🎥 Why Timothy Dalton is My Favourite Bond (and Why Licence to Kill is the Best Bond Film)

by MechMadHog

Everyone has their favourite Bond. Connery set the standard. Moore leaned into camp. Brosnan polished it up for the 90s. Craig brought grit back.

Lazenby only had one film, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. People argue about how good it really is, but it did leave a mark on the series. That’s the film where Bond marries Tracy, only for her to be murdered. It’s why Felix Leiter says in Licence to Kill: “He was married once.”

For me though, Dalton is the best Bond.

Dalton’s Bond

Dalton’s take felt like a sharp left turn. He wasn’t charming his way through every scene like Brosnan, or cracking jokes like Moore. He played Bond like a professional killer who just happened to wear a tux. He looked dangerous. He carried himself like a man who had seen things and wasn’t going to smile his way out of them.

It felt closer to Fleming’s Bond from the books. Cold. Efficient. Always on edge.

Licence to Kill

Released in 1989, the year I was born, Licence to Kill is my pick for the best Bond film ever made. It gives you everything you could want:

• The stunts → insane practical action. Tankers on two wheels. Planes dragged across runways. Explosions that still hold up today.
• The villain → Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi). Not a world-ending cartoon, but a cartel boss. Ruthless, believable, terrifying because he feels real.
• The henchman → Benicio del Toro as Dario. Sadistic, young, and stylish. Easily one of the best henchmen in the series.
• The Bond girls → Two very different sides. Pam Bouvier, the ex-CIA ally who can handle herself. Lupe Lamora, Sanchez’s mistress, glamorous but stuck in a cage of her own. It gives the film balance, and they both matter to the story.
• Q in the field → Desmond Llewelyn finally gets out of the lab and into the action. Watching him alongside Dalton is a highlight.
• The gadgets → exploding alarm clock, laser Polaroid, signature rifle. Not silly gimmicks, but tools that actually work in the story.
• The Bond staples → casino tables, shark tanks, helicopter fishing, ninjas. It’s like they ticked every box on the Bond checklist and made it work.

The only classic piece missing is the Aston Martin, but The Living Daylights already gave Dalton his car showcase.

The Music

The score was written by Michael Kamen, the man behind Die Hard and Lethal Weapon. That’s why the action lands with the same punch as those films.

The theme song, Licence to Kill by Gladys Knight, is one of the strongest in the whole franchise. Big sound, dramatic vocals, it fits Dalton’s darker Bond perfectly.

Why Dalton Works For Me

Dalton’s Bond has this energy about him:

“If you get on his bad side, your number is up.”

That’s exactly how I think. If you give me a reason to hate you, I will. Simple as that.

Dalton never played Bond as indestructible or smug. He played him as a professional, a man with a job that left scars. It felt honest.

Why It’s the Best

Licence to Kill has:

• Practical stunts that stand up with the best action films of the 80s.
• A villain that feels real.
• A sadistic henchman that steals scenes.
• Two Bond girls with weight in the story.
• Q finally in the field.
• Sharks, casinos, helicopters, ninjas, gadgets, revenge.

It isn’t just a Bond film, it’s a late 80s action classic. It sits comfortably alongside Die Hard and Lethal Weapon.

For me, it’s the complete Bond experience. And it just so happens it came out the year I was born.