Carey Lowell Movie:

		List Price: $34.98		Label: MGM (Video & DVD) Salesrank: 7653 Released: May 12, 2009
		Our Price: $19.98
		Used Price: $16.29
		MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Media: Blu-ray

Editorial Review:
Studio: Tcfhe/mgm Release Date: 05/12/2009 Run time: 125 minutes Rating: Pg

Licence to Kill [Blu-ray] Reviews:
No Slipcover
2009-12-27 - A word of warning about this one to collectors - there's no slipcover for Licence To Kill (nor Man With The Golden Gun) which makes these two releases look slightly awkward on the shelf with all the others. Still it beats the boxed set releases, which don't even come with the individual cases.

Timothy Dalton remains my favorite Bond to date (Daniel Craig is growing on me), although I prefer The Living Daylights over this film. Still there's a lot to like here, including one of my all-time favorite Bond theme songs, sung by Gladys Knight.

A bit of triva: the movie was intended to be titled "Licence Revoked", but the studio changed the title at the last minute due to a Bond novel out at the time called "Licence Renewed" (they didn't want people to think it was based on that book) and because Americans associate the phrase with losing one's driver's license! Oh well, at least they kept the British spelling of "Licence"!

Licence To Kill
2009-09-12 - Timothy Dalton returns in his second and last film as James Bond. The movie still holds up twenty years latter. The HD conversion is outstanding, it was like seeing the movie for the first time. Dalton was a good Bond, he had been asked to do "Goldeneye" back in 1994, but ultimatly responded he was moving on to other things, but was very happy to be asked to reprise the role offered to him by the producers. Dalton was too good an actor to play Bond, I do not think the scripts could even come close to giving this man the challenge. Still, I wish he would have at least done Goldeneye. I look forward to "Living Daylights" in HD!

WHATS WRONG
2009-08-26 - Can someone please tell me why this video company are releasing these bond blu-rays mixed up. why cant they release the connerys than the moores and so on. they did the same thing two years ago with the dvds in there box sets. i happen to like all the james bond actors but release them in order finshed the sean connerys bonds now. is that asking too much. i want you only live twice and diamonds are forever released now. also moores the spy who loved me roger moores best james bond film.....

GOOD BLU RAY TRANSFER
2009-08-20 - Love the transfer quality on this movie. It's like a brand new movie. Some of the details are so good you can notice the flaws in the sets or make up . This is a very uneven Bond movie but Dalton is good during most scenes. The grand finale is well worth the purchase of the dvd.

James Bond Meets Joel Silver on a Great Blu-ray
2009-05-12 - Licence to Kill is a product of its time. This James Bond movie was released on the heels of the original "Die Hard" and it shares not only a similar feel but also literally takes some of the same elements from that movie. Oh, and it was also the "Daniel Craig James Bond movie" before there was a Daniel Craig James Bond.

Released in the late eighties, this Bond flick was an attempt to modify the traditional Bond formula. Its basically a revenge picture as Bond attempts to avenge a drug baron's attack upon Felix Leiter and his newlywed bride. The new element this time was to make the adventure a personal one rather than a mission on behalf of queen and country.

The producers chose a style that embraced a gritty feel before Daniel Craig came along, and they clearly chose Die Hard as a model. Unlike the would-be tyrants of previous Bond flicks, the villain here shares with Die Hard's heavy the ultimate desire merely to procure a lot of illegally-procured cash. Both movies focus upon the villain's point of view and personal frustrations so much that the audience's sympathies are sometimes shared between both hero and villain.

The setting is a little more commonplace this time. Gone are the previous rocket wrist-bands and Eiffel Tower chases. There are a lot more conventional automatic weapons, and the vehicles this time include small planes, speedboats and tanker trucks rather than Aston Martins outfitted with built-in arsenals.

Instead of just suggesting Die Hard, "Licence" sometimes borrowed the same actors. The drug lord and the CIA agent here are played by fellow FBI agents(!)from the earlier movie. If the soundtrack sounds familiar, it's because composer Michael Kamen brought his minimialist style to both films.

That said, the approach works in spades for Licence to Kill. The stunt-pieces are great, and the pacing is lively. Timothy Dalton introduced a serious Bond before Daniel Craig, and while opinions vary, I think he made a great Bond. Most importantly, the essential Bond elements haven't been discarded--the gadgets and the "Bond girls" are still there--they just aren't the focus this time.

Technically, this is a great Blu-ray. This movie has probably never looked better, even during its initial release. Many of the extras are recycled from previous DVD releases, but they still go into more depth than say, the recent "Quantum of Solace" release.

While Licence to Kill was a financial disappointment when it was released, I think history will be kind to this movie and to Timothy Dalton. It has aged gracefully, and is one of the best in the Bond series.