Factual error: When the air hose on the truck is severed, the brakes release. In reality, on an air-braking system, if the air hose is severed, the brakes lock on as a safety measure.
Licence to Kill (1989)
Directed by: John Glen
Starring: Desmond Llewelyn, Timothy Dalton, Robert Davi, Talisa Soto, Carey Lowell
Continuity mistake: In the scene on the plane, you see Bond hanging at the door on the right side of the plane. In the next shot, you see the plane making a left turn. In the following shot, Bond is still hanging on the right-side door. Shouldn't he have fallen into the plane?
Factual error: The discharge from an electric eel doesn't make flashes of light or sparks in the water, as shown in this film. (00:30:00)
Trivia: This was Timothy Dalton's second and last appearance as James Bond. He initially agreed to play Bond for a third time in "GoldenEye" (1995), but resigned from the role in 1994, believing that too much time had passed since "Licence to Kill".
Trivia: When Sanchez is chasing Bond in the trucks, and when he starts to shoot Bond with the Uzi, listen to the ricochet off the bullets. They sound like the James Bond theme tune.
Trivia: Not really a mistake, because it's said by a desperate man, but it amused me. Bond's got the DEA traitor hanging over a shark, and the only way the traitor can escape is with Bond's help. He says to Bond, "there's 2 million dollars in that suitcase – I'll split it with you". How stupid does he think Bond is? James can either rescue this bloke he obviously wants to kill and get $1 million, or he can let him die and keep all $2 million for himself. Let me think...
Felix Leiter: Where's my wife?
Dario: Don't worry. We gave her a nice Honeymooooon.
Franz Sanchez: Señor Bond, you got big cojones. You come here, to my place, without references, carrying a piece, throwing around a lot of money... but you should know something: nobody saw you come in, so nobody has to see you go out.
Franz Sanchez: In this business, there's a lot of cash. And a lot of people with their hands out.
Kwang: In a word... bribery.
Franz Sanchez: Exactly. He took the words right out of my pocket.
Question: When Cary Lowell arrives at the religious compound run by Wayne Newton to "donate" money, they don't let her in at first. She begs and says "But I came all the way from Wichita Falls." Being from Wichita Falls, Texas (a city not real well known throughout the US since it's relatively small) I'm curious as to how this line got into the film. Does someone working on the film have some connection to Wichita Falls?
Question: Is License To Kill the first Bond movie that isn't based on a novel or short story?
Chosen answer: "License to Kill" is partly based on the novel "Live and Let Die" and the short story "Hilderbrand Rarity". However, it is the first Bond film not titled after a book. While "The Spy Who Loved Me" shares its name with a book, it was the first Bond film not based on a book (though subsequently, there was a novelization of the film.) "Goldeneye" is the first film not based on a book AND not titled after a book.
Question: Why didn't Timothy Dalton make any more Bond movies after this one?
Answer: Dalton was still contracted to play Bond in the next Bond film, Goldeneye. However, due to legal battles between MGM and EON productions, the film was delayed so long that Dalton simply lost interest and quit his role. He said afterwards in 2007 that, "I was supposed to make one more but it was cancelled because MGM and the film's producers got into a lawsuit which lasted for five years. After that, I didn't want to do it any more."
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Answer: Just why they chose this city is not known. It was probably chosen for an inside reason, i.e. one of the writers or producers was from there, and they wanted to give a nod to their hometown.
raywest ★