This instalment in the Bond franchise opens with 007 in Siberia retrieving a silicon chip from the frozen body of 003; of course he then has to escape across the ice on skis, a snowmobile, a makeshift snowboard and finally a boat disguised to look like a small iceberg! We soon learn that the chip recovered from Siberia matched those made by a government contractor recently taken over by Zorin Industries. Bond is given to job of investigating Zorin; a task that takes him to France where Zorin is holding a horse sale. Bond learns that Zorin is stockpiling silicon chips but at this point he has no idea why. The only real lead he finds there is a cheque written to a Stacey Sutton, Californian woman for five million dollars. It is at this point that the viewer learns his plans... he is intending to destroy Silicon Valley to give him and his associates a monopoly in silicon chip supply. Bond heads to California where he learns that Zorin is pumping sea water into a series of oil wells. He is initially told that this is routine to test the pipes but when he finds Stacey she tells him that Zorin has been trying to force her to sell her family's oil well and that pumping water into the wells is dangerous as they are on a fault. It turns out he plans to flood both the Heywood and San Andreas Faults while simultaneously blowing up the location that prevents both of them having earthquakes at the same time... Bond and Stacey only have a limited time to prevent to flooding of Silicon Valley and the drowning of hundreds of thousands of people.
As with the other Roger Moore era Bond Films this one contains many elements that are fairly silly; whether that makes them more entertaining or just annoying will depend on the viewer... a case in point is the use of the song 'California Girls' as Bond 'surfs' on a makeshift snowboard in the opening scenes; personally I thought that was rather fun but I know others disagree. Christopher Walken who played the psychotic Zorin made an entertaining if somewhat OTT villain and Grace Jones was good as his Amazonian assistant May Day; although better when doing action scenes than when talking! Roger Moore once again put in a fun performance as Bond although by now he was getting a little old for the role. It wouldn't be a Bond film without exciting stunts in impressive locations; these included having Bond chase May Day in a stolen taxi as she parachuted from the Eiffel Tower; Bond fleeing from the police in a huge stolen fire engine and finally a fight on the top of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. It could be argued that the plot has been taken straight from 'Goldfinger'; right down to killing the 'investor' who decides not to proceed when he learns just what the villain is planning, while this is a fair argument I don't think it spoilt the film, even if it is not in the same league as the earlier film. Overall this was a decent final Bond film for Roger Moore although it is far from his best; still it is a fun way to pass a couple of hours on a rainy afternoon!
As with the other Roger Moore era Bond Films this one contains many elements that are fairly silly; whether that makes them more entertaining or just annoying will depend on the viewer... a case in point is the use of the song 'California Girls' as Bond 'surfs' on a makeshift snowboard in the opening scenes; personally I thought that was rather fun but I know others disagree. Christopher Walken who played the psychotic Zorin made an entertaining if somewhat OTT villain and Grace Jones was good as his Amazonian assistant May Day; although better when doing action scenes than when talking! Roger Moore once again put in a fun performance as Bond although by now he was getting a little old for the role. It wouldn't be a Bond film without exciting stunts in impressive locations; these included having Bond chase May Day in a stolen taxi as she parachuted from the Eiffel Tower; Bond fleeing from the police in a huge stolen fire engine and finally a fight on the top of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. It could be argued that the plot has been taken straight from 'Goldfinger'; right down to killing the 'investor' who decides not to proceed when he learns just what the villain is planning, while this is a fair argument I don't think it spoilt the film, even if it is not in the same league as the earlier film. Overall this was a decent final Bond film for Roger Moore although it is far from his best; still it is a fun way to pass a couple of hours on a rainy afternoon!