8mm Forum: Licence to Kill / Living Daylights + Batman

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Posted by Lee Mannering (Member # 728) on February 15, 2014, 05:43 AM:

Living Daylights - Licence to Kill (Batman)
Trailer reels.
Super 8 colour sound on 200ft reels.

I’m sure I am not just speaking for myself here but Timothy Dalton as James Bond was absolutely top notch but sadly we were to enjoy two appearances with him as 007, namely Living Daylights 1987 and Licence to Kill 1989. Thankfully the two trailers were officially released on Super 8 and are a good souvenir of Timothy in action and at his best.

LIVING DAYLIGHTS
This particular film holds a great fascination for me as for some time it was not available of DVD here in the UK and those discs which were available imported usually reached fleabay with an astronomical price tag. Why this became such a rarity at the time I have no idea but possibly due to licensing or something along those lines perhaps. Anyhow, back to Super 8..
Derann Films issued this and it came in a nice artwork box although printed on basic paper. As you would expect its all action packed stuff with good content throughout and a very good cast list including the delightful Maryam d’Abo and her Cello. The film was directed by John Glen and we saw a welcome return to the more tradition Bond character after the Roger Moore comical era which although I did enjoy them 007 aficionados were quite critical of. This trailer is a corker and contains the full trailer along with the teaser so the best of both worlds. In 1987 tape video piracy was rife and this movie was even being circulated prior to its cinema release so much so the end of the trailer included a notification of this fact which is quite interesting.
The print is very good as is the sound quality and it is a really nice watch.
Print A Sound A

LICENCE TO KILL (Batman) Stereo sound
It has taken quite a time to obtain this trailer reel so I am guessing it was produced in fairly limited numbers perhaps.
Licence to Kill reached our cinema screens in 1989 with huge publicity and the film did not disappoint once again being directed by John Glen and supporting names such as Robert Davi and the very pretty Carey Lowell who steals the screen. This Super 8 trailer reel is even more interesting as it includes the Batman trailer which was cut together a bit like the old 1930’s trailers having mainly just dialogue rather than a thumping music score throughout so a bonus reel certainly. What first strikes you when viewing this Licence to Kill reel is the sheer quality of the print and further proves the excellent image Super 8 can deliver on your home screen with colours just so vivid and pin sharp if you squint a bit you could mistake it for 35mm. The reel has the full LTK trailer on, Batman and also the LTK teaser so a cracking reel to have in the collection, also to demonstrate how great 8mm quality can be. I loved it when the Warner Bros logo filled the screen before the Batman trailer started and it took me back to watching a 70mm platter was being loaded up with that very feature, but back to 007. Licence to Kill was to be Timothy’s last Bond appearance apparently due to the pressures of excessive press attention which was a real pity as he had that hard edge in both his efforts which Ian Flemming also put into the novels. I believe this to be one of the rarer Super 8 Bond reels based on the fact it has taken me ages to get it but at long last it’s in the archive. I’ll have to mention the quality of this reel again as it was really great and delightful view so stand by for top marks.
Print AA+++ Stereo sound AA+++

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on February 15, 2014, 07:30 AM:

Great review Lee, i also think Timothy Dalton was a great James Bond, for me he was the best one.

Posted by Pasquale DAlessio (Member # 2052) on February 15, 2014, 08:11 AM:

License To KIll was originally titled License Revoked. I have both trailers and they are excellent. But I do not have the box art as they were included on a 007 trailer reel I purchased. Tim was an excellent Bond. But my favorite today is Daniel Craig.

Posted by Graham Sinden (Member # 431) on February 15, 2014, 10:14 AM:

Hi Lee

Great reviews. So who released Licence to Kill. It sounds like a CHC release being bundled with Batman but most of their releases were mono. Any ideas who released it?

While Im on the subject dont forget CHC also released the pre credit sequence to Living Daylights which I have and its excellent and in scope.

My copy of Living daylights trailer just came in a white box. Any chance someone could scan the Derann artwork.

Graham S

Posted by Mark Todd (Member # 96) on February 15, 2014, 03:03 PM:

Derann released it.

Untouchables/Lethal Weapon 2 is another great dual reel.

Best Mark.

Posted by Lee Mannering (Member # 728) on February 16, 2014, 12:15 AM:

Here is the 200ft sized box wrap around box art.

Posted by Graham Sinden (Member # 431) on February 16, 2014, 12:26 PM:

Great cover art Lee. Thanks for posting.

But I was after the cover art for LIVING DAYLIGHTS (as I dont have LTK yet [Razz]

)

Graham S

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