The first of two films to star Timothy Dalton as MI6 agent 007, The Living Daylights is the 15th entry in the James Bond series.
The fourth film to be directed by John Glen, the title is taken from Ian Fleming’s short story “The Living Daylights.”
James Bond, alongside MI6 agents 004 and 002, participate in a training camp in Gibraltar. During the exercise, an assassin kills 004, but Bond chases down the assassin, who dies after vehicle chase.
Bond is assigned to help KGB General Georgi Koskov defect to the West, acting as counter-sniper covering his escape from a concert hall in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia.
During the mission, Bond notices that the KGB sniper assigned to “protect” Koskov is a female cellist. Disobeying orders to kill the sniper, he shoots the rifle from the cellist, then uses the Trans-Siberian Pipeline to smuggle Koskov across the border to the West.
In his post-defection debriefing, Koskov informs MI6 that the KGB’s policy of “Smert Shpionam,” meaning “Death to Spies,” has been reactivated by General Pushkin, KGB new head.
Bond is ordered to track down Pushkin in Tangier and kill him, to stop further killings of agents and escalation of tensions between the Soviet Union and the West. Bond agrees to carry out the mission when he learns that the assassin who killed 004 left a note reading “Smiert Spionam”.
Bond returns to Bratislava to track down the cellist, Kara Milovy. He finds out that Koskov’s defection was faked, and that Kara is Koskov’s girlfriend. Bond convinces Kara that he is a friend of Koskov’s and persuades her to accompany him to Vienna.
They escape Bratislava while being pursued by the KGB and Slovak police, crossing over the border into Austria.
Meanwhile, Pushkin meets with arms dealer Brad Whitaker in Tangier, informing him that the KGB is cancelling a previous arms.
During his journey with Kara in Vienna, Bond visits the Prater to meet his MI6 ally, Saunders, who discovers financial dealings between Koskov and Whitaker. Saunders is killed by Koskov’s henchman Necros, who again leaves the message “Smert’ Shpionam.”
Bond and Kara leave for Tangier, where Bond confronts Pushkin, who denies any knowledge of “Smert’ Shpionam” and reveals that Koskov is evading arrest for embezzlement of government funds.
Bond fakes Pushkin’s assassination, causing Whitaker and Koskov to progress with their scheme. Meanwhile, Kara contacts Koskov, who tells her that Bond is actually a KGB agent and convinces her to drug him.
Koskov, Necros, Kara, and the drugged Bond fly to Soviet air base in Afghanistan, where Koskov betrays Kara and imprisons her, alongside Bond.
The pair escape, and in doing so, free a condemned prisoner, Kamran Shah, leader of the local Mujahideen.
Bond and Kara discover that Koskov is using Soviet funds to buy a massive shipment of opium, intending to keep the profits to supply the Soviets with arms and buy Western arms from Whitaker.
The plane crashes, destroying the drugs, while Bond and Kara escape. Bond then returns to Tangier to kill Whitaker, infiltrating his estate with Felix Leiter.
In the end, Bond surprises Kara, now the solo cellist in a Vienna performance, in her dressing room.
Cast
Timothy Dalton as Bond 007, an MI6 agent assigned to examine the deaths of several KGB defectors.
Maryam d’Abo as Kara Milovy, Koskov’s girlfriend and later Bond’s love interest
Joe Don Baker as Brad Whitaker, US arms dealer and self-styled general, who serves as Koskov’s primary ally.
Art Malik as Kamran Shah, leader in the Afghan mujahideen
John Rhys-Davies as General Leonid Pushkin, KGB new head, replacing General Gogol
Living Daylights, The (1987): Bond’s 15th Entry, Introducing Timothy Dalto as New 007
The first of two films to star Timothy Dalton as MI6 agent 007, The Living Daylights is the 15th entry in the James Bond series.
The fourth film to be directed by John Glen, the title is taken from Ian Fleming’s short story “The Living Daylights.”
James Bond, alongside MI6 agents 004 and 002, participate in a training camp in Gibraltar. During the exercise, an assassin kills 004, but Bond chases down the assassin, who dies after vehicle chase.
Bond is assigned to help KGB General Georgi Koskov defect to the West, acting as counter-sniper covering his escape from a concert hall in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia.
