John Glen (born 15 May 1932) is a film director. He was born in Sunbury-on-Thames, England. A former film editor and second unit director, Glen has carved his niche in action pictures. His first credit was on the James Bond flick “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” (1969). Other credits as film editor include Peter Yates’ “Murphy’s War” (1970), the trial drama “Conduct Unbecoming” (1975) and the Bond films “The Spy Who Loved Me” (1977) and “Moonraker” (1979), both directed by Lewis Gilbert. He moved to the director’s chair with “For Your Eyes Only” (1981), which eschewed much of the gadgetry and cartoon style of the previous entries in the series. Glen serviceably directed four more Bond films “Octopussy” (1983), “A View to a Kill” (1985), “The Living Daylights” (1987) and “Licence to Kill” (1989). Since abandoning the Bond franchise, he has overseen “Aces: Iron Eagle III” and the unsuccessful “Christopher Columbus: The Discovery” (both 1992). —TCM read more
This entry brought "THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS" back into the series, refreshing jolt of excitement after the awful staleness of the Moore era, Diamonds Are Forever and Never Say Never Again. The Living Daylights is one of the best Bond films since Goldfinger, From Russia With Love and Thunderball, Daylights feel like a Bond film, arguably more so than the entries from the 70's and rest of the 80's.
The Living Daylights is textbook Bond, with plenty of thrilling action sequences but nary a memorable villain nor plot. Timothy Dalton plays Bond with a more serious edge, bringing the role back to Fleming but tossing out his charisma along with any semblance of Roger Moore.
Started off pretty great and then just went downhill after he freed the prisoner. Timothy Dalton still gets major props though, his Bond is one of the best.
The shift in focus (and change in actor) is both a blessing and a drawback as the franchise tries to move on from the campness that preceded it to more gritty, action driven drama. Trouble is, Dalton… read review