It always fascinated me how, with this soundtrack, Barry was able to use a contemporary sound to revive echos of '60s cool in a film where the Bond actor was channeling his inner Connery. Even the horns are reminiscent of the raunchy note from "Goldfinger" without imitating it. And he was one of the pioneer orchestral film composers combining traditional instruments with electronics decades before Hans Zimmer. Awesome as Zimmer is, his music often sounds like itcan be used in any film, while Barry's definitely follows a motif unique to the movie it's in.
@@hijo1998 Licence To Kill does indeed have one of the best Bond villains with Sanchez and it's also one of my favourite Bond movies. But overall, The Living Daylights is my favourite out of the two.
This was Barry’s last Bond movie and he left the franchise on a high note. The Necros motif is so incredible badass that even Necros himself listens to it when he kills people. The last thing his victims hear is “Wheeeere has everybody gone?”. He’s a bad dude, and this tune proves it.
I think the one problem with living daylights is the lack of a strong villain. The henchman was brilliant and the end fight on the hercules still stands up today. It's just Whittaker and Koskov weren't impressive.
@@judyhopps9380 Yeah, Whitaker was a weird goofball and Koskov a weak sobbing turncoat. Not the best villains. They messed up the script on that point.
@@judyhopps9380 Agreed. Koskov was pretty lame and while Whittaker had charisma, he was a manchild. Necros was the only intimidating villain in this movie but I wish that fight scene on the plane lasted longer. He needed more scenes.
Yeah those crisp biting horns, searing strings and smacking drum machine kick arse! Only Barry could pull it all together like this and make it one addictive listening experience.
Dan Reese I bet it sounds amazing in a good sound system. :) I blare this song in the car. It's funny, cause this is Nerco's theme, which is one of the villians in the movie. This is my favorite John Barry Bond score, but his other 10 are just awesome.
To be fair, the film's probably would've been the same, which is part of why they had to ask Dalton as many times as they did, though in 69 Dalton turned it down because he felt he was too young, a decision that I have to say I really respect and agree with, couldn't have been easy for a Bond fanboy like Dalton to make that call. I'd have loved to see him do at least one more, as much as I love Goldeneye imagining that film with Dalton instead of Brosnan gives me goosebumps.
John Barry, always pushing boundaries and taking a reoccurring theme and making it sound fresh! That's not easy over so many decades! He is BOND (the unseen one)...
I really wish Timothy Dalton starred in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, with John Glen as director, that movie would have been fantastic. That movie was about the beginning of Bond's pain and sorrow something that Dalton captured perfectly.
@Spartan0536 Dalton was approached about playing Bond in OHMSS. He said that he felt at the time that he was too young and too inexperienced to do the role justice. Ironic in a way because when he was approached about returning for Goldeneye he told Broccoli that he felt he was too old to continue playing the role.
If not there, he definitely should've started with For Your Eyes Only - let Moore walk after the absurd Moonraker. Seeing Dalton opposite Walken in A View to a Kill would've been great.
I'm in the process of watching every James Bond movie. I watched this the other day and it probably has my favorite incidental music of any Bond movie. On top of that it's a great movie and Dalton is a great James Bond. I would've liked to see him do a few more movies.
I agree. The background music to this movie is described as jazzed up with Russian influences. I like it a lot and its the main reason why I like the old bond films. This style of music was John Barry's speciality. Other Bond films with similar music include most of the Sean Connery ones as well as Man With the Golden Gun and, to a lesser extent, Occotpussy. Not all the Bond films have it.
The extras of the DVD that talk about that scene show how difficult it really was. I always thought TD deserved at least a third film. If it was GoldenEye, it would have been more harder edged and maybe less suave (though PB was perfect in it) - we are lucky to live in an age where we saw many evolutions of Bond.
For the ramp down scenes in the air, it was a privately owned C-123. When it is a C-130, it is a Royal Moroccan Air Force aircraft (that's why the "Soviet" armoured vehicles were French-made Panhard AMLs and Renault VABs.
Anyone else notice how Dalton's bare fist fights always is in some type of moving vehicle? Moving truck in the intro, in the airplane later and on a moving truck in LTK.
Different times unfortunately. And Craig was dark but also very buff compared to Dalton and a great many fans, especially women, actually would find that very attractive. Dalton was much slimmer and while he’s lean fit here he’s not pulling any serious weights that’s for sure. I think Craig’s masculine look was part of the sell as far his run of Bonds was concerned. Not saying that’s a bad thing and two of Craig’s films were genuinely good as we know.
I don't think it was just darkness and edge; on subsequent views, Dalton's flicks, especially Living Daylights, showed he had the roundness of a great James Bond - he had the hidden warmth that a powerful guy like him can afford to have, he had the sense of humor, and points where he could act sort of...average. You never forgot you were looking at James Bond, but you were looking at a fully realized man.
Watched this again a couple of nights ago. This is an absolutely awesome track. It turns what was already a great final confrontation between Bond and Necros into an epic one.
The background music to this movie reminds me of many late summer afternoons, while living in various Asian during the 90's. This music has a very "easternly" feel to me.
Barry's best post-60s Bond score. His innovative use of electronica and drum machines recalls the Moog-driven OHMSS (his best IMHO...). He evidently had fun with this one. Not to mention Chrissie Hynde's fantastic song collaborations with JB.
Someone else said it and I agree , this poster for the film is rare and has good deals .This song rocks , I like who in the middle the drum beat as the song goes in the more tempo .
@anissueofursincerity Yes! The action scenes were all masterfully crafted by hand, they used optical illusions, smaller scaled props, for car chases and such they hired the best stuntmen/women, fine tuned the vehicles... It's good remembering that. In the lack of computers humankind used it's creativity at it's finest! Cheers.
Excellent example of the greatness of this soundtrack...they carried this Pretender’s Tune all through this movie, finishing the movie with one more amazing Pretenders song!
I've got this soundtrack. The drum machine is what makes this track great. The Living Daylights was Barry's last Bond score, and he broke new ground by bravely experimenting with orchestral and electronic instruments - the same way Jerry Goldsmith did. It's a shame Barry never came back and did another one.
TLD was the last great Bond film where it still had the true Bond feeling to it. From LTK onwards its become more Americanized with too many fireball explosions etc.
