Commander Dan

I am in the market to purchase a few of the Bond films, but I really do not want every last one. Additionally, I thought it would be cool to own at least one movie per actor, so, I thought I would start a separate poll for each Bond actor. (Besides, there are over 20 Bond films and a DVDTalk Poll will only allow for 10 entries.) Recommendations appreciated.

The Living Daylights
License to Kill

Mutley Hyde

Definitely The Living Daylights. I actually like Dalton as Bond. Read a few of the Fleming books, and you'll see why.

Still, Connery was just at the right place at the right time. He's the perfect cinematic Bond.

Jericho

I'm not a Dalton fan at all, at least relative to the others. And I always thought Moore reminded me of the Ian Fleming Bond most. But betwen the two, I'd give a clear edge to The Living Daylights.

Kudama

Between Flash Gordon and The Rocketeer, not to mention the Bond films, I'm a big time Dalton fan.

Dalton brought back the ruthless, efficient, almost sadistic Bond that Connery began. Brosnan has definitley followed his lead.

Dalton was a catalyst.

ckolchak

because they didn't know at the time just who would be playing Bond, The Living Daylights was written in a kind of middle road between Roger Moores quipster and Connerys no-nonsense tough guy .

once they saw Daltons interpretation, they purosefully wrote Licence to Kill to play to his strengths. and avoid or minimize his weaknesses.

the Living Daylights is very good movie. one of the best of the series imo.
but the character is written with a little of the jaunty image of Roger Moore in mind, and the rougher Connery.
Dalton does the best he can with the material, but sometimes seems uncomfortable.
furthermore the film is much more in line with classic Bond structure and acessories (location hopping, gadgets, etc)

LTK is one of the only films to really break with the formula, and many don't like it.

i think its superior to TLD, with a more confident, comfortable intrepretation of Bond by Dalton, as well as a stronger movie dramatically, with a much more charismatic villan.
but this is a very minority opinion.

either way you won't go wrong.
i guess i would have to recommend The Living Daylights though. if you Get a good vibe off of Dalton in that, LTK should really reward you.
but watch TLD first.

Geofferson

I enjoyed both, but I like License to Kill a little better.

The Living Daylights would have been better if the "magic carpet ride" scene had been left in the movie.

angryyoungman

Wow, I'm really surprised that this poll is so close. IMO, Licence to Kill is easily the worst Bond film of all-time (I've seen all of them except for Die Another Day). It seemed to me to suck all the life, humor and even action out of what Bond films were "supposed" to be. I like that they tried to make a "serious" Bond, but On Her Majesty's Secret Service and From Russia With Love among others did that infinitely better.

On the other hand, The Living Daylights showed why Dalton could have been Bond for a long time. I would rank it in the top ten Bonds of all time. "He got the boot."

B.A.

License to Kill is one of my favorites of the series. I like that it strayed from the previous cinematic formulas, the story was great in this one, imo. I liked that Dalton was pissed most of the film. I loved Davi and Del Toro as the villains. And I liked Carey Lowell and Talisa Soto as the lovely ladies. LTK holds a lot of sentimental value for me, too, and is far superior to The Living Daylights as well.

gondorspit

At first I really hated License to Kill, I thought it strayed to far from what a Bond movie should be, but it has grown on me over time because it is well acted. But it is no contest IMO, Living Daylights is not only the better movie but one of the best in the series. Dalton's Bond was closer to how I imagined James Bond as a Fleming character.

Red Dog

Except for Goldeneye, I think License to Kill was the best Bond movie made after For Your Eyes Only. I enjoyed Dalton's take on Bond, and I think Carey Lowell was one of the best Bond babes (both actress and character).

JoeyOhhhh

I like both of them, but the nod goes to The Living Daylights.

B.A.

Finally! I have found someone to agree w/ me on this!

purplechoe

Triple to that. Easily my favorite bond girl. She is stunning. She looks pretty hot in Fierce Creatures too.

I would say License to Kill, but The Living Daylights isn't too far behind. I would rate both of those as my favorite James Bond films and I do own all of them.

Pants

Living Daylights wins, I love it

I hate License to Kill (the truck did a f**king wheelie people!!! I don't care how "new" and "tough" LTK is supposed to be, that s**t is right out of the Roger Moore era. Totally lame)

Chad

I'll have to go with the first Bond movie I saw in the theatre - The Living Daylights.

RavenTwo

Living Daylights, as mentioned earlier Dalton was closer to Fleming's Bond in this movie. IMHO

btornado

I liked the Living Daylights more than Licence to Kill, even though LTK is a lot more serious approach to Bond and close to how he is portrayed in the books.

swamptours

I love them both but License to Kill is one of my all time favorites.

BlackBeauty92

Living Daylight

Dalton kick @ss

dhmac

Bump this one too.

Johnny Boy

dhmac, you sure love bumping don't you. I pick License to Kill.

dhmac

Hey, everyone else is bumping 2-year-old Bond thread, so I didn't want to be left out!

Doughboy

Licence to Kill easily. It's my 3rd favorite Bond flick after From Russia With Love and On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Clearly, I lean towards the serious Bond adventures.

Robert Davi's Sanchez is one the series' most realistic and sadistic villains(obviously based on Pablo Escobar). Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Zerbe are perfect as the slimy henchmen who each get offed in a gruesome manner. Carey Lowell is one of the few Bond women who managed to get the tough girl persona right(as opposed to Halle Berry's pathetic Jinx). And Q actually gets out in the field with Bond in this one. And I think it goes without saying that Dalton was downright scary as Bond in this movie. Which he should be every now and then considering the dude is basically an assassin in a tux.

I also appreciated the little touches of continuity like Dalton looking sad as he left the wedding, having David Hedison return as Felix Leiter, incorporating Leiter's torture scene from the novel Live and Let Die(as well as the note left with his body), and Bond discovering Leiter's dead wife which was a chilling reminder of what happened on his own wedding day.

Honestly, I've never understood the love for The Living Daylights. I really like Dalton as Bond and he was good in that movie, but there wasn't much else to enjoy. The villains were arguably the worst in the series. The henchman was a joke(Die Hard used the same actor the following year in a much more fitting manner). Kara was cute and sweet, but pretty dull otherwise. The new Moneypenny was awful(she was wisely reduced to a 5 second cameo in LTK).

About the only other positives in TLD are John Barry's final Bond score and the action scenes.

T1000

License to Kill is only second to Goldeneye as my favourite Bond film.

SeekOnce

The Living Daylights.

I can't remember much of License to Kill so it must've not been that good.