The Living Daylights

• Bond drives two Aston Martin cars in the film the Volante and the Vantage (although the audience is led to believe that they are the same car)  in the movie, the first appearance of an Aston Martin since On Her Majesty's Secret Service in 1969.
• The mid-air battle towards the end of the film included the first usage of a hidden parachute in a Bond film, which stuntman B.J. Worth had to use because he had fallen too far out the back of the plane and decided it was better to let go.
• The film was written by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson (who rocks), based on an Ian Fleming short story first published in The London Sunday Times Magazine in Feburary 1962.
• The amusement park where one of Bond's fellow British spies is killed was also used in the Orson Welles film The Third Man
• Joe Don Baker (who looks a hell of a lot like Fred Thompson) plays the villain in the film, then returns in Golden Eye and Tomorrow Never Dies, as a CIA ally of Bond's.

Plotwise, this movie is a rare gem. While most Bond tales revolve around ego-centric madmen attempting to take over the world (or blow it up), this one is more realistic. After helping to facilitate the defection of a KGB general, Bond learns of a Soviet plan to systematically murder the British secret agent force. There is literally no stopping once the story gets going, and this movie really shows us James Bond at his best.

If there's one thing this film teaches us, it's that the retirement of Roger Moore was perhaps the best thing to happen to the Bond franchise in decades. Dalton's Bond is serious, cynical, and dark -- much closer to Sean Connery's original Bond, but perhaps even closer to the Bond portrayed in Ian Fleming's novels. As a result of Dalton's excellent portrayal (and also due to the sleek screenplay by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson), this film is a sharp departure from the goofy, unbelievable Bond films of previous years. In addition, long-time Bond director John Glen seems to have cleaned up his act and has made superb advances in production values, something Bond films had always lacked.

In addition to the solid plot, acting, and direction, this movie delivers some of the best action sequences ever filmed. Top among these are the now famous chase scene on the cello and a spectacular mid-air fight to the death with Bond and the bad guy actually hanging out the back of a flying cargo plane.

This is my personal favorite Bond film. Obviously, I highly recommend it. Sadly, this is one of only two films in which Timothy Dalton plays Bond. As much as I like Pierce Brosnan, I can't help thinking Dalton did a better job.

Coincidentally, this movie contains one of my favorite quotes, and one of Bond's best lines: "They have a saying where I come from, Yuri, and you're full of it."