Written by Mr. Mouseburger 7th Nov 2005
Details submitted by karl_eichholtz_13
Saunders is the mastermind behind Koskov's defection, and is a rather typical British bureaucrat. Following up on a lead Bond gave him, Saunders meets Bond at a German funfair, in a cafe.
His investigations have however made him a threat to Whitaker's plans (q.v.) and so Necros (q.v.) with amazing foresight, has rigged the automatic doors to the cafe with an explosive device.
As Saunders leaves, Necros, with precision timing, detonates the device and this causes the glass doors slam shut with amazing force, crushing Saunders to death.
"Explosion" (For the charge necros planted)
"Machinery"
"Death-Trap"
I thought the explosion is what killed Saunders.
Also wasn't Koskov the mastermind behind the plot, not Whittaker?
Whittaker was the one who stood the most to gain from the drug deal. Koskov was inconsequential to Whittaker once he'd served his purpose ("Hell, you can have 'im," Whittaker snorts when Bond says he's come for Koskov). Koskov was certainly no putz or just a thug, but for all his swagger he wasn't calling as many shots as he liked to think he was.
I always thought Koskov was the film's main villain. He was the guy who actively participated in many of the events which is something that most Bond villains do.
As I said above, Koskov was a main villain, but not the main villain. Whitaker fits the traditional Bond villain formula by sitting on his butt for most of the movie leaving the dirty work to Koskov and the hired help. "Most Bond villains," especially in the Connery era, did exactly that.
Not every Bond film has to have a clear-cut hierarchy among the bad guys. Similar to Octopussy, what we have here in The Living Daylights are two villains working together for a single operation, out of which they each get something different. I consider Whitaker the more important of the pair, however, simply by dint of him being the one calling all of the shots and casually writing his partner off at the end.