Bond: A View to a Kill

Despite the fact that Roger Moore was ready to leave the Bond franchise after FOR YOUR EYES ONLY, the follow up, OCTOPUSSY was popular enough to prove that audiences worldwide still loved him in the role. Even though he was now fifty eight, he nonetheless agreed to return for yet another outing.

A VIEW TO A KILL

PLOT: Bond goes after a Silicon Valley microchip magnate, Max Zorin (Christopher Walken) with ties to the KGB.

REVIEW: As much as I loved OCTOPUSSY, I’ll be the first to admit that Moore should have quit the series immediately after wrapping that film. To be fair to Moore- he didn’t look bad for a guy approaching sixty, but even Moore himself, in the DVD commentary, admits that he should have sat this one out. It’s almost unintentionally funny watching Moore in this film, as he chases women less than half his age, and comes across as lecherous, and not the least bit suave.

That said- Moore is not the only problem with this film. A VIEW TO A KILL will never be remembered as one of the better entries in the series- and with good reason. The film itself is a really lazy, unimaginative outing. Obviously the filmmakers were trying to be edgy and current, with a plot set in Silicon Valley- but really, what they’ve done is essentially remake GOLDFINGER- replacing gold with microchips.
Everything about this film is second–rate; Moore, the plot, the action scenes- everything. And don’t even get me started on Grace Jones as May Day! Yuck.

BOND

Everything that I hate about Moore in this film can be summed up by the opening teaser- where we get an amazing action sequence (easily the best in the film), while barely seeing Moore’s face- as he was obviously doubled for pretty much the entire thing minus a few close-ups. Once we finally do see him, he’s hitting on some blonde that looks like she could be his grand-daughter, and worse- doesn’t look even slightly attracted to him. For Bond to work as a lady killer-he has to be believably attractive to women. Sadly, here he was simply too old to work as either an action star or a ladies’ man. It’s a real shame that this was his last Bond- as he deserved to go out on a higher note- and OCTOPUSSY would have fit the bill perfectly.

VILLAIN

Christopher Walken as Max Zorin is, obviously, the highlight of the film. In anyone else’s hands- Zorin probably would have been boring- but Walken makes the character work. Nobody plays a villain like Walken, and in the eighties- he was really in his prime. He was easily the best Bond villain since Curt Jurgens in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME.

BOND GIRL

Tanya Roberts as Stacey Stutton is one of the blandest Bond girls ever. She’s a beautiful woman, but it’s really a nothing role- and the filmmakers didn’t even really give her a chance to be sexy, as she spends the whole film dressed in big boxy, eighties-style blouses with big shoulder pads. It’s also worth nothing that she was far too young to be playing Moore’s love interest. According to Moore- he decided to quit the role when he met Roberts` mother- as she was the same age he was when he began as Bond in `73.

BOND MUSIC: John Barry is once again on hand to provide a memorable Bond score- this time given an eighties new wave sound- which actually doesn’t sound too dated, and comes off quite well. Also- love that theme song by Duran Duran.

BODY COUNT: Only two- but this is actually one of the more violent Bond’s- thanks to Walken’s psychotic Zorin, who enjoys mowing down his own henchmen with an Uzi, or throwing KGB spies into his boat’s motor propeller.

NUMBER OF WOMEN BOND SLEEPS WITH: Bond must be taking his viagra in this one, as he nails four women- although one of them is Grace Jones- ewwwww.

BEST ONE- LINER: Not much here- but Walken gets off a good one after dropping a tycoon out of his blimp: “So, anyone else want to drop out?

BEST DOUBLE ENTENDRE: Bond lets loose this gem the morning after sleeping with May Day (Grace Jones)
Zorin: You slept well?
Bond: A little restless but I got off eventually.

BEST GADGET: : Nothing all that memorable here to be honest- although Q has a little ROCKY IV-style robot that peeps on Bond & Stacey during the final love scene.

RECEPTION: Despite the fact that it is not one of the better Bond films, it still did fairly well. It pulled in $49 Million in the U.S, and $152 Million worldwide- less than OCTOPUSSY or even NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN, but still more than decent considering the product.

GRADE: 5.5/10- overall not a very good Bond, but still entertaining in its own way.

Previous reviews: DR. NO, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE , GOLDFINGER, THUNDERBALL, YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE, DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER , LIVE AND LET DIE, THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN, THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, MOONRAKER, FOR YOUR EYES ONLY, OCTOPUSSY, NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN