Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Licence to Kill

Play trailer Poster for Licence to Kill PG-13 1989 2h 13m Action Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
79% Tomatometer 63 Reviews 62% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
James Bond (Timothy Dalton) takes on his most-daring adventure after he turns renegade and tracks down one of the international drug cartel's most-brutal and powerful leaders. After the murder of his just-married friend, he is fighting not only for country and justice, but for personal revenge!
Watch on Fandango at Home Stream Now

Where to Watch

Licence to Kill

Licence to Kill

What to Know

Critics Consensus

License to Kill is darker than many of the other Bond entries, with Timothy Dalton playing the character with intensity, but it still has some solid chases and fight scenes.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View More
Leonard Maltin Video Review 08/05/2022
3/4
Licence to Kill is just the shot in the arm the James Bond series has been needing. Go to Full Review Chris Stuckmann ChrisStuckmann.com 04/13/2020
B+
I think it's very underrated. Go to Full Review Michael Wilmington Los Angeles Times 05/20/2014
Every once in a while, [the Bond series] pulls in its stomach, pops the gun from its cummerbund, arches its eyebrow and gets off another bull's-eye. The newest, Licence to Kill, is probably one of the five or six best of Bond. Go to Full Review Sarah Cortinaz InSession Film 04/23/2024
Many may have forgotten Dalton’s time as the iconic agent, but whether you remember him or not, it’s worth sinking your teeth into. Go to Full Review Tom Ryan The Sunday Age 07/25/2023
It's helped by Sanchez, its wonderful villain, simultaneously sadistic and principled, played as Bond's opposite with a superbly sinister aloofness by Robert Davi. And the ending is suitably spectacular. Go to Full Review Carson Timar ButteredPopcorn 08/28/2022
B-
This is far from a terrible movie as it is easy to sit through and has plenty of enjoyable moments but it also isn't well balanced enough to be a classic. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
Frank 10/12/2022 The usual unbelevable mess James gets into, with an inevitable bruised and lacerated successful result. Acting is superb to point of making the crazy show believable! See more Stephen C @bob25009 7h The worldwide gross is $156,200,000.00. See more Lanfranco C @Lanfrancobz 9h It is worth to watch again! See more Matt A @SttCMatt Jan 7 We really were robbed of a third outing for Timothy Dalton as James Bond. In Licence to Kill, his second and final appearance as 007, Dalton cements himself as one of the most intriguing and underrated of Bond actors. Here, on a mission driven by vengeance rather than duty, we see Bond at his most cunning and brutal. Yet even amidst the blood and grit, Dalton never loses the underlying charm and intelligence that define the character, a balance few have managed so expertly. Ultimately, Licence to Kill’s biggest flaw is that it was ahead of its time. In 1989, audiences weren’t ready for a Bond this violent, vengeful, and emotionally raw. The image of a bloodied 007 clashes with expectations of suave escapism. Yet, viewed today, the film feels like a precursor to Casino Royale in its grittiness. In retrospect, Licence to Kill stands as a bold, underappreciated entry, not perfect, but daring, driven, and decades ahead of its peers. See more Shaun G Dec 2 Great film, very underrated and would be a top 5 in my book See more Michael C Nov 5 The first genuinely sadistic and fairly unpleasant Bond movie, starring the second worst actor of Bond (George Lazenby being the worst). This was the movie which began to undermine the Bond movie franchise. Sad - the beginning of the slippery slope. They may have made lots of money subsequently but they lost the magic. See more Read all reviews
Licence to Kill

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

View All

John Glen

Director

Timothy Dalton

James Bond

Carey Lowell

Pam Bouvier

Robert Davi

Franz Sanchez

Talisa Soto

Lupe Lamora

Anthony Zerbe

Milton Krest

More Like This

View All
GoldenEye 80% 83% GoldenEye Watchlist The World Is Not Enough 51% 49% The World Is Not Enough Watchlist Pink Cadillac 24% 26% Pink Cadillac Watchlist Operation Condor 80% 63% Operation Condor Watchlist FX2 38% 36% FX2 Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More
View All

Licence to Kill

Licence to Kill (1989) Licence to Kill (1989) Licence to Kill (1989) Licence to Kill (1989) Licence to Kill (1989) Licence to Kill (1989) Scene from the film LICENSE TO KILL. View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis James Bond (Timothy Dalton) takes on his most-daring adventure after he turns renegade and tracks down one of the international drug cartel's most-brutal and powerful leaders. After the murder of his just-married friend, he is fighting not only for country and justice, but for personal revenge!
Director
John Glen
Producer
Michael G. Wilson, Albert R. Broccoli
Screenwriter
Richard Maibaum
Distributor
United Artists
Production Co
United Artists, Danjaq Productions
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Action
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 14, 1989, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 1, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$34.7M
Runtime
2h 13m
Sound Mix
Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Surround, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
Most Popular at Home Now