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In Short: The first of the new Bond special editions that I've seen, and I'm definitely pleased with this edition for "Licence to Kill".
The Movie:
The Bond Series:Licence To Kill
The DVD
This this edition of the "007" series, Timothy Dalton is back playing James Bond and doing an excellent job, bringing a darker, flawed and more human character in this picture, which is something that I think Pierce Brosnan also did a good job with in the last Bond picture. In this picture, Bond's friend Felix Leiter is attacked by a drug kingpin, causing Bond to abandon everything else but revenge on the kingpin(Robert Davi) who assulted his friend.
Although Brosnan was called upon to be a little bit moody in "Tomorrow Never Dies", the character did still manage to have a little humor worked in. "Licence To Kill" is pretty much humorless throughout. I'm not saying that it suffers because of that, either. There isn't a problem with that here, because Dalton provides the right mix of anger and determination to make the character interesting here.
Still, one would wish that the film could add a little more action to the movie. Although there are a few major stunts, the film mainly focuses on the plot and at 133 minutes or so, "Licence To Kill" has a few moments where it feels like it's going on a little too long. It's not a bad Bond film, but it's just not my favorite.
The DVD
VIDEO:MGM has done a very solid job with the anamorphic transfer of "Licence To Kill". The image is presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio and quite a lot of it looks consistently excellent. Colors are suprisingly good, looking especially vibrant and solid in general throughout the movie. There is also no color bleeding. Images are consistently sharp and contain an enjoyable amount of detail.
I liked how consistent the quality of the picture was. Images remain solid throughout, colors are rich and pleasing and even in darker scenes, images are nicely defined. There's a scene where the sun is setting at about 57 minutes in that I found especially pleasing in terms of image quality. Flesh tones are accurate and natural throughout the picture, and black level is quite good as well. Although this isn't a perfect image, I certainly think it's a nice effort by MGM.
The only problems that I saw were the occasional bit of shimmering and some slight marks and scratches on the print. These instances were noticable, but I didn't find them hugely distracting.
SOUND: "Licence To Kill" sounds great on DVD, with thrilling and well-defined effects throughout the soundstage. Explosions and the other few action sequences sound very good on this disc. Although this doesn't sound quite as exciting as some of the recent action pictures that have come to DVD lately, but it still sounds impressive. Surround use is effective and definitely engaging for the viewer. Dialogue is suprisingly clear and clean and Michael Kamen's score sounds great- full and crystal clear. There is some very nice, although not earth-shaking bass as well.
MENUS: Awesome animated menus that are similar to the "Tomorrow Never Dies" special edition menus that many have seen, where we're asked to "activate" the menus, then are taken into the full menu. When you make a choice, there is also some very cool animation. Well done.
EXTRAS:: The "Special Features" menu opens by saying "This will keep you busy for the next few days." The menu definitely knows what it's talking about. There's quite a few extras included on this edition of "Licence To Kill":
Commentary One: A member of the Ian Flemming foundation is the host on this Bond DVD commentary as well. On this track, we hear from director John Glen as well as many members of the cast, including Benicio Del Toro(best known for his role in "The Usual Suspects"). Like all of the other bond discs, this commentary is made up from various interviews with all involved, cut together into a full-length running commentary. I was really almost dissapointed to hear that instead of doing new commentaries, MGM would instead be going back to interviews and cut those together to form a commentary, but the results aren't bad. The moderator ties it all together very well, and these interviews hold quite a bit of very fun Bond facts. I'm greatly looking forward to watching the rest of the Bond commentaries after listening to this first one. There are some pauses on this commentary and it's usually not talking about what is going on on-screen, but I found it interesting nonetheless.
Del Toro is very interesting to listen to, talking about how Glen allowed him to work with his role as well as about some of the action scenes. Del Toro and quite a few of the other actors also comment on the kind of "Bond" that Dalton played, talking about what Dalton brought to the role of 007. Robert Davi is able to talk about how we was able to prepare for his role and who he met with to get the inside scoop on Columbian culture. Davi also has quite a few interesting things to say about the water escape sequence, filmed on the same strip of road as Cameron used for "True Lies".
John Glen talks a lot about the situations around filming, how he was able to stage some of these sequences and how they were able to use the scenery to add to the picture. He also talks about the various challenges and problems that came up during the production. Glen also talks about working with Dalton, taking into account what kind of actor he was and building the character around him from there. Another subject of interest is when Glen talks about the role that music plays in the picture, and what it was like to work with Michael Kamen about building the music for "Licence to Kill".
There is also an interesting section of this commentary that talks about producer Cubby Broccoli, who was the producer of most of the Bond pictures. The actors and directors talk quite a bit about how amazed and impressed they were with Broccoli's talents, and their comments on the producer, who has since passed away, are quite informative to listen to. And what "Bond" commentary would be complete without talk about the stunts? There is quite a few tidbits offered here about how a lot of the stunts were performed and how they were built. There are also a few other people involved with this commentary track.
This is definitely an enjoyable commentary and only one of the two included on this DVD.
Commentary Two: This commentary has interviews with producer Michael Wilson and quite a ton of other members of the rest of the crew that were involved in the making of the movie. Wilson talks quite a bit about the process of working on the film and with Dalton. Wilson also mentions his viewpoints on how Dalton fit into the Bond role and how the dramatic scenes in "Licence to Kill" were tailored to him.He also talks quite a number of other times throughout the track.
