THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS (1987)

Ehh.  THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS might have a new, younger Bond, but this film seemed like a step backwards to me.  The opening action scene (set in beautiful Gibraltar) probably sounded exciting on paper, but it came off looking cheap and goofy on screen. From there we go to Czechoslovakia where a KGB general is defecting, then we got somebody trying to murder British secret agents, plus Joe Don Baker as an arms dealer, a fake political assassination, a massive opium deal in Afghanistan and Bond getting the hots for a female sniper.  There's just so much going on and none of it was exciting.  Also, the tone of the film was uneven.  One moment you got Bond lifelessly delivering dead on arrival one-liners and skiing down a mountain on a cello case and then later beating some dude in front of his mistress and ripping her clothes off.  Also, Joe Don Baker has to have the least amount of screentime (versus film runtime) of any villain in the entire Bond series!  I'd love to read a detailed breakdown of that.  I swear to god, he only had like four scenes and they were all in his house!

I don't know.  I'm sure there are people who love this movie, but I didn't care for it.  The film was well-intentioned, naturally...but still disappointing.  Forgettable villains, good locations that weren't photographed to capture their natural beauty, abrupt ending, meh theme song, boring Bond girl, "explosive teddy bears", Bond and the villain using the same cordless phone, a new Miss Moneypenny who was instantly forgettable.

I was actually excited to check out this new James Bond, I think Timothy Dalton is a fine actor, but he just didn't grab my attention here.  Honestly, I think the problem was more with the script than the actors.

Two thunderballs out of five.

Part 1 - Dr. No (1962)
Part 2 - From Russia With Love (1963)
Part 3 - Goldfinger (1964)
Part 4 - Thunderball (1965)
Part 5 - You Only Live Twice (1967)
Part 6 - On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
Part 7 - Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Part 8 - Live and Let Die (1973)
Part 9 - The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
Part 10 - The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Part 11 - Moonraker (1979)
Part 12 - For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Part 13 - Octopussy (1983)
Part 14 - A View to a Kill (1985)
Part 16 - Licence to Kill (1989)
Part 17 - GoldenEye (1995)
Part 18 - Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
Part 19 - The World Is Not Enough (1999)
Part 20 - Die Another Day (2002)
Part 21 - Casino Royale (2006)
Part 22 - Quantum of Solace (2008)
Part 23 - Skyfall (2012)
Part 24 - Spectre (2015)
Part 25 - No Time to Die (2021)

Non-Eon James Bond films:
Casino Royale (1967)
Never Say Never (1983)

SAW IV (2007)

John Kramer’s not going to let a little inconvenience like having his throat cut with a power saw get in the way of him preaching his dumbass, bullshit message that being alive is a good thing. Nope. During his autopsy, the coroner finds a wax-covered microcassette in Jigsaw's stomach. It informs the detectives that there is a new game afoot. This time around, the main victim is a cop who’s guilty of, wait for it…trying to save everybody. Not really sure how that’s considered a bad thing, but whatever.

Next thing you know, this poor bastard's running around fighting a crazy woman with her scalp ripped off, strapping a serial rapist to a de-eyeballing machine and all kinds of other wacky adventures. There's even somebody getting their head crushed between two huge blocks of ice!  You don’t see that everyday.  Anyway, 4 is an enjoyable ride, but it just didn't grab my attention the way the previous films did.  I can't really put my handsome finger on it, but this installment is just...lacking.  Part One was original and fun, Two had an interesting cast of characters and the awesome Nerve Gas House, Three had some neat traps and Four, eh, it moves the story forward (and gives us more backstory), but there were no awesome standout elements.  Although, I did enjoy the pre-credits scene with the two guys (one with his eyes sewn shut and he other with his mouth sewn shut) chained to a winch.  That was pretty dope.

Totally worth watching for those going through the series.  Just don't expect too much.

Part 1 - Saw (2004)
Part 2 - Saw II (2005)
Part 3 - Saw III (2006)
Part 5 - Saw V (2008)
Part 6 - Saw VI (2009)
Part 7 - Saw 3D (2010)
Part 8 - Jigsaw (2017)
Part 9 - Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)
Part 10 - Saw X (2023)