Originally the film was proposed to be a
prequel in the series, an idea that eventually resurfaced with the
reboot of the series in 2006,
Casino Royale. SMERSH, the fictionalised Soviet counterintelligence agency that featured in Fleming's
Casino Royale and several other early James Bond novels, was an acronym for 'Smiert Shpionam' —'Death to Spies'.
Casting In autumn 1985, following the mixed reception of
A View to a Kill, work began on scripts for the next Bond film, with the intention that
Roger Moore would not reprise the role of James Bond. Moore, who by the time of the release of
The Living Daylights would have been 59 years old, chose to retire from the role after 12 years and seven films. Albert Broccoli, however, claimed that he let Moore go from the role. During an extensive search for a new actor to play Bond, a number of actors, including New Zealander
Sam Neill, Meanwhile,
Jerry Weintraub, the chairman of
MGM/UA Communications, suggested hiring
Mel Gibson for a two-picture deal valued at $10 million, but Broccoli was not interested. Other actors touted in the press included
Bryan Brown,
Michael Nader,
Andrew Clarke, and
Finlay Light. , at a James Bond convention. The producers eventually offered the role to Brosnan after a three-day screen-test. At the time, he was contracted to the television series
Remington Steele, which had been cancelled by the
NBC network due to falling ratings. The announcement that he would be chosen to play James Bond caused a surge in interest in the series, which led to NBC exercising (less than three days prior to expiry) a 60-day option in Brosnan's contract to make a further season of the series. NBC's action caused drastic repercussions, as a result of which Broccoli withdrew the offer given to Brosnan, saying that he did not want the character associated with a contemporary television series. This led to a drop in interest in
Remington Steele, and only five new episodes were filmed before the series was finally cancelled. The edict from Broccoli was that "
Remington Steele would not be James Bond." Dana Broccoli suggested Timothy Dalton. Albert Broccoli was initially reluctant given Dalton's public lack of interest in the role, but at his wife's urging agreed to meet the actor. However, Dalton was due to begin filming
Brenda Starr and so was unavailable. In the intervening period, having completed
Brenda Starr, Dalton was offered the role once again, which he accepted. For a period, the filmmakers had Dalton, but he had not signed a contract. A casting director persuaded
Robert Bathurst—an English actor who would become known for his roles in
Joking Apart,
Cold Feet, and
Downton Abbey—to audition for Bond. Bathurst believes that his "ludicrous audition" was only "an arm-twisting exercise" because the producers wanted to persuade Dalton to take the role by telling him they were still auditioning other actors. Dalton's take was very different from that of Moore, regarded as more in line of Ian Fleming's character: a reluctant hero who is often uncomfortable in his job. Dalton wished to create a Bond different from Moore's, feeling he would have declined the project if he were asked to imitate Moore. In contrast to Moore's more jocular approach, Dalton found his creative muse from the original books: "I definitely wanted to recapture the essence and flavour of the books, and play it less flippantly. After all, Bond's essential quality is that he's a man who lives on the edge. He could get killed at any moment, and that stress and danger factor is reflected in the way he lives, chain-smoking, drinking, fast cars and fast women." Moore declined to watch
The Living Daylights in cinema as he did not wish to demonstrate any negative opinions about the project. Broccoli enjoyed the change of tone, feeling that Brosnan would have been too similar to Moore. Neill thought Dalton performed well in the role, and Brosnan called Dalton a good choice in 1987, but felt it too near the bone to watch the finished film. Brosnan won the role in 1994, based on his filmed audition from 1986.
Sean Connery endorsed Dalton in an interview with the
Daily Mail, and
Desmond Llewelyn enjoyed working with a fellow stage actor. The English actress
Maryam d'Abo, a former model, was cast as the Czechoslovak cellist
Kara Milovy. In 1984, d'Abo had attended auditions for the role of Pola Ivanova in
A View to a Kill. Barbara Broccoli included d'Abo in the audition for playing Kara, which she later passed. D'abo presented a longer account in recent years. While she was chosen for Pola Ivanova, John Glen, the director did notice she had potential. After filming another movie in Germany the director there recommended D'abo to the Broccoli family. She was in a health club with a different hairstyle from her previous screen test and encountered Barbara Broccoli who praised her new looks and after hearing Glen wanted to see her again, she was chosen. Originally, the KGB general set up by Koskov was to be
General Gogol; however,
Walter Gotell was too sick to handle the major role, and the character of Leonid Pushkin replaced Gogol, who appears briefly at the end of the film, having transferred to the
Soviet diplomatic service. This was Gogol's final appearance in a James Bond film.
Morten Harket, the lead vocalist of the Norwegian rock group
a-ha (who performed the film's title song), was offered a minor role as a henchman but declined, because of lack of time and because he believed they wanted to cast him for his popularity rather than his acting.
Joe Don Baker was hired based on his performance in
Edge of Darkness, which was helmed by future Bond director
Martin Campbell. Director
John Glen decided to include the
macaw from
For Your Eyes Only. It can be seen squawking in the kitchen of Blayden House when Necros attacks MI6's officers.
