Dalton is the best Bond, because he combines physicality and roughness of Craig, elegance of Connery, humour of Moore, charm of Brosnan etc etc etc

Totally agree! Timothy Dalton, for me, fits the total persona of what and who James Bond is. He essayed the role well with his looks, his charisma, his sensitivity, his intelligence, and his daring. I wish he had more Bond movies to his credit.

Agree, agree, agree! Timothy Dalton wasn’t the first James Bond I saw, that would be Connery in Thunderball. It wasn’t the first James Bond I saw in the movie theaters, that would be Moore in The Spy Who Loved Me. Dalton was the first James Bond I saw as a formative young adult, when I was figuring out who I am. He was the first Bond that I really connected to. I grew up in the 80s, so he caught me at a time that was very poignant in a person’s development. Dalton was also the first more grounded and realistic James Bond. Connery being too cool, Roger Moore, being too suave and silly, but Dalton hit that balance between ruthless and tender that I found very profound as a human being. When I read the Ian Fleming novels during Covid lockdown, it’s solidified my appreciation for him, and how close he was to the actual literary character. Great video with some great insights!

Dalton was so great. He's very believable in the role and his willingness to get involved in stuntwork really helps the action scenes. The Gibraltar pre title is one of my favourites. Love the channel keep up the great work 👍👍

Connery is (and will probably always be) my favorite Bond, but Dalton is a very close second. To me, Dalton is the most cerebral Bond, both in terms of his own approach to the role and in his iteration of the character. And I agree with you that, for all the talk that Dalton couldn’t deliver the quips, his very understated, throwaway humor works really well for his take. Excited to hear your take on LICENCE TO KILL. I just revisited it recently and had a great time.

I would love to have another thoughtful, well plotted and paced spy thriller with a well developed and believable romance. TLD is my #3 overall pick (of 25) and the kind of Bond movie that is sorely missed. The crime of the century was that Dalton only got 2. Well done, sir!

I totally agree with your analysis of the film and the role played by the wonderful Timothy Dalton. He depicted the ruthlessness and intelligence of the character as written by Fleming but he also brought a romantic side to Bond. Lovely actor.

Thoroughly entertaining analysis of the Living Daylights. Upon its release I loved it and Dalton's no nonsense performance and romanticism made him the best, but I was in a minority. Commentators criticised Dalton's Bond as humourless, but after watching Craig, Dalton looks as cheery as Norman Wisdom. Over time I have changed my mind. I think Dalton's and Craig's Bonds are too 'actorly', deliberate and self conscious; and Connery and Brosnan are better AND have best ever performances in FRWL and DAD. I think Necros is a brilliant foil to Dalton, Saunders' death is moving, D'Abo is superb as an innocent caught up in things too big but the serious Dalton makes the silliness of the whole 'salt corrosion' scene look stupid

Speaking of Necros. Yes! He was much more than a humble henchman! He was actually the 3rd villain! The best henchman after Oddjob and Jaws! By the way, Andreas Wisniewski is a really great guy! He's very tall(1.94?) and strong man. Knows hand-to-hand combat etc. and yet he is a very kind-hearted person! He's also a Buddhist. ***** THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS(1987) is the best James Bond film ever!!!

Well played 💪 Dalton is my absolute favourite 🤩 reasons are clear for us here

OMG! Nailed it!! How have o not found you before. As a Bond book fan I can say you absolutely nailed this. And Ian Fleming dressed him for comfort! These new producers have sold out to product placement. Congrats on this video. This is actually the last bond film I saw with my dad. So it’s kind of sentimental for me and my dad introduced me to the books before I ever saw a movie and you killed it with this review so thank you!

