Licence to Kill
After capturing the notorious drug lord Franz Sanchez, Bond's close friend and former CIA agent Felix Leiter is left for dead and his wife is murdered. Bond goes rogue and seeks vengeance on those responsible, as he infiltrates Sanchez's organization from the inside.
Trailer
Director
John Glen
Writer
Richard Maibaum, Michael G. Wilson, Ian Fleming
Studio
EON Productions, Estudios Churubusco Azteca, United Artists
Release
1989-06-13
Runtime
2h 13m
Genres
Adventure, Action, Thriller
Cast & Characters
James Bond
Timothy Dalton
Pam Bouvier
Carey Lowell
Franz Sanchez
Robert Davi
Lupe Lamora
Talisa Soto
Milton Krest
Anthony Zerbe
Sharkey
Frank McRae
Killifer
Everett McGill
Professor Joe Butcher
Wayne Newton
Did You Know?
Critical Assessment
Licence to Kill holds 6.7/10 on IMDb (121K votes), 79% on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 62% audience score.
A notable gap between the 79% critics score and 62% audience score suggests real disagreement over this entry.
Ratings as of August 3, 2026
AI Verdict
AI-generatedLicence to Kill's 6.7 IMDb average and 79% Rotten Tomatoes score place it solidly mid-pack in the 60-plus-year Bond franchise.
Fan & Critic Buzz
Audiences considered Licence to Kill an atypical Bond film that marked a shift away from campy and whimsical towards gritty and vengeful. Some praised the film's darker tone, while others found it unpleasantly far-fetched. The change in direction was not universally welcomed by fans of the franchise.
Reviews
Effective immediately, your licence to kill is revoked, and I require you to hand over your weapon. Licence to Kill is directed by John Glen and written by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson. It's an original story that uses characters and instances created by Ian Fleming. It…
John Chard · 8/10_**A different kind of Bond**_ Released in 1989, "Licence to Kill" always struck me as the most atypical Bond film. In this one James (Timothy Dalton) goes rogue after a good friend's bride is murdered and the friend is half-eaten by a shark. Stripped of his authority, Bond venge…
Wuchak · 6/10I was just not a fan of Timothy Dalton's "007" and so can't say I was looking forward with much enthusiasm to this. Sadly, it didn't surprise - it's a really far fetched, frankly rather unpleasant, outing for Ian Fleming's deadly agent that sees him on the trail of an evil drug l…
CinemaSerf · 6/10Man, del Toro was only 21 in this film and still makes a showing as one of the most lethal Bond baddies in the history of the franchise. And for those of you who are obsessed with Bondlore, this is the 007 film that references the events in OHMSS which proves that Bond is one per…
GenerationofSwine · 10/10**License to Kill transformers Bond from a goofy punchline to a vengeful unstoppable force, turning the franchise from whimsical to gritty and producing one of the best films of the series.** License to Kill marked a major shift in the franchise away from the campy, goofy, and al…
The Movie Mob · 8/10This 007 film stays true to its motif. This begins an era of "no fun" 007 films, where the wit is very minimal and every scene is whiplash brutal. However, unlike most later 007 films, this one stays true to its design. It doesn't try to "contrive" the story. Instead, there is a…
drystyx · 7/10"Licence to Kill" is unquestionably a very unusual Bond film in every conceivable way imaginable. The larger-than-life villains of the Sean Connery era with their outrageously extravagant plans to blackmail the whole world are completely gone and these elements have been replaced…
kevin2019 · 8/10LD was good and all but Licence to Kill is top 10.
tmdb93836550 · 8/10
