With A View To a Kill, the cutain falls on one of the greatest era's in action/adventure movies, as we, EON and the rest of the world bid a fond farewell to Roger Moore's James Bond. And what an exit Moore makes, put simply A View to a Kill is on of the most exciting, stylish, well written and under-rated Bond movies of all time.
The basic feel of the movie is pure electric. The series is on a role after the rousing successes that were For Your Eyes Only and Octopussy. Both these movies had represented a maturing point in the series and the shot in the arm of suspense,action and excitement that was needed. This trend is continued to the full with A View To A Kill, and in his goodbye performance Roger Moore manages to remarkably combine all the best elements of his previous Bond movies, and comes up with a perfect way to leave behind Bond and Her Majestys Secret Service.
Cubby Broccoli could hardly have awarded Roger a better acolade in wich to leave the series, than to give him the opportunity to act alongside one of America's all time best character/villain actors : Christopher Walken. Walken as Zorin is the best villain in the series since Christopher Lee's Scaramanga in The Man with The Golden Gun. Walken brings a refreshing air of realism and menace combined to put him amngst the great villains of the series. Equally impressive is Grace Jones as MayDay. Jones is the epitomy of a she-hulk and is the very fore of mid 80-s femenism.She strangely manages to be beautiful and frightening in the same breath, and looks fantastic in the action and love making sequences were she lets Bond know who's on top! Then there is Patrick MacNee as Tibbet. Tibbet is a fun character and when posing as Bonds servent early on in the movie Moore takes every opportunity to ad-lib, ordering and bossing MacNee about. In truth it is very amusing to see John Steed carrying Simon Templer's Bags around. It is a petty that MacNee's character is Killed because other Bond movies would have benefited from Macnee's presence. Less succesfull on the character fronts are David Yip, whos character drifts into the movie, seemingly to make the numbers up and is then killed, and of course Tanya Roberts as Stacey Sutton. Sutton makes Brit Ecklands Goodnight look impressive. Roberts looks good, nd the part is well written , so perhaps it is a case of miscasting. Luckily, the beautiful Fiona Fullerton, who may have been a more impressive Stacey Sutton turns up as the tantalisingly sexy Pola Evanova.
The action set pieces like in every Bond movie fire and work on all cilendars. There is a wonderfull pre-credits Ski-Chase battle set in a picturesque arctic glacier. The excitement begins in Parris were BJ Worth doubled for grace Jones and parachuted off the Eiffel Tower, and this is imediately followed by a fantastic car chase through the Parrisian locals. This later shifts to a simmilar scene in San Francisco, wich has bon Escape a burning elavator shaft and end up driving a Fire Engine dangling from one] at full speed through the city. And finally to the Golden Gate bridge via Air Balloon were Bond and Zorin battle to death. Here Walken displays all the depth of his character, giving a knowing giggle before plummiting to his death, as though he apreciates the joke is on him.
A View to a Kill represents one of the finest scripts in the series, the battle for monopoly over the microchip market. Even if the climax borrows slightly from Superman the Movies flooding of St Andres Fault, or in this case Sillicon Valley. All the elements work. John Barry's Score is his best since On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and the title song by Duran Duran is one of the most energetic and exciting of the series and has quickly becom a standard. In all this is a most satisfying Bond movie. An adequate exit for Roger Moore and one that has stood the test of time well. Thanks Roger and goodbye.
The basic feel of the movie is pure electric. The series is on a role after the rousing successes that were For Your Eyes Only and Octopussy. Both these movies had represented a maturing point in the series and the shot in the arm of suspense,action and excitement that was needed. This trend is continued to the full with A View To A Kill, and in his goodbye performance Roger Moore manages to remarkably combine all the best elements of his previous Bond movies, and comes up with a perfect way to leave behind Bond and Her Majestys Secret Service.
Cubby Broccoli could hardly have awarded Roger a better acolade in wich to leave the series, than to give him the opportunity to act alongside one of America's all time best character/villain actors : Christopher Walken. Walken as Zorin is the best villain in the series since Christopher Lee's Scaramanga in The Man with The Golden Gun. Walken brings a refreshing air of realism and menace combined to put him amngst the great villains of the series. Equally impressive is Grace Jones as MayDay. Jones is the epitomy of a she-hulk and is the very fore of mid 80-s femenism.She strangely manages to be beautiful and frightening in the same breath, and looks fantastic in the action and love making sequences were she lets Bond know who's on top! Then there is Patrick MacNee as Tibbet. Tibbet is a fun character and when posing as Bonds servent early on in the movie Moore takes every opportunity to ad-lib, ordering and bossing MacNee about. In truth it is very amusing to see John Steed carrying Simon Templer's Bags around. It is a petty that MacNee's character is Killed because other Bond movies would have benefited from Macnee's presence. Less succesfull on the character fronts are David Yip, whos character drifts into the movie, seemingly to make the numbers up and is then killed, and of course Tanya Roberts as Stacey Sutton. Sutton makes Brit Ecklands Goodnight look impressive. Roberts looks good, nd the part is well written , so perhaps it is a case of miscasting. Luckily, the beautiful Fiona Fullerton, who may have been a more impressive Stacey Sutton turns up as the tantalisingly sexy Pola Evanova.
The action set pieces like in every Bond movie fire and work on all cilendars. There is a wonderfull pre-credits Ski-Chase battle set in a picturesque arctic glacier. The excitement begins in Parris were BJ Worth doubled for grace Jones and parachuted off the Eiffel Tower, and this is imediately followed by a fantastic car chase through the Parrisian locals. This later shifts to a simmilar scene in San Francisco, wich has bon Escape a burning elavator shaft and end up driving a Fire Engine dangling from one] at full speed through the city. And finally to the Golden Gate bridge via Air Balloon were Bond and Zorin battle to death. Here Walken displays all the depth of his character, giving a knowing giggle before plummiting to his death, as though he apreciates the joke is on him.
A View to a Kill represents one of the finest scripts in the series, the battle for monopoly over the microchip market. Even if the climax borrows slightly from Superman the Movies flooding of St Andres Fault, or in this case Sillicon Valley. All the elements work. John Barry's Score is his best since On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and the title song by Duran Duran is one of the most energetic and exciting of the series and has quickly becom a standard. In all this is a most satisfying Bond movie. An adequate exit for Roger Moore and one that has stood the test of time well. Thanks Roger and goodbye.