Stuntman B.J Worth is also on this commentary track and his comments are quite informative, talking about how the stunts are rehearsed and how they are planned on to look better in the final product. He also talks about what it has been like to work with three of the Bonds. Jake Lombard is another stuntman involved with the production of "Licence To Kill" and his comments are equally informative, talking about the process of planning out the stunt performances. Later on in the track, stuntman Simon Crane also offers his comments on being a stuntman and the process that you have to go through to become a professional stuntman as well as what it is like to be in the industry. He also talks about what it takes to be a stuntman. This is the first time, at least that I know of, that we've heard from the stuntmen involved in the picture and I hope that future commentaries will also include them, since they are a big part of many action pictures today.
Visual FX Supervisor John Richardson informs the viewer about how some of the different stunts were made to look realistic in the final film, such as the opening helicopter stunt sequence. His comments talk in great detail about how this stunt was accomplished and it's amazing to hear the kind of detail that went into the process of putting this scene together. Richardson also talks about working with director Glen and how Glen had a talent for creating a solid Bond picture. Special Effects supervisor Chris Corbold also talks on this track about the precatuions that were taken during some of the scenes that featured explosions. Richardson also talks quite a bit about working with other members of the cast, including production designer Peter Lamont, who also worked on a number of James Cameron films and how Lamont was able to bring the "Bond" feel to this picture. Lamont also speaks on the track as well, sharing his thoughts on how he built some of these sets and his concepts on the designs. Another member of the production team, the production buyer, also talks about where he found some of the items used in the picture.
Don Smolen, who was the marketing director on the film, shares his comments on how he worked on the picture, visiting the set to gain ideas about how he was going to change the image of Bond for this picture and how he then went forward and went about creating a more modern image of Bond for the advertising campaign and how MGM decided to then build a campaign of their own. Like the comments shared by the stunt actors, I really enjoy hearing about the marketing campaign of a picture here, and on discs such as The Corruptor, which offers a bit about the production of the ad campaign during the documentary that that disc offers. Hopefully, future commentaries will include both.
This group also offers their comments about producer Cubby Broccoli, talking about their relationship with the producer, working with him on this Bond film as well as their memories of him as a kind and helpful person.
There are also other members of the crew involved in this commentary and like the first track, it is a not only entertaining but quite informative look at the making of "Licence To Kill". I enjoyed both of these tracks quite a bit and I hope I spelled everyone's name right. It's great that the host of the commentary gives a bit of background on the person and their role(as well as introducing the person) before they speak each time, so we know who they are.
Still Gallery:
The still gallery here is broken up into sections(which is really quite appreciated, since it's much easier and more organized than some photo galleries, where the viewer has to click through tons of pictures to get to the section they want. Each photo section also has a short text introduction as to what these photos are all about and where they were taken.
The sections are:
*The Filmmakers: Pictures of the director and crew.
*Portraits: Pictures of Dalton and the rest of the actors.
*Key West: Shots of the Key West locations. Unfortunately, only 2 pictures are included in this section.
*Mexico City: Quite a number of photos of the cast in Mexico City.
*At Night:3 pictures of a night scene
*Sanchez's Office:3 pictures of this set.
*Arabesque: A good deal of photos taken at this location.
*Otomi: Photos from this location. There are quite a few in this section as well.
*Mexicali: 4 pictures from this scene, which featured the tanker truck chase.
*Lost Promotional Campaign: 3 pictures of artwork from the original "Licence Revoked" campaign.
*Around The Globe: Various promotional stills and poster art from around the world.
Trailers: 2 trailers for "Licence To Kill", both letterboxed.
Music Videos: The videos for Gladys Knight's "Licence To Kill" and Patti Labelle's "If You Asked Me To".
"Inside Licence To Kill": This is a very informative and entertaining documentary that takes a look at the past Bond pictures and how they've lead up to this picture. It also takes an in-depth look at the creation of this picture, from the original ideas that the crew had for the picture to various aspects of the production. There's some really nice talk about the production and some cool footage of the stunt work.
There are plenty of interviews with people involved in the making of "Licence To Kill", from production designer Peter Lamont to producer Michael Wilson, as well as many others. The interviews take a look at the casting decisions and what it was like to work with these actors. A lot of the actors also give their thoughts about what it was like to work on a "James Bond" movie. Their viewpoints are consistently interesting to listen to and the documentary as a whole is very informative.
"Inside Licence To Kill" runs a little over 30 minutes.
Truck Stunt Featurette: This is an detailed look at how the truck chase stunt scene was filmed. This is a really fun documentary to watch, with plenty of footage of the production of the stunt, as well as interviews with the heads of the crew who were involved in the making of this sequence. We get plenty of in-depth details, such as what was done to the trucks before the scene was filmed. A mighty cool featurette that lasts about 10 minutes, and is highly recommended viewing.
Production Featurette: Yes, there is another featurette on this DVD. This is a smaller featurette that features some footage, interviews and production footage. This featurette runs about 5 minutes or so and although it isn't as informative as the two larger counterparts included on this DVD, it's certainly a welcome addition.
What Else Is There?: The trailer for the "Tomorrow Never Dies" playstation game, a small booklet with facts about the production, as well as an envelope filled with little promotions and some offers.
Where To Find It:
Where To Find It:
Final Thoughts: The first "007:Special Edition" I've taken a look at and I'm very impressed. I hope the other discs(which I will be reviewing very soon), will be just as excellent.
The Film: 83/B = (415/500 possible points)
Video: 88/B = (352/400 possible points)
Audio: 91/A = (364/400 possible points)
Extras: 97/A = (291/300 possible points)
Menus: 95/A = (190/200 possible points)
Value: 93/A = (279/300 possible points)
TOTAL POINTS:1891/2100
Average:90%/A
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