Release and Reception
The Prince and Princess of Wales attended the film's premiere on 27 June 1987 at the Odeon Leicester Square in London. The Living Daylights grossed the equivalent of $191.2 million worldwide. In the United States it earned $51,185,000., including an opening weekend of $11,051,284, surpassing the $5 million grossed by The Lost Boys that was released on the same day.
In the film, Koskov and Whitaker repeatedly use vehicles and drug packets marked with the Red Cross. This action angered a number of Red Cross Societies, which sent letters of protest regarding the film. In addition, the British Red Cross attempted to prosecute the filmmakers and distributors. However, no legal action was taken. As a result, a disclaimer was added at the start of the film and some DVD releases.
The Living Daylights has a "Fresh" score of 75% on Rotten Tomatoes. IGN lauded the film for bringing back realism and espionage to the franchise and showing James Bond's dark side. Many including John J. Puccio and Chuck O'Leary praised Timothy Dalton's performance and his performing most of the stunts himself. The Washington Post even said Dalton developed "the best Bond ever." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times criticised the lack of humour in the protagonist, however, while Jay Scott of The Globe and Mail wrote of Dalton's Bond that "you get the feeling that on his off nights, he might curl up with the Reader's Digest and catch an episode of Moonlighting".
Read more about this topic: The Living Daylights
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)