The Living Daylights - A good adventure, probably better than history will judge it

Most people loved Sean Connery as James Bond. Others realised that Roger Moore's interpretation was different, but at least his own. Pierce Brosnan had the modern day tale and Daniel Craig is our ultra serious Bond. Therefore, most people seem to write Timothy Dalton's time in as the superspy as somewhat of a footnote in Bond history (only slightly higher than George Lazenby's single outing).

Yes, Dalton hardly `owns' the roll. He's still finding his feet, but, if you recall, it took Connery, Moore and Brosnan a couple of films to really cement themselves in the position. Dalton isn't the most sure-footed in the roll, but the adventure itself more than makes up for it. It's kind of one of the `Roger Moore era leftovers' about a rogue Russian general trying to play the Soviets and the West off against each other.

Naturally the action is all there, plus we see Bond as more of a `hitman' in places than a spy. It's nearly two hours long, but I found that it flew by. There are plenty of set pieces to keep you amused and the characters are nice and colourful.

If you like the whole `Bond package' you should enjoy this, regardless as to who's in the titular roll (just don't dwell on how the `Afghanistan army' are classed as the `heroic good guys' - eek, it was different back then!).

8/10 The Force is definitely strong with this one