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The Living Daylights is a James Bond short story written by Ian Fleming, first published in the first color magazine supplement of the Sunday Times newspaper, on February 4, 1962, and later reprinted in Argosy magazine, under the title "Berlin Escape". In 1966 it was the second story in the short story collection Octopussy and The Living Daylights, published two years after Fleming's death. (See the article on the book for more details about the story.) The story inspired an eponymous film, released in 1987. It featured Timothy Dalton in the first of two portrayals as British secret service agent James Bond. The Living Daylights is the fifteenth film in the EON Productions series. It was produced by Albert R. Broccoli, his stepson Michael G. Wilson, and Broccoli's daughter Barbara Broccoli. This is the last Bond film to date to take its title from an Ian Fleming short story.
Film plot summary
In the teaser, three double-oh agents parachute onto Gibraltar, testing its SAS defences. One is captured, almost immediately, by the Royal Marines, while James Bond and the other agent start scaling the cliffs to the base. As they ascend, another agent appears, and sends a tag reading Smyert Shipionam down the rope before cutting it. Bond witnesses that, and gives chase, ending in an explosives-laden truck careering down Gibraltar's narrow roads, and then into the air. Bond escapes with his reserve parachute, while the assassin explodes in mid-air. The early part of the film has much of the original short story's plot dealing with Bond assisting in the defection to the West, of a KGB General, Georgi Koskov (Jeroen Krabbé), covering his intermission escape from a concert hall in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia. Bond notices that the sniper protecting Koskov is a beautiful cellist from the orchestra, Kara Milovy (Maryam d'Abo). Suspecting she is not an assassin, he shoots the rifle out of her hands, sparing her life, while completing the General Koskov's defection to Great Britain. In England, Koskov informs MI6 that the KGB is being run by power-hungry General Leonid Pushkin (John Rhys-Davies). According to Koskov, because Pushkin has revived the old policy of Smyert Shipionam—a programme of Western spy assassinations—he needs to be eliminated. This story is credible, given the recent murder of Bond's partner in the Gibraltar training exercise. Shortly afterwards, the KGB, led by the assassin Necros, raid the safe-house where British Intelligence have Koskov, and snatch him back East. Bond leaves to kill General Pushkin; Q supplies him with a new Aston Martin and an electric key-finder able to both release stun gas or explode. Bond discovers that Kara Milovy is in fact General Koskov's girlfriend, and begins suspecting that Koskov's defection and recapture were staged. He returns to Bratislava, posing to Milovy as Koskov's friend; the pair flee to Vienna, Austria, in the Aston Martin. They are pursued by KGB, but Bond and Milovy escape using the Aston Martin's weapons. Bond, however, is forced to destroy the car, so he and Milovy sled down a snow-covered hill in the girl's cello case. At the opera, in Vienna, Bond excuses himself from Milovy, to meet Saunders, his MI6 contact, in a café. Saunders has investigated Koskov's story, and discovered a tenuous link between him and an American arms dealer, "General" Brad Whitaker (Joe Don Baker). The Stradivarius cello Milovy owns, though bought by Koskov, was funded by Brad Whitaker. Whitaker has arranged to supply the KGB with Western high-technology weapons through Koskov, and Koskov is attempting to deliver the down payment in diamonds. Pushkin is, in fact, investigating Koskov, and so Koskov wants him dead. They can't use Necros because the Russians are too familar with him and would only jepordize their plans, so Koskov intends to deal with Pushkin by having the British kill him, first. After Whitaker learns about Koskov's plan, he agrees to it but wants Necros to ensure that Pushkin is dead. Saunders leaves the café, to be killed by Necros, who detonates a bomb slamming the sliding front door of the café on to Saunders. Necros leaves behind a balloon with the words Smyert Shipionam on it—unaware that Bond already suspects the true motives behind the trail of clues lain for him. Bond returns to Milovy, and they immediately leave for Tangier, Morocco. Bond and Pushkin meet; Pushkin says KGB abandoned Smyert Shipionam decades earlier, confirming Bond's suspicions a third party is behind the plot. Bond and Pushkin decide to fake Pushkin's assassination, forcing Whitaker and Koskov to progress with their scheme; Bond "kills" Pushkin as he speaks to a trade convention in Tangier. Ironically, Bond saves Pushkin; Necros was about to kill Pushkin before Bond appeared and shot him first. Bond escapes from the police and is picked up by Felix Leiter (again, the CIA man is a different actor; first-time viewers of The Living Daylights are tricked into, at first, thinking he is an enemy!). Thinking Pushkin dead, Koskov contacts Milovy, convincing her that Bond is KGB looking to kill him. She assists in capturing Bond for him, grasping too late that Koskov has fooled her, and had intended killing her in his defection. After being captured by Koskov, Bond and Milovy are flown to a Soviet air base in Afghanistan, at the height of Soviet occupation. They escape, helped by Bond's key-finder, and free a prisoner to be hanged the next day. The prisoner is Kamran Shah, leader of the local Mujahideen. Bond discovers that Whitaker and Koskov are paying diamonds for a large shipment of opium, which would turn a profit within days of distribution in the streets of the US, and so continue supplying the Soviets with arms. The Mujahideen help Bond and Milovy infiltrate the air base. Bond plants a bomb in the back of the cargo airplane transporting the drugs, but, Koskov recognises him. Bond hijacks the airplane, while the Mujahideen attack the airbase. Milovy, at the last minute, joins Bond in the airplane take off and assumes the controls while Bond leaves to defuse his bomb. Necros, however, has stowed away on board, and attacks Bond. Milovy accidentally opens the cargo door, and Bond and Necros are sucked out, on the cargo net holding the opium; Necros and Bond fight. Necros is left hanging from Bond's boot. As he pleads for mercy, Bond cuts his bootlaces, dropping Necros to his death. Bond barely defuses the bomb, and Milovy flies over Kamran Shah's Mujahideen, who are being pursued by Soviet soldiers across a bridge; Bond drops his bomb onto the bridge, killing the Soviets, helping the Mujahideen win their battle. In the final confrontation, between James Bond and "General" Whitaker, Bond's key-finder saves him, again, when toppling a bust of Wellington onto Whitaker (an appropriate death for a man who styled himself in wax as Napoleon!). The KGB save Bond's life when agents, led by General Pushkin burst in and kill the Whitaker guard who had cornered Bond. General Koskov is there, too, and, while not killed, he is flown back to Russia in the diplomatic bag, per Pushkin's order. Cast & characters
Crew
SoundtrackMissing image 007TLDsoundtrack.jpg Original The Living Daylights soundtrack cover The title song of the film, "The Living Daylights," was recorded by pop group a-ha. It is also the final Bond film (to date) scored by John Barry. Track listing
Vehicles & gadgets
See alsoLocationsFilm locationsShooting locationsQuotes(Bond cuts his bootlaces to make Necros fall to death) Necros: No, please!, (Necros screaming to death) Kara Milovy: What Happened? James Bond: He got the boot. Trivia
External links
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