Which is the better of these Bond movies?

[Sleeping in EQ]

So hard to choose!

Honestly - what's not to love about the space battle scene in Moonraker? It's like they took the underwater battle scene from Thunderball and moved it to space! And seeing Jaws hook up with the gal with coke bottle glasses - finally realizing there's no place for them in Drax's perfect world with the help of Bond dropping some key lines. That's entertainment, right there.

On the other hand, watching James Bond battle sumo dudes was entertaining too. Probably a little better plot in The Man with the Golden Gun. But still not one of my favorite 007 films.

Ugh.

That underwater battle in Thunderball was impressive in 1966, but it was a little slow even then.

I think Thunderball is often overrated.

[Sleeping in EQ]

So which of Timothy Dalton's Bond movies is better than the other?

[Eddie]

So which of Timothy Dalton's Bond movies is better than the other?

Arnold - all bad.jpeg

[PaloAltoCougar]

So which of Timothy Dalton's Bond movies is better than the other?

I thought Dalton was more in the spirit of Ian Fleming's Bond than was Roger Moore, and he was an underrated actor, but neither movie was good. License to Kill had better bad guys, including a very young Benicio del Tore, and the Bond girls (Talisa Soto and Carey Lowell Gere) were LOL bad at times. Wayne Newton's weird appearance was also oddly enjoyable.

[Sleeping in EQ]

I thought Dalton was more in the spirit of Ian Fleming's Bond than was Roger Moore, and he was an underrated actor, but neither movie was good. License to Kill had better bad guys, including a very young Benicio del Tore, and the Bond girls (Talisa Soto and Carey Lowell Gere) were LOL bad at times. Wayne Newton's weird appearance was also oddly enjoyable.

I like Dalton as Bond.

The Living Daylights starts quite well, with the camera showing that Dalton is doing the rappelling and truck stunts. I also like the bit at the opera house and the defection through the pipeline. The villains are horrendous, right down to the jailer in Afghanistan. Maryam d'Abo is quite attractive and isn't overdone, but the childlike personality of her character is mildly irritating (The Bond films have sometimes had a childlike Bond girl, which can ratchet up the character's innocence, and Bond's perceived need to rescue her. Danielle Bianchi's character in From Russia with Love and Jayne Seymour's character in Live and Let Die are two prominent examples).

License to Kill suffers from looking cheap, I think. Some of those shots could have been in Miami Vice. I agree that Talisa Soto and Carey Lowell give very uneven performances, and that the villains are quite good. I find Wayne Newton's bit hilarious. On the whole, I think License to Kill is the better of the two films.