Licence to Kill

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This article is about the James Bond film. For the concept in real situations, see licence to kill (concept).

Licence to Kill
Licence to Kill film poster
James Bond	Timothy Dalton
Also starring	Carey Lowell Robert Davi Talisa Soto
Directed by	John Glen
Produced by	Albert R. Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli
Novel/Story by	Michael G. Wilson, Richard Maibaum
Screenplay	Michael G. Wilson, Richard Maibaum
Cinematography by	{{{cinematography}}}
Music by	Michael Kamen
Main theme
Composer	N. Michael Walden Jeffrey Cohen Walter Afanaseiff
Performer	Gladys Knight
Distributed by	MGM/UA Distribution Co.
Released	July 14, 1989
Running time	133 min.
Budget	$36,000,000
Worldwide gross	$156,200,000
Admissions (world)	39.6 million
Preceded by	The Living Daylights
Followed by	GoldenEye
IMDb profile

Licence to Kill is the sixteenth film in the James Bond film series made by EON Productions. Released in the United States on July 14, 1989, Licence to Kill was the fifth and last Bond film to be directed by John Glen, the second and final film with Timothy Dalton portraying British Secret Service agent Commander James Bond, and 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, who was unavailable for 1995's GoldenEye due to his declining health. Since Dr. No (1962) Broccoli is credited with producing, with the exception of Thunderball (1965), every official James Bond film.

This was the first EON Productions James Bond film to use a title not derived from either an Ian Fleming novel or a short story. It does, however, contain elements and characters from Fleming's novel Live and Let Die and characters from the short story "The Hildebrand Rarity", however the plot is not included from "The Hildebrand Rarity" (from the collection entitled For Your Eyes Only).

Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Reception 3 Cast & characters 4 Crew 5 Soundtrack 5.1 Track listing 6 Vehicles & gadgets 7 Locations 7.1 Film locations 7.2 Shooting locations 8 Trivia 9 Novelisation 10 Comic book adaptation 11 References 12 External links

[edit] Plot summary

The story opens with Bond and his friend, DEA agent Felix Leiter (previously of the CIA), on their way to Leiter's wedding. Meanwhile, DEA agents spot drug lord Franz Sanchez flying into Cray Key, Florida, 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 Sanchez's promise of two million dollars for whoever aids him in escaping. On their honeymoon night, Leiter and his new wife, Della, are captured by Sanchez's lieutenant Dario and several of Sanchez's henchmen. In retaliation for Sanchez's capture and imprisonment, 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 (dialogue by Dario later in the film strongly implies she was raped before being killed). In the study, Bond finds Felix, maimed but still alive, bearing a note from Sanchez: "He disagreed with something that ate him." Apart from giving Felix a wife, this portion of the film is closely modelled on a previously unfilmed chapter of Ian Fleming's Live and Let Die novel, down to a furious James Bond who almost immediately sets out to hunt and kill those involved in his friends' torture and mutilation.

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" (closely based on real-life Panama), where he finds his way into Sanchez's employ at the cost of the lives of several Hong Kong narcotics agents and the British Secret Service agent in Isthmus. A scene taking place in the casino is possibly inspired by an event in the novel Diamonds Are Forever in which Lupe is sent to ensure Bond loses at a table of blackjack. Bond meets Sanchez in his office above the casino and gains his confidence by posing as an assassin looking for work. With the aid of Bouvier and Q, he carefully 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 with a fire axe, causing Krest's head to explode in bloody fashion; 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 render cocaine chemically undetectable by dissolving it in gasoline, and then sell it — disguised as fuel — to Asian drug dealers. The buying and selling are conducted via the fundraising television programs of 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 two giant crushers to get information from him. Bond reveals that he knows about the Stingers and Dario stops the conveyor belt at Sanchez's command. Sanchez asks Bond what he knows about the Stingers, but is distracted by one of his men insisting that they must escape before the base blows up. 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 crushers. 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 filled with cocaine-gasoline. 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. Although Sanchez has the upper hand by having Bond at the point of his machete, he has been soaked in gasoline leaking from the crashed fuel tanker. 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 doesn't give Felix an answer, but tells him that his hostess (Lupe) has just arrived. Felix tells Bond to take care, and Bond hangs up. 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 notcied 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 Rio De Janeiro.

[edit] Reception

Many authors, fans and critics have debated the reasons for this and 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 [1], a task producer Wilson had to take on.

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 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 [2]. 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 profitable 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; Star Trek V: The Final Frontier; 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.

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.

