Licence to Kill

The story opens with Bond and his friend, CIA agent Felix Leiter, on their way to Leiter's wedding to Della Churchill. Meanwhile, DEA agents spot drug lord Franz Sanchez flying near The Bahamas, and a Coast Guard helicopter collects Leiter and Bond in an attempt to capture Sanchez. They capture Sanchez by attaching a hook and cord to Sanchez's plane and pulling it out of the air with the helicopter. The two parachute to the wedding.
Franz Sanchez, drug-lord from the Republic of Isthmus.
Franz Sanchez, drug-lord from the Republic of Isthmus.

Later that day, bribed DEA agent Ed Killifer assists Sanchez in escaping. On their honeymoon night, Leiter and Della are captured by Sanchez's henchmen; Leiter is fed to a shark as his wife is raped and killed. After hearing the news of Sanchez's escape, Bond returns to Leiter's house to find Della dead and Felix alive but severely injured.

Bond begins his revenge by killing Killifer, causing him to fall into the same tank with the shark that maimed Leiter. M meets Bond in Key West's Hemingway House and orders him to an assignment in Istanbul, Turkey. Bond refuses the assignment and subsequently resigns. M accepts his resignation and immediately revokes his licence to kill. Bond quickly escapes MI6 custody and becomes a rogue agent, bereft of official backing but later surreptitiously helped by armourer Q. Bond boards a ship run by Milton Krest, Sanchez's key lieutenant, where he ruins Sanchez's latest drug shipment and steals five million dollars. In Leiter's records, Bond finds details of a rendezvous in Bimini with Pam Bouvier, an ex-CIA agent-pilot, who he recruits to his mission.

Bond journeys to the Latin American country of the "Republic of Isthmus" (a fictional country loosely based on Panama, which is known for its Isthmus of Panama), where he finds his way into Sanchez's employ by posing as an assassin looking for work. With the aid of Bouvier and Q, he frames Krest, making him appear disloyal to Sanchez. Sanchez traps Krest in a hyperbaric chamber and then suddenly depressurises the chamber, causing Krest's head to explode; meanwhile, for Bond's perceived loyalty, Sanchez permits him into his inner circle of friends.

After an overnight stay at his villa, Sanchez takes Bond to his base, disguised as a meditation retreat. Bond learns that Sanchez's scientists can dissolve cocaine in gasoline, and then sell it disguised as fuel to Asian drug dealers. The buying and selling are conducted via the American televangelist Professor Joe Butcher, working under orders from Sanchez's business manager Truman-Lodge. The re-integration process will be available to those underworld clients who can pay Sanchez's price. In addition, Sanchez has brokered a deal to buy Stinger missiles from the Contras, and has threatened to shoot down an American airliner if the DEA interferes in his operations. Unfortunately for Bond, he is recognised by Dario as an informer; though Bond does manage to start a fire in the laboratory, his henchmen capture Bond. Sanchez orders Bond be placed on the conveyor belt that drops the brick-cocaine into a giant shredder and leaves with his men. Pam Bouvier arrives (posing as a follower of Professor Butcher) and helps Bond escape; during his escape, Bond kills Dario by pulling him on to the conveyor belt and Dario falls into the shredder. Pam and Bond quickly escape the base as it explodes. Sanchez escapes with four tanker trucks full of the cocaine/gasoline mixture and his Stinger missiles, and Bond pursues them by plane (with Bouvier at the controls).
James Bond transferring from a Piper Cub plane to a tanker truck.
James Bond transferring from a Piper Cub plane to a tanker truck.

Through Bond's actions, he cleverly manages to destroy three of the four trucks' tanks. An irate Sanchez kills Truman-Lodge when he mocks Sanchez about the money he's just lost. Bond and Sanchez fight aboard the final remaining tanker, which ends up out of control and then rolls down a hillside. Sanchez, soaked in gasoline, mocks Bond, telling him that he could have "had it all", and prepares to kill the prone Bond with a machete. Bond distracts him by asking him if he wants to know why he did it, producing the cigarette lighter that was the Leiters gift for being the best man at their wedding — so showing Sanchez his true motive in destroying his drug empire — and proceeds to set the villain afire. Sanchez, burning alive, stumbles into the wrecked tanker truck's cistern, causing its gasoline to ignite. Bond flees before the massive explosion. Pam arrives driving one of the two remaining trucks and drives them back to Isthmus City.

That night, a party is held at Sanchez's residence. Bond receives a call from Leiter telling him that M is offering him his job back. As Q and Pam share a drink, Lupe thanks Bond for everything and kisses him. Pam notices them and goes downstairs, upset. Bond looks over the balcony, and tells Lupe that he thinks she and El Presidente will make a perfect couple. With that, Bond flings himself over the balcony and lands in the pool, surprising Pam. He pulls her into the pool and Lupe, El Presidente and Q walk away respectively. Pam asks Bond what he asked her earlier in the film, "Why don't you wait until you're asked?" Bond responds with what she said, "So why don't you ask me?" They kiss, and the credits roll over a beautiful view of Isthmus City (in reality Acapulco).