LICENCE TO KILL

:''This article is about the James Bond film. For the concept in real situations, see licence to kill (concept).''
'''Licence to Kill''' is a 1989 spy film. It is the 16th installment in the James Bond series, and the second and last to star Timothy Dalton as MI6 agent James Bond. ''Licence to Kill'' was the first official James Bond film to use a title not derived from either an Ian Fleming novel or a short story. However, it does contain characters and elements from Fleming's novel ''Live and Let Die'' and the short story "The Hildebrand Rarity". The film revolves around Bond's dismissal from MI6 and his vendetta against a South American drug baron. The title refers to Bond's discretionary licence to kill which allows him to kill without prior approval to complete his mission.
Following the film's disappointing U.S. box office performance compared to some of the other Bond films, the death of screenwriter Richard Maibaum and subsequent legal battles over the ownership of the James Bond series, ''Licence to Kill'' was the last Bond film for over six years, the longest interval in the history of the series. It was also the final film to be produced by Albert R. Broccoli, whose declining health led to a diminished role in bringing 1995's ''GoldenEye'' to the screen.

Contents

Plot

Vehicles and gadgets

Cast

Production

Shooting locations

Reception

Soundtrack

Novelisation

Comic book adaptation

References

External links

Plot

The story opens with Bond and his friend, CIA agent Felix Leiter on their way to Leiter's wedding. Meanwhile, DEA agents spot drug lord Franz Sanchez flying into Cray Key, The Bahamas, where he catches his mistress in bed with another man. In retaliation for her infidelity, he orders his henchmen to cut the man's heart out (offscreen) and whips her brutally. The DEA dispatches a helicopter to collect Leiter in an attempt to capture Sanchez, and Bond tags along. The pair capture Sanchez by pulling his plane out of the air with a Coast Guard helicopter, and then parachute down to arrive at the wedding on time.

Later that same day, DEA agent Killifer assists Sanchez in escaping federal custody, lured by a promise of two million dollars. On their honeymoon night, Leiter and his new wife, Della, are captured by Sanchez's lieutenant Dario and several henchmen. Leiter is bound and lowered into a shark tank; the shark bites off the lower half of one of his legs. After hearing the news of Sanchez's escape, Bond returns to Leiter's house to find Della in her wedding dress, dead. In the study, Bond finds Felix, maimed but still alive, bearing a note from Sanchez: "He disagreed with something that ate him."
Bond begins his revenge by killing Killifer, causing him to fall into the same tank with the shark which maimed Felix. Under pressure from the DEA to rein in his agent, M meets Bond in Key West's Hemingway House and orders him to an assignment in Istanbul, Turkey. Bond refuses, but M insists that Bond take the Turkey mission, claiming that Bond's vendetta could easily compromise the British government. Refusing to let the matter go, Bond resigns. M accepts his resignation and immediately revokes his licence to kill. Bond then escapes MI6 custody and becomes a rogue agent, bereft of official backing (but later surreptitiously helped by MI6 armourer Q, who voluntarily joins Bond while pretending to be on leave). Bond then gets aboard a ship run by Milton Krest, one of Sanchez's key lieutenants, where he ruins Sanchez's latest drug shipment and steals five million dollars from Sanchez to finance his exploits. In Leiter's records, Bond finds details of a rendezvous in Bimini with Pam Bouvier, an ex-CIA agent-pilot, who he recruits to his mission.


