Trivia for
Licence to Kill (1989) More at IMDb Pro »

• The film was originally to be set in China but production difficulties became insurmountable. Ideas for the film included a motor cycle chase along the Great Wall of China and a sequence in a recently discovered Museum of ancient statues. When the Chinese Government made a number restrictive demands such as veto rights over the script, the viability of the location fell through.
  
  
• Some scenes had to be trimmed to reduce an R rating to a PG-13. It was the first Bond film to receive an American rating higher than PG. The following scenes deleted are: - A shot of Felix' severed leg in the water. - The oriental woman Loti being shot in each breast. - Krest's head exploding against the glass. - Dario's legs being diced as he falls into the mincer. - Sanchez' burning. All of these shots were restored in the 2006 DVD release, Ultimate Edition.
  
  
• In the final chase sequence just after 007 lands on the tanker, Sanchez fires at Bond hitting the truck's fuel tanks. The sound of the bullets ricocheting off the tanks plays the start of the James Bond theme.
  
  

• The "maggots" at Krest's lab in Key West were in reality white plastic fishing grubs.
  
  
• At the end of the film, the credits say only "James Bond will return".
  
  
• First James Bond movie to include tobacco warnings in its closing credits. This was in the form of a United States Surgeon General warning. Smoking of tobacco, cigarettes, cigars occurs in a number of Bond movies and this is the only one of them to include a health warning. The film featured product placement of the Philip Morris Company's Lark Cigarettes.
  
  
• The best man at Felix Leiter's wedding was James Bond. Sharkey was a groomsman. When Della asks Felix at the end of the wedding why Bond is so sad (after she tosses Bond the garter belt), Felix simply says in a bittersweet tone "He was married once. It was a long time ago" This is a reference to the film On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) in which James Bond (then played by George Lazenby) and Tracy Di Vincino (Diana Rigg) get married at the end and Tracy is killed by a drive-by shooting after they leave the wedding reception.
  
  
• The high supercharge modified Kenworth W900B truck in Licence to Kill (1989) had increased horsepower by fitting new turbo charges and injectors.
  
  
• The back-wheelie modified Kenworth W900B truck in Licence to Kill (1989) required new suspension be applied to the rear fault axle as well as a new front axle and fitted with steering brakes. Its horsepower was increased to 1000 hp, two to three times the normal capacity. Truckweld co-ordinated the modification.
  
  
• The driver-less or dual-steering modified Kenworth W900B truck in Licence to Kill (1989) was the largest and most detailed modification of all the trucks for the film Licence to Kill (1989). Apparently, it had not been done before and the process involved electronic engines and two throttle steer peddles being able to operate independently of one another. Truckweld co-ordinated the modification.
  
  
• The movie featured several Kenworth W900B trucks. Three were specifically modified, one so as to be able to do back-wheelies, one with dual-steering and one with a high supercharge engine. They were named Pamela One, Pamela Two and Pamela Three, after the character Pam Bouvier (Carey Lowell) in the movie. Others were simply modified so as to increase their horse power.
  
  
• Vehicles featured in the climactic truck sequence in Licence to Kill (1989) included eight Kenworth W900B trucks, a deluxe Maserati and a 2-seat tricycle Cessna 150 crop-duster airplane.
  
  
• Vehicles featured included several Kenworth W900B trucks; a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow and Rolls Royce Silver Cloud II; Lincoln Continental Mark VII LSC, James Bond's hire car in Key West; Sanchez' silver metallic Maserati Biturbo; a 4-seat high-wing single-engine Cessna 172 Skyhawk airplane and a 2-seat tricycle Cessna 150 airplane; a Piper PA-18-150 "Super Cub" floatplane and Piper J-3 "Cub" airplane; an Aerospatiale HH-65A Dauphin helicopter; a Harbour Pilot's boat, a Cigarette 1 Cafe Racer; the WaveKrest boat; and an electric golf-car at the Olimpatec Meditation Institute.
  
  
• On Licence to Kill - DVD Ultimate Edition Commentary it is revealed that Wayne Newton role as "Professor Joe Butcher" was the fulfillment of an old ambition: to participate in a "James Bond - 007" movie.
  
  
• Despite being one of the least commercially successful Bond movies in the United States, it was considered by director John Glen his best "007". This opinion is shared by some fans and critics who praise the realism of "Licence to Kill".
  
  
• In August 1990, after the box office failure of "Licence to Kill" in the United States, Director John Glen left EON (Albert Broccoli company that produces the 007 movies). Thirteen-time Bond screenwriter Richard Maibaum also left at the same time. Some called this a "bloodless coup".
  
  
• The last feature film role of Robert Brown (as M).
  
  
• First EON Series James Bond film not to take its title from an Ian Fleming James Bond novel or short story, even though there were still some usable titles available such as "Property of a Lady", "Quantum of Solace", "007 In New York", "Risico" and"The Hildebrand Rarity". The story, however, is not completely original, as it takes significant elements from the novel "Live and Let Die" and the short story "The Hildebrand Rarity". The title "Licence To Kill" can be argued though to have been derived from actual wordage written by Ian Fleming as with the text for the title The World Is Not Enough (1999), which is the Bond family motto.
  
  
• The production office in Key West was located on 422 Fleming Street. Ian Fleming was the creator of James Bond.
  
  
• Franz Sanchez' henchmen included the accountant Truman-Lodge, the military commander Heller and the hoods Darius, Braun and Perez.
  
  
• The name of the US Coast Guard vessel moored at the DEA base in Florida was Dauntless.
  
  
• Product placements and sponsorships seen in the movie included Busch; Philip Morris Company / Lark Cigarettes; Kenworth Trucks; Armorlite; Bollinger Champagne and Aerospatial Helicopters.
  
  
• Franz Sanchez' daily surplus of drug money profits was $10 million. The buy-in amount to his drug cartel for the Asian businessmen was $100 million per territory. That equated to $20 million per metric ton. Each of Sanchez' trucks at the end of the movie contained a 31,600 pound mixture of cocaine & gasoline worth $40+ million. The names of the Asian anti-drug intelligence agents were Kwang and Loti. Their organization was Hong Kong Narcotics.
  
  
• The motor-boat that Lupe supposedly went shopping in was named Pirata.
  
  
• The cocaine drug stash captured by James Bond was valued at $4.9 million.
  
  
• The card game played at the casino was Blackjack. The name of the casino was the Casino de Isthmus City.
  
  
• The name of the vessel that played Milton Krest's research vessel was the "J.W. Powell".
  
  
• Felix's bride Della's wedding dress was made of re-embroidered French Llace adorned with seed pearls and opal sequins. Two versions of the dress had to be made because the scenes where Della is attacked were filmed before the wedding sequence. Therefore, 17 meters of the material had to be located at $150 a meter. The Leiter's bridal car was a white Lincoln Limousine.
  
  
• Extras during the wedding scene include Doug Redenius, a postman from Chicago, Illinois who owns one of the largest collections of Bond memorabilia, Sandi Sentell, a gym teacher from Atlanta, Georgia, who won a MTV/ VH1 competition to appear in the film (in the film, a bystander is seen wearing a VH1 t-shirt with the late 1980s logo design), and still photographer Keith Hamshere, as the wedding photographer.
  
  
• The phone number to ring Joe Butcher's telethon was 555 LOVE.
  
  
• The gadgets in Q's old traveling case included an alarm clock; Dentonite toothpaste; a laser camera and a signature gun with optical palm reader.
  
  
• The CIA's CD-ROM contained information about Franz Sanchez which included his Swiss Bank accounts, investments, warrants, indictments and informants. Of the latter there were nine of whom eight were deceased. These included: Henry Steiner, James Murphy, Jose Pico, H. Keen and Jeffrey Giggins. The one active alive informant was Pam Bouvier.
  
  
• The number of felony counts faced by Franz Sanchez in Florida amounted to 139. These added up to a total sentence of 936 prison years.
  
  
• Sharkey's fishing boat was named Pa Ja Ma.
  
  
• The screenplay for the movie was inspired by the Akira Kurosawa classic Yojimbo (1961).
  
  
• The Ian Fleming short story "The Hildebrand Rarity", upon which part of this film was based, originated as a script for a never-produced James Bond TV series in the 1950s.
  
  
• The license plate number of Franz Sanchez' getaway car in Isthmus City is GLD 376.
  
  
• The license plate number of the white limousine that transports groom Felix Leiter and bride Della Churchill to their wedding was reception was ZLY 621.
  
  
• Cameo: [Michael G. Wilson] voice of a DEA Agent.
  
  
• Governor Bob Martinez of the state of Florida presented Albert R. Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson and head of marketing Charles Juroe each with the Great Seal of the State of Florida during a month's filming at Key West. The Governor also won a walk-on part in the film as a customs officer at the Key West airport.
  
  
• The message engraved on the back of the gold cigarette lighter given to James Bond by groom Felix Leiter and bride Della Churchill says: "JAMES, LOVE ALWAYS. DELLA & FELIX".
  
