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Jeff (The Dude) Bridges makes anything better. Jack Palance could have worked, as he was having a career comeback at the time. Could have worked better than Scaramanga would have for him.
I don't buy the chemistry between Kara and Bond. While they are given romantic scenes and things to do but I never feel the love. Given Dalton was cast weeks away from shooting they cast Maryam without knowing who the Bond was, or she was cast based on Pierce. Either way I think the relationship between the two actors was lacking any sizzle or chemistry.
Completely disagree, its one of the strongest parts of the movie, the relationship between Bond and Kara. It's what sets it apart from other Bonds, that, and of course the use of Fleming!
I always liked Joe Don Baker as Whitaker, certainly better here than the highly annoying Jack Wade character! Missed opportunities?, .... nah, love it as it is!
Other than that I also agree about Whitiker - I think the casting (and character in general) could have been stronger.
I guess it's tricky as the character needs to have been conned by Koskov; to be the sniper most notably, so she needs to be quite green. I do agree she is perhaps a bit too naive though, yes. I prefer Pam in the next film; I feel like I buy her and Tim's Bond a bit more.
Although, speaking of Kara's naivety, the bit where Bond gets silently frustrated by trying to tell her to drive the car into the plane is a great gag! :)
Last night I also felt there were scenes where Kara really did come off as annoying...
Well thanks for the permission to disagree @mtm.
Talk about arrogant.
The main villain should've been Koskov, with Whitaker a secondary villain. The fact that Koskov's future is left to the minds of the audience is another weakness the film has.
Whilst it's alluded to that he will presumably be executed on return to Russia, the Bond villain should meet their comeuppance, be it via the exploding jeep at the airbase, or a similar shootout with Koskov instead of Whitaker, or perhaps both Koskov and Whitaker could've been involved, as Bond hunts both of them in Whitakers villa.
Oh yeah, I think Kara definitely has a grey life and is essentially played by both Bond and Koskov. I do think that one has to have a bit more noticeable determination to act as a sniper though (I don’t think someone as innocent could ever do that) but she’s not going to be a femme fatale either. But that in itself could have been interesting. If the script had been tweaked a bit we could have seen her go from being that to a more independent character who manages to help Bond. Give her more of a satisfying arc I guess.
I do wish the last third was a bit stronger, maybe if the action had been a bit more focused on Bond or had him in the centre of the action, rather than him trying to get the plane in the air.
The PTS and sniper sequence is absolute peak Bond, Dalton really shines.
Possibly and probably because they used the Fleming source material to the best of their advantage.
Cubby was always good at going back to the source, and the scenes used in some of these films that use Fleming are generally seen to be the more popular.
I think she's meant to be another Octopussy, just a bit younger, a woman who's in the grey area, although compared to Octopussy, Kara is too much naive, Octopussy may have been fooled by Kamal Khan, but she's not acting a bimbo, I think Kara was meant to be another Octopussy type, she's torn and caught between two worlds, but Kara comes off as too screwed up or childish, she's actually doesn't fit Dalton's Bond because she's too fancy, but sometimes, helpless.
Pam fits Dalton's Bond more, both are serious, Kara is too much playful for Dalton's Bond, Kara would've been more suited for Moore's Bond, Kara comes off to me as Bibi Dahl.
You exchange those two roles (Maryam D'Abo playing Bibi Dahl and Lynn Holly Johnson playing Kara), it wouldn't make any difference, this is just Bibi Dahl 2.0, and one could say that Koskov is just like Kristatos (she's supporting Kara in her career, fooled her, trying to play good towards Bond; Kristatos supporting Bibi Dahl in her career, trying to play good towards Bond as a fake ally, he also fooled Bibi Dahl).
Really? This could've been easily a Moore Bond flick, than A View To A Kill was, this film fits Roger Moore more.
And Whittaker, oh my, he's the epitome of a Moore Bond Villain: Deranged and Arrogant.
(That line: "I'll have my 80!"), man, sounds like it came from a Moore Bond Era, Whittaker is more like a Stromberg type of villain.
D’Abo is one of the best Bond girls.
My suggestion would have been to combine Koskov and Whitaker to create one single villain. Basically, Koskov created a fictitious arms dealer, Whitaker, several years ago to allow him to embezzle public funds. For years, he led a double life between the Soviet Union where he is seen as a morose general and Morocco where he leads a luxurious life where he engages in historical reenactments and gives free rein to his historical fantasies. Knowing he is on the verge of being exposed by Pushkin, he plots his eliminated and, for his part, plans to take on the identity of Whitaker and finally benefit from all the money he has amassed over the years.
In my mind, such a modification would maintain the overall structure of the film, while making the villain more memorable and allowing more depth to be given to the final confrontation between Bond and Whitaker (who is now simply an alias of Koskov).
I’m not sure I can agree with you on this @DEKE_RIVERS
Koskov and Whitaker never directly murder anyone, but Sanchez is an evil bastard.
Absolutely mate. It's only when you go back and reread Fleming you realise how well Cubby brought it to screen.
Precisely @Benny
I think the villains and the lack of chemistry between Kara and Bond are the biggest opportunities for me. I never believe that Kara and Bond have fallen for each other. Nothing against how either character is written. More down to the actors not having "it" that spark between them.
But were there missed opportunities? The film has grown to be loved and ranked quite high recently. Back at the time of release the film was seen as a miss with reduced Box Office.
This one shall be an interesting discussion.
What are the missed opportunities of Licence to Kill?
Remember a missed opportunity is a poor casting choice, a story line that doesn't really go anywhere, poor character development, soundtrack choices, etc.
Poor Character Development: The love triangle between Pam and Lupe that reduced Pam from a matured, serious woman to a childish, narrow minded.
Missed character opportunity: Q being in the field, could have done more better with him.
Lupe Lamora offered nothing either, she's just a nuisance character.
Poor Character Development, inconsistent: Sanchez stupidity: He'd whipped Lupe with a stingray tail for betraying him for another man in the beginning, but he didn't suspected the same with Bond and Lupe, and he'd even trusted Lupe to be with Bond, not anticipating that Lupe could hook up to Bond like what she did with the man that she's with in the beginning, the same for Sanchez easily trusting Bond into his private circles without knowing him deeply or ordering his men on checking his profile, really? He's such a gullible villain, how he couldn't see that Bond was manipulating him?
Other than that I’d say maybe Dario isn’t quite as fleshed out as he could have been. It might just be because he’s played so well by del Torro and he has such an important part during the climax (namely when he recognises Bond). I’ve always felt his gimmick of being able to do tricks with the knife is never used fully, and we could have gotten a bit more from his character.
Other than that, I think this film made great use of a lot of opportunities.
That and they should have been willing to give Bond and Leiter a meaningful reunion at the end of the film instead of a 20-second phone call where all the loose ends are wrapped up in a bow.