[edit] Cast & characters

List of James Bond henchmen in Licence to Kill

List of James Bond allies in Licence to Kill

• James Bond - Timothy Dalton
• Pam Bouvier - Carey Lowell
• Franz Sanchez - Robert Davi
• Lupe Lamora - Talisa Soto
• Milton Krest - Anthony Zerbe
• Sharkey- Frank McRae
• Ed Killifer - Everett McGill
• Professor Joe Butcher - Wayne Newton
• Dario - Benicio del Toro
• Truman-Lodge - Anthony Starke
• President Hector Lopez - Pedro Armendáriz Jr.
• Q - Desmond Llewelyn
• Felix Leiter - David Hedison
• Della Churchill - Priscilla Barnes
• M - Robert Brown
• Miss Moneypenny - Caroline Bliss
• Colonel Heller - Don Stroud
• Hawkins - Grand L. Bush
• Kwang - Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
• Perez - Alejandro Bracho
• Braun - Guy De Saint Cyr
• Mullens - Rafer Johnson
• Loti - Diana Lee Hsu
• Fallon - Christopher Neame
• Stripper - Jeannine Bisignano
• Montelongo - Claudio Brook
• Consuelo - Cynthia Fallon
• Rasmussen - Enrique Novi
• Wavekrest Captain - Roger Cudney

[edit] Crew

• Directed by: John Glen
• Produced by: Albert R. Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson
• Screenplay and Written by: Michael G. Wilson, Richard Maibaum (Michael G. Wilson was forced to finish the screenplay alone due to a strike by the Writers Guild of America which prevented Richard Maibaum from participating further. For Maibaum, this was his final James Bond script, as he died in 1991).
• Associate Producers: Tom Pevsner, Barbara Broccoli
• Production design by: Peter Lamont
• Director of Photography: Alec Mills
• Special Visual Effects: John Richardson
• Original Score Composed and Conducted by: Michael Kamen
• Second Unit Directed and Photographed by: Arthur Wooster
• Costume Designer: Jodie Tillen
• Main Title Designed by: Maurice Binder
• Casting: Jane Jenkins, Janet Hirshenson
• Production Supervisor: Antony Waye
• Underwater Scenes Directed and Photographed by: Ramon Bravo
• Stunt Coordinator: Paul Weston
• Driving Stunts Arranger: Remy Julienne
• Aerial Stunts Supervisor: Corkey Fornof
• Production Supervisor (Mexico): Hector Lopez
• Production Manager: Philip Kohler
• Unit Manager: Iris Rose
• Assistant Directors: Miguel Gil, Miguel Lima
• Editor: John Grover
• Sound Editor: Vernon Messenger

[edit] Soundtrack

Licence to Kill
Soundtrack by Michael Kamen
Released	1989
Recorded	1989
Label	MCA Records
Producer(s)	Joel Sill
Michael Kamen chronology
Renegades (film) (1989)	Licence to Kill (1989)	Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
James Bond soundtrack chronology
The Living Daylights (1987)	Licence to Kill (1989)	GoldenEye (1995)

Main article: James Bond music

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.^[1] 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 was composed by Michael Kamen, who also composed the soundtrack for the first three Die Hard films and all four Lethal Weapon films.

[edit] Track listing

1. "Licence to Kill" — Gladys Knight
2. "Wedding Party" — Ivory
3. "Dirty Love" — Tim Feehan
4. "Pam"
5. "If You Asked Me To" — Patti LaBelle
6. "James & Felix on Their Way to Church"
7. "His Funny Valentine"
8. "Sanchez Is in the Bahamas/Shark Fishing"
9. "Ninja"
10. "Licence Revoked"

[edit] Vehicles & gadgets

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

• Dentonite toothpaste — Plastic explosives disguised as ordinary toothpaste. The remote trigger is disguised as a packet of Lark cigarettes.
• Signature gun — A Hasselblad camera that when assembled became a sniper rifle that only worked for Bond, due to a "optical palm reader" built into the grip.
• Laser Polaroid camera — When the flash is used on this camera, it shoots a laser. The pictures it takes are X-rays.
• Exploding alarm clock — Q carries it with him to Isthmus, but it is not used. "Guaranteed never to wake up anyone who uses it."
• Lincoln Mark VII — Bond's rental car in Key West.
• Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow — Much like Moonraker where Bond was a passenger in a Silver Wraith II, he is chauffeured around Isthmus City in a Rolls-Royce.
• Maserati Biturbo 420
• Cigarette Lighter — Leiter's gift to Bond for being the best man at his wedding. While not a Q-issued gadget Bond uses it to great effect and sets Sanchez afire.

[edit] Locations

[edit] Film locations

• The Bahamas
  • Bimini, The Bahamas - The Barrelhead Bar
  • Cray Key - where Sanchez finds Lupe
• Republic of Isthmus - ((fictional South American country, probably Panama)
  • Isthmus City (fictional South American capital city, Rio De Janeiro and possibly Panama City)
    • Banco de Isthmus - Sanchez' bank
    • Casino de Isthmus - Sanchez' Casino and Headquarters
    • El Presidente Hotel - Bond's hotel
    • The Harbour - Where the WaveKrest arrives
    • Sanchez' Villa
  • Olympiatec Meditation Institute - (somewhere nearby Isthmus City)
• United Kingdom
  • Westminster
    • Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
• United States of America
  • Florida Keys
    • Seven Mile Bridge towards Pigeon Key - the armoured truck dives off the edge
  • Key West, Conch Republic
    • Ernest Hemingway House - where M revokes Bond's Licence to Kill and Bond refers to Hemingway by stating:

"I guess it's a Farewell to Arms?"