  
• Tina Banta suggested Robert Davi to director John Glen to play the part of drug baron villain Franz Sanchez.
  
  
• Cameo: [Wayne Newton] The Las Vegas performer played a cameo in a credited performance as a tele-evangelist called Professor Joe Butcher. His character was a dig at tele-evangelists at the time who had been exposed during the mid-1980s as being involved in extra-marital affairs and/or general promiscuity.
  
  
• Making their final appearances with the James Bond series: Richard Maibaum (writer), Maurice Binder (title design), Robert Brown as M and Caroline Bliss as Moneypenny. Not to mention Timothy Dalton as James Bond.
  
  
• The project was originally entitled "Licence Revoked" and teaser artwork was produced with this title. Among the reasons for changing the title was to avoid confusion with the 1981 James Bond novel, "Licence Renewed," written by John Gardner (who ended up writing a novel based on this film as well). It has also been widely reported that a survey revealed that fewer than 50% of Americans questioned knew what "revoked" meant.
  
  
• Many of the plot elements are taken from the Ian Fleming novel "Live and Let Die" (which were not used in the movie of that title). Some of these elements are the partial dismemberment of Felix Leiter by sharks, the sign put on his nearly dead body which reads "He disagreed with something that ate him", and the smuggling of illegal merchandise (drugs in the movie, pirate's booty in the novel) using the cover of exotic fish.
  
  
• There was a minor controversy when the film was being made as to whether the British or American spelling ("licence" or "license") would be used in the title. The British spelling won out.
  
  
• Cameo: [Pedro Armendáriz Jr.] President Hector Lopez. His father Pedro Armendáriz played Kerim Bay in From Russia with Love (1963).
  
  
• Director Trademark: [John Glen] [pigeon] When Bond lands on the balcony outside Sanchez's office at the casino, he's startled by a flock of pigeons flying in his face.
  
  
• The character of President Hector Lopez (played by Pedro Armendáriz Jr.) was named after Héctor López, who was the production supervisor of the shoot in Mexico.
  
  
• The name of the bank was the Banco de Isthmus. It was filmed at Mexico's main post office, an old elaborate building of European styling. A real bank in Mexico called Bancomer denied permission to shoot there because it was felt that the image of the bank in the movie would be affected by the fictional money laundering story elements.
  
  
• Last James Bond film for six years. Legal wrangling over the ownership of the franchise, coupled by the death of longtime screenwriter Richard Maibaum and the decision by Timothy Dalton not to play the role a third time, delayed the release of the next film. For the first time, a Bond film was not made in Britain. Due to high production costs, it was decided to film much of the movie in Mexico.
  
  
• The role of Lupe Lamora was initially offered to Maria Conchita Alonso.
  
  
• In Italy, title was "Vendetta Privata" (Personal Revenge or Private Revenge), not following the translation, because the first Bond film (Dr. No (1962)) was titled "Licenza di Uccidere", the translation of this title film. The literal translation for the Japanese title was "The Cancelled License".
  
  
• The set for the Fox TV show "Paradise Island" (1977) is the same location used for Sanchez' (Robert Davi) house.
  
  
• Just like in the Italian release, the movie had a title not correctly translated in Sweden: It was called "Tid för hämnd" (Time for revenge), because Dr. No (1962) had been translated as "Agent 007 med rätt att döda" (Agent 007 with a license to kill).
  
  
• John Rhys-Davies was offered a cameo role as General Pushkin but declined the offer.
  
  
• Bond's controversial betrayal of M was, in part, a way to sidestep the fact that the British have no jurisdiction over a Latin American drug cartel.
  
  
• Sanchez is from Isthmus City, a reference to the country of Panama which lies on an isthmus and the corrupt dictator Manuel Noriega, whom the CIA were working very hard to oust, at the time. He was eventually deposed by U.S. troops on the same year this film was released.
  
  
• This was the last Bond film to be produced by Albert R. Broccoli. He died less than a year after the release of the next Bond film, GoldenEye (1995).
  
  
• A good portion of Bond's plan to get close to Sanchez comes from the novel "Goldfinger", when Bond recounts to himself his exploits in breaking up a Central American drug ring.
  
  
• The scene where Bond resigns from the MI6 was shot at Ernest Hemingway's house in Key West. That's why when M (Robert Brown) informs 007 that his licence to kill is revoked, he replies, "I guess this is a farewell to arms," a nod to one of Hemingway's most famous novels.
  
  
• In AMC's Bond Girls Are Forever (2002) (TV), Carey Lowell said that she shut her eyes and flinched every time she fired the gun and had to be trained to fire with her eyes open because a CIA op would not flinch. However, she still winces a bit whenever she fires the handgun.
  
