Licence to Kill, released
in 1989, is the sixteenth entry in the James Bond film series by Eon
Productions, and the first one not to use the title of an Ian Fleming
story. It is the fifth in a row and last to be directed by John Glen.
It also marks Timothy Dalton's second and final performance in the
role of James Bond. The story has elements of two Ian Fleming short
stories and a novel, interwoven with aspects from Japanese Ronin
tales. The film sees Bond being suspended from MI6 as he pursues
drugs lord Franz Sanchez, who has attacked his CIA friend Felix
Leiter and murdered Felix's wife during their honeymoon. Originally
titled Licence Revoked in line with the plot, the name was changed
during post-production.
Budgetary
reasons made Licence to Kill the first Bond not to be shot in the
United Kingdom, with locations in both Florida and Mexico. The film
earned over $156 million worldwide, and enjoyed a generally positive
critical reception, with much praise for the stunts, but some
criticism on Dalton's interpretation of Bond and the fact that the
film was significantly darker and more violent than its predecessors.
After the release of
Licence to Kill, legal wrangling over control of the series and the
James Bond character resulted in a six-year long delay in production
of the next Bond film which resulted in Dalton deciding not to
return. It is also the final Bond film for actors Robert Brown (as M)
and Caroline Bliss (as Moneypenny), screenwriter Richard Maibaum,
title designer Maurice Binder, editor John Grover, cinematographer
Alec Mills, director and former Bond film editor John Glen, and
producer Albert R. Broccoli, although he would later act as a
consulting producer for GoldenEye before his death.
Shortly after The Living
Daylights was released, producer Albert R. Broccoli and writers
Michael G. Wilson and Richard Maibaum started discussing its
successor. The film would retain a realistic style, as well as
showing the "darker edge" of the Bond character. For the
primary location, the producers wanted a place where the series had
not yet visited. While China was visited after an invitation by its
government, the idea fell through partly because the 1987 film The
Last Emperor had removed some of the novelty from filming in China.
By this stage the writers had already talked about a chase sequence
along the Great Wall, as well as a fight scene amongst the Terracotta
Army. Wilson also wrote two plot outlines about a drug lord in the
Golden Triangle before the plans fell through. The writers eventually
decided on a setting in a tropical country while Broccoli negotiated
to film in Mexico, at the Estudios Churubusco in Mexico City. In
1985, the Films Act was passed, removing the Eady Levy, resulting in
foreign artists being taxed more heavily. The associated rising costs
to Eon Productions meant no part of Licence to Kill was filmed in the
UK, the first Bond film not to do so. Pinewood Studios, used in every
Bond film that far, housed only the post-production and sound re-recording.
The initial outline of what
would become Licence to Kill was drawn up by Wilson and Maibaum.
Before the pair could develop the script, the Writers Guild of
America (WGA) went on strike and Maibaum was unable to continue
writing, leaving Wilson to work on the script on his own. Although
both the main plot and title of Licence to Kill owe nothing to any of
the Fleming novels, there are elements from the books that are used
in the storyline, including a number of aspects of the short story
"The Hildebrand Rarity", such as the character Milton
Krest. The novel Live and Let Die provided the material surrounding
Felix Leiter's mauling by a shark, whilst the film version of the
book provided the close similarity between the main villain, Kananga,
and Licence to Kill's main villain Sanchez. The screenplay was not
ready by the time casting had begun, with Carey Lowell being
auditioned with lines from A View to a Kill.
The
script – initially called Licence Revoked – was written
with Dalton's characterisation of Bond in mind, and the obsession
with which Bond pursues Sanchez on behalf of Leiter and his dead wife
is seen as being because "of his own brutally cut-short
marriage." Dalton's darker portrayal of Bond led to the violence
being increased and more graphic. Wilson compared the script to Akira
Kurosawa's Yojimbo, where a samurai "without any attacking of
the villain or its cohorts, only sowing the seeds of distrust, he
manages to have the villain bring himself down". Wilson freely
admitted that the aspect of the destruction-from-within aspect of the
plot came more from the cinema versions of the Japanese Ronin tales
by Kurosawa or Sergio Leone than from Fleming's use of that plot
device from The Man with the Golden Gun. For the location Wilson
created the Republic of Isthmus, a banana republic based on Panama,
with the pock-marked Sanchez bearing similarities to General Manuel
Noriega. The parallels between the two figures were based on
Noriega's political use of drug trafficking and money laundering to
provide revenues for Panama. Robert Davi suggested the line
"loyalty is more important than money", which he felt was
fitting to the character of Franz Sanchez, whose actions were noticed
by Davi to be concerned with betrayal and retaliation.