Bond journeys to the Latin American country of "The Republic of Isthmus" (filmed in Mexico but based on Panama), where he finds his way into Sanchez's employ. Bond meets Sanchez in his office above a local casino and poses as an assassin looking for work. With the aid of Bouvier and Q, he frames Krest, making him appear disloyal to Sanchez. Sanchez punishes this perceived disloyalty by trapping Krest in a hyperbaric chamber and then suddenly depressurising the chamber, causing Krest's head to explode bloodily; meanwhile for Bond's perceived loyalty, Sanchez permits him into his inner circle of friends.
Sanchez takes him to his base, where Bond learns that Sanchez's scientists can dissolve cocaine in gasoline, and then sell it — disguised as fuel — to Asian drug dealers. The buying and selling are conducted via the fake American televangelist Professor Joe Butcher. The re-integration process will be available to those underworld clients who can pay Sanchez's price. With the aid of Agent Bouvier, Bond destroys Sanchez's processing plant. In the process, Sanchez ties Bond's hands and feet together and puts him on a conveyor belt that drops the brick-cocaine into a giant shredder to get information from him. Bond reveals that he knows about the Stingers and Dario stops the conveyor belt at Sanchez's command. Bond tells Sanchez that it's the last he'll see of Heller and the Stingers, and Sanchez signals to Dario to start the conveyor belt again. Sanchez thanks Bond for the advice and leaves with his men. Pam Bouvier shows up and Bond kills Dario by pulling him onto the conveyor belt and he falls, screaming, into the shredder in a cloud of red smoke. Pam and Bond quickly escape the base before it blows up, meeting Heller along the way who has been impaled on a forklift.
As the processing plant explodes, Bond pursues Sanchez as he escapes with four tanker trucks . After destroying three of the trucks, Bond and Sanchez fight aboard the final remaining tanker, which ends up out of control and then rolls down a hillside. Sanchez is soaked in gasoline leaking from the crashed fuel tanker.
Sanchez tells Bond, "You could've had everything," and lifts his machete to deliver a killing blow but Bond distracts him by asking, "Don't you want to know ''why''?" and pulls out a cigarette lighter — Leiter's gift to Bond for being the best man at his wedding — and sets Sanchez afire. Sanchez, burning alive, stumbles into the wrecked tanker truck's cistern, causing its cocaine-gasoline to explode. Bond quickly moves away from the Tanker before the massive explosion. Thinking Pam to have died during the chase, Bond looks downcast until he hears a truck horn nearby. Pam pulls up in a surviving front section of one of the Tank Trucks and calls to Bond, "Well, what are you waiting for? Get in!" Bond responds, "Yes sir", and gets in the truck.
Later, Bond and Q attend a party at Sanchez's residence. Bond takes a telephone call from Felix, informing him that M is offering Bond his job back. Bond tells him that his hostess (Lupe) has just arrived. Q and Pam share a drink and Lupe thanks Bond for everything. Bonds thanks her, and she kisses him. Pam notices this and goes downstairs, upset. Lupe hasn't noticed this and she suggests that Bond could stay there with her, but Bond looks over the balcony, sees Pam standing alone by the pool and tells Lupe that he thinks her and El Presidente will make perfect couple. With that, Bond flings himself over the balcony and lands in the pool, surprising Pam. Bond pulls her into the pool, and they laugh. Above, Lupe, El Presidente and Q walk away respectfully. Pam asks Bond, "Why don't you wait until you're asked?" which is what Bond asked her earlier in the film. And Bond replies with what she said, "So why don't you ask me?" They kiss and the credits roll over a beautiful view of the city Acapulco.

Vehicles and gadgets

Main articles: List of James Bond vehicles, List of James Bond gadgets


★ Plastic explosives disguised as ordinary toothpaste.

★ The remote trigger is disguised as a packet of Lark cigarettes.

★ A Signature gun — A Hasselblad camera that when assembled became a sniper rifle that only worked for Bond, due to an "optical palm reader" built into the grip.

★ Q carries a Laser/X-ray Polaroid camera and an exploding alarm clock with him to Isthmus, "Guaranteed never to wake up anyone who uses it.", but neither gadget is used in the film.

★ Vehicles included a Lincoln Mark VII as Bond's rental car in Key West, a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow driven by Q in Isthmus and a Maserati Biturbo 420 driven by Sanchez in the finale.

Cast

★ 'Timothy Dalton' as 'James Bond'

★ 'Carey Lowell' as 'Pam Bouvier'

★ 'Robert Davi' as 'Franz Sanchez'

★ 'Talisa Soto' as 'Lupe Lamora'

★ 'Anthony Zerbe' as 'Milton Krest'

★ 'Frank McRae' as 'Sharkey'

★ 'Everett McGill' as 'Ed Killifer'

★ 'Wayne Newton' as 'Professor Joe Butcher'

★ 'Benicio del Toro' as 'Dario'

★ 'Anthony Starke' as 'Truman-Lodge'

★ 'Pedro Armendáriz Jr.' as 'President Hector Lopez'

★ 'Desmond Llewelyn' as 'Q'

★ 'David Hedison' as 'Felix Leiter'

★ 'Priscilla Barnes' as 'Della Churchill'

★ 'Robert Brown' as 'M'

★ 'Caroline Bliss' as 'Miss Moneypenny'

★ 'Don Stroud' as 'Colonel Heller'

★ 'Grand L. Bush' as 'Hawkins'

★ 'Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa' as 'Kwang' - an undercover Hong kong narcotics agent posing as a Japanese drug lord.