  
• During the scene where James Bond is hanging by a hook over the cocaine grinder, Benicio Del Toro's character is cutting him loose. During filming he actually cut Timothy Dalton's hand and the scene had to be stopped so he could be stitched up.
  
  
• Due to the Writers' Guild of America strike in 1989, long-time James Bond scriptwriter Richard Maibaum was unable to continue working on the screenplay. A long time member of the Guild, Maibaum felt he could not betray his membership and ghost-write the script. Co-writer Michael G. Wilson had to complete the screenplay on his own. This was to be the fifth and final pairing for the Maibaum-Wilson writing team which had started with For Your Eyes Only (1981).
  
  
• Taglines on early posters for the film when it was known as "Licenced Revoked" included "You're looking at the world's most wanted man" and "Dismissed. Disgraced. Dishonored. Deadly."
  
  
• The title of Professor Joe Butcher's book that he holds in his hand whilst giving his sermon was "Secrets of Cone Power Revealed".
  
  
• The license plate number of the Rolls Royce car that Q (Desmond Llewelyn) drives in the fictional Isthmus City was RSD 522.
  
  
• When they check into their hotel, Bond refers to Pam Bouvier as Mrs. Kennedy, a reference to Jacqueline Kennedy, whose maiden name was Bouvier. Pam Bouvier's alias in Isthmus City was actually Miss Kennedy, James Bond's executive secretary. Q's alias in Isthmus City was as James Bond's uncle.
  
  
• Last Bond movie directed by John Glen.
  
  
• The literal translations of some of the movie's foreign language titles include Personal Revenge (France); The Cancelled Licence (Japan); Time For Revenge (Sweden); With A Right To Kill (Norway); Private Revenge (Italy) and 007 Licence To Kill (Brazil, Finland, Portugal and Spain).
  
  
• First EON Productions James Bond movie to receive a '15' Rating by the British Board of Film Classification. The highest rating in all previous entries in the series had been a 'PG' level rating.
  
  
• Franz Sanchez' pet which he often carried on this shoulder was an iguana. At one stage it wears a diamond necklace evoking Blofeld's cat from Diamonds Are Forever (1971).
  
  
• James Bond's weapon (on loan from the U.S. Coast Guard) during the opening pre-credits sequence was a 9 mm 16 round Beretta 92F (at the time of filming, Beretta 92F pistols were issued to U.S. civilian law enforcement agencies and the U.S. military). This marks the first time that Bond is seen with a Beretta in decades (in Dr. No (1962), M ordered that Bond carry a different pistol, his signature Walther PPK as a replacement).
  
  
• CIA Agent Pam Bouvier's weapon which was kept in a gun holster at the top of her black lace left leg garter was a .25 caliber Beretta 950 automatic.
  
  
• Whilst on the set of "Scarlett" (1994), Timothy Dalton officially announced his resignation from the role of James Bond on 11 April 1994.
  
  
• According to the DVD commentary, Timothy Dalton was unavailable for Talisa Soto's screen test, so Robert Davi filled the role of Bond, and proved rather good in the part.
  
  
• When Truman-Lodge (Anthony Starke) says that the set up cost them $32 million dollars, that is an inside joke, a reference to the film's $32 million dollar budget.
  
  
• The climactic truck sequence in Licence to Kill (1989) took several weeks to film. It was produced by current Bond producer Barbara Broccoli.
  
  
• Final Bond film in which Richard Maibaum had a part in writing the screenplay. He would pass away in 1991. This was also the final Bond film on which long-time title sequence designer Maurice Binder worked. He too passed away in 1991.
  
  
• Long-time James Bond series producer Albert R. Broccoli fell sick during the production of this movie. The thinness of the air in Mexico affected his lungs and breathing and he left the location accompanied by wife Dana Broccoli and daughter Barbara Broccoli. He was unable to return and this was the last James Bond movie in which he was on the set.
  
  
• When M says to James Bond, "Your Licence to kill is revoked", both the film's title and working title ("Licence Revoked") are referenced at the same time.
  
  

• SPOILER: The sequence of Leiter being maimed by the shark is from Ian Fleming's novel "Live and Let Die". Actor David Hedison played Lieter in the film version of Live and Let Die (1973), and returns to the Leiter role in this film, meeting the fate of the character as written in the original novel. In the book, Felix loses and arm and part of a leg, but in the film he loses a leg but not an arm.
  
  
• SPOILER: Based on the events of this film, James Bond and Felix Leiter now share the unfortunate bond of losing their wife on their wedding day.
  
  

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