During the mission, Bond notices that the KGB sniper assigned to “protect” Koskov is a female cellist. Disobeying orders to kill the sniper, he shoots the rifle from the cellist, then uses the Trans-Siberian Pipeline to smuggle Koskov across the border to the West.
In his post-defection debriefing, Koskov informs MI6 that the KGB’s policy of “Smert Shpionam,” meaning “Death to Spies,” has been reactivated by General Pushkin, KGB new head.
Bond is ordered to track down Pushkin in Tangier and kill him, to stop further killings of agents and escalation of tensions between the Soviet Union and the West. Bond agrees to carry out the mission when he learns that the assassin who killed 004 left a note reading “Smiert Spionam”.
Bond returns to Bratislava to track down the cellist, Kara Milovy. He finds out that Koskov’s defection was faked, and that Kara is Koskov’s girlfriend. Bond convinces Kara that he is a friend of Koskov’s and persuades her to accompany him to Vienna.
They escape Bratislava while being pursued by the KGB and Slovak police, crossing over the border into Austria.
Meanwhile, Pushkin meets with arms dealer Brad Whitaker in Tangier, informing him that the KGB is cancelling a previous arms.
During his journey with Kara in Vienna, Bond visits the Prater to meet his MI6 ally, Saunders, who discovers financial dealings between Koskov and Whitaker. Saunders is killed by Koskov’s henchman Necros, who again leaves the message “Smert’ Shpionam.”
Bond and Kara leave for Tangier, where Bond confronts Pushkin, who denies any knowledge of “Smert’ Shpionam” and reveals that Koskov is evading arrest for embezzlement of government funds.
Bond fakes Pushkin’s assassination, causing Whitaker and Koskov to progress with their scheme. Meanwhile, Kara contacts Koskov, who tells her that Bond is actually a KGB agent and convinces her to drug him.
Koskov, Necros, Kara, and the drugged Bond fly to Soviet air base in Afghanistan, where Koskov betrays Kara and imprisons her, alongside Bond.
The pair escape, and in doing so, free a condemned prisoner, Kamran Shah, leader of the local Mujahideen.
Bond and Kara discover that Koskov is using Soviet funds to buy a massive shipment of opium, intending to keep the profits to supply the Soviets with arms and buy Western arms from Whitaker.
The plane crashes, destroying the drugs, while Bond and Kara escape. Bond then returns to Tangier to kill Whitaker, infiltrating his estate with Felix Leiter.
In the end, Bond surprises Kara, now the solo cellist in a Vienna performance, in her dressing room.
Cast
Timothy Dalton as Bond 007, an MI6 agent assigned to examine the deaths of several KGB defectors.
Maryam d’Abo as Kara Milovy, Koskov’s girlfriend and later Bond’s love interest
Joe Don Baker as Brad Whitaker, US arms dealer and self-styled general, who serves as Koskov’s primary ally.
Art Malik as Kamran Shah, leader in the Afghan mujahideen
John Rhys-Davies as General Leonid Pushkin, KGB new head, replacing General Gogol
Jeroen Krabbé as General Georgi Koskov, renegade Soviet general who manipulates the British government into assassinating rival General Pushkin
Andreas Wisniewski as Necros, Koskov’s henchman
Thomas Wheatley as Saunders, head of MI6 Section V (Vienna), Bond’s ally
Julie T. Wallace as Rosika Miklos, Bond’s contact in Bratislava, who works at the TransSiberian Pipeline.
Desmond Llewelyn as Q, MI6’s “quartermaster”, who supplies Bond with vehicles and gadgets
Robert Brown as M, the head of MI6 and Bond’s superior
Walter Gotell as Anatol Gogol, KGB retired head, now a diplomat shown in a cameo at the end of the film
Caroline Bliss as Miss Moneypenny, M’s secretary
Geoffrey Keen as Frederick Gray, the British Minister of Defence
Virginia Hey as Rubavitch, General Pushkin’s mistress in Morocco
John Terry as Felix Leiter, a CIA agent and ally to Bond
Nadim Sawalha as the Tangier police chief Sawalha
John Bowe as Colonel Feyador, leader of the Soviet air base in Afghanistan.
Catherine Rabett as Liz, a CIA agent
Dulice Liecier as Ava, a CIA agent
Alan Talbot as Koskovs KGB minder
John Barry makes uncredited cameo as orchestra conductor.