Line #63 YMMV/LicenceToKill


1	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
2	** ''Was'' M truly against Bond's whole vendetta, or was he just putting on a show while covertly sending Bond as much help (via Q and his gadgets) as he could get away with? This, admittedly, suggests that Kwang and his unit were acting wholly independent of his orders (or even knowledge); on the other hand, it would explain why Bond seems so EasilyForgiven at the end ("M called... I think he may have a job for you."), and M's done [[Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService a similar ploy]] at least once before.
3	*** It's more clearly defined in the novelization that M actually decides to help Bond. In the scene with Moneypenny, as is in the film, M says, "He has to be stopped." The novelization adds the line, "Or helped," from M. Also, the novelization makes it clear that the memo we see M hand Moneypenny in the film is an order for Q to go on leave and travel to Ithsmus City to help Bond. This is only vaguely hinted at in the film, but after M hands her the note, Moneypenny does immediately pick up the phone and ask to be transferred to Q Branch. He doesn't pull Fallon off of Bond however, though this may be due to the fact that he's trying to cover his arse within government channels. Also, he knows what Bond is capable of, and may believe there's no chance for Fallon to stop Bond. It almost backfires on M spectacularly, as Fallon seems to have formed an uneasy alliance with the Hong Kong narcotics agents, who end up delivering Bond to Fallon.
4	** The film openly suggests that all of Bond's actions are to avenge Leiter, [[spoiler: however, that's clearly only a part of it. The film takes the time to include the garter scene and remind the audience that this incarnation of Bond (Like Moore and Lazenby) was still married to Tracy who was killed on Bond's wedding day in OHMSS. While it's not made specifically clear in the film itself, it's pretty likely that Bond's single-minded plan to destroy Sanchez is heavily due to the fact that Leiter's wedding night attack opened up all the old scars Bond had from the events of his own wedding day. With that in mind, it brings a whole new meaning to the confrontation scene when M tells Bond that Leiter knew the risks, and Bond snaps back, "And his WIFE?" M even briefly pauses and pursues a different track trying to reign Bond in. Director John Glen was quoted as saying Tracy was one of Bond's motivators as well.]]
5	* AngstWhatAngst: Felix Leiter turns up at the end of the film, and is remarkably chipper for a man who lost his wife to a murderer and his leg to a shark. Then again, he has just learned that his friend killed every single person involved, and ''[[KillItWithFire set fire]]'' to the man ultimately responsible with his wedding gift. Grief will probably catch up to him again soon, but for now he can feel a little better. Also, having lost a limb, he may have been heavily sedated with painkillers.
6	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
7	** The title song by Gladys Knight, "Dirty Love" by Tom Feehan, "If You Asked Me To" by Patti [=LaBelle=].
8	** The triumphant revamps of the James Bond theme that ring out as Bond "fishes" Sanchez' plane or jet skis behind a moving plane, among other cool scenes.
9	** One of the more... unusual renditions of the Bond theme is played by ''ricocheting bullets'' when Sanchez opens fire on Bond as he climbs onto one of the tankers at the end.
10	* CatharsisFactor:
11	** Bond setting [[spoiler: Sanchez]] on fire using the lighter Felix gave him is possibly the most satisfying kill throughout the entire franchise as we see a truly vile monster get his [[CruelAndUnusualDeath long overdue comeuppance]]. In fact, Bond pitting the villains against each other and giving them their well-deserved punishment in the third act is wonderful.
12	** Also noteworthy, Bond feeding Killifer to the ''exact same shark'' that took Felix's leg by shoving him into the tank with the ''same'' suitcase of blood-money he sold out Leiter for and being completely undeterred by Kilifer's pleas and offers to split it with him is poetic justice at its most [[{{Pun}} delicious]].
13	** Bond pulling [[spoiler: Dario]] into the cocaine grinder, resulting in possibly the most horrifying death of any villain in the whole series as he's slowly shredded to pieces feet first and screaming in pure agony the whole time. It's brutal, nightmarish and, given who Dario is, ''thoroughly'' deserved.
14	* CompleteMonster: [[FauxAffablyEvil Franz Sanchez]] can be charming, but he's also [[AxCrazy uncommonly brutal and ruthless]] in dealing with his enemies or those he perceives as disloyal to him. He brutally whips his mistress, Lupe Lamora, with a stingray-tail whip as a punishment for infidelity, and also orders his top henchman Dario to remove the heart of the man she has slept with. He feeds Bond's best friend, Felix Leiter, to a shark--after having had his newlywed wife raped and killed right before--and he kills one of his collaborators, [[YourHeadAsplode locking him in a decompression chamber]], believing he stole his money. Towards the [[VillainousBreakdown climax]], he also decides to start "cutting overhead" and shoots his financial advisor. While lacking the body counts of other villains that Bond has faced, Sanchez makes up for it by having a [[CruelAndUnusualDeath visceral cruelty]] that is unmatched.
