List of James Bond allies in Licence to Kill
| Licence to Kill | |
|---|---|
British cinema poster for Licence to Kill, designed by Robin Behling
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| Directed by | John Glen |
| Produced by | |
| Written by |
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| Based on |
James Bond by Ian Fleming |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Michael Kamen |
| Cinematography | Alec Mills |
| Edited by | John Grover |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by |
MGM/UA Communications Company (US) United International Pictures (International) |
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Release date
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Running time
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133 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $32 million |
| Box office | $156.1 million |
Licence to Kill (1989) is the sixteenth spy film in the James Bond film series to be produced by Eon Productions, and the last to star Timothy Dalton in the role of the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is the first one not to use the title of an Ian Fleming story. It is also the fifth and final consecutive Bond film to be directed by John Glen. The story has elements of two Ian Fleming short stories and a novel, interwoven with aspects from Japanese Rōnin tales. The film sees Bond being suspended from MI6 as he pursues drugs lord Franz Sanchez, who has ordered an attack against his CIA friend Felix Leiter and the rape and murder of Felix's wife during their honeymoon. Originally titled Licence Revoked in line with the plot, the name was changed during post-production due to American test audiences associating the term with driving.
Budgetary reasons caused Licence to Kill to be the first Bond film shot completely outside the United Kingdom, with locations in both Florida and Mexico. The film earned over $156 million worldwide, and enjoyed a generally positive critical reception, with ample praise for the stunts, but attracted some criticism of Dalton's dark and violent interpretation of Bond and the fact that the film was significantly darker and more violent than its predecessors.
After the release of Licence to Kill, legal wrangling over control of the series and the James Bond character resulted in a six-year delay before production of the next Bond film which resulted in Dalton deciding not to return. It is also the final Bond film for actors Robert Brown (as M) and Caroline Bliss (as Moneypenny), screenwriter Richard Maibaum, title designer Maurice Binder, editor John Grover, cinematographer Alec Mills, director and former Bond film editor John Glen, and producer Albert R. Broccoli, although he would later act as a consulting producer for GoldenEye before his death.
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