Trivia Alert! Felix
Leiter's wife, Della Churchill, is played by Priscilla Barnes
(above). Barnes is still remembered for her three-year tenure on the
hit sitcom "Three's Company" from 1981 to 1984 and even
starred opposite previous Bond, Roger Moore, in the 1980 comedy
"Sunday Lovers." Della Churchill is introduced at the
beginning of the movie waiting at the church for her fiance Felix
Leiter, and his best friend/best man James Bond, to arrive at the
wedding. Leiter and Bond parachute down to the proceedings after
having just nabbed South American drug kingpin Sanchez. Later Sanchez
escapes from custody and goes after Leiter. Leiter is tortured (with
a shark) and his new bride is killed leaving Bond to seek out Sanchez
for revenge.
Unlike other "Bond
Girls" in the series, Della Churchill is neither spy, assassin,
mistress or ally of some diabolical villain and one of the few women
in the Bond series who has a non-romantic, healthy relationship with
Bond. The plot has Bond is moved to seek revenge against Sanchez
because of the maiming of his "best friend" Leiter, but it
is Della's death that provides added motivation behind Bond's
vendetta against the ruthless drug lord. At the wedding, Leiter
explains to Della, after Bond reacts sadly to Della tossing him the
garter belt, that Bond was once married "a long time ago."
This is a reference to the murder of Bond's wife Tracy (Diana Rigg)
at the end of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." Witnessing
the death of yet another bride on her wedding day has stirred up
feelings of grief and rage in Bond. He pursues Sanchez not just to
avenge Della's murder, but also to bring closure to the guilt he
still feels over his inability to protect his own wife years earlier.
AV
CLUB FEATURETTE DEPARTMENT
Untitled
James Bond 007: Licence To
Kill (1989) - Official Trailer
The United Artists press
kits referred to the film's background as being "Torn straight
from the headlines of today's newspapers" and the backdrop of
Panama was connected to "the Medellin cartel in Colombia and
corruption of government officials in Mexico thrown in for good
measure." This use of the cocaine-smuggling backdrop put Licence
to Kill alongside other cinema blockbusters, such as the 1987 films
Lethal Weapon, Beverly Hills Cop II and RoboCop, and Bond was seen to
be "poaching on their turf" with the drug-related revenge story.
Untitled
After
Carey Lowell (pictured at left with Dalton) was chosen to play Pam
Bouvier, she watched many of the films in the series for inspiration.
Lowell had described becoming a Bond girl as "huge shoes to
fill", as she did not see herself as a "glamour girl",
even coming to audition in jeans and a leather jacket. While Lowell
wore a wig for the scenes set in the United States, a scene where
Bouvier cuts her hair was added so Lowell's natural short hair could
be used.
Robert Davi was cast
following a suggestion by both Broccoli's daughter Tina, and
screenwriter Richard Maibaum, who had seen Davi in the television
film Terrorist on Trial: The United States vs. Salim Ajami. For the
role of drugs baron Franz Sanchez, Davi researched on the Colombian
drug cartels and how to do a Colombian accent and since he was method
acting, he would stay in character off-set. After Davi read Casino
Royale for preparation, he decided to turn Sanchez into a "mirror
image" of James Bond, based on Ian Fleming's description of the
villain Le Chiffre. The actor also learned scuba diving for the scene
where Sanchez is rescued from the sunken armoured car.
