001. The plot
After his CIA friend Felix Leiter is badly wounded and left for dead by drug dealer Franz Sanchez and his pet shark, Bond sets his jaw to ‘clench’ mode and heads out for revenge. Stripped of his licence to kill and acting against the orders of MI6, he infiltrates Sanchez’s expansive cocaine operation, and is determined to fulfil his vendetta at any cost.
002. The villains
Robert Davi is Franz Sanchez, who even by modern standards is still one of the toughest and most realistic villains of the franchise. Severed from the camp or irony that so often comes with Bond villains, Davi doesn’t have a submarine-swallowing tanker or a space army, yet he feels like one of Bond’s most dangerous foes.
Benicio Del Toro, so young you’d think he’s taking time from doing his homework to film his scenes, is his sadistic accomplice and thoroughly nasty piece of work, Dario.
003. The girls
Carey Lowell (aka the current Mrs Richard Gere) is the CIA agent and friend of Felix Leiter, Pam Bouvier. Beautiful and incredibly capable, she not only aids Bond but, in the grand tradition of Pussy Galore and Agent Triple X, is one of the Bond girls who’s actually a match for 007.
Talisa Soto brings a vulnerable but seductive beauty to the whole affair as Sanchez’s abused girlfriend Lupe Lamora.
004. Best moments
Bond and Felix capturing Sanchez in the pre-titles sequence by ‘fishing’ his plane out of the sky with their helicopter is an exciting triumph early on, followed soon after by the equally memorable scene where Felix is fed to a shark.
Milton Krest’s head exploding like a big meat balloon in the hyperbaric chamber is a rare bit of gore in the franchise but was always the bit of Licence to Kill you really looked forward to as a kid. The finale, involving Bond and Sanchez duelling in articulated tanker trucks, and Pam piloting the light aircraft, is as brutal as it is exciting.
005. Trivia
» Budget restraints were imposed on production because, 10 years on, producers were still paying off the interest on Moonraker‘s overspend.
» The second James Bond movie to feature the word ‘shit’. The first was Live and Let Die.
» Bond’s resignation scene was filmed at Ernest Hemingway’s house in the Florida Keys, hence Bond’s literary quip “I guess this is a farewell to arms.”
» The first Bond film to feature a tobacco warning from the United States Surgeon General in the credits.
» Gladys Knight’s Licence to Kill is the longest of all the Bond songs.
006. Best quotes
» Sharkey: “Chainsaw my ass. I know a shark bite when I see one.”
» Bond: [aiming at Sanchez] “Watch the birdy, you bastard.”
» Sanchez: “Senor Bond, you got big cojones. You come here to my place without references, carrying a piece, throwing around a lot of money… but you should know something: nobody saw you come in, so nobody has to see you go out.”
» Felix Leiter: “There’s only one law down there. Sanchez’s Law: Plomo o plata.”
Bond: “Lead or silver.”
» Sanchez: “Drug dealers of the world, unite!”
007. The verdict
With a savagery far removed from previous instalments of the franchise, 1989’s Licence to Kill is a compelling and violent affair, with its sharper edges smoothed out just enough by the usual mix of gadgets, girls, and glamour that it’s still recognisably ‘Bond’.
The exotic locations and grandfatherly Q (in his largest role in any Bond film) reassure the traditional Bond fan, but they’re cut by a true feeling of cold-blooded menace that’s new to the series.
This isn’t the usual tale of foiling a world-takeover; this a straightforward story of personal revenge, and Dalton’s the perfect Bond for the job. As ruthless as the sharks that snack on Felix, you believe Dalton’s 007 will get the job done, no matter how many bullets it takes. Not until 2006’s Casino Royale would a Bond film feel so gritty.
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