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 after sending a letter to the producers expressing interest in a cameo because he always wanted to be in a Bond film. The President of Isthmus was played by Pedro Armendáriz, Jr., the son of Pedro Armendáriz, who played Ali Kerim Bey in "From Russia with Love". Desmond Llewelyn enjoyed the film as his character was more involved than previous installments, although he would reflect "Licence to Kill was a marvelous film, but other than having James Bond in it, it wasn’t really a Bond film." Principal photography ran from 18 July to 18 November 1988. Shooting began in Mexico,