You know that scene in The Dark Knight Rises where a plane is yanked from the sky and pulled by another larger plane? This movie did it first, but with a helicopter pulling a plane. And with a Triumphant Reprise of the Bond theme (called "License Revoked" on the soundtrack) as the cherry on the cake.
The crowner is Felix and James parachuting down directly down to Felix's wedding - leading to a wedding where the groom's outfit has a longer train than the bride's.
Bond's final battle against Sanchez, leading to Bond using Felix's present - a lighter - to set a gasoline-soaked Sanchez on fire and giving him a quite Karmic Death.
Timothy Dalton deserves a nod in regards to that scene for not using a stunt double when Bond is running from the explosion. In more than one interview around the time the movie came out, Dalton said he was practically running for his life.
The scene at the Hemingway House where M appears in person to order 007 to leave Sanchez to the Americans. Previous stories had Bond considering leaving the service in disgust. This time...
Bond: Sir, they're not going to do anything. (Beat) I owe it to Leiter. He's put his life on the line for me many times. M: Oh, spare me this sentimental rubbish! He knew the risks. Bond: And his wife? M: This private vendetta of yours could easily compromise Her Majesty's government. You have an assignment, and I expect you to carry it out objectively and professionally. Bond (with suppressed rage): Then you have my resignation, sir! M (angry): We're not a country club, 007! (beat) Effective immediately. Your licence to kill is revoked, and I require you to hand over your weapon. Now. I need hardly remind you that you're still bound by the Official Secrets Act. Bond (reluctantly): Well, then I guess it's, uh... A farewell to arms.
Bond sees a bunch of Sanchez's goons coming up to his yacht with the corpse of Bond's ally, Sharkey, one joking about having the guy hung up like a fish. Instead of a clean escape, Bond takes the time to grab a spear gun, tell the killer "Compliments of Sharkey" and nail the guy as payback. As the movie illustrates, never screw with Bond's friends.
Bond, underwater, harpoons the pontoon of a seaplane, rises to the surface, skis until he's alongside it, climbs into it when it's in the air, and throws the pilots out. All this and escaping with the laundered cash in it.
Q coming to Isthmus to help Bond get revenge for the Leiters, entirely unofficially. This is the only film in which Desmond Llewellyn's Q actually has a dramatic role in the plot, instead of just showing up for a light-hearted scene to set up how Bond's gadgets worknote Barring the end of Octopussy, although even there his appearance is intended as a comedy moment, not a character moment. Also, he just throws away one of his precious Q-Branch gadgets after he's done with it .
The fact that Bond is able to win Sanchez's trust by admitting his status as a British agent leaves the drug lord with no reason to feel suspicious of Bond. Bond is able to utilize this to great effect in making Sanchez vulnerable until he has the opportunity to take him down.
The signature gun all by itself is made of this. The reaction of the ninjas when they are unable to use it against Bond is priceless.
Pam Bouvier's Show Some Leg on a cult leader where she pulls a pistol from her thigh holster on him.
Joe Butcher: Bless your heart!
Pam posing as "Miss Kennedy". Say what you want, she's the sexiest Bond Girl who managed to be so without needing to wear a bikini.
Don't forget that to avoid getting hit with a Stinger, Bond does some Car Skiing. With an 18-wheeler. Sanchez's Mooks understandably stare in disbelief, Bond stares back with an "I'm James Bloody Bond" smile on his face.
And yet again, this was a triumph for the stunt drivers and coordinator Rémy Julienne. The crew had a rig built so that the truck could be propped up and drive at a 45-degree angle. The stunt drivers insisted they could do it for real, and they did.
(Bond throws the suitcase back at Killifer, who then falls into the Shark Pool and is promptly attacked by sharks)
Basically, this whole movie is about showing us just how dangerous Bond can be if you really piss him off because all of the training he's used on his countless missions is still there, he's just more cold-hearted and entirely ruthless. It's equal parts awesome and terrifying. The Cartel that's said to be the biggest and most ruthless in The Americas is nothing but fuming ruins by the end.
Bond doing what he does through the course of the film JUST to get revenge for Felix doesn't entirely wash, but when you consider Della's fate, and the fact that Felix's wife was murdered on her wedding day the same as Bond's was, Bond's relentless obsession to destroy Sanchez makes a lot more sense. Sanchez's actions rip open Bond's own healed scars from what happened to him, plus, what Sanchez does to Felix and Della is even WORSE than what happened to him and Tracy. The film goes out of its way to remind us Bond was married in the garter scene before Bond leaves the wedding party, and he refuses to let M brush off Della's death as "part of the risks" of Felix's job when they have their confrontation scene.
Pam Bouvier....PERIOD! She's a genuine Action Girl who kicks tail as well as Bond and her presence is especially refreshing considering the other young women in this film consist of a helpless rape/murder victim and a girlfriend of the Big Bad who's a constant victim of Domestic Abuse (though she does become slightly more empowered as the movie goes on and helps out Bond). She even puts Dario in his "place" twice....She holds him off when he's pervin' on her by pointing her shotgun at his (rather excited) neither regions AND she's the one who helps kill Dario by shooting him so Bond can yank the goon into the cocaine shredder, made all the more satisfactory as he was the one who raped Della.note One can only imagine Della looking upon it all from the peaceful Hereafter, smiling. In an odd way; Licence to Kill is an incredibly Feminist Bond film.
Bond demonstrates his improv skills and shows how quickly he can think on the fly, as his plan to turn Sanchez against his own people is largely taking place in real-time. When something goes wrong, he talks/works his way out of it, or gets a break, and much of Bond's plan against Sanchez works very well. Also, even in the third act when Sanchez turns on Bond, he still doesn't know why Bond is after him, he just believes he's some type of informant because that's what Dario believes Bond is. Sanchez doesn't know Bond's true objective until the very end of the film, and he has about five seconds to process it before Bond torches him.
After Pam tells him that she was trying to get Heller to turn on Sanchez and that Bond's failed assassination attempt on Sanchez made her own plans go belly up, you can almost see the switch flip in Bond's head. He starts thinking things through more, acts less impulsively, and broadens his scope to not only defeat Sanchez but finish what the other agents working against Sanchez started. He successfully completes every objective.
