Synopsis:

Licence to Kill stands out in the Bond series for its sense of danger, brutal villains, and Timothy Dalton's driven 007 – but it's got problems, including off-tone comedy, perplexing love interests, and an obligation to franchise expectations. Licence to Kill: Recut aims to eliminate these problems.

Intentions:

The intended result is a better-paced film that maintains a serious tone, streamlines Bond’s romance with Pam and Lupe, and reduces Q’s presence so the character doesn’t overstay his welcome.

Change List:

- Added fanedit disclaimer. - Cut modern MGM logo. - Cut Sharkey asking Della to drive around the block again. The comedic tone of this scene clashes with the dark tone of the previous scene. - Cut DEA agents running in slow motion. Apparently this was filmed as part of a “Chariots of Fire” gag – however, the music got cut and the shot was left in. The shot is goofy, so it’s gone. - Cut Bond’s line “Let’s go fishing.” Not funny and doesn’t really make sense. - Added “Recut” to title. - Trimmed Bond and Della talking about the wedding cake. She keeps kissing Bond, which is weird enough, but I couldn’t stand the breathy “Thank you” and trotting after him. She seems way too horny for Bond considering she just married another man. - Cut Felix and Della cutting the wedding cake. This part of the movie doesn’t feel like a Bond movie. The sooner it’s over, the better. - Cut establishing shot of wedding party. - Cut Della kissing Bond and saying “we love you.” See earlier note about how horny she seems for Bond. - Cropped out extras running out of frame when Bond parks in front of Felix’s house. - Cut police detective talking to Bond and Sharkey in Felix’s house. Not important. - Cut Krest talking to Lupe about the rigged beauty contest. The audience is supposed to find her beautiful, and her cheating to win a beauty contest undercuts that. - Fixed jump cut when Krest is shooting at Bond. - Trimmed shot of Bond looking scared after being attacked with a decorative swordfish. He’s tougher than that. - Cut Bond lying down with Pam in the boat. The implication is they sleep together here, but it’s too early in the relationship. Pam slowly warms up to Bond over the rest of the movie. - Cut Moneypenny crying and calling Q Branch. It’s a bit much to see her this upset, and we learn later that she called Q for help anyway. - Cut shot of Bond in the street outside bank. Bond is almost entirely obscured by extras walking in front of the camera. - Cut Lupe’s line “You loco? You’ll get us both killed.” Unconvincing delivery. - Cut rest of Q’s scene after he meets Pam. The standard gadget scene feels out of place considering Bond went rogue. We learn enough about the signature gun later anyway (Q gives it to Bond, it’s disguised as a camera, and it’s activated by Bond’s palm print). This also removes the laser camera gag and Pam acting frosty towards Bond (I want a more clear through line of her warming up to Bond, rather than playing hot and cold). - Cut the start of Sanchez’s meeting with the Asian drug dealers, as well as the shot of Q waiting in the street. Not important, and I wanted to stay with Bond’s perspective here. - Cut Bond telling Pam to go home and her looking sad after he leaves. These beats already happened earlier, and they happen again later, so this is repetitive. - Cut Lupe’s line “I love James so much” and Pam getting angry about it. It’s a bad line, badly delivered, and the love triangle idea is outdated and boring. - Cut Q disguised as street sweeper. This feels too silly. - Cut Pam’s plane being dismantled at airport. She acquires another plane immediately, so this scene is pointless. - Moved the cocaine facility explosions up so they start sooner. This makes it slightly easier to believe that Sanchez would abandon the burning facility. - Cut the third soft lens shot of Pam (meant to make her appear angelic, along with the white robe and yellow halo) when she’s shooting Dario. For some reason, there are two shots with soft lens, then one without, then another with. Now there are only two soft lens shots in total. - Added explosion noise behind Bond shouting “Come on!” as he and Pam leave the cocaine facility. Not sure why he’s shouting – now he has a reason. - Cut Pam grabbing the bag of money from Joe Butcher. I like this character, he’s good comic relief, but his last scene is unnecessary. - Cut Felix laughing during phone call with Bond. He sounds too chipper considering what’s happened to him. However, I did have to keep his dialogue because it clarifies that Bond has been invited back to the secret service. - Cut Bond and Lupe joking about the iguana. Again, this feels too lighthearted. The entire ending (Bond choosing between Lupe and Pam) doesn’t really fit the movie, but I like when Bond is romantic, and I couldn’t just end with the death of Sanchez. - Cut winking fish statue. I have no clue why this is here. Rearranged end credits to accommodate this. - Removed half of Patti LaBelle's song "If You Asked Me To" over the end credits and replaced with Gladys Knight's title song. Ends the movie with a more classic James Bond sound. - Added faneditor credit. - Applied colour correction throughout to reduce tinting that was done on the Blu-ray release of the film. - Other minor changes as needed.

Additional Notes:

Note: This edit does not change the movie's title song or titles sequence, because these elements are part of the movie's legacy in the Bond series. No radical aesthetic changes are made in an attempt to modernize the film. Instead, this edit should feel like the same movie that was released theatrically, but optimized.

Other Sources:

Special Thanks:

Thanks to my brother for assisting with the edit and the poster.