A View to a Kill
Dir: John Glen
1985
*****
1985's A View to a Kill is the fourteenth of the official Eon Bond films, and the last film that Roger Moore would play the iconic character. The film takes it's name from From A View to a Kill, one of five stories that appeared in the For Your Eyes Only collection of Bond short stories written and published by Ian Flemming in 1960 but it shares no resemblance to the plot whatsoever, as was now standard in the franchise. It's fair to say that at this point, director John Glen had resigned to the fact that Roger Moore's Bond films were best when they were over the top, A View to a Kill being a return to the formula that made the 70's Bonds so much fun. That said, it still has may serious and quite thrilling elements that are often overlooked. The biggest criticism of the film, apart from it being over the top, was the fact that Roger Moore was looking decidedly too old to be still playing the character. It's interesting that the previous Bond film Octopussy avoided the same criticism when it went up against Never Say Never Again, especially as so much was written about Sean Connery's age when he is actually three years younger than Moore. I can't say his age ever bothered me, it's safe to say though that A View to a Kill isn't to every bodies taste and many cite it as being one of the poorer Bond films of the series but personally I love it. It's not a bad story at all, it's action packed and non-stop all the way to the end credits. After many attempts, the action sequence that sees Bond jump from the Eiffel Tower finally gets made, the scene being written for many of the previous films but never getting into a production. The half car chase, the Firetruck chase and the Golden Gate Bridge vs. Zeppelin scenes are classics in the franchise. The film features the wonderful Patrick Macnee as Bond ally Sir Godfrey Tibbett, a lovable older version of Bond who is quite shockingly murdered half way through the film, giving the audience a thirst for revenge and the film a thrilling momentum. Grace Jones plays the series' first Bond girl henchman and is quite brilliant too. Look close enough and you'll spot Jones' then boyfriend, a young Dolph Lundgren, who bagged a part as henchman when the original actor went missing. Many have stated that Tanya Robert's is one of the worst Bond girls yet but I would have to disagree. She may have been given the worst script of the franchise at that point but I thought she was rather lovely throughout. However, the real highlight of the film is its villain, played by the brilliant Christopher Walken. His portrayal as max Zorin has to be one of the most real and terrifying yet. He has no gimmick about him, he is cruel, greedy and without moral, making him one of the most chilling characters in Bond history. Moore was said to be quite disturbed when he saw the scenes whereby Walken's Zorin kills his own men with a machine gun, purely for fun. It was disturbing but it was also quite thrilling, as before this point ever villain had either a comedy edge or were flawed by their own megalomania. Zorin was just evil and didn't care, even in his last scene when he knows he's going to die he lets out an eerie giggle, leaving quite a memorable image in the minds of the audience. I see A View to a Kill as the epitome of the 80's action film and the Bond film that represented the decade the best. A return to form in some respects but also the end of an era, not only did Moore retire from the role after shooting but so did Lois Maxwell, the long suffering Miss Moneypenny who finally got to put Bond in his place.