Bond is on a mission in Bratislava to aid the defection of General Georgi Koskov of the KGB, played by Jeroen Krabbé, by acting as a counter-sniper as the general attends a concert. However, he disobeys orders by refusing to kill the sniper, a virtuoso cellist and girl of the week Kara Milovy, played by Maryam d'Abo. Back in England, Koskov claims that General Leonid Pushkin, the new head of the KGB played by John Rhys-Davies, is planning to kill several British and American agents. He is abducted by the KGB shortly afterwards, and Bond is assigned a mission to assassinate Pushkin as he attends an event in Tangier. However, he secretly investigates Milovy and learns that she is romantically involved with Koskov, suggesting his defection was staged, and that he may be involved with General Brad Whitaker, an American arms dealer played by Joe Don Baker.
Set pieces include a car chase with a gadget-laden Aston Martin V8, an escape across the rooftops in Tangier, and a skirmish at a Soviet airbase in Afghanistan. I did have some doubts about the girl of the week, feeling she might be a gullible damsel, but even she gets an active role in the film's climax. She did present herself as a load at first, wanting to take her cello with her to Vienna, but even that proves to be useful when they have to leave the car and escape down a slope.
There's not really that much I can say without spoiling the surprises this film throws. I especially think that the down-to-earth story is a welcome break from the superweapons and world domination schemes of most of the films so far. Necros is a pretty cool henchman too.
All in all, this one is pretty good, and worth checking out. In fact, I might rate this one quite highly.
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