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Licence to Kill (1989)
Licence to Kill (1989) poster

Licence to Kill (1989)

Adventure, Action, Thriller • 2h 13m

Director: John Glen

Best English-friendly release

Updated 11 months ago

Best video release

MGM Blu-ray despite Lowry master issues


Best audio release

Dolby SR US PG-13 cut Theatrical mix: 1993 MGM LaserDisc

Uncut version: 1990 Japan Pan and Scan LaserDisc

MGM 5.1 remix noticeably reduces elements of original mix


About the film

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.

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Part of James Bond 007

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Director: Terence Young

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray, despite prevalent frozen grain

Best Audio:

1991 Criterion LaserDisc with end credits from 1992 MGM LaserDisc

Additional Info:

Criterion LaserDisc includes an exclusive commentary, which was later banned by EON and caused the release to be recalled.

Director: Lewis Gilbert

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Director: Guy Hamilton

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1988 MGM VHS Hi-Fi, 1988 LaserDisc analog

Additional Info:

Criterion LaserDisc includes an exclusive commentary, which was later banned by EON and caused the release to be recalled.

Director: Terence Young

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray despite frozen grain

Best Audio:

UK mix: 1984 CBS Fox VHS Hifi but missing one scene
International mix: WB 4K Blu-ray though source origin is unknown

1995 MGM stereo remix: 1998 LaserDisc and 2000 DVD fix gunbarrel dropout

Director: Terence Young

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray despite some frozen grain

Best Audio:

1992/1993 MGM LaserDisc

Additional Info:

Criterion LaserDisc includes an exclusive commentary, which was later banned by EON and caused the release to be recalled.

Director: Guy Hamilton

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

MGM 1990/1993 LaserDisc

Director: Martin Campbell

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

MGM 4K Blu-ray

Director: Sam Mendes

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

MGM 4K Blu-ray

Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga

Best English-Friendly & Video:

US Universal 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

(for original forced subtitles font)

Additional Info:

IMAX sequences have not been released on home video to date

Directors: Val Guest & Ken Hughes & John Huston & Joseph McGrath & Robert Parrish

Best English-Friendly:

MGM Blu-ray 

Best Video:

MGM Blu-ray despite dated master

Best Audio:

Sony Columbia 1994 LaserDisc Mono

More from John Glen

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Director: John Glen

Best English-Friendly:

MGM Blu-ray 

Best Video:

MGM Blu-ray despite Lowry master issues

Best Audio:

1992 MGM LaserDisc

Director: John Glen

Best English-Friendly:

MGM Blu-ray 

Best Video:

MGM Blu-ray despite Lowry master issues

Best Audio:

1990 MGM LaserDisc

Audio Notes:

All versions since 2000 use MGM’s heavily bass filtered remix

Director: John Glen

Best English-Friendly:

MGM Blu-ray 

Best Video:

MGM Blu-ray despite Lowry master issues 

Best Audio:

1990 MGM LaserDisc

Director: John Glen

Best English-Friendly:

MGM Blu-ray 

Best Video:

MGM Blu-ray despite Lowry master issues

Best Audio:

1990 MGM LaserDisc

More from MGM

See more →

Director: Vincente Minnelli

Best English-Friendly & Video:

MGM Blu-ray

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB 4K

Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

An undeniably significant improvement from the BD yet still severely flawed. See DFIC's review.

Best Audio:

1984 MGM Hi-Fi VHS

Director: Claire Denis

Best English-Friendly:

BFI Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

2027 Criterion Blu-ray

Video Notes:

FiM encode; BFI shows noticeable macroblocking

Best Audio:

MGM DVD

Audio Notes:

No dip around 10 kHz, wider dynamic range, more natural EQ; BFI & Carlotta BDs are identically worse; HMAX Streaming is similar to the BDs but has worse dynamics

Director: Lloyd Corrigan

Video format: HD Streaming

Best English-Friendly & Video:

MGM+ Streaming

Best Audio:

OOP AlphaVideo DVD, maybe?

Director: Stanley Kubrick

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Included in the Complete Kubrick box set with FiM encode of the same master from the WB release without the filtering; WB 4K early pressing has errors of a shot, later pressings fixed. Comparison between Criterion and WB.

Best Audio:

6-Track 70mm mix: Criterion 4K Blu-ray (restored for the box set), 1997 MGM LaserDisc, 1998 MGM DVD
35mm Mono Mix: Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Matrixed Stereo Remix: MGM Japan LaserDisc (1985) [G158F5509]
5.1 Remix: Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Director: Victor Fleming

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

2D: Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray

3D: Warner Bros 3D Blu-ray or Apple Vision Pro

Best Audio:

1989 MGM LaserDisc

Audio Notes:

(caveat: "there's" in first "there's no place like home" utterance in final Kansas scene truncated)

Director: Vincente Minnelli

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1991 MGM LaserDisc

Director: John Huston

Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1992 MGM VHS

Director: John Frankenheimer

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1994 MGM LaserDisc

Director: James Cameron

4K · Worse Than BD
Best English-Friendly:

2013 MGM Blu-ray, or 4K Blu-ray if you MUST have the mono mix, 1997 Image DVD/2001 MGM DVD for a purist version with original colors and the international mono mix

Sources: vimeo.com (opens in a new tab) · facebook.com (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

Capelight 4K Steelbook and Mediabook announced for 2026

Best Video:

2013 MGM Blu-ray for non AI transfer, 1997 Image DVD/2001 MGM DVD for a purist version with original colors and the international mono mix

Best Audio:

1991 Image Entertainment LaserDisc for the US mono mix, 2001 MGM DVD for the International mono mix

Audio Notes:

Comparison between the US and International mixes: https://vimeo.com/246332731

Additional Info:

The 4K Blu-Ray and the 2001 MGM DVD have exclusive extras.

Edit history

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Researched and maintained by

captainsolo

· last reviewed 11 months ago

Every recommendation follows the same method — how these calls are made.