Enjoyed this video, you made very neat, insightful points which are received so naturally by us Dalton fans. As a 35 year old massive Bond fan TLD was the movie I saw first and Dalton as an actor made and continues to make a huge impression on me. I did then go on to see LTK and the most recent Bond which at the time was Tomorrow Never Dies and I thought Brosnan was excellent Bond as well but I have retained a great deal of affection for Dalton's portrayal and to this day it irritates me when Dalton is criticised and Craig is lauded for what I regard to be a bunch of fairly generic action movies that don't have the magic of what came before. On that note I would personally like the movies to finally end, Bond is a Cold War spy and in my opinion nobody will ever top Dalton & Connery.

Should have been 4 Dalton films..

You have nailed down why I love Dalton (probably my favourite Bond with LTK being in top 3 along with Skyfall and OHMSS). I'm first and foremost a fan of the books and Dalton really fills that role. Great analysis.

Thank you SO MUCH for this insightful video! You are 100% on the money and you raised many excellent points I had not considered before (despite agreeing with your overall view going in). I think Dalton's Bond oozes charm and charisma in a way no other Bond actor has, and his performance is pitch-perfect for me. I'm king of glad he only got two goes because it means that he will never have an Octopussy or Die Another Day blighting his track record. Looking frowared to exploring your other videos to get your perfective on the other actors now!

Dalton is my 3rd favorite Bond, Out of all the actors he perhaps captured the character Fleming created the best!! Amazing analogy Ryan! So looking forward to your take on LTK.

Totally agree. Imagine dalton was in golden eye like originally intended, that movie is only great because of the set pieces, music and villain, dalton would be the icing on the cake. License to kill and Golden eye are the greatest.

If you read the books, Dalton is the closest to the Character that Flemming wrote about. ‘License to kill’ also shows this. Craig a close second.

I really enjoyed Timothy Dalton as Bond. His pretrayel of 007 was dark and took after the novels by Ian Fleming License To Kill was the best one he did.

I was actually at the Royal Premier of The Living Daylights back in 1987 (A mate of mine had connections). Overall I liked Timothy Dalton’s approach to the role and like him as an actor in general but to this day I think he lacks that Bond charisma. He never seemed comfortable in the role. However I enjoyed his scenes with Robert Brown’s M far more than Roger Moore. And he had good chemistry with Maryam d’abo’s Kara, who I think is a highly underrated Bond Girl who has an Audrey Hepburn quality.

I definitely like TLD and think its a nice action adventure movie. But I kinda cant agree on Dalton being THAT great sorry. I feel strongly that because it was all last minute to get him on board of the movie that it lacked preparation for him and there are times I feel he was in his own movie. But I love your enthusiasm though, 3:05 yes very humble i feel indeed . keep it up :)

Robert Davi quote “Timothy Dalton is The Godfather of Daniel Craig”

In an interview (long before the movies) Fleming stated that he wrond Bond as a "coat hanger" deliberately so that each reader could infuse their own traits into the character to make Bond "unique" to each reader. And that is PRECISELY WHY the literary Bond would have flopped in the cinema. It was Connery who gave us most of the "signature" characteristics movie goers expect in Bond. Connery blended the Suaveness and poise of Cary Grant with the two-fisted toughness of Robert Mitchum and then added his own boyish playful charm and Panther-like movement and dominant physical stage presence. In my view Dalton certainly "looked" the most like the literary Bond, but he just didn't have all of the role-defining audience persuading 'Gravitas' of Connery. You need ALL of the key elements. EX: Moore equaled (or even bettered) Connery in Charm and wit but completely lacked the Physicality and menacing presence. Craig matched the physicality but lacked the suave looks and charm. Etc, etc... IMO Dalton had the highest level of believability (that Bond was human ) and his range of expression (non verbal acting) was without equal.... Still, these aren't "key" elements to most people who want to enjoy a 007 film. I think only Connery had the Male/Female appeal and adoration of the audience, and (especially when Adjusted for inflation) the profits made from Connery's tenure as Bond dwarf all other actors by comparison. That is proof enough. More... What Dalton really needed was a better script and perhaps more creative Direction....TLD felt like it was written for someone else (it was) and the villains were horrifically weakly written. The supporting cast was however excellent. LTK had an Amazing Villian (top 3 in my opinion) but the script became almost unraveled by the third act (Stingers, Wayne Newton and Semi trucks that 'Wheelie'). He deserved a third movie and if he made Goldeneye he could have been the only one (in my view) to rival Connery