• • • Felix Leiter's House
    • Garrison Bight - Sharky's boat
    • Key West International Airport
    • Mallory Square - Hawkins meets 007
    • St. Mary's Star of the Sea Church - the church where the wedding takes place

[edit] Shooting locations

• Mexico
  • Acapulco
    • Villa Arabesque - (Sanchez' mansion)
  • Mexicali
    • Rumorosa Mountain Pass - (filming site of the tanker chase)
  • Mexico City
    • Biblioteca de la Banco de Mexico - exterior of El Presidente Hotel
    • Casino Espagnol - interior of Casino de Isthmus
    • Churubusco Studios - (soundstages and production base)
    • El Teatro de la Ciudad - exterior of Casino de Isthmus
    • Gran Hotel 'Ciudad de Mexico' - interior of El Presidente Hotel
    • Main Post Office - Banco de Isthmus
  • Toluca
    • Otomi Seremonial Center - Olympiatec Meditation Institute
  • Isla Mujeres near Cancun - (underwater sequences)
• United Kingdom
  • Whitehall, Westminster - (exterior shot)
• United States of America
  • Florida Keys
    • Seven Mile Bridge towards Pigeon Key - the armoured truck dives off the edge
  • Key West
    • Ernest Hemingway House
    • Garrison Bight - Sharky's boat
    • Mallory Square - Hawkins meets 007
    • St. Mary's Star of the Sea Church
    • Stephano's House 707 South Street - Felix Leiter's house and patio
    • US Coast Guard Pier - 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.

[edit] Trivia

• The story of Felix Leiter's shark attack was originally in the Ian Fleming's book Live and Let Die, although in the book, Leiter, in addition to losing a leg, loses an arm. The tactic Sanchez uses for smuggling drugs into the United States also comes from Live and Let Die.

• The film was due to be shown on ITV in the UK on March 13, 1996, but was cancelled after the Dunblane Massacre occurred that day.

• This is the first Bond film which has consistent use of profanity.

• 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 Ultimate James Bond Collection DVD box sets.

• The film featured a real, identifiable brand of cigarettes during one key sequence, which led to the studio requiring the addition of the United States Surgeon General warning regarding cigarette smoking to the closing credits. Smoking occurs in many Bond films; however, this is the only film which featured the warning, and was in fact the last film to feature Bond smoking. The cigarette manufacturer in question paid a fee to have its brand featured, which sparked debate over the appropriateness of product placement in motion pictures.

• The twisting roads in Mexico where the tanker scenes were shot, Rumorosa, were said to be haunted from frequent traffic deaths that had occurred there. The film crew experienced many unexplained accidents and ghostly phenomenon while there, such as trucks driving off by themselves in the night or sightings of ghosts. The final scare came when the still photographer was capturing images of the last tanker explosion. In one picture, a distinct fiery hand is seen coming out of the fireball. The hand was not seen on any of the rushes from the other cameras which further added to its ghostly nature. The making-of documentary on the 1999 DVD talks more about these strange happenings in Mexico. See External Links for an image of the hand.

• Benicio Del Toro is the second Academy Award–winning actor to play a Bond villain, after Christopher Walken in A View to a Kill. The actor's real surname is Sanchez, the name of the film's central villain.

• The house at which Bond hands in his resignation is briefly shown to be Hemingway House, named after its former occupant Ernest Hemingway. This is referenced when Bond is handing is weapon over to M and says "It's A Farewell to Arms".

• The movie title and the alternate title is said by M when Bond is handing in his resignation: "Your licence to kill is revoked."

• In a scene at the end of the movie where gunshots are hitting a tanker that Bond is on, the sound of the gunfire plays the tune of James Bond's signature theme.

• Last Bond film to date that mentions Bond's short-lived marraige to Tracy DiVicenzo in On Her Majesty's Secret Sevice

• Prior to recording of the title song, Gladys Knight was uncomfortable with the title, as a devout Christian, she objected to the word "kill".

• The fictional location of Cray Key is a homage to Crab Key, from Dr. No, way back in 1962.

[edit] 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 (temporarily) in the film.

The novelisation stays fairly 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 not Bond's favourite weapon and that 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).

Author:	Publisher:	Hardback:	Paperback:	Alternate titles:
John Gardner	Glidrose Publications	(UK) None | (U.S.) 1990	(UK) 1989 | (U.S.) 1989	License to Kill
Preceded by: Win, Lose or Die
Followed by: Brokenclaw

[edit] 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.

[edit] References

• 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

[edit] External links

• Licence to Kill (1989) at the Internet Movie Database
• MGM's official Licence to Kill website
• Licence to Kill-The Royal World Premiere
• Image of the fiery hand

John Glen
James Bond	For Your Eyes Only (1981) | Octopussy (1983) | A View to a Kill (1985) | The Living Daylights (1987) | Licence to Kill (1989)
1990s	Checkered Flag (with Michael Levine) | Aces: Iron Eagle III | Christopher Columbus: The Discovery
2000s	The Point Men
Television	"Man in a Suitcase" (1967–1968) | "Space Precinct" (1994–1995)