Davi (right) later helped
out on the casting of his mistress, Lupe, by playing Bond in the
audition, with Talisa Soto being picked from twelve candidates
because Davi expressed he "would kill for her". David
Hedison returned to play Felix Leiter, sixteen years after being the
agent in Live and Let Die. Hedison did not expect to return to the
role, saying "I was sure that [Live and Let Die] would be my
first – and last" and Glen was reluctant to cast the 61-year
old actor, since the role even had a scene parachuting. Hedison was
the only actor to play Leiter twice, until Jeffrey Wright appeared in
both Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.
Up-and-coming actor Benicio
del Toro (shown below holding a gun to Bond's back) was chosen to
play Sanchez's henchman, Dario for being "laid back while
menacing in a quirky sort of way", according to Glen. Wayne
Newton got a role after sending a letter to the producers expressing
interest in a cameo because he always wanted to be in a Bond film.
The President of Isthmus was played by Pedro Armendáriz, Jr.,
the son of Pedro Armendáriz, who played Kerim Bey in the
second James Bond film, 1963's From Russia with Love.
Principal photography ran
from July to November 1988. Shooting began in Mexico, which mostly
doubled for the fictional Republic of Isthmus: locations in Mexico
City included the Biblioteca del Banco de Mexico for the exterior of
El Presidente Hotel and the Casino Español for the interior of
Casino de Isthmus whilst the Teatro de la Ciudad was used for its
exterior. Villa Arabesque in Acapulco was used for Sanchez's lavish
villa, and the La Rumorosa Mountain Pass in Tecate was used as the
filming site for the tanker chase during the climax of the film.
Sanchez's Olympiatec Meditation Institute was shot at the Otomi
Ceremonial Center in Temoaya. Other underwater sequences were shot at
the Isla Mujeres near Cancún.
In August 1988, production
moved to the Florida Keys, notably Key West. Seven Mile Bridge
towards Pigeon Key was used for the sequence in which the armoured
truck transporting Sanchez, following his arrest, is driven off the
edge. Other locations there included Ernest Hemingway House, Key West
International Airport, Mallory Square, St. Mary's Star of the Sea
Church for Leiter's wedding and Stephano's House 707 South Street for
his house and patio. The US Coast Guard Pier was used to film Isthmus
City harbour. As production moved back to Mexico, Broccoli became
ill, leading to Michael G. Wilson becoming co-producer, a position he
subsequently retained.
The scene where Sanchez's
plane is hijacked was filmed on location in Florida, with stuntman
Jake Lombard jumping from a helicopter to a plane, Timothy Dalton
himself being filmed atop the aircraft. The plane towed by the
helicopter was a life-sized model created by special effects
supervisor John Richardson. After filming wide shots of David Hedison
and Dalton parachuting, closer shots were made near the church
location. During one of the takes, a malfunction of the harness
equipment caused Hedison to fall on the pavement. The injury made him
limp for the remainder of filming. The aquatic battle between Bond
and the henchmen required two separate units, a surface one led by
Arthur Woolster which used Dalton himself, and an underwater one
which involved experienced divers. The barefoot waterskiing was done
by world champion Dave Reinhart, with some close-ups using Dalton on
a special rig. Milton Krest's death used a prostethic head which was
created by John Richardson's team based on a mold of Anthony Zerbe's
face. The result was so gruesome that it was shortened and toned down
to avoid censorship problems.
For the climactic tanker
chase, the producers used an entire section of a highway near
Mexicali, which had been closed for safety reasons. Sixteen
eighteen-wheeler tankers were used, some with modifications made by
manufacturer Kenworth at the request of driving stunts arranger
Rémy Julienne. Most were given improvements to their engines
to run faster, while one model had an extra steering wheel on the
back of the cabin so a hidden stuntman could drive while Carey Lowell
was in the front and another received extra suspension on its back so
it could lift its front wheels. Although a rig was constructed to
help a rig tilt onto its side, it was not necessary as Julienne was
able to pull off the stunt without the aid of camera trickery.
Initially Vic Flick, who
had played lead guitar on Monty Norman's original 007 theme, and Eric
Clapton were asked to write and perform the theme song to Licence to
Kill and they produced a theme to match Dalton's gritty performance,
but the producers turned it down and instead Gladys Knight's song and
performance was chosen. The song (one of the longest to ever be used
in a Bond film) was based on the "horn line" from
Goldfinger, seen as an homage to the film of the same name, which
required royalty payments to the original writers. The song gave
Knight her first British top-ten hit since 1977. The end credits
feature the Top 10 R&B hit "If You Asked Me To", sung
by Patti LaBelle.