He’s my third favourite Bond after Connery and Craig…

Timothy Dalton was so good but sad he couldn’t or didn’t do a 3rd Bond Film. Brosnan wasn’t suited to Goldeneye. I wish Dalton was in it. Dalton has Roughness but charm but doesn’t overplay the name bind James Bond at the start, it was very effortless. Plus he was the most attractive

Dalton is my favorite too. Lots of range to his acting work in these films. At first it was Moore growing up, then Connery when I dug into the rest of the series as a teen. I agree that he probably is the most introspective, where the camerawork emphasizes what he's thinking, rather than having him to provide exposition. Just like how the Fleming books would emphasize this. It would've been fun to see him continue on to at least one more film. Indulge my point of view on the two main villains of this movie for a little bit. I wrote a portion of this same post on another video: Necros is definitely the stronger antagonist of the three. But there are some underlying ambitions within both Whitaker and Koskov. Both were political opportunists, using the opium trade to further other desires. I really think Whitaker in the end wanted to be some sort of dignified military dictator beyond the arms dealing, and would've gladly served as one for any poor, forgotten nation (preferably an Aryan one, lol). Koskov was more ambitious, I believe. He probably figured that by delivering a notorious British agent (the direct killer of former KGB agents Scaramanga, Kreigler, and Zorin, and the indirect killer of former military figures like Klebb and Orlov) to the Soviet government, he would be considered a bonafide hero. And the added bonus of being on a "secret mission" for an assassinated General Pushkin can pretty much gateway him to filling the vacant seat of KGB director. That position grants access to all kinds of intelligence around the world. Aid the government in starting wars and toppling smaller, vulnerable countries; and push for more undermining and sabotaging within the West. Create multiple bases of operations, even within the "nation" of a dignified military dictator (say, a fellow like Whitaker). And better yet, aim higher! I can see this charmer using his weaseling ways to go for the Russian presidency. The fall of the Soviet Union would be somewhat of a setback, but could grow into a perfect advantage. Shape the vulnerable former Superpower however you want. World domination is the goal ;)

I've heard it said by many fans that Dalton was closest to Fleming's Bond. I don't feel it, but I'll try yet again. Sadly, there are so many terrible, ridiculous scenes in his movies, that I still cringe. Like OHMSS and a few Moore films, I feel the problems are probably with direction. -Bad character development and too much campyness. Your review does make ne want to watch them again.

while I do think golden eye is probably one of the best bond films ever, and pierce broslan was amazing, I definitely would have preferred Timothy Dalton in golden eye. brosnan movies after were not his fault, they were terrible after golden eye, but still some great ideas and in a way enjoyable. In my opinion, even with the fact that I know how good Sean Connery was, I feel Dalton is the best James bond ever.

Imo Dalton was dry, without the style and charisma. He tried his best indeed. He read all the novels indeed. But he lacked the style and he looked somehow "forced", A pretty good actor but not fully appropiate for that role. He did not had the coolness, the moves, the suaveness, the wittisism, the sophistication. He was without doubt an improval to Moore's Bond which had become a parody. He was a more dark and sensitive Bond. But could not reach Connery's "full package" of the character. For me Connery is more closer to Fleming's Bond (dark, gritty and dangerous) in the first 2 Bond films (Dr No - FRWL), a character which he improved cinematically in the next 2 (Goldfinger - Thunderball) by adding to this elements, a dark dry witt coated with venure sophistication, suaveness, charm, and incoparable style, without altering the tough and ruthless side of the character. Dalton himself admitted: «…I was asked, at least approached 3 or 4 years in the past and originally I didn’t want to take over from Sean Connery. He was far too good. He was wonderful… When you have seen Bond from the beginning, you don’t take over from Sean Connery» (Interview in Good Morning America, 1987). My best...