Moore in TLD: If it HAD to be done, could he have done it?

If Dalton couldn't have done it, could Rog have scraped through one more film, albeit with a few script adjustments?

Did Rog deserve a better final film? Or should the role have been recast altogether if Dalton had been unavailable? If so, who would you have cast?

Or could an age-adjusted TLD starring Moore have really sent him out on an all-time high...?

Love the poster.

Had Moore stayed it would have obviously been much different, probably more AVTAK like. Wilson stated that when writing TLD a Bond actor hadn't been cast so he and Maibaum decided to write Bond much more straight than they would have with Moore in the role. By the time Dalton was finally cast I think they were only able to alter a few bits to reflect Dalton's interpretation "stuff my orders!" but then there was still the one-liners that Dalton just wasn't comfortable with.

I think TLD would be an even stronger entry had Dalton been cast immediately instead of EON having to go through the trouble with him being unavailable at first because of Brenda Starr, then the fiasco with Brosnan and having to push back production when time was running out. With Dalton ahead of time, Maibaum and Wilson could have written the script that would compliment Dalton's sensibilities a lot like how Mankiewicz wrote LALD in mind for Moore's sensibilities. Just look at the difference in LTK when they finally had the opportunity to have Dalton in mind while writing.

This is right up Scashy's alley for one thing.

Another is that I fear as much as I like Moore that in Daylights it would've been a bit of a disaster. Assuming TLD was much the same as in reality some scenes would be played more for laughs perhaps or cringeworth -most Bond/Kara moments perhaps. Then again maybe he would have upped his game but by then it would have been too late.

Mr. Brown wrote:

Love the poster.

Hilly wrote:

This is right up Scashy's alley for one thing.

Another is that I fear as much as I like Moore that in Daylights it would've been a bit of a disaster. Assuming TLD was much the same as in reality some scenes would be played more for laughs perhaps or cringeworth -most Bond/Kara moments perhaps. Then again maybe he would have upped his game but by then it would have been too late.

Agree on both counts.

While Moore was terrific in the role 1973-1983, OP should've been his finale. He was waaaay too long in the tooth for the role by AVTAK and a TLD with a 1987 Moore would've been ridiculous. Dalton's relative youth and energy in the role along with his onscreen chemistry with Maryam d'Abo are huge factors in TLD being the great Bond film it is. Nobody but Dalton should've been Bond in it just as nobody but Connery should've been Bond in TB and nobody but Moore should've been Bond in MR.

All I know is that if Moore had been in TLD, St George would love the whole film.

I don't think Moore in TLD would've been any good. TLD feels so fresh at that point, and I'm inclined to think a new Bond was one of the main reasons for this. Everyone on the production seemed to put in that little extra, and I'm not sure they would've cared to do that for Moore. Of course, if it was known that TLD was to be Moore's final film, perhaps they would've tried harder. One of the problems with Moore's run was that he always kept 'coming back' - no-one knew if the next film would be his last. They really should've just played it safe and let him finish with OP, which I think shares many great qualities with TLD anyway (romantic, adventurous, Cold War elements, simultaneously fun and down-to-earth). What a great note to end on OP would've been.

If TND had been made in 1977 - with Moore in his prime, a bigger budget and some finer trimmings, I reckon it couldve been a great film.

With Moore in the '87 version, he wouldve hardly looked the part, but still would have been more enjoyable than Dalton. Mixing the two together kind of leaves a neutral effect on it, so we still wouldve seen a decently unspectacular film like we got with TLD anyway.

TLD had Bond exploring monogamy and practising safe sex....unheard of in a Roger Moore Bond flick. I doubt the ol' Rog could have pulled it off. Sorry.

James Bond... Living on Viagra.

Rog's age was beginning to show by OP, and was very evident in AVTAK ... can you imagine the likes of TLD's pre-credit sequence with him in it?

Good God, no.

I can't imagine Rog in those scenes and in those locations. It would be awful.

Roger should have called it quits with OP. Whether you like the film or not, it was a much stronger exit than AVTAK.

I don't Roger doing Bond in 1985 was necessarily bad. He was old, yes. He looked it, yes. I feel if the script had been more tailored toward this it could have been a more respectable outing. Having Bond running around with young girls and all that just doesn't work with his age.

I just can't imagine him doing The Living Daylights. And thank god he didn't.

Louis Armstrong wrote:

All I know is that if Moore had been in TLD, St George would love the whole film.

As much as I love Sir Rog, I wouldn't want to see some balding stunt double chase after that assassin's van in the PTS.

CJB wrote:

As much as I love Sir Rog, I wouldn't want to see some balding stunt double chase after that assassin's van in the PTS.

Personally I think a AVTAK reprise would have been in order - maybe he couldve skateboarded after it to the tunes of Michael Jackson or something?

Or ride a magic carpet even - oh wait. ;)

While Moore was a very good Bond in his own right. The Living Daylights is in my top 3 thanks to Dalton's gritty performance.

Moore in TLD would really be pushing the boundaries. Moore's age in AVTAK wasn't a major problem for me as it is for some people I think a 60 year old Bond would be hard to take.

Moore should have left after FYEO although I like his performances in OP and AVTAK.

Whether or not I am in the minority with this opinion, but I thought Moore looked - quite obviously - too old for the role as early as in Moonraker. It went from awkward to comical in OP and then especially in AVTAK.

So my answer is quite obviously a big NO. If they had been forced to do so it would have significantly changed the movie. And not for the better.

Not really. I can see why the producers thought of him staying, probably didn't want another 3 Bonds in 3 Films as we saw from 1969-1973.

I thought AVTAK could have worked better if the script had been tailored to his age. Instead of all out action, perhaps more of a story driven, mystery type plot like Dr. No could have worked better. With that said, I really think OP would have been a strong farewell for Roger.

I just can't picture him in the Living Daylights, in any of the scenes. Just can't do it.

So, no. Hell no.

I don't think it could have been done. It was hard enough watching him in AVTAK, as an old man, the thought of him back for TLD is scary.

Roger certainly could have done this movie. One of the things that I like about him is that his enthusiasm for the franchise never seemed to wane, even at the end of 7 movies. Connery seemed less enthusiastic by the end of his movies, Brosnan seemed that way by DAD, Craig seems bored with the movies now, and Lazenby gave up after one movie, but I never got that feeling from Moore. Thats the impression I get from the actors, personally.

As much as I loved his movies though, TLD was a fresh start and a healthy choice for the franchise. Moore's version of TLD would be more of the same formula that he used in the rest of his movies, just slowed down due to his increasing age. Dalton was something new and an enjoyable change.

This scene was cut out of Daylights ... although John Glen doesn't mention here that it was thought to be 'too 'Moore', I think it's likely amongst the reasons.



The obviousness of the transition from the location shooting to the studio-bound scenes with the banner being strung across the street and Bond then swinging on it might also have been a factor.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

This scene was cut out of Daylights ... although John Glen doesn't mention here that it was thought to be 'too 'Moore', I think it's likely amongst the reasons.  



The obviousness of the transition from the location shooting to the studio-bound scenes with the banner being strung across the street and Bond then swinging on it might also have been a factor.

Roger could not have pulled this movie off. Considering that many felt he was way out of his depth in AVTAK (which is one of my favorite films), I don't see how he could have made TLD work. Kara's naivety and innocence would have made Moore's Bond seem like a dirty old man taking advantage of her. I could never, ever buy Moore in a turban shooting out the back of a Russian transport plane with an AK-47 (especially after his reluctance to push The Dove off the cliff in FYEO and his well-documented disagreement with showing Zorin murdering his own men with a machine gun).

It was getting near impossible to properly stunt double Moore with any credibility. OCTOPUSSY should have been his swan song, and AVTAK would've made a nice entryway for a new actor to take over.

The cut scene from TLD was cut for a good reason; I liked the ideas, though. They should retry that stunt in a future movie.

The 'physicality' of Bond that TLD regained with the casting of an actor 20 years Rog's junior would've been gone if he'd done it ... the shots in the pre-credits where Dalton can actually be seen clinging to the roof of the Land Rover for real, for example.

I read recently that TLD was never actually written with Moore in mind. Two full treatments were written by Maibaum and Wilson that Cubby rejected before they settled on the film we ended up getting, and this was after Moore had decided AVTAK was his last.