John Barry was not
available at the time due to throat surgery, so the soundtrack's
score was composed and conducted by Michael Kamen, who was known for
scoring many action films at the time, such as Lethal Weapon and Die
Hard. Glen said he picked Kamen, feeling he could give "the
closest thing to John Barry."
The
Licence to Kill screenplay was written into a novel by the
then-novelist of the Bond series John Gardner. It was the first of
those novels since Moonraker in 1979. Licence to Kill was also
adapted as a forty-four page, colour graphic novel, by writer and
artist Mike Grell (also author of original-story Bond comic books),
published by Eclipse Comics and ACME Press in hardcover and trade
editions in 1989. The adaptation closely follows the film story,
although the ending is briefer, and James Bond is not drawn to
resemble Timothy Dalton after Dalton refused to allow his likeness to
be licenced.
Film ratings organisations
had objections against the excessive and realistic violence, with
both the Motion Picture Association of America and the British Board
of Film Classification requesting content adaptations, with the BBFC
in particular demanding the cut of 36 seconds of film. The 2006
Ultimate Edition DVD of Licence to Kill marked the first release of
the film without cuts.
Licence to Kill premiered
at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on June 13th 1989, raising
£200,000 for The Prince's Trust on the night. The film grossed a
total of £7.5 million in the United Kingdom, making it the
seventh most successful film of the year, despite the 15 certificate
which cut down audience numbers. Worldwide numbers were also
positive, with $156 million, making it the twelfth biggest box-office
draw of the year. The US cinema returns were $34.6 million, making
Licence to Kill the least financially successful James Bond film in
the US, when accounting for inflation. A factor suggested for the
poor takings were fierce competition at the cinema, with Licence to
Kill released alongside Back to the Future Part II, Lethal Weapon 2;
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (starring former Bond, Sean
Connery) and Batman.
There were also issues with
the promotion of the film: promotional material (below) in the form
of teaser posters created by Bob Peak, based on the Licence Revoked
title and commissioned by Albert Broccoli, had been produced, but MGM
decided against using them after American test screenings showed
'Licence Revoked' to be a common American phrase for the withdrawal
of a driving licence. The delayed, corrected advertising by Steven
Chorney, in the traditional style, limited the film's pre-release
screenings. MGM also discarded a campaign created by advertising
executive Don Smolen, who had worked in the publicity campaign for
eight Bond films before, emphasising the rougher content of the movie.
Derek Malcolm in The
Guardian was broadly approving of Licence to Kill, liking the
"harder edge of the earlier Bonds" that the film emulated,
but wishing that "it was written and directed with a bit more
flair." Writing in The Guardian's sister paper, The Observer,
Philip French noted that "despite the playful sparkle in his
eyes, Timothy Dalton's Bond is, serious here." Overall French
called Licence to Kill "an entertaining, untaxing film".
Ian Christie in the Daily Express was scathing of the film, saying
that the plot was "absurd but fundamentally dull", a
further problem being that as "there isn't a coherent storyline
to link [the stunts], they eventually become tiresome."
David Robinson, writing in
The Times observed that Licence to Kill "will probably neither
disappoint nor surprise the great, faithful audience", but
bemoaned the fact that "over the years the plots have become
less ambitious". Robinson thought that Dalton's Bond "has
more class" than the previous Bonds and was "a warmer
personality". Iain Johnstone of The Sunday Times pointed out
that "any vestiges of the gentleman spy by Ian Fleming"
have now gone, and in its place is a Bond that is "remarkably
close both in deed and action to the eponymous hero of the Batman
film" that was released at the same time as Licence to Kill.
