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I think the other Glen films look much better, and I wonder if it's to do with them shooting in more real locations. I can't think of many sets built for TLD, apart from Q's lab, which I thought was quite good. In any case, once the film gets to Isthmus and the real Mexico City locations they borrowed, like the post office, I think the film looks fine.
I think the blu-ray tried to clean up the image a little for the restoration by increasing the saturation and sharpening the image, but it looks fake. The new 4K version however is probably the most accurate representation of how the film looks, for better or worse.
Here's my screencap comparisons of LTK: https://007homemedia.blogspot.com/2020/08/licence-to-kill-1989.html
It's always been weirdly hard to shake the feeling that they've just quickly put up a couple of walls to serve as Moneypenny's office for that bit. Did they fly Bliss out to Mexico just for that?
One thing it strikes me that might have been nice for that scene: Moneypenny giving a longing, sad look at the empty hatstand in her room. One way to do a last reference to the hat-tossing without having to deal with the oddness of Dalton wearing a hat in 80s London! :D
Just start with Miami Vice (1984-1990) I guess. So many people say that LTK is like an extended episode of that show. I can't confirm or deny that myself as I've never seen any of it but I did buy a few seasons of it cheaply from one of those exchange shops a few years ago. I must get around to watching it some time.
I've seen it, and that's what I was meaning to suggest: the TV movie comparisons are really overstated...
That had to have been a depressing day of shooting. I know Tim wasn't there, but his famous on-set comment about LTK maybe being the last Bond ever must have come out of that kind of thing.
But again, apart from some of those shoddy sets in the first half, I don't think most of LTK looks particularly cheap.
The setting as well as the mere fact of conflicts with drug people is pretty much it. There's the slightly harder tone too. But Dalton isn't playing Crockett and Michael Mann isn't overlooking the production with his usual "Mann-erisms". It helps that the score sounds a bit more exotic, and then there's the use of pop songs. But in my opinion, LTK is still more Bond than Miami Vice.
Now, if Michael Mann had directed this movie... I'd have been up for that.
That would have been great. Or McTiernan or Donner or someone like that.
Yes, he remade it as Heat. It features the exact same scenes and structure, only over 90 minutes instead of 3 hours. It's great.
Still, HEAT is the superior film IMO.
I thought they filmed a tiny bit at Pinewood, just to keep the tradition going. I always assumed it was Moneypenny.
This is the controversial opinions thread, so personally I prefer LA Takedown (I first encountered it as LA Crimewave, which was how it was released on VHS originally in the UK).
Obviously Heat has the actors and the budget, but I like the leanness of LA Takedown.
Every scene in LA Takedown appears in Heat, so if you re-edited the latter into the same running time of the former, then you'd have the perfect combination.
That would make sense, you'd think, yeah.
I always find your posts regarding the different editions of the Bonds fascinating, @MakeshiftPython.
Every time I watch the Blu-ray of LTK I find myself pointing out that it looks a little too good for that film. There's a reel change that occurs during the casino sequence as it cuts to a close up of Sanchez looking at the television. The film stock changed considerably in that moment and looked completely different. The Blu-ray evens the image out so it's not so noticeable.
Well, I said these three in particular. But I could add AVTAK, YOLT, MR and LTK.