Our review of the fourteenth James Bond film. The one where a young Christopher Walken is Our Villain and Roger Moore looks old…er. This would be his last turn in the tux…with good reason.
A View to a Kill (1985)
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12 responses to “A View to a Kill (1985)”
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They put Christopher Walken on a leash in this movie but we still get a fairly good dose of his off beat humor and classic mannerisms. As for A View To A Kill, what kills it is it’s directionless plot which constantly changed the Macguffins. First the EMP resistant microchip, horse doping, and then back to microchips but now Zorin unveiling his plans to destroy Silicon Valley. Also, another thing that irks me is the East vs. West rivarly has finally become all out comedic in the Moore era. The head of the KGB is waiting for an agent in the middle of effin’ San Francisco so he can react to a tape being switched and then he later jokes with a major western power’s massive leakage of computer technology falling into Soviet hands.
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There’s a reason I didn’t even bother mentioning Agent Pola Ivanova. And poor Gogol, once the KGB’s own M and the voice of Soviet Reason in the last movie, is back to a thankless supporting role. Speaking of zany comedy: the Bullet connection seemed obvious…but in my heart of hearts, as I wrote, shot and edited this, I wondered how much that mid-movie car chase owes to The Blues Brothers?
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I know you have a limited amount of time for these videos so I am glad I get to discuss these odds and ends which make this embarrassing film. There are also some other stupid things that irk me about this film; What is with the field trip of the whole MI6 crew to the horse races ? Why the hell does M, Q, and Moneypenny have to join Bond ? Also, I have never seen the dead ally thing get played out so much in one Bond film. Tibett ? Dead. Chuck Lee ? Dead. The private detective in France ? Dead. Tibett was only the only one who actually managed to find something.
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All part of the collateral damage…though it’s interesting Bond gets chewed out for destruction, while more names are added to his list of dead Local Contacts without so much as a batted eye. Forget his fellow Double-Os, who are down by two (009 died in the last one, 003 before this one even starts) in as many films. They’re like flies, these agents.
On the other side, I actually kind of liked how M’s whole office got to go outside for once. It broke up the monotony of these “Bond Gets His Mission” scenes…even though we still got one of those. Besides, it’s Maxwell’s last appearance in this franchise, and I was too busy thinking about that to really care.
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Looking at The Living Daylights just two years later, the next dead contact, Saunders, actually meant something. In a radical twist of the standard formula, the contact hated 007 practically from the beginning and yet he put aside his pride in order to help Bond was killed afterwards. Saunders’ death does quite match Kerim Bey or Quarrel but you do feel it when it happens.
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And more importantly, Bond sees it happen and reacts to it with a recognizably human facial expression. As opposed to Moore’s by-then-patented Dull Surprise. With, I think, an increasing amount of resentment as things wore on and he began to get tired of the role.
(Apologies for tardiness – I had to watch Living Daylights again, something I hadn’t done in years…and now that I’ve reviewed it, I know why. But we’ll explore that another time. Like in a matter of days.)
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I know. It’s pretty damn boring save a few moments.
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There’s exactly one thing I love from this movie, and even that is due to nostalgia: the theme song. My sister was a HUGE Duran Duran fan, and when this was released I was 8 and didn’t know any better, so it was crazy exciting to see a Bond video on MTV constantly. It was the third Bond film I saw in the theater, but it’s the first one I remember the build-up for, the hype, and the excitement. Then we saw the movie…at the time I “liked” it, but I remember my parents being not so into it…and my brother flat out hating on it. Still, the stunts and action are at their usual high standard, even if we must put in some demerits for the Komedy worked into them (I love how they ruin what was, at the time, and amazing showcase of the then new snowboard by throwing the fucking Beach Boys over it).
Looking back on my report of my own last viewing of this one, I guess I don’t consider it on par with Moonraker or The Man with the Golden Gun, but it was definitely bad. I especially loathed Roberts and the treatment of Macnee…seriously, it’s like the guy who was smart and popular in high school giving the formerly popular quarterback a job when he falls on hard times…a job as his personal assistant who he treats like crap. Disgraceful.
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The only action sequence worth looking at was at the golden gate bridge. I can’t believe a film that was so sloppy before finally pulled off something with some actual suspense. You got Bond having to save Stacy and fight Zorin at the same time in a narrow space were you can’t get a good foothold on anything; all this occurring where any one of them could very easily fall to their deaths. I can even forgive Stacy’s horrible screaming and Dr. Mortimer and Scarpine’s fiasco with the dynamite. Holy shit, you know what ? It was Goldfinger all over again except the plane was the Golden Gate Bridge and a Blimp.
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And with that “holy shit,” I’d like to officially welcome to my mind, about a week and a half ago. Forgive the dust and cobwebs.
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Welcome ! LOL. Anyway, it was still a suspenseful scene, possible Goldfinger plagiarism or not.
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I last watched it a while ago; it’s entirely possible I was expecting something so amazingly god awful that I was impressed that the stunts were even as well done as they are done here. Though that chase scene irked me, because it’s so taken from an 80s comedy rather than a Bond movie.
And, yeah, it’s just Goldfinger again, right down to the way the final confrontation goes, and the fight with the exotic henchperson in a place that’s about to blow up but good.
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