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Dom Robinson reviews
Special EditionDistributed by
MGM
- Cert:
- Cat.no: 15847 DVD
- Running time: 128 minutes
- Year: 1989
- Pressing: 2001
- Region(s): 2 (UK PAL)
- Chapters: 32 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: 12 languages available
- Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Panavision)
- 16:9-enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: No
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £19.99
- Extras: Featurette: Inside Licence To Kill, Production Featurette, Featurette: KenworthTruck Stunt, Music videos, Trailers, Gallery, 2 Audio Commentaries.
Director:
- John Glen
(Aces: Iron Eagle III, Checkered Flag, Christopher Columbus: The Discovery, For Your Eyes Only, Licence to Kill, The Living Daylights,Octopussy, The Point Men, Space Precinct (TV), A View to A Kill)
Producers:
- Albert R. Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson
Screenplay:
- Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson
Music:
- John Barry
Cast:
- James Bond: Timothy Dalton
Franz Sanchez: Robert Davi
Pam Bouvier: Carey Lowell
Lupe Lamora: Talisa Soto
Milton Krest: Anthony Zerbe
Sharkey: Frank McRae
Dario: Benicio Del Toro
Felix Leiter: David Hedison
Q: Desmond Llewelyn
M: Robert Brown
Felix Leiter – Die! Die! Die!
Some people just won’t take the freaking hint. He seems to have gone through more seriouslife-threatening situations than Bond will ever do but the character, this time played byDavid Hedison, even manages to avoid being eaten by sharks. However, his other halfis not so lucky.
Licence to Kill became the first-ever Bond film to garner a 15-certificate for itsstrong violence and scenes of drug use. Even in the olden days of 1989 the BBFC sawfit to censor it, but thankfully now that James Ferman is but a memory for them, allprevious cuts have been waived including the moment I’m sure was previously slightly cutwhere Anthony Zerbe attempts to “expand his mind” in a pressurisation chamber…
The plot this time sees Timothy Dalton as Bond taking it upon himself to get revengefor the attack on Felix by going after billionaire drug baron Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi)despite having had his licence to kill revoked by the good old British Government. What ho!?In fact this film was going to be called Licence Revoked but the filmmakers decided thatthe Americans wouldn’t understand was ‘revoked’ meant, even though the word is used in the filmand there’s a track on the soundtrack album with just that very name (not that I’ve heard it 🙂
“There is good and bad in everyone” as Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder sang inEbony & Ivory and there’s a good and a bad girl here too. Carey Lowell playsdippy goodie girl Pam Bouvier, while girlfriend to the enemy, Lupe Lamora (Talisa Soto),proves to Bond what being a “bad girl” is all about. There’s also an early role forUsual SuspectBenicio Del Toro and the film spawned a great, but rather difficult,game on the Atari ST and Amiga.
This was to be Dalton’s second and last appearance as Bond and, in fact, the franchisedisappeared for six whole years until 1995 when Pierce Brosnan shone brightly inmy favourite Bond film to date, Goldeneye.
There’s more print flecks and scratches than I expected there to be for a comparativelyrecent film, but it’s still certainly watchable. It is presented in the original 2.35:1anamorphic widescreen ratio.The average bitrate is a middle-of-the-road 5.2Mb/s, briefly peaking over 8Mb/s.
The sound FX are as good as they should be, albeit sounding a little false and overdoneon occasions. However, as long as it’s loud and proud it’s good enough.
Extras : Chapters :The usual 32 chapters for an MGM, which is an excellent amount. If only some other DVDcompanies could take a lesson from this one. Languages & Subtitles :English is the only language on the disc – in Dolby Digital 5.1 – and there are subtitlesin 12 languages: English (and hard of hearing), Dutch, Swedish, Finnish,Norwegian, Danish, Portuguese, Polish, Greek, Hungarian, Hebrew and Turkish. And there’s more… :There’s not as many extras this time round as with some of the earlierdiscs in the series.
- Featurette: Inside Licence To Kill (31 mins): Anotherentertaining documentary narrated by Patrick Macnee with chat from all thesame people and it appears to have been shot at the same time as the one forThe Living Daylights.
- Production Featurette (5 mins): One of those cheest made-for-TV featuretteswith token film clips and crew chat, all narrated by Don La Fontaine, the man whodoes all the movie adverts voices.
- Featurette: Kenworth Truck Stunt (9 mins): A look at Bond’s stunt-ridingof a huge truck as a bad-guy fires a rocket launcher Dalton’s way.
- Two Music Videos (8 mins): First up is one of my favourite Bond themesbecause of its distinctive epic sound and I was reminded of it when James H. Reeveused it as the theme for his brief stint on Century FM radio last year when standing in forthe now-departed Scottie McClue, Gladys Knight‘s tune with the same title as the film,plus Patti LaBelle‘s If You Asked Me To, which was later ripped apart in 1992by Celine Dion who took it to the dizzy heights of No.57.
- Two Trailers (3 mins): Both are in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, thelatter going into a little more depth about the storyline.
- Two Audio Commentaries: One from director John Glen and actors,plus a second from producer/screenwriter Michael G. Wilson and crew.
- Gallery: Plenty of pics, some taken from location shoots and others set out asportrait shots.
Some of the content, particularly the TV spots, isn’t exactly first-ratein terms of picture quality and sound, but it adds to the nostalgic qualityand all the interviews are clear enough.
The animated and scored main menu, plus similar treatment given to the swipesbetween menus, is as rich and colourful as we’ve come to expect from thisseries.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.