A View to a Kill

Comment: A View to a Kill finds Roger Moore in his last outing as James Bond while pushing 60. We see Christopher Walken do what he does best: play a creepy bad guy.

Every Bond movie can be judged on five things: Bond himself, the plot, the villain(s), the Bond girls, and the Bond song.

Bond: When Roger Moore came on as Bond in 1973's Live and Let Die, he was 46 but looked 10 years younger. By the time he was in 1985's A View to a Kill, he looked every bit his 58 years. Oddly, his age is not a detriment to the story, even though he should have retired after For Your Eyes Only. He doesn't look grossly old, just a little too seasoned. The other thing about his age that is bothersome is that it's so blatanly obvious a stunt double is doing most of his work. I'm sure a stunt double always did the dangerous scenes for all the Bond actors, but because the stunt double is so much younger than the real actor here, it is more noticeable. Moore's charm remains strong and he is fun to watch; which is more than I can say about his successor.

Plot: A former KGB tychoon plans to blow up Silicon Valley to have a monopoly on computer chips. It's almost like the plot of Mr Big's in Live and Let Die where he wants a monopoly on heroin.

Villains: What can be said about the incomparable Christopher Walken? Here, he is psychotic, like in half of his roles. His psychosis is blamed on a biological experiment that was done on pregnant women in Germany during WWII. They were injected with steroids, and while most miscarried, a handful produced genius kids with mental instability. Max Zorin is one of these grown up steroid kids who has defected from the KGB and who wants to control the computer chip industry while also racing steroid horses.

Girls: I don't think there is a more stark contrast of Bond girls than Grace Jones' May Day and Tanya Roberts' Stacy Sutton. Grace Jones' masculine physique is very jarring, but she is fun to watch, and like Walken, no one can compare to her. Jones has a presence on screen that is undeniable and the way she sacrifices herself at the end is commendable. Tanya Roberts gets put on a lot of people's Worst Bond Girls list, but I like her. Some things she does are annoying, but can't that be said about most of the Bond girls? They are not written to upstage Bond, so they have to be somewhat brainless and helpless. Roberts is certainly beautiful--she looks just as beautiful in overalls with a hard hat as in a dress--she has spunk, and her situation in the movie is sympathetic. I must also give honorable mention to one of the other Bond girls, Jenny Flex. Just watch the way she walks. Was she trained to walk like that? Wow.

Song: I think Duran Duran's A View to a Kill is the best Bond song ever. Sure, some will say Live and Let Die by Paul McCarteney and Wings, or Nobody Does It Better by Carly Simon, but I find this song has better replayability and the lead singer of Duran Duran has a better voice and uses every ounce of it on this track.

Bottom line: A View to a Kill is not the best Bond movie; but it is very fun to watch and probably my favorite.

Comment: Years ago, I used to see a publicist from Paramount at Star Trek conventions. Star Trek V had just come out and failed. He told us that "the main problem with Star Trek V was Star Trek IV." Basically, nothing Star Trek V could have done would have improved upon the much-loved "Star Trek IV." While I don't totally agree with that, Star Trek V had alot of things wrong with it, you could probably say the same thing about this film: the main problem with "A View to a Kill" is "Octopussy." "Octopussy" was such an all-around entertaining Bond film that we were expecting the same thing with this film.
We were greatly disappointed.
"A View to a Kill" is a very average Bond film and a sad swansong for Roger as Bond. Roger was 57 when he made this film and sadly a bit old for Bond at this point. As a result, we never even see Bond in the sack with the much younger Tanya Roberts. (For some reason, Tanya is one of the most disliked Bond women. I had no problem with her and thought she looked pretty damn good in this film. I've met her twice, including once last summer, and she is very nice in person.) It opens with a pretty good action scene with Bond on snowmobile being chased by a low-flying helicoptor. He eventually uses a ski from the snowmobile to surf down a mountain (to the Beach Boys singing "California Girls" Some people hate this, I find it amusing." The basic plot is Bond taking on a madman played by Christopher Walken. Walken is fun but his assistant was played by the annoying Grace Jones, during her 15 minutes of fame. This annoying character is featured prominently in the film's advertising. Today she is a trivia question. (Another interesting trivia question is that the theme from this film, performed by Duran-Duran, is the only Bond film to hit number one.)
The problem is that the film just isn't that interesting. Theres a not very interesting subplot involving Walken using microchips on his racehorses at the beginning of the film. (The great Patrick MacNee is used and wasted during this sequence, being unceremonially murdered by Jones.) The worst thing about this film is a Keystone Kops-like chase scene featuring Bond hanging from the back of a hook and ladder as it goes up and down the winding streets of San Francisco. I hate this scene. I also hate the scene where Bond arrogantly announces who he is to a not-tto-bright San Francisco cop who arrests him anyway. Bond gives him the "Bond, James Bond" line like he is a celebrity, not a secret agent. I hate this scene also. The film ends with a fairly good action scene with Bond combating Walken atop the Golden Gate bridge.
This is not a bad film, it just isn't very good. Its not a great film for Roger to go out on. He deserves a great deal of respect for keeping the Bond series alive and profitable during his 7 Bond films.
The DVD features a nice commentary by Moore, I'v enjoyed listening to his commentaries on the Bond dvds and blu-rays that have been released.

Comment: I have enjoyed nearly all of the Bond films that have been made, but think that this is one of the best.

Comment: Even though this is not one of my favorite 007 movies, I needed it to complete my collection. Sean Connery is still the best Bond actor.

Comment: This is a great DVD. I received it within the time specified by the seller. The condition was as stated. If given the opportunity I shall buy from this company again. Great Service.