Rewatched TOMORROW NEVER DIES the other night.

This is clearly the best Pierce Brosnan Bond, and I think in hindsight, one of the better series entries post-1990. You've got a good villain in Jonathan Pryce, a couple of capable Bond heroines, good locations, well executed stunts (before the CGI deluge of the later Brosnans), David Arnold's best Bond score, one of the all-time top Bond songs (SURRENDER, even if it was relegated to the end credits), a sense of humor without being overly silly -- and best of all, PACING that actually works. A sub-two hour running time thanks to veteran Roger Spottiswoode, who bridges the past Bond films with a running time that's a little trimmer and fitter. This is what QUANTUM OF SOLACE tried to do, but failed, at least in terms of running time, etc.

I think this one has aged well and is better than I thought even initially.

A solid 8 out of 10. The next Bond filmmakers would do well to go back to this installment for a guide, IMO.

That's funny because for me, this was the least interesting of the Brosnan Bond films. One reason was I disliked both female leads, Michelle Yeoh in particular and Teri Hatcher wasn't much either.

Eric Paddon wrote:That's funny because for me, this was the least interesting of the Brosnan Bond films. One reason was I disliked both female leads, Michelle Yeoh in particular and Teri Hatcher wasn't much either.

Pity the part of Paris Carver didn't go to Monica Belluci. As for Michelle Yeoh, you couldn't go wrong when you have the biggest female action star in a Bond film.

I have to admit, that was my first and only exposure to Yeoh, and I got so annoyed with her martial arts bit that I was laughing along with Pryce's parody of her.

I finished off the 007 Blu-Rays I've recently purchased over the last week or so (I refuse to pay good money to re-aquire Die Another Day, however ), and Licence To Kill is pretty underrated. Yeah, the Michael Kamen score and Gladys Knight title track are tuneless bores (sorry, Mike), but the action sequences are sensational, the nearly R-rated violence is still startling (HE DISAGREED WITH SOMETHING THAT ATE HIM), and it's a kick to see a young, skinny Benicio Del Toro as Robert Davi's knife-wielding henchman ("We give her a nice...honeymooooooooooooooooon" ). And for all the crap that Timothy Dalton gets, he still had a terse sense of humor about him, was athletic and handsome, and doesn't deserve being labeled as the guy who "killed" the franchise. And for all the complaints about how "Not-Bond" it was at the time of its release, it's actually crammed with bits and pieces of various Ian Fleming books and short stories, and had more "classic" 007 elements than Thingy Of Whatsis did. It's a shame Dalton never got a third movie circa 1991 or so.

Eric Paddon wrote:I have to admit, that was my first and only exposure to Yeoh, and I got so annoyed with her martial arts bit that I was laughing along with Pryce's parody of her.

You simply must see Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to see what a fine actress she is, in addition to a superior martial artist.

Licence To Kill is for me the film that proved that too much appeasing of Fleming purists is even more misguided an approach as Moonraker was in the other direction. The film is just an awful chore for me to sit through with no sense of fun whatsoever and if a Bond film can't be fun, it is a miserable failure. Even the best serious Bond films of the 60s, and that includes OHMSS knew how to be fun.

I happen to like LICENCE TO KILL as well. Kamen's score was a big letdown at the time and it's still merely okay by his standards -- but like film music in general, even disappointing scores of the era like that one seem to have improved over time. I do have to disagree and confess I also like the theme song a lot -- a nice nod working in the GOLDFINGER motif at the front, and it's an '80s power ballad, but a decent one just the same. Still better than most of the crap songs we've gotten in the Craig and Brosnan era.

I understand where Eric is coming from as far as the tone goes, but I liked the tough, hard-edged Bond in that movie, and I found the story compelling (plus the casting all a little odd too). At least, if you're going to go in that direction, I'd take LICENCE TO KILL over QUANTUM OF SOLACE any day.

Dalton got a bad rep but his two Bonds are actually really good, LIVING DAYLIGHTS being a real nice representation of a Bond "formula movie" and LICENCE TO KILL a solid thriller.

I've never seen either Craig Bond film and really don't care to. But IMO Dalton was the kind of guy I can more easily envision as an oily villain than as Bond himself.

I always felt that for years there was this obsession on the part of Fleming purists to demean Roger Moore's contributions to the series and IMO that did Moore a disservice because IMO he was better for the job in his era than Connery would have been when a more escapist, lighter touch was called for.

Eric Paddon wrote:I have to admit, that was my first and only exposure to Yeoh, and I got so annoyed with her martial arts bit that I was laughing along with Pryce's parody of her.

As a martial arts action star, Michelle Yeoh is highly regarded. I too agree about Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. A chance to see two of the greats on screen.

John Johnson wrote:

Eric Paddon wrote:I have to admit, that was my first and only exposure to Yeoh, and I got so annoyed with her martial arts bit that I was laughing along with Pryce's parody of her.

As a martial arts action star, Michelle Yeoh is highly regarded. I too agree about Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. A chance to see two of the greats on screen.

Yeoh is very good in that film. I find the picture kind of overrated for what it was, but she was quite good in it.

Andy, I agree on TND. Best Brosnan-era film...had everything in it and it is still very entertaining and fun. Although I really dislike LTK as a movie, I thought Dalton was an excellent Bond, I enjoy watching his performances, and I love TLD.

John Johnson wrote: As a martial arts action star, Michelle Yeoh is highly regarded. I too agree about Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. A chance to see two of the greats on screen.

Therein lies the problem for me since I'm not a martial arts fan. Bruce Lee I've only see on "The Green Hornet" and for me a good martial arts moment is in the Pink Panther fight scenes between Clouseau and Kato.

Eric Paddon wrote:Therein lies the problem for me since I'm not a martial arts fan. Bruce Lee I've only see on "The Green Hornet" and for me a good martial arts moment is in the Pink Panther fight scenes between Clouseau and Kato.

I'm a martial artist, but I hate most martial arts movies. I love Kurosawa and Kobeyashi, but hate stuff like Enter The Dragon, Kill Bill, Jackie Chan flicks, etc.

CT,HD is not your usual "kung fu" flick...it's very densely plotted, with several superb performances (including a breakout turn by the ravishing Zhang Ziyi ) and gorgeous visuals. As one critic put it, "It's chopsocky you can pick apart over lattes".