Licence to Kill kind of inadvertently feels like a narrative end point for James Bond

Never thought about that.... If they had wanted to end the franchise this would have been a good spot. He pretty much fell out of favor with the job, and he had a kick-ass love interest and a ton of money to play with. I believe he still had all that cash in the bank at the end. He could have retired and just played Baccarat all over the world.

To more properly highlight the opinions from the linked comments:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0oQGuZePlI&lc=UggbFx4bVCTdAHgCoAEC

IMO this could have been the perfect ending to the series if somehow they never started back. Bond found his female equal and could have settled down and be happy with Blofeld and his big shot enemies gone. She wasn't as good of a character as Tracy was but she was more bonds equal.

This is the ending of the classic series though imo. The Brosnan movies on never recaptured the old school feeling and style that Dr No threw this one had. Goldeneye started the CGI era titles and it was after the Wall fell and USSR died; it just took a lot of the early days purpose away. Luckily Goldeneye adopted well for those times but still I wish Dalton could have done it and retired after.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0oQGuZePlI&lc=Ugx9xH0RIZBVGpdhSEJ4AaABAg

@TheUltimate213 I do understand what you mean. There is something "final" about this scene and the way in which the song is used. Maybe its because it was the last 1 Cubby Brocolli officially produced as well as the last 1 directed by John Glenn (he did 5 including this one).

Goldeneye represented a new "era" of Bond, quite different to that seen previously.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0oQGuZePlI&lc=Ugx8q8xk1ddIJLZ_c-l4AaABAg

I don't know about anyone else but I did get this feeling that James Bond had finally found his true love, someone he can finally settle down with. I just felt that Bond had some connection with Pam Bouvier that I didn't see any of his past romances. The way he came flying down into the pool just for her was romantic of him. Other than that the story is great and I don't understand why most of the Bond fans find Timothy Dalton such a bad decision. Hell with that Timothy Dalton KICKS ASS!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0oQGuZePlI&lc=UgzXzeBSFYsu0-LwyGx4AaABAg

LTK marked the end of Bond as people knew it back then. It was pretty much Cubby Broccoli's last film that he was involved with, Final film directed by John Glen. Even though it had "JAMES BOND WILL RETURN" many people weren't so sure (Including Timothy Dalton himself who had a falling out with John Glen just after this movie) as Bond was considered irrelevant by this point, so if Bond did return it wouldn't be a for a long time as this felt like a "Goodbye, for now"....then along came Goldeneye.

https://www.reddit.com/r/JamesBond/comments/mgxusd/comment/gswqtqy/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

Michael Kamen's score is generic, but it adds to the film's unique atmosphere. I love Kamen's rendition of the Bond theme and Pam's theme is quite bittersweet. Gladys Knight's theme is overlooked and If You Asked Me To feels like a fitting sendoff for the 1962-1989 run of films.

https://www.reddit.com/r/JamesBond/comments/k5xi7c/why_do_some_people_view_license_to_kill_as/

Bond has a romantic encounter with the Bond girl. It's far more poignant here than in previous films due to the relationship between Bond and Pam being developed throughout the film. "If You Asked Me To" has a more bittersweet feeling to it; LTK was the end of an era even if the filmmakers had no way of knowing the legal issues that would soon plague the franchise.

https://www.reddit.com/r/JamesBond/comments/dhqmfi/comment/f3q4kx7/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

Oh yeah it's absolutely the end of an era in ways far more than just Dalton - end of Cubby's Broccoli's 27-year run as producer and Richard Maibaum's 27 years as screenwriter. For better or worse the series would never feel the same or be the same after the gap. Definitely those first 16 movies will always kind of sit together as a self-contained series of their own.