The Living Daylights
“Go ahead, tell him what you want. If he fires me, I’ll thank him for it.” 1987 was the 25 th anniversary of the release of the first Bond film, Dr No, and the film released to celebrate it was a treat (ranked 8 th on my list ). The Living Daylights originated as a short story in which Bond spends three nights waiting for a British spy to cross from East Berlin to West Berlin, with the job to shoot a sniper who is targeting the defector. During the long nights as he fights sleepiness Bond comes to admire a female cellist, who turns out to be the sniper he was sent to kill. When the time comes, Bond cannot bring himself to kill the beautiful woman and shoots the gun instead. The defector still manages to make it. Bond is willing to lose his job for not following orders and recognizes that he might be tired of this life. As always, I will discuss spoilers and third act revelations so please see the film first. The film version takes this set piece, changes the settin