James Bond is assigned to help KGB General Georgi Koskov defect to the West, acting as a counter-sniper covering his escape from a concert hall in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia.

Bond agrees to carry out the mission when he learns that the assassin who killed 004 in Gibraltar (as depicted in the pre-title sequence) left a note reading "Smiert Spionam".

During his brief journey with Kara in Vienna, Bond visits the Prater to meet his MI6 ally, Saunders, who discovers a history of financial dealings between Koskov and Whitaker.

There, Bond confronts Pushkin, who denies any knowledge of "Smert' Shpionam" and reveals that Koskov is evading arrest for embezzlement of government funds.

Kamran Shah and his men jostle in during the intermission and are introduced to now-diplomat General Gogol (Pushkin's predecessor at the KGB), and the Soviets.

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'.

Bond co-producer Michael G. Wilson, director John Glen, Dana and Barbara Broccoli "were impressed with Sam Neill and very much wanted to use him."

[9] 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.

[14] NBC's action caused drastic repercussions,[note 1] as a result of which Broccoli withdrew the offer given to Brosnan, citing that he did not want the character associated with a contemporary television series.

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.

[30] Sean Connery endorsed Dalton in an interview with the Daily Mail,[31] and Desmond Llewelyn enjoyed working with a fellow stage actor.

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 felt they wanted to cast him due to his popularity rather than his acting.

[citation needed] Joe Don Baker was hired based on his performance in Edge of Darkness, which was helmed by future Bond director Martin Campbell.

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.

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,[42] with the exterior shots filmed over the Mojave Desert in the United States.

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.

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.

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.

[51] As Moneypenny tells Bond, Kara is next to perform Alexander Borodin's String Quartet in D major,[52] and the finale to Act II of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro (in Vienna) also features.

[53] When arriving in Vienna, an orchestra outside the hotel in playing a movement from the Wein, Weib und Gesang waltz by Johann Strauss.

"[69] Janet Maslin of The New York Times complimented Dalton's performance, feeling that he had "enough presence, the right debonair looks and the kind of energy that the Bond series has lately been lacking."

While praising the supporting characters, she criticised the long runtime and noted Glen's direction "has the colorful but perfunctory style that goes with the territory, and it's adequate if uninspired.

"[70] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave The Living Daylights two stars out of four, criticising the lack of humour in the protagonist and feeling General Whitaker was "not one of the great Bond villains.

"[71] Gene Siskel of The Chicago Tribune also gave the film two stars out of four, commending Dalton as superior to Roger Moore but feeling he "simply doesn't have the manliness or the charm of Sean Connery."

"[73] 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".

[74] Derek Malcolm of The Guardian wrote Dalton "hasn't the natural authority of Connery nor the facile charm of Moore, but George Lazenby he is not.

He is, in fact, four-square on the Balham Line — decent, daring, not above unorthodoxy but unlikely to ask Q for a fool-proof condom for the Aids era."

"[75] Jay Boyar of the Orlando Sentinel noted: "Dalton shows a serious side that's been missing from the role since Sean Connery's earliest 007 days.

"[76] Richard Corliss of Time magazine gave the film a positive review, stating Dalton "finds some of the lethal charm of Sean Connery, along with a touch of crabby Harrison Ford.

The website's critical consensus states, "Newcomer Timothy Dalton plays James Bond with more seriousness than preceding installments, and the result is exciting and colorful but occasionally humorless.