11 Things You Learn Rewatching The Living Daylights
11. It's Basically A Soft Reboot
Though the Bond movies go through something of a transformation every time the lead actor changes, The Living Daylights in particular signalled a seismic shift away from 007's old guard and the Roger Moore era in particular.
With a grittier, more brutal tone and less outlandish plot than the Moore movies, there was evidently a conscious desire to move away from daft camp towards something edgier and more modern, to the extent that the film basically feels like a "soft reboot" for the series.
In addition to the tonal overhaul, several supporting characters are even recast in younger, sexier iterations - though more on that later - bolstering that this really feels like the producers pressing the reset button on Bond, and almost entirely for the better.