15	* ContestedSequel: Is it a brave change of formula and works well with Dalton's serious take on Bond, or is it a generic '80s action movie with Bond shoehorned in? While it has gone under revaluation (see Vindicated by History), whether it's one of the better films of the franchise or a misfire is still hotly debated, but at least the hate is far from universal. With the praise afforded the Craig films, it seems that both of Dalton's films, and Dalton's performance itself, is receiving retroactive praise, with many referring to Dalton as ahead of his time.
16	* CrossesTheLineTwice: Sanchez's response after he murders Krest. Possibly the only Bond movie where the villain gets a better BondOneLiner than Bond himself:
17	-->'''Perez:''' What about the money, ''Patron''?
18	-->'''Sanchez:''' (''{{Beat}}'') Launder it.
19	* DracoInLeatherPants: Despite being a brutal murderer and likely rapist and so depraved and sadistic [[EvenEvilHasStandards even the Contras wanted nothing to do with him]], Dario has a ''lot'' of fangirls. Being played by a young and strikingly pretty Benicio Del Toro certainly helps.
20	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
21	** Dario. He's a monstrous PsychoKnifeNut GigglingVillain with a SlasherSmile who is also implied to be a serial rapist....Played by a very young (the youngest Bond villain to date at then-aged-21) and very gorgeous Creator/BenicioDelToro. He's a handsome fellow and was not fooled by Bond's disguise, and if it wasn't for his near constant {{SlasherSmile}}s, you'd almost forget that he murdered and probably raped Felix's wife.
22	** Joe Butcher to a lesser degree, thanks to the very charismatic Wayne Newton channeling himself. He's so AffablyEvil [[spoiler: that he even survived the film]].
23	* FanPreferredCutContent: One of Creator/TimothyDalton's best scenes as Bond ended up in the cutting room floor. A disheveled Bond is in a hotel room watching Sanchez on television and silently studying his target, while loading his gun, lighting a cigarette and having a drink. It's straight out of the Creator/IanFleming books.
24	* FridgeBrilliance:
25	** Felix being a friend is one thing, but a newlywed bride being murdered on her wedding day is almost PTSD for Bond, making him even more vindictive and brutal than he would have been. The fact that Bond being once married is referenced by Felix to Della only reinforces this. It becomes more and more clear that Bond's actions during the film are only partially because he "owes it to Leiter." He's trying to heal his own scars over Tracy's death that were ripped open by what Sanchez did to Felix and Della. Making it even worse is that Della's final moments involved her being gang raped and stabbed to death, while Tracy's death was instant from a gunshot to the head. Also, Bond was unscathed, while Felix is maimed for the rest of his life. The film only hints at this angle, such as the garter scene, and Bond's acidic "And his WIFE?" response when M brushes off what happened to Felix as 'the risks' of the job. Bond's response so unsettles M that he pauses for a brief moment before trying to get Bond to drop it using a different tact, which Bond still ignores.
26	** Killifer saying he heard Sanchez had a $1 million reward for freeing him. Sanchez smiles and replies that it was actually 2. A RewatchBonus makes the viewer realize Killifer was ''offering'' and Sanchez got the message and incentivized Killifer by doubling the amount.
27	** As Bond is riding the conveyor belt to the cocaine grinder after being exposed by Dario, Bond still manages to convince Sanchez that Truman-Lodge and Heller are traitors to Sanchez. Truman-Lodge was trying to run off with the money in his satchel, but Sanchez stopped him and offered him a ride in the car and when Truman-Lodge decides to bring up the quip about an $80 million write-off, Sanchez offs him and takes back the satchel. Heller, on the other hand, was getting ready to take off with the stinger missiles to give to the CIA in exchange for immunity and Sanchez caught Heller in the act and had Heller subsequently impaled on a forklift.
28	* GeniusBonus: Bond makes a quip when introducing Q to Pam. "Pam, this is Q, my uncle. This is Pam, my cousin." In the actual SIS, "cousins" is a term for the CIA.
29	** Also, Bond making Pam Bouvier's alias "Miss Kennedy," referencing Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy.
30	* HarsherInHindsight: [[spoiler:Bond's quest to avenge Felix Leiter is repeated in ''Film/NoTimeToDie'', only Felix is KilledOffForReal.]]
