame they started going downhill already after Goldeneye. They kept re-hiring same idiot screenwriting duo for that era. If I remember right they even had a hand in one of the Craig era films too. Why? Terrible, terrible writers. L

@@MagicCarpetRideShareProject Yeah, in a way both Dalton and Brosnan were kinda wasted in different ways. Dalton was given a raw deal with his contract and Brosnan was given a bad deal with his scripts.

Me, too! He was and still is the best Bond! Looking forward to seeing who is next!

Eventually!

@@Bulletsandblockbusterscool. Looking forward to it, whenever that happens.

Or possibly too early

@@Bulletsandblockbusters I meant Dalton's age when I said too late.

His fourth film would have been pure Fleming. Not an adaptation but clearly inspired.

Right? Dalton was really close to starring in Goldeneye, and left around Q1 of 1994. He just wanted to do Goldeneye and go out on a high note, but he was told that he can't just come back to do only 1 movie, especially after a 6 year hiatus.

There were several unmade Daltons. This video shows one. Another was a techno thriller. Another was an origin story.

I like Dalton in general (in and outside of Bond), but I don't think he would've been as good in Goldeneye if everything else was theoretically the same as we finally got it. Despite the fact that it was written for him, he didn't have the sly witty line delivery that Brosnan had. Also Brosnan is plenty capable of portraying physical brute force, enough to get the job done. As for the other Brosnan Bonds, he didn't write the films of course. So the increasingly lame scripts dictated alot of the cheesiness. But Brosnan always came to bat with whatever they gave him. They were fools to keep hiring back that screenwriting duo. They should've gotten back Michael France who wrote Goldeneye. It had the perfect amount of humor for a Bond film.

It was a ''genuine'' short story that Fleming wrote way back when. I'm pretty sure they swiped the title left the rest. The story isn't considered one of his better ones anyway. Having said that I kinda would've liked to see a third Bond with Dalton as long as it didn't change one thing later on with Goldeneye.

I agree, if Timothy Dalton had become James Bond sooner, and Licence To Kill was his third movie I think that audiences would have warmed up to him.

I think Lewis Collins should have been Bond for VTAK.

Thanks! And you’re absolutely right which is why in the video I made a point to say “tentatively” titled as they were throwing around a bunch of different titles at the time and certainly hadn’t settled on one. And the story I discuss in the film is the third draft of Bond 17 that would’ve been made before the production stalled due to legal disputes. When things picked up again they began developing what would become the GoldenEye script.

@@Bulletsandblockbusters fair! It's very hard to condense an unmade movie to 10 minutes and I understand the need to explain things concisely, I appreciate what you guys are doing

100% and thank you!!!

​@@BulletsandblockbustersI do remember that there was a delay in Goldeneye's production due to similarities between the script and True Lies. Was this true? Maybe there's enough material for another video. Great job!

​@@nick6var Seeing the True Lies clip here as Bond uses the jet to kill the villain in a skyscraper makes me wonder if that would also have been in GoldenEye.

Agreed

My pleasure

Yep, seems like a a lot of people who have read the books (myself included) prefer Dalton's Bond over any of the others.

The origin story idea was floated for Dalton's first. If you're curious, I get into it for my book The Lost Adventures of James Bond.

100% he was definitely ahead of his time.

Yeah, that’s probably because many of these ideas were reused for die another day. Earlier versions of this script also had more robots and goofy tech stuff too. Bullet dodged!

@@Bulletsandblockbusters yeah we all dodged a major bullet Lol

Thank you very much!

Thanks!

I was thinking that too.

Thanks! Rumour has it Nolan is going to do a period piece

I don't know if you have read the Anthony Horowitz Bond continuation novels, but he said when interviewed about his last book, that he would like to see the Bond movies remade but set in their original time period. Interesting, but I don't think it will happen.

@@Norvik_-ug3ge yeah don’t think it will happen too. I’m a huge fan of the franchise. I accepted Daniel Craig, and I understand why Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson went the route they did. Cheesy as it would be, and a slap to intelligence and the movie going audience, they could open up the next Bond as he was doing a VR training and the last 5 films were training materials and he failed the training by dying. Wishful thinking. So the filmmakers have two ways of going, well they could go three ways, but two are their only options now, one, have a new 007, James Bond is now a “code name.” That would carry on the Daniel Craig timeline. Two, totally reboot the franchise, again. New timeline, new Bond altogether. Or three, make it like these 5 movies were part of a VR training and reestablish the original timeline, or four, just ignore these 5 movies altogether and pick up from Brosnan’s timeline or Bond, but with a new actor in place. All just my two cents

Same here

Honestly. I would have loved Dalton or even Pierce Brosnan in a View to a Kill.

Same here

Thanks!

I agree. The third Dalton Bond film sounds like it would've been ridiculously entertaining.

John Glen is absolutely perfect for Bond, and I would even bring him back now. Richard Maibaum called Glen the "greatest action director in the world".

Happy birthday!

Thank you! I really appreciate it

I’ll look into it. Loved the first one!

watch diamonds are forever

@@nihits I first saw it as part of an all night Bond showing at a drive-in theatre way back around 1974. It's far from Connery's best but I honestly don't think his heart was into the movie as he'd already quit being Bond once before. And, yeah, the writing isn't great in that one. The book is a lot better.

Welcome aboard! And thank you!!!

Possibly!

Haha thanks!

Thanks! Welcome aboard

@@Bulletsandblockbusters Thanks! 👍

That’s my dream movie. It’s on my list but not sure enough info ever leaked about it to do a video on.

@@Bulletsandblockbusters Sony had a thing for crossovers. They also considered doing a Barbie crossover with He-Man, and a Men In Black crossover with Ghostbusters!

I’ll look into it

@@Bulletsandblockbusters i at least had a far lore faithfull godzilla Design 🤣

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

Nah. Gilliam’s. Go big or go home.

@@brotherjustincroweyeah or that too

Thanks! Happy to hear that!

I thought goldeneye struck a good balance of humor and seriousness. They got progressively sillier tho until die another day which was awful.

Same here. Brosnan in my eyes was just a hollow Plastic-Dandy-Bond.

@@joergzabbee3921Brosnan’s Bond had no edge or menace IMO. Even Moore’s Bond could flip from goofy to steely cold killer in the blink of an eye. Brosnan just couldn’t capture that. Goldeneye is overall great, but I find the early 90’s women’s lib routine that was shoehorned into it to be embarrassing. Of the Brosnan films it’s the only one I rewatch though, the rest are pretty forgettable IMO.

Much appreciated!