"Skyfall" is coming with Daniel Craig again as the new and ultra serious Bond so what's better than to take a look at the Bond classics and revisit some really great moments? "A View to a Kill" marked Roger Moore's last film as 007 (a forced exercise to him, since he was hoping that "For Your Eyes Only" would be his final), not much of a great exit but still a fun thing to watch.
My evaluation of this film comes in light of how Bond series changed through the years, stuck with some aspects, characters, situations, his eternal drink, and why even the funniest flicks of the agent still are slightly better than the ones we're seeing now. It's a generation thing, I grew up watching those films and they were a lot of fun. I know the whole change behind the longest franchise so far (let me know if there's any other...) was to gather a new audience and maybe preserve the oldest, just like the Batman reboot started brilliantly with Christopher Nolan, and many other franchises went along. But that didn't meant quality in the Bond case. Fine, the oldest ones like "A View to a Kill" were ridiculously in its editing, you can clearly see the stunt double changing places with Moore or Connery, or whoever is playing Bond, and it's very funny and a little bit over-the-top but they were fun, amazing, pleasant to watch. Now, all we have is dramatic parts, a certain reluctance in acting (this never works in Bond films, take a look at George Lazenby only instance), an agent with so much feelings. I liked the movies but didn't enjoyed them so much (Q is going to return, so let's see, difficult to replace the irreplaceable Desmond Llewelyn).
Enough with the comparisons, let's see what "A View to a Kill" is all about. 007's mission is to investigate the eccentric Max Zorin (an blonde Christopher Walken) and his enigmatic Zorin Industries and the masterplan that involves the destruction of the Silicon Valley. And Bond is escorted by Stacey Sutton (Tanya Roberts, you all know her from "That 70's Show" as Donna's mom) and May Day (the diva Grace Jones), Zorin's partner and a woman of many talents. Among the action sequences, highlight to the chase at the Eiffel Tower and the fight on the blip flying over San Francisco, where it also happens a strange car chase that looks more suitable on a Police Academy movie than in a Bond movie.
There's excitement and good moments overall, some forced moments and an almost empty plot when it comes to the villainy committed (just a psycho who wants to sink Silicon Valley? We could have more). Don't even get me started on how bad edited some sequences were (the car chase in Paris, it's unbelievable how close they were from the stunt double, obviously not Moore driving that "half car") or even endure with Roberts sexy hoarse voice all the time calling "James!" (priceless!), far from being perfect. But who cares? This is so much fun, highly entertaining, it's always a pleasure to see Moore as Bond (the funniest and in a good way!) and there's the best theme song ever in a Bond movie, Duran Duran's title song (the video clip is even better, with the band members at the Eiffel tower, mixing scenes with 007 chasing the mysterious killer).
You can't miss this! 10/10
My evaluation of this film comes in light of how Bond series changed through the years, stuck with some aspects, characters, situations, his eternal drink, and why even the funniest flicks of the agent still are slightly better than the ones we're seeing now. It's a generation thing, I grew up watching those films and they were a lot of fun. I know the whole change behind the longest franchise so far (let me know if there's any other...) was to gather a new audience and maybe preserve the oldest, just like the Batman reboot started brilliantly with Christopher Nolan, and many other franchises went along. But that didn't meant quality in the Bond case. Fine, the oldest ones like "A View to a Kill" were ridiculously in its editing, you can clearly see the stunt double changing places with Moore or Connery, or whoever is playing Bond, and it's very funny and a little bit over-the-top but they were fun, amazing, pleasant to watch. Now, all we have is dramatic parts, a certain reluctance in acting (this never works in Bond films, take a look at George Lazenby only instance), an agent with so much feelings. I liked the movies but didn't enjoyed them so much (Q is going to return, so let's see, difficult to replace the irreplaceable Desmond Llewelyn).
Enough with the comparisons, let's see what "A View to a Kill" is all about. 007's mission is to investigate the eccentric Max Zorin (an blonde Christopher Walken) and his enigmatic Zorin Industries and the masterplan that involves the destruction of the Silicon Valley. And Bond is escorted by Stacey Sutton (Tanya Roberts, you all know her from "That 70's Show" as Donna's mom) and May Day (the diva Grace Jones), Zorin's partner and a woman of many talents. Among the action sequences, highlight to the chase at the Eiffel Tower and the fight on the blip flying over San Francisco, where it also happens a strange car chase that looks more suitable on a Police Academy movie than in a Bond movie.
There's excitement and good moments overall, some forced moments and an almost empty plot when it comes to the villainy committed (just a psycho who wants to sink Silicon Valley? We could have more). Don't even get me started on how bad edited some sequences were (the car chase in Paris, it's unbelievable how close they were from the stunt double, obviously not Moore driving that "half car") or even endure with Roberts sexy hoarse voice all the time calling "James!" (priceless!), far from being perfect. But who cares? This is so much fun, highly entertaining, it's always a pleasure to see Moore as Bond (the funniest and in a good way!) and there's the best theme song ever in a Bond movie, Duran Duran's title song (the video clip is even better, with the band members at the Eiffel tower, mixing scenes with 007 chasing the mysterious killer).
You can't miss this! 10/10