A View to a Kill (1985)
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A View to a Kill (1985)
BOND#14: a Final View of the Moore Bond
ROGER MOORE as James Bond 007 in A VIEW TO A KILL
starring CHRISTOPHER WALKEN * TANYA ROBERTS * GRACE JONES as May Day
PATRICK MACNEE as Tibbett * PATRICK BAUCHAU * FIONA FULLERTON as Pola
ALISON DOODY as Jenny Flex * DESMOND LLEWELYN as Q * ROBERT BROWN as M
LOIS MAXWELL as Moneypenny * WALTER GOTELL as Gogol
Directed by JOHN GLEN
A lot of this is still entertaining, but in that 'shaking your head, eye rolling' reaction when watching schlock entertainment. The title song is by Duran Duran and, with its disco vibe, it seems outdated as of 20 years ago. If one had never seen a Bond film before this one, this one may seem original, but otherwise, the usual repartee between Bond, Moneypenny, M and Q, for example, seems very old, in more ways than one, virtually duplicating dialog from previous Bonders. Q's gadgets here are no more than a joke, unfortunately. This was a farewell, by the way, for actress Lois Maxwell in the long-running Moneypenny role; appropriately, her final scene has her weeping.
Bond's mission takes him to France in the 1st half and involves a lot of horse-racing scenes and getting to the bottom of a problematic microchip conspiracy (it's prescient that Bill Gates was just about to become famous around this time). There's a silly chase in Paris with Bond in a steadily-destroyed automobile and then another very silly one on horses on a rigged track.
The 2nd half is in my old hometown of San Francisco, complete with a panoramic view of the Golden Gate Bridge near the climax. The main villain, Zorin, is a Bond-world version of Bill Gates, following the super-wealthy megalomaniac mold of Dr. No, Goldfinger, Stromberg and Drax. The actor Chris Walken is well-suited for quirky psychos, but playing a larger-than-life Bond villain is a bit of a stretch for him; he's more at home as traditional gangsters or oddballs. His strange mad cackling was getting tiresome by the end, though he proves to be more intense than the older maniacs of past Bonders and his demise was oddly appropriate - we do look forward to it after he proves to be a genuine mass-murdering psychotic, not just a greedy creep.
Curiously, Zorin's artificially-created superiority complex does somewhat explain his sad underestimation of Bond in a couple of scenes - rather than simply shooting him, as many diabolical geniuses fail to do, he leaves Bond to drown or burn; of course, Bond escapes (duh!). Of the other characters, May Day is also over-the-top, a super henchwoman who appears to be into the bad stuff out of love, but Grace Jones never develops beyond the fierce glare of a characterization (as a trivia note, Dolph Lundgren appears in a bit part where he stares at her with more than a passing interest - he and Jones became an item in real life).
Former Charlie's Angel and Sheena actress Ms. Roberts is the latest Bond girl, complete with whiny voice and nearly non-existent acting ability. They also brought in another secret agent, former "Avengers" actor Patrick Macnee, to assist Bond; he brings a certain amount of class to his scenes, though some of it is played to comic effect, like much of the movie. His role in some scenes as a servant to Bond, however, is a highlight, producing genuine laughs.
Zorin's overall mad plan is ludicrous, of course; I don't even know the scientific accuracy of the logistics, but - picture Bill Gates and many of his Microsoft employees, say, planning to drop the San Francisco peninsula into the sea and no one else except one CIA agent knows about it. Moore, in his late fifties here, looked a little better than he did in the previous one Octopussy, thanks to some, ah, personal tune-ups. But, enough was enough - Moore retired with this Bonder, and Bond would return as Timothy Dalton in The Living Daylights.
BoG's Bond Scores: Bond:6 Villains:6 Femme Fatales:5 Henchwomen/men:6 Fights:6 Stunts/Chases:7 Gadgets:5 Auto:5 Locations:7 Pace:6 overall:5.5
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Base of Galactic Science Fiction :: SCIENCE FICTION CINEMA :: Semi-Science Fiction Films :: Super Agents - James Bond and his ilk
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