1987 - THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS, a good James Bond film

In my opinion and for what it's worth this James Bond film is one of the better ones.  Roger Moore had finally committed the sin of getting to old and it was decided by the production team to go in a new direction with a serious and tougher Bond than the lightweight comedic character that Moore had turned James Bond into.

Timothy Dalton was cast as the new Bond and he certainly went for a more realistic approach.  Dalton may have been a little too much for the audience which had been used to the quip uttering Moore.  The public and more importantly United Artists didn't really seem to embrace him. It was only after the Pierce Brosnan Bond years that the sullen Daniel Craig got all the credit for being the tough guy James Bond for some reason.

The film has excellent action scenes courtesy of the director John Glen who had been with the series since On Her Majesties Secret Service, Glen had been the 2nd unit director and editor on that film and certainly knew his way around staging exciting scenes.

The Living Daylights played down the sexism that had finally become uncomfortable to watch.  The model Maryam d'Abo actually has a fairly chaste relationship with Bond in this film.  In a lot of ways The Living Daylights is a throwback to the classic Sean Connery Bond years.

 

The film was written by Richard Maibaum and Michael Wilson, the running time is 130 minutes.

1983 - OCTOPUSSY, Bond movie number 13.

The last Roger Moore James Bond film that was any good.  Moore was entirely comfortable in the part.  The production was the usual classy job from the Bond producers.  The action and stunts scenes were well done.  The final action scene in an airplane was particularly outstanding.   

 

Roger Moore was always a particularly lightweight actor and the part of James Bond was tailored for him accordingly.  His films had a lighter touch to them than the Connery films.  Roger Moore's Bond did toughen up later in the series but he was always a pretty laid back kind of actor.

This Bond film actually has an espionage plot for a change and the typical Bond gadgets are a little more realistic than usual.  Even the sexist girl stuff is not too tiresome in this film.

131 minutes written by George MacDonald Fraser, Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson.

1981 - FOR YOUR EYES ONLY, on Blu Ray

Watching For Your Eyes Only after seeing the super serious and frankly not much fun Skyfall here are a few thoughts:

Roger Moore is actually pretty stiff when it comes to the action sequences.  Fortunately he was lucky to be directed by John Glen the ace editor and 2nd unit director who had worked under Peter Hunt the original editor of the Bond films.  Glen knew how to pace an action sequence.

Roger Moore finally figured out how to meld his personality into the Bond character.  He actually looked like he's worried a couple of times throughout the film.  Carole Bouquet was a good looking model who did a pretty good job in a serious role for a Bond girl.  This film had a decent cast, Topol, Lynn-Holly Johnson as a horny figure skater and Julian Glover as the main bad guy. 

The bottom line, everyone tried a little harder for a more realistic Bond film after the entertaining but excessive and out of control Moonraker.  Skyfall may be making the big bucks but it drained the fun out of the series.

127 minutes written by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson.