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Bond himself isn't a whole lot nicer. When he finds the man responsible for Felix's wounds, he tosses him into the same shark tank, along with the two million dollars the man was paid. Over the next couple of hours Bond locks a goon in a drawer full of maggots, sets a guy on fire and runs another through a cocaine grinder. It's gruesome, heavy subject matter, and resulted in Licence to Kill receiving the series' first PG-13 rating, and even that required the trimming of some blood and guts.

Timothy Dalton portrays Bond as strikingly focused, his eyes on the prize at all times; even when he's talking someone to bed, you get the sense that his mind is elsewhere. The phrase "Bond, James Bond" never leaves his lips, and when he orders his martini shaken, not stirred, he does it dismissively as a way to get Bouvier out of his hair. Dalton replaces charm with intensity, and pulls off beautifully one of the most emotional moments of the entire series. Felix's wife insists on Bond taking her garter, implying he will be next to get married; Bond objects, then reluctantly takes it and slinks away - before Felix opens his mouth, we know James has been married before and it didn't end well. It's a heartbreaking and subtle scene, and makes me wish Dalton had been able to star in more than Bond pictures. His take on the character in Licence to Kill and The Living Daylights is drastically underappreciated - and was a clear precursor for Daniel Craig's highly regarded turn in Casino Royale.

Also unfortunate was Licence to Kill's box office performance. Released in the summer of 1989, it was up against a foreboding slate of competition: Lethal Weapon 2, Batman, Ghostbusters II, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, and The Abyss were all vying for entertainment dollars, and this 16th entry in the Bond series lost out. Six years later, Pierce Brosnan took up the mantle in GoldenEye, and the series traded gritty realism for fantasy set pieces and one-liners. That made a lot of people a lot of money, but also gave us Denise Richards as a rocket scientist.

The final Bond film directed by John Glen, who helmed four previous installments, and featuring a lovely score by Michael Kamen, Licence to Kill is worth a second look by anyone who wants to see more of the vengeful Bond of Quantum of Solace, who dismissed Dalton as a placeholder for Brosnan (despite him having been considered for the part in the late '60s, and again in 1980), or who just love the excesses of the '80s action genre. The story is engaging, the stunts are terrific (some really remarkable things are done with a semi late in the game), and the Bond girls are actually integral to the plot. Audiences in 1989 may have preferred to watch Sean Connery as Indiana Jones' dad over a new incarnation of the British super agent, but thanks to the gorgeous and inexpensive Ultimate Edition DVDs, you can find out how James Bond lost his Licence to Kill.

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