Wolff rating: GOOD
Plot summary: Bond is back, this time to get a defector out from behind the Iron Curtain.
Biased, pithy comments: Rating a Bond movie is like doing color commentary on a soccer match---people who like Bond are going to see it, and people who don't, won't, and won't care about your review. But, as Bond movies go, this is one of the more watchable ones---Dalton makes a solid debut in his stint as the tuxedoed agent, playing the character much closer to Ian Fleming's books than Roger Moore's clown. I liked the serious turn and the updated morality (he sleeps with just one lady, and not too often) and the stunts are quite good. I'm only sorry we didn't see more of Dalton as Bond, and I sorta wish Joe Don ``Mitchell'' Baker were a more impressive bad guy, though John ``Salah'' Rhys-Davies does a good job as the KGB general. Some people haven't liked Maryam d'Abo, claiming she lacks the presense of Pussy Galore or Solitaire, but I liked her---she seemed young, sweet, and innocent. And the car chase, starting with the scene in the Czech flat and ending in Austria is just classic Bond, from start to end. Gotta love it.
Other Notes: Yes, that's the real rock of Gibraltar and a real military installations there. But Afghanistan is played by Morocco.
How many times I have seen it: x3 or x4
Starring: Timothy Dalton, Maryam d'Abo, Jeroen Krabbe, Joe Don Baker, John Rhys-Davies.
Directed by: John Glen