The Living Daylights
represents the first appearance by
Timothy Dalton
as "Bond...James Bond." Based very, very loosely on an obscure
Ian Fleming
short story, the film finds Bond assigned to aid in the defection of KGB agent
Jeroen Krabbe
. 007 must prevent an unknown sniper from killing Krabbe before he can reach the West. The mysterious assailant turns out to be the luscious
Maryam d'Abo
, who like practically everyone in the film except Bond is Not All That She Seems. The plot wends its way through a scheme to trade several million dollars' worth of diamonds for weapons, which will be shipped off to mercenaries worldwide. The climax takes place high above the clouds in a cargo plane loaded with opium. Dalton would play Bond one more time in
License to Kill
(1989) before handing the franchise over to
Pierce Brosnan
.