31	** In the novel [[spoiler: "Live and Let Die," Mr. Big feeds Leiter to a shark, resulting in the loss of a leg (and his arm) similar to what happens to Leiter in this film. David Hedison played Leiter in both this film, and ''Film/LiveAndLetDie'' so while Hedison avoided the novel fate of the character in that film, he comes back to this film and does end up getting mauled by the shark.]]
32	* HilariousInHindsight:
33	** Back in ''Film/LiveAndLetDie'', Creator/RogerMoore's James Bond made a {{pun}} about a microphone disguised as a car lighter with Felix Leiter talking to him through it, "A genuine Felix Lighter, illuminating!". In ''Licence to Kill'', Felix (played in ''both'' movies by Creator/DavidHedison, no less) and his newlywed wife offer a lighter to their Best Man, Timothy Dalton's Bond. The "illuminating" part of the pun could also work when he sets Franz Sanchez on fire with it, for added Hilarious in Hindsight.
34	** [[Film/TheHunted2003 Benicio del Toro]] is a bit of a PsychoKnifeNut. He's also working as a Film/{{Sicario}} for the BigBad. Plus, he used be in the [[Film/{{Che}} Contras]].
35	** And [[spoiler: Heller is killed by a forklift.]] ''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 Olé!]]''
36	** Creator/BenicioDelToro's full name in real-life is Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro ''Sanchez'' [[note]]though the 'Sanchez' is his mom's maiden name under Spanish naming conventions, where both the father & mother's surnames are used[[/note]].
37	** Creator/AnthonyZerbe and Creator/EverettMcGill both appearing in this film as Sanchez's henchmen is rather interesting, as both actors appeared in film adaptations of Creator/StephenKing's books (Zerbe appeared in ''Film/TheDeadZone'', which featured music by Music/MichaelKamen who scored this Bond flick and starred Creator/ChristopherWalken who played Bond villain Max Zorin in ''Film/AViewToAKill'', while [=McGill=] appeared in ''Film/SilverBullet''). Speaking of King, a marquee for this film was featured in the August 1989 part of ''Film/It2017''.
38	** A couple of years after this film, Creator/TimothyDalton played a ''James Bond''-esque ''BigBad'' in ''Film/TheRocketeer''.
39	** Speaking of copycats, Creator/RobertDavi plays a ''[[Film/Scarface1983 Tony Montana]]''-esque ''BigBad'' in this film. In ''VideoGame/ScarfaceTheWorldIsYours'', he ends up going against the real deal by voicing the main villain Sosa.
40	** Both Timothy Dalton and Benicio del Toro would go on to play werewolves after this film, Dalton in an [[Recap/TalesFromTheCryptS4E13WerewolfConcerto episode]] of ''Series/TalesFromTheCrypt'' and del Toro as ''Film/TheWolfman2010''.
41	** The title theme is performed by Music/GladysKnight while the end credits song is sung by Music/PattiLaBelle. Both would end up appearing as performers in the first two seasons of ''Series/TheMaskedSinger'', with [=LaBelle=] specifically saying she was inspired by Knight's appearance.
42	** Dalton has compared this film to ''{{Film/Yojimbo}}''. You mean, "[[Film/GoldenEye Yo! Jimbo!]]"
43	* HoYay: Sanchez & Dario, who seem to have way more chemistry than Sanchez & Lupe. [[https://them0vieblog.com/2012/10/13/a-view-to-a-bond-baddie-franz-sanchez/ This article]] even states it. It's about Sanchez's similarities to Scaramanga and brings up Scaramanga's implied (only in the novel) homosexuality and how Sanchez had more chemistry with Dario than Lupe (implying she could be a 'beard').
44	-->'''On Sanchez & Lupe:''' ''"Certainly, Sanchez seems rather sexless in his interactions with his beautiful mistress. She draws the most passion him when he’s brutally whipping her – an urge he apparently can’t wait until he’s across the border to satisfy. Indeed, it’s likely Sanchez is just a sexual sadist, but there are hints throughout the film that he’s not really all that interested in his mistress. They spend most of the film doing little more than holding hands while he treats her as an accessory or a secretary.....When they do kiss on the lips it’s a passionless affair, and Sanchez himself immediately makes a mockery of it by kissing the lizard on his shoulder. (“You want one too?”) Even early in the movie, it becomes quite clear that Lupe is fairly detached from her lover. She seems to sleep mostly alone. When Bond confronts her on Krest’s yatch, she states, “He’s not on board. I don’t know where he is.” Bond actually takes the time to point out how strange this sounds, “You’re his girlfriend.” Lupe concedes, “He doesn’t tell me anything.”"''
