The Living Daylights (1987)

The first James Bond movie to feature Timothy Dalton as the famed British agent

Summary

-James Bond is off on his next mission, which includes investigating a KGB policy to kill enemy spies and also uncover an arms deal with global consequences

Cast

-Timothy Dalton: James Bond

-Maryam D'Abo: Kara Milovy

-Jeroen Krabbe: General Georgi Koskov

-Joe Don Baker: Brad Whitaker

-John Rhys-Davies: General Leonid Pushkin

-Art Malik: Kamran Shah

-Robert Brown: M

-Desmond Llewelyn: Q

-Caroline Bliss: Miss Moneypenny

Did You Know?

-Timothy Dalton was originally considered for the role of James Bond in the 1960s. He was initially considered for the role after Sean Connery left after 1967's You Only Live Twice. He did a screen test for producer Albert Broccoli for On Her Majesty's Secret Service. He rejected the part only because he thought he was too young. He was, once again, considered for the film Diamonds Are Forever, but he turned it down again, fearing he was too young.

-Frederick Warner and Glyn Baker were cast because of their strong resemblances to George Lazenby and Sir Roger Moore

-To play the role of The Impostor, the Russian assassin in Gibraltar at the start of the film, a stunt man was considered. Instead, director John Glen decided to use a real actor for the role. He called up an out of work actor named Carl Rigg, who was taking care of his child at the time and was staying home while his wife was away working. After getting the call, he took the child to a neighbor's house and left a note for his wife, telling her he'd been offered a role in a James Bond film. He caught the next plane to Gibraltar to start filming

-If Christopher Reeve had not turned down the million-dollar contract to star in this movie, he would have been the only American, as of 2021, to play James Bond

-The name of the gas pipeline from Czechslovakia to Austria is the Trans Siberian Pipeline. The vehicle used for Koskov's defection was called a scouring pig. It's used to clean and check the pipeline between Wester Europe and Russia

-Maryam D'Abo is the last blonde Bond girl until 2015's Spectre. All of the other Bond girls have been redheads or brunettes

-Mel Gibson was considered for the role of James Bond, but producer Albert Broccoli rejected him because he wasn't British

-This film marks the first time James Bond drives an Aston Martin since 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service

-Prior to Bond meeting with Saunders at the coffee shop, you can hear the sound effects of the arcade game Galaxian playing in the background

-Timothy Dalton was 19 years younger than Roger Moore, the actor who played Bond prior to him

-The launch of a jeep from midair is an actual military technique