★ 'Alejandro Bracho' as 'Perez' - Henchman of Sanchez

★ 'Guy De Saint Cyr' as 'Braun' - Henchman of Sanchez

★ 'Stuart Quan ' as 'Ninja ' - Henchman of Sanchez

Production

Shooting locations

Much of the film was shot in Mexico in Mexico City and the Florida Keys. In the film the Republic of Isthmus was a fictional South American country, based on Panama. Mexico was used to double for this location.
In Mexico City locations included the Biblioteca del Banco de Mexico for exterior of ''El Presidente Hotel'' and the Casino Español for the interior of ''Casino de Isthmus'' whilst the Teatro de la Ciudad was used for its exterior. Churubusco Studios was used as a sound stage and production base. Villa Arabesque was used for Sanchez' lavish villa which was filmed in Acapulco, and the La Rumorosa Mountain Pass in Mexicali was used for the filming site of the tanker chase. Sanchez's Olympiatec Meditation Institute was shot at the Otomi Ceremonial Center in Toluca. Other underwater sequences were shot at the Isla Mujeres near Cancún.
In the United States filming was done primarily in the Florida Keys, notably Key West. Seven Mile Bridge towards Pigeon Key was used for the armoured truck driving off the edge . Other locations there included Ernest Hemingway House, Key West International Airport, Mallory Square, St. Mary's Star of the Sea Church for Leiter's wedding and Stephano's House 707 South Street for his house and patio''. The US Coast Guard Pier was used to film Isthmus City harbour
''Licence to Kill'' is the only James Bond film to date not to have used a film studio in the United Kingdom during production, though post-production and sound re-recording was carried out at Pinewood Studios. This is also the first Bond film to be rated PG-13 in the US and 15 in the UK; all previous films were PG. Violent scenes had to be trimmed in both the UK and US to avoid a higher classification. The uncut version is available in the James Bond Ultimate Edition DVD box sets.

Reception

Taking inflation into account, ''Licence to Kill'' is among the least financially successful James Bond films in the U.S., although its worldwide performance was significantly better^[1]. Many authors, fans and critics have debated the reasons for this. One of the first causes cited is the increase in violence, which led to a 15 rating in Britain and a PG-13 rating in the U.S. This was the first Bond film to receive such a rating, though all Bond films released after would be rated similarly; 12/12A (UK) and PG-13 (US).
''Licence to Kill'' also had a somewhat troubled production history (as related by long time producer Michael G. Wilson on the DVD's commentary track), including budgetary constraints imposed ever since the excesses of ''Moonraker'' that failed to allow for inflation, the location shift to Mexico from the originally planned China and a five month WGA strike that prevented veteran Richard Maibaum from completing the script, a task producer Wilson had to take on^[2].
Albert R. 'Cubby' Broccoli openly stated that he disliked the handling of the marketing and promotion for ''Licence to Kill'', which was significantly affected by a late title change. Promotional material already produced by artist Robert Peak was built around the original title "Licence Revoked" and was inspired by Dalton's more dramatic and hard-edged portrayal of Bond. The delay in producing corrected materials (created by Steven Chorney in a more traditional style) limited its pre-release exposure to audiences. The reason behind the name change was rumored to have been as a result of test screenings shown in the United States, where members of the audience did not understand the meaning of "revoked." Though often repeated, this has never been substantiated and it seems unlikely the word would be unknown in the U.S. since it had been ubiquitous for decades prior to the films release due to its usage in relation to driving privileges. A far more likely scenario would be this very familiarity with the word creating a potentially humorous connection to the mundane, the very opposite reaction the marketing was aiming for.
Another factor cited for ''Licence to Kill's comparatively tepid box office performance is that it was released towards the end of one of the most competitive spring/summer film seasons in history which included such heavily promoted releases as ''Batman''; ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade''; ''Lethal Weapon 2''; ''The Abyss''; ''; ''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids''; and ''Ghostbusters II''; all of these contributed to a glut of options at the box office for audiences, particularly those looking for action/adventure, the Bond franchise's traditional genre. No Bond film has been given a summer release since, opting instead for the fall season, or in the November/ December holiday season.
''Licence to Kill'' did, however, perform well with test audiences, and numerous critics responded very favorably to its more realistic approach; ''Variety'', Roger Ebert, and Leonard Maltin among them. Director John Glen also deemed the film to be the best of his five Bond films.