Roger
Ebert for the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3½ stars out of
4, saying "the stunts all look convincing, and the effect of the
closing sequence is exhilarating. Licence to Kill is one of the best
of the recent Bonds." Jack Kroll, writing in Newsweek described
Licence to Kill as "a pure, rousingly entertaining action
movie". Kroll thought that Dalton was "a fine actor who
hasn't yet stamped Bond with his own personality", observing
"Director John Glen is the Busby Berkeley of action flicks, and
his chorus line is the legendary team of Bond stunt-persons who are
at their death-defying best here".
Opinion on Licence to Kill
has not changed with the passing of time and the reviews are still
mixed. Norman Wilner of MSN considered Licence to Kill the second
worst Bond film, above only A View to a Kill, but defended Dalton,
saying he "got a raw deal. The actor who could have been the
definitive 007, had the bad luck to inherit the role just as the
series was at its weakest, struggling to cope with its general
creative decline and the end of the Cold War".
Some critics, such as James
Berardinelli, saw a fundamental weakness in the film: the
"overemphasis on story may be a mistake, because there are times
when Licence to Kill's narrative bogs down." Berardinelli gave
the film three out of a possible four stars, adding "Licence to
Kill may be taut and gripping, but it's not traditional Bond, and
that, as much as any other reason, may explain the public's rejection
of this reasonably well-constructed picture." Raymond Benson,
the author of nine Bond novels, said of the film: "It boggles my
mind that Licence to Kill is so controversial. There's really more of
a true Ian Fleming story in that script than in most of the post-60s
Bond movies." John Glen has said Licence to Kill "is among
my best Bond films, if not the best".
The
script – initially called Licence Revoked – was written
with Dalton's characterisation of Bond in mind, and the obsession
with which Bond pursues Sanchez on behalf of Leiter and his dead wife
is seen as being because "of his own brutally cut-short
marriage." Dalton's darker portrayal of Bond led to the violence
being increased and more graphic. Wilson compared the script to Akira
Kurosawa's Yojimbo, where a samurai "without any attacking of
the villain or its cohorts, only sowing the seeds of distrust, he
manages to have the villain bring himself down". Wilson freely
admitted that the aspect of the destruction-from-within aspect of the
plot came more from the cinema versions of the Japanese Ronin tales
by Kurosawa or Sergio Leone than from Fleming's use of that plot
device from The Man with the Golden Gun. For the location Wilson
created the Republic of Isthmus, a banana republic based on Panama,
with the pock-marked Sanchez bearing similarities to General Manuel
Noriega. The parallels between the two figures were based on
Noriega's political use of drug trafficking and money laundering to
provide revenues for Panama. Robert Davi suggested the line
"loyalty is more important than money", which he felt was
fitting to the character of Franz Sanchez, whose actions were noticed
by Davi to be concerned with betrayal and retaliation.
After
Carey Lowell (pictured at left with Dalton) was chosen to play Pam
Bouvier, she watched many of the films in the series for inspiration.
Lowell had described becoming a Bond girl as "huge shoes to
fill", as she did not see herself as a "glamour girl",
even coming to audition in jeans and a leather jacket. While Lowell
wore a wig for the scenes set in the United States, a scene where
Bouvier cuts her hair was added so Lowell's natural short hair could
be used.
The
Licence to Kill screenplay was written into a novel by the
then-novelist of the Bond series John Gardner. It was the first of
those novels since Moonraker in 1979. Licence to Kill was also
adapted as a forty-four page, colour graphic novel, by writer and
artist Mike Grell (also author of original-story Bond comic books),
published by Eclipse Comics and ACME Press in hardcover and trade
editions in 1989. The adaptation closely follows the film story,
although the ending is briefer, and James Bond is not drawn to
resemble Timothy Dalton after Dalton refused to allow his likeness to
be licenced.
Roger
Ebert for the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3½ stars out of
4, saying "the stunts all look convincing, and the effect of the
closing sequence is exhilarating. Licence to Kill is one of the best
of the recent Bonds." Jack Kroll, writing in Newsweek described
Licence to Kill as "a pure, rousingly entertaining action
movie". Kroll thought that Dalton was "a fine actor who
hasn't yet stamped Bond with his own personality", observing
"Director John Glen is the Busby Berkeley of action flicks, and
his chorus line is the legendary team of Bond stunt-persons who are
at their death-defying best here".