Filming The film was shot at
Pinewood Studios at its
007 Stage in the United Kingdom, as well as
Weissensee in Austria. The pre-title sequence was filmed on the
Rock of Gibraltar and although the sequence shows a hijacked
Land Rover careening down various sections of road for several minutes before bursting through a wall towards the sea, the location mostly used the same short stretch of road at the very top of the Rock, shot from numerous different angles. The beach defences seen at the foot of the Rock in the initial shot were also added solely for the film, to an otherwise non-military area. The action involving the Land Rover switched from Gibraltar to
Beachy Head in the UK for the shot showing the vehicle actually getting airborne. Trial runs of the stunt with the Land Rover, during which Bond escapes by parachute from the tumbling vehicle, were filmed in the
Mojave Desert in the southwestern
United States, The location used for the home of villain Whitaker was the
Forbes Museum in Tangier, Morocco, while desert scenes were shot in
Ouarzazate, Morocco. The conclusion of the film was shot at the
Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna and
Elveden Hall, Suffolk.
Principal photography commenced at Gibraltar on 17 September 1986. Aerial stuntmen B. J. Worth and Jake Lombard performed the pre-credits parachute jump. Both the terrain and wind were unfavourable. Consideration was given to the stunt being done using cranes but aerial stunts arranger B. J. Worth stuck to skydiving and completed the scenes in a day. The aircraft used for the jump was a
Lockheed C-130 Hercules, which in the film had M's office installed in the aircraft cabin. The initial point of view for the scene shows M in what appears to be his usual London office, but the camera then zooms out to reveal that it is, in fact, inside an aircraft. Although marked as a
Royal Air Force aircraft, the one in shot belonged to the
Spanish Air Force and was used again later in the film for the Afghanistan sequences, this time in Soviet markings. During this later chapter, a fight breaks out on the open ramp of the aircraft in flight between Bond and Necros, before Necros falls to his death. Although the plot and preceding shots suggest the aircraft is a C-130, the shot of Necros falling away from the aircraft show a twin engine cargo plane, a
Fairchild C-123 Provider. Worth and Lombard also doubled for Bond and Necros in the scenes where they are hanging and fighting on a bag in a plane's open cargo door, Almost two weeks after the second unit filming on Gibraltar, the first unit started shooting with Andreas Wisniewski and stunt man Bill Weston. The next day found the crew on location at
Stonor House, Oxfordshire, doubling for Blayden's Safe House, the first scene Jeroen Krabbé filmed. d'Abo recalled we were "[o]ne big and happy family traveling and filming together for five months."
The return of Aston Martin , one of two versions used in the film. The film reunites Bond with the car maker
Aston Martin. Following Bond's use of the
Aston Martin DBS in ''
On Her Majesty's Secret Service'', the filmmakers then turned to the brand new
Lotus Esprit in 1977's
The Spy Who Loved Me, which reappeared four years later in
For Your Eyes Only. Aston Martin then returned with their
Aston Martin V8. Two different Aston Martin models were used in filming—a V8 Volante convertible, and later for the
Czechoslovakia scenes, a hard-top V8 saloon rebadged to look like the Volante. The Volante was a production model owned by then
Aston Martin Lagonda chairman,
Victor Gauntlett.
Music The Living Daylights was the final Bond film to be scored by composer
John Barry. The soundtrack is notable for its introduction of sequenced electronic rhythm tracks overdubbed with the orchestra—at the time, a relatively new innovation. The title song of the film, "
The Living Daylights", was co-written with
Pål Waaktaar of the Norwegian pop-music group
a-ha and recorded by the band. The group and Barry did not collaborate well, resulting in two versions of the theme song. Barry's film mix is heard on the soundtrack (and on a-ha's later compilation album
Headlines and Deadlines). The version preferred by the band can be heard on the a-ha album
Stay on These Roads, released in 1988. However, in 2006, Waaktaar complimented Barry's contributions: "I loved the stuff he added to the track, I mean it gave it this really cool string arrangement. That's when for me it started to sound like a Bond thing". The original soundtrack was released on LP and CD by Warner Bros. and featured only 12 tracks. Later re-releases by
Rykodisc and
EMI added nine additional tracks, including alternate instrumental end credits music. Rykodisc's version included the
gun barrel and opening sequence of the film as well as the jailbreak sequence, and the bombing of the bridge. Additionally, the film featured a number of pieces of classical music, as the main
Bond girl, Kara Milovy, is a cellist.
Mozart's
40th Symphony in G minor (1st movement) is performed by the orchestra at the Conservatoire in Bratislava when Koskov flees. As Moneypenny tells Bond, Kara is next to perform
Alexander Borodin's String Quartet in D major, and the finale to Act II of Mozart's
The Marriage of Figaro (in Vienna) also features. When arriving in Vienna, an orchestra outside the hotel in playing a movement from the
Wein, Weib und Gesang waltz by
Johann Strauss. Before Bond is drugged by Kara, she is practicing the Cello solo from the first movement of
Dvořák's cello concerto in B minor., Kara and an orchestra (conducted onscreen by John Barry) perform
Tchaikovsky's
Variations on a Rococo Theme to rapturous applause. ==Release==