Soundtrack

Main articles: Licence to Kill (soundtrack)

Initially Eric Clapton and Vic Flick were asked to write and perform the theme song to ''Licence to Kill''. The theme was said to have been a new version based on the James Bond Theme. The guitar riff heard in the original recording of the theme was played by Flick. The prospect, however, fell apart and Gladys Knight's song and performance was chosen. The song (one of the longest to ever be used in a Bond film) was based on the "horn line" from ''Goldfinger'', which required royalty payments to the original writers.^[3] The music video of "Licence to Kill" was directed by Daniel Kleinman, who later took over the reins of title designer from Maurice Binder for the 1995 Bond film, ''GoldenEye''.
Notably, the end credits of the film feature "If You Asked Me To", sung by Patti LaBelle. In 1992, the song was covered and became a hit for singer Céline Dion.
Because John Barry was not available at the time due to the fact he was undergoing throat surgery, the soundtrack's score was composed and conducted by Michael Kamen, who also composed the soundtrack for the first three ''Die Hard'' films and all four ''Lethal Weapon'' films.

Novelisation

''Licence to Kill'' was the first James Bond film since ''Moonraker'' to have a novelisation commissioned. The then-current Bond novelist John Gardner was commissioned to write the novel based upon the screenplay by Michael G. Wilson and Richard Maibaum. Gardner was faced with a challenge because his books maintain the continuity of Ian Fleming's original novels (albeit updated), and, in Fleming's and Gardner's continuity, Felix Leiter had lost a leg and an arm in a shark attack in the novel ''Live and Let Die'', an event adapted by the screenplay of ''Licence to Kill''. As a result, Gardner's book requires readers to suspend disbelief as James Bond comes to terms with his friend being maimed twice using the same method in a chapter aptly titled "Lightning Sometimes Strikes Twice". Gardner, however, does not attempt to reconcile the return of Milton Krest, who was murdered in Fleming's short story "The Hildebrand Rarity" yet appears alive and well in the film.
The novelisation stays faithful to the script; however, one key difference is that Bond does not use his famed Walther PPK as he does in the film. Instead, Gardner gives Bond a Walther P38K. Gardner also notes that the PPK is Bond's favourite weapon but it was taken out of service with the SIS several years ago (a fact also noted in other Gardner Bond novels). Additionally, Q has an extra scene, which takes place during the time when Bond is at Sanchez's Olimpatec Meditation Institute. In the scene Q teams up with a police captain and is involved in a raid on Sanchez's palace. Although John Gardner had written, at this point, eight James Bond novels, this was actually his first to include Q. Prior to ''Licence to Kill'', Q had only been mentioned a couple of times and had been largely replaced by his assistant Ann Reilly, better known as Q'ute.
The novelisation takes place outside the timeline of Gardner's other Bond novels, as his next book, ''Brokenclaw'', disregards the events of ''Licence to Kill''. It also appears that the novelisation takes place sometime prior to Gardner's novel ''Win, Lose or Die'' in which Bond is promoted to Captain (in the novelisation, as in the film, Bond is still a Commander).

Comic book adaptation

''Licence to Kill'' was adapted as a graphic novel by writer-artist Mike Grell, who would go on to write several original James Bond comic books. The adaptation was published in both hardcover and paperback editions by Eclipse Comics in 1989.

References

1. Box Office Franchises - James Bond
2. Highlights of the WGA's contributions to the arts
3.


★ Cork, John ''Inside Licence to Kill''. Los Angeles: MGM Home Entertainment, 1999.

★ Glen, John ''For My Eyes Only''. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd, 2001. ISBN 0-713-48671-6

★ Hibbin, Sally ''The Making of Licence to Kill''. London: Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd, 1989. ISBN 0-600-56352-9

External links

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★ MGM's official ''Licence to Kill'' website

★ ''Licence to Kill''-The Royal World Premiere