Licence to Kill (soundtrack) version based on the James Bond Theme. The guitar riff heard in the original recording of the theme was played by Flick. The prospect, however, fell apart and Gladys Knight's song and performance was chosen, later becoming a Top 10 hit in the United Kingdom. The song was composed by Narada Michael Walden, Jeffrey Cohen and Walter Afanasieff, based on the "horn line" from "Goldfinger", which required royalty payments to the original writers. At 5 minutes 13 seconds it is the longest Bond theme, though 45 single releases featured a shorter edit, running 4 minutes 11 seconds. The music video
Licence to Kill impressed that "Dalton's glowering presence adds a darker tone". James concluded that "for all its clever updatings, stylish action and witty escapism, "Licence to Kill" ... is still a little too much by the book." Roger Ebert for the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film 3½ stars out of 4, saying "the stunts all look convincing, and the effect of the closing sequence is exhilarating ... "Licence to Kill" is one of the best of the recent Bonds." Jack Kroll, writing in "Newsweek" described "Licence to Kill" as "a pure, rousingly entertaining action movie". Kroll was mixed in his appraisal of