45	-->'''On Sanchez & Dario:''' ''"In contrast to his somewhat cold physical relationship with Lupe, Snachez is quite touchy-feely when it comes to his male colleagues, like the psychotic Dario or even Bond himself. Indeed, Dario looks like something from a Columbian boy band, with his strangely graceful and theatrical movements. Dario is, despite the relative absence of personality, actually one of my favourite henchmen, if only for the way that he flicks his knife open like he’s in Theatre/WestSideStory and the way that Benicio Del Toro pronounces “honeymooooon.”''
46	* MisaimedFandom:
47	** Shortly after the movie's release, Creator/RobertDavi, who played Sanchez, was taken to see an actual drug lord in South America. Apparently, the drug lord loved Robert's portrayal of Sanchez.
48	** Dario's infamous "honeymoon" comment, even with all of its {{Narm}} qualities, has turned on quite a few fans, even one declaring "I wish he'd take a honeymoon with me!", in spite of him in all likelihood bragging about ''raping'' a bride on her wedding night before killing her.
49	* {{Narm}}:
50	** The scene where Bond is captured... by ''ninjas''. It honestly feels like a scene lifted from one of the campier Creator/RogerMoore films. Either that or a goofy outtake from ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice''.
51	** "I love James, so much." Possibly lampshaded by Pam when she repeats it in a mocking tone.
52	** Pam herself when she gets all weepy after seeing James kiss Lupe. It doesn't match up with her character as seen throughout the film.
53	** Felix's demeanour in the last scene. As noted under AngstWhatAngst, he's in an awfully good mood for a guy who's just lost his wife to a murderer and his leg to a shark.
54	* NarmCharm:
55	** Dario's "We gave her a nice ''honeymooooooon!''" is pretty silly, but the line's still pretty chilling due to [[PostRapeTaunt the implications]].
56	** [[spoiler: Krest's]] [[ExplosiveDecompression death scene]]. Sure, the image of his head inflating like a balloon before it [[YourHeadAsplode explodes]] is utterly ridiculous, yet that doesn't make it any less [[NightmareFuel horrific]].
57	** The fish-shaped fountain ''winking'' at the audience in the final scene is a pretty cheesy moment, but it also goes well with the otherwise heartwarming scene it plays over.
58	* OnceOriginalNowCommon: Creator/TimothyDalton's DarkerAndEdgier portrayal of Bond here and in ''Film/TheLivingDaylights'' was shocking at the time, but with Creator/DanielCraig's later portrayal of Bond following the same lines, it's difficult to appreciate it nowadays, especially after an entire generation of people grew up with Craig's Bond movies as their baseline.
59	* PresumedFlop: ''Licence to Kill'' is the lowest-grossing film in the series, which combined with the subsequent legal troubles that prematurely ended Timothy Dalton's run as the character and led to a six-year hiatus for the film series, has given it a reputation in some circles for being a flop. Regardless, the film still made back five times its budget during an infamously crowded 1989 summer blockbuster season.
60	* QuestionableCasting: The casting of Wayne Newton as Professor Joe Butcher still confuses some fans.
61	* RealismInducedHorror: Franz Sanchez. Unlike many other Bond villains, he hasn't got "super gadgets" and his plan is more realistic than those of other villains.
62	* RetroactiveRecognition:
63	** Creator/BenicioDelToro as Dario. He was 21 at the time, making him the youngest actor to play a Bond villain to this day.
64	** Ed Killifer is [[Series/TwinPeaks Big Ed]], making this HilariousInHindsight.
65	** Sanchez himself is the future voice of [[WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond Magma/Mike Morgan]] and [[Franchise/{{Halo}} Half-Jaw]].
66	** Talisa Soto and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa would be reunited in ''Film/MortalKombatTheMovie'' six years later as Kitana and Shang Tsung.
67	** Lupe and Kwang became Kitana and Shang Tsung in ''Film/MortalKombatTheMovie''. [[HilariousInHindsight Maybe Kwang should have gone after Lupe instead?]]
68	* SignatureScene: Felix's torture, the tanker chase, and Krest's notorious death scene would probably count as such.
69	* SpecialEffectFailure:
70	** The maggots in Krest's marine lab are obviously white rubber fishing lures, complete with long flat tails. At one point, the people who grab them are clearly shaking their hands to give the impression that the "maggots" are crawling.
71	** The shark that {{Jump Scare}}s Bond and Sharkey during their infiltration of the marine research center is clearly an animatronic.
72	** The laser with which Pam very nearly shoots Bond and Q is hardly up to par with those of ''Franchise/StarWars''.
73	** A sharp eye can see in some of the driving shots during the climax that there now appear to be five tankers as opposed to the four present.
