MovieChat Forums > Licence to Kill (1989) Discussion > Timothy Dalton's feud with John Glen

Timothy Dalton's feud with John Glen

posted 2 years ago by TMC-4 (20179)
7 replies | jump to latest

Can anybody explain and clarify the backstory and reasons to their falling out? Apparently, Dalton on no uncertain terms, made it known that if or when he got to do a third Bond movie, he didn't want John Glen to be the director.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0oQGuZePlI&lc=UgxMB4cIpXtZexB03SR4AaABAg.9Wxgv4zSzSS9XF-PQrp2HB

Timothy Dalton was originally scheduled to star in the film Christopher Columbus: The Great Discovery, but when he got word that John Glen was going to direct it, he decided to leave the project entirely.

https://www.mi6community.com/discussion/6356/timothy-dalton-and-john-glen

https://debrief.commanderbond.net/topic/55299-dalton-vs-glen/

https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/1583878/James-Bond-Timothy-Dalton-Licence-to-Kill-director-John-Glen

[–] ebhaynz (3689) 2 years ago

I think Dalton knew Glen was a pretty lame, unexciting director. Dalton probably has very high standards.

[–] TMC-4 (20179) 2 years ago

A common criticism that I've heard about Licence to Kill and maybe even all of the '80s era Bond films under John Glen is that they for a lack of a better word, had a "made-for-TV"-style look and feel.

https://www.ajb007.co.uk/discussion/comment/990533/#Comment_990533

https://forums.digitalspy.com/discussion/comment/97253206#Comment_97253206

https://timdalton007.livejournal.com/19486.html

https://setthetape.com/2019/11/28/james-bond-the-road-to-bond-25-part-eighteen-licence-to-kill-1989/

https://www.mi6community.com/discussion/4878/is-licence-to-kill-the-edgiest-bond-film

http://you-only-blog-twice.blogspot.com/2013/10/licence-to-kill-1989.html

https://www.amazon.com/hz/reviews-render/lighthouse/B009GECZQS?filterByKeyword=license+to+kill&pageNumber=1

[–] otis (0) 7 months ago

[deleted]

[–] TMC-4 (20179) 2 months ago

What's weird is that Timothy Dalton had already worked with John Glen before on The Living Daylights. So did he already have issues with Glen before they did Licence to Kill or after the fact? I'm guessing that at the time, he didn't have enough clout or influence regarding who should be directing the Bond movies that he starred in. That could explain why he had to work with him again on Licence to Kill.

[–] maruusa (0) 10 months ago

[deleted]

[–] HellFire (583) 2 months ago

"I think Daniel Craig's a terrific Bond. Interestingly enough I was trying to push for what the Bond films have since become. I wanted it to be tougher, more real, move away from the silliness but when it came down to actually doing it, they didn't want to take the risk. So my two films were a bit of mish-mash of the previous Bond films and what they've gone on to do with the Daniel Craig ones".

Maybe that was it? It's no secret that Dalton was always pushing for his Bond portrayal to be more like the novel one.

[–] DoctorThirteen (14196) 2 months ago

It's not hard to see some common ground in Dalton's and Craig's approaches.