74	** Several of the tanker drivers vanish from view just as their respective trucks explode, in what is clearly a case of some haphazard editing.
75	** When Bond tests out his new lighter at the wedding, the viewer can see a tube running up Timothy Dalton's arm, likely leading to a gas tank. Not to mention that the shot of Bond looking at the dedication inscribed in the lighter from the wedding scene gets recycled at the climax when Bond uses it on Sanchez.
76	** When the convoy of cars first arrives at the meditation institute, if you look real close at the grinder, you can some bits of Dario way before he is sent through the grinder himself.
77	* {{Squick}}: Felix getting his leg bitten off by a shark, a henchman knocked out and left in a drawer full of maggots, Krest's head blowing up like a balloon and exploding in a bloody mess, Dario going through the cocaine grinder (complete with a lovely shot of his bloody chunks coming out the other end). There's a reason this film was originally slapped with an R rating before being trimmed down.
78	* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: This is classic example of a very '80s genre, the "[[CowboyCop lone cop out for revenge who doesn't play by the rules]]" movie. It's just that here, the lone cop is Film/JamesBond. It could have been worse, though; Bond fights a South American drug empire specifically because the filmmakers weren't sure that the Soviet Union would stay around for very long, and therefore decided to play it safe. History proved the filmmakers right two years later, although they still felt the UsefulNotes/ColdWar needed a proper sendoff in the Bond films, which wound up being achieved with ''Film/GoldenEye''. It could have been even more of a period piece, as the costume department initially wanted to dress Bond in pastels due to the popularity of "Miami Vice." Creator/TimothyDalton fought for a more understated wardrobe for Bond and won the battle.
79	** The film's backdrop instead is focused on UsefulNotes/TheWarOnDrugs which was under full swing under the Bush administration, with Bond teaming up with the DEA to fight TheCartel. Nowadays, the War on Drugs is largely seen as a policy failure with lots of exaggerated stereotypes, which only served to empower drug cartels and punish users.
80	* ValuesDissonance: While this film makes liberal use of the word "oriental", it has been the case since at least 2021, when the Home Office formally banned the use of the word among its departments, that UK government departments and academia have been removing all use of the word from their literature and employee discourse on the grounds that it is "outdated and potentially offensive.
81	* VindicatedByHistory: At the time it came out, it was initially considered a disappointment, partly from competition with ''Film/LethalWeapon2'' and ''Film/Batman1989'' but especially from comparisons to the Bond films that had preceded it, mainly due to Creator/RogerMoore's soft take on he role. This, combined with legal issues over the franchise, ensured that another Bond film would not be made for six years, and that Creator/TimothyDalton would not return to the lead role. ''Licence to Kill'' has since been re-evaluated by a number of Bond fans, who prefer its unique and grittier atmosphere, as well as praising it's action scenes and enjoying its villains; nowadays, there are many who consider it one of their favorite movies in the Bond franchise.
82	* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The amazing shot of burning car going off a cliff and just barely missing Pam's plane. You would never guess that it was all done with miniatures.
83	* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: Felix Leiter mauled horrifically by a tiger shark. Also, Milton Krest's head explodes, and Dario is ground up in a rock crusher. Sanchez has one of his henchmen cut Lupe's lover's heart out and whips her while she begs him not to (in the opening 5 minutes of the movie, no less!); Sanchez dies after being soaked in gasoline and lit aflame by Bond before stumbling into a leaking gasoline tanker and being vaporized in the explosion.
84	* TheWoobie:
85	** Felix Leiter. The man goes through ''hell'' in this film, and it's hard not to feel sorry for him. His wife, too. Her final moments were certainly not pleasant.
86	** Lupe Lamora. She's a self-admitted runaway who got herself mixed up in a bad situation when she and Sanchez became enamored with each other. On top of his abuse, she also must endure the advances of Krest and is brutally punished for her unfaithfulness to Franz. When Bond comes along she sees him as her only hope to escape Sanchez's grasp, and even then he is often cold and cruel to her before he's convinced of her loyalty to him.
87	** Bond himself. Based on the inclusion of certain elements, such as the garter scene, it's obvious that one of the things that has triggered him to go after Sanchez is seeing Felix go through the same type of scenario on his wedding day that Bond himself went through, though worse. The always unflappable agent is horrified and on the verge of tears when he finds Della's dead body, and is on the verge of completely falling to pieces when he walks into Felix's private office, sees the wrapped up body, and expects to find Felix's corpse inside of it. It's only when Felix shows he's still alive that Bond manages to partially collect himself.

Context YMMV / LicenceToKill