A View to a Kill: Review By slysnide

Produced by Albert Romolo Broccoli and his stepson Michael G. Wilson, "A View To A Kill" takes only a slight variation of the title from the short story by Ian Fleming. With Wilson & Maibaum once again writing the script, they chose to go with the current tour de force that was Silicon Valley. It wasn't hard to concoct this plot, which required the first disclaimer ever in a film to assure viewers that the film's "Zorin Industries" was in no way based on the American corporation "Zoran Industries." Roger Moore returned once again in the starring role as James Bond, and the role of the villainous microchip industrialist was offered first to David Bowie, who declined as he didn't want to stand around for five months watching his stunt double fall off cliffs. Then Sting who'd recently appeared in "Dune" (1994) also turned it down, resulting in what was quite possibly the second best casting choice in the franchise up to that time: Christopher Walken who'd recently starred in David Cronenberg's "The Dead Zone" (1983) accepted the role of whom is quite possibly the most memorable megalomaniac in the Bond franchise, despite that the rest of the film doesn't hold too high marks.

In his fourteenth adventure, 007 James Bond (Roger Moore) is sent on a mission to discover the significance of a microchip 003 was killed over which is resilient to the effects of electromagnetic pulses which was manufactured by Zorin Industries; a government contractor. In his investigation, Bond tailgates Max Zorin (Christopher Walken) and his entourage, including his bodyguard, personal assassin, and occasional girlfriend May Day (Grace Jones), a Nazi scientist (Willoughby Gray) who invented unique attributes for his microchips relating to sporting events, and his loyal associate Scarpine (Patrick Bauchau). Aiding Bond is horse trainer Sir Godfrey Tibbet (Patrick Macnee), and California State Geologist & oil heiress Stacey Sutton (Tanya Roberts). But what do EMP resilient microchips have to do with international security? Why would a geologist in California have any relation to Zorin's France based corporation? And what possible unique attribute could an elderly Nazi scientist have invented to get into Zorin's entourage? All the answers to these questions and more will amount to the greatest egomaniacal scheme the Bond franchise had yet produced, but unfortunately, Roger Moore's age at fifty-seven showed far too much here, thus hindering the film's overall potential.

Production began in Iceland on 23 June 1984 with the pre-credit chase sequence involving a chopper and a mini-sub. It is speculated that this scene helped popularize snowboarding which had yet to catch on internationally. Pinewood Studios would stand in for Zorin's mine, and San Francisco City Hall was allowed to be set ablaze on 6 October 1984 with interior shooting as well because Mayor Dianne Feinstein was a Bond fan who preferred Roger Moore over Sean Connery. This perk included being allowed to shoot a dramatic, though somewhat campy firetruck chase through the city streets which climaxes at the Lefty O'Doul Bridge, as well as access to the highly populated Fisherman's Wharf area which was made easier by Feinstein's enthusiastic approval of the production. In Chantilly, France, filming took place at the "Living Museum of the Horse" which is a truly majestic horse stable built in 1719 by Louis Henri--Duke of Bourbon, Prince of Conde--whom so much believed that he'd be reincarnated as a horse that he built the most luxurious horse stables in all the world where all horses are treated like royalty. For who knows? Maybe some of them are royalty? ;) The "Chateau de Chantilly" was also filmed for Zorin's estate which was located nearby. These locations were the most beautifully featured cinematographically speaking, though Ascot Racecourse in Berkshire, England stood in for a horse race scene. Meanwhile, EON Productions raced to overcome a major scheduling hurdle...

It was just four days into production on 27 June 1984 when production designer Peter Lamont walked down to a pub where he came across Ashton Gordon--the production designer of Ridley Scott's "Legend" (1985). He was on a lunch break, and it was learned while they chatted that gasoline canisters at the 007 Stage had exploded, and burned the stage to the ground. Flames reportedly reached a hundred feet into the air and smoke could be seen from five miles away. Albert Broccoli was so devastated by the news that he couldn't bring himself to go to the site to survey the damage. Fortunately, a construction company gave an estimate that they could have the debris cleared within a month, and could have the stage reopened three months thereafter. Needing to stick to a schedule, Cubby went for it. When it was formally reopened at a ceremony on schedule four months later, it was renamed the "Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage."

As if that wasn't a big enough problem for the production of the film, when shooting the dramatic parachuting from the Eiffel Tower, Cubby declared that stuntman B.J. Worth's take was all that was needed, and his fellow stuntman Don Caldvedt was so disappointed, that he and a fellow stuntman jumped around 7:00am on a different day without authorization, unaware that director John Glen was staging another scene atop the tower. As it was witnessed, B.J. Worth had to fire Caldvedt on the spot, and he subsequently wasn't allowed on any other Bond film. This jeopardized production permits in Paris, but fortunately the filmmakers got around the crisis. Meanwhile, back at Pinewood, construction had been underway on the Golden Gate Bridge sequence with two miniature sets, though they were far from your average miniature in size.

Lastly, Zorin's blimp was supplied by Airship Industries as a marketing ploy in the film. Their Skyship 500 model was used as Fujifilm's blimp fleet as the corporation had success in flying their airships over major cities for marketing purposes. That same airship also flew over the opening ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles. While in the film it took only two minutes to inflate, in reality it would take up to twenty-four hours. This blimp was also where Zorin unveiled his evil scheme to his investors, though Pinewood Studios stood in for it. One nifty feature did come in hand though for persuading his investors to go along with his diabolical plot...

When watching the film, one cannot help but draw the similarities between it and "Goldfinger." In both films, the goal of the villain is essentially the same, with the exception of the market. Here it's microchips, and there it was gold. Also, horse stables stood in for major locations in both films. Zorin was backed by the KGB, and Auric Goldfinger was backed by the Chinese; both communist nations at the time. Also, they both had unique ways of disposing of unwilling investors who'd heard too much, yet didn't want to take part in their schemes. So why isn't this nearly as popular as that film? Well, simply put, Roger Moore's age had shown too much on screen. The whole film was unfolding at a slower pace than in "Goldfinger," and the action was trying for Moore. To put it in perspective, the fight in Zorin's factory with Bond & Tibbet was like two old guys fighting some greasers they didn't like. It was that bad. It was just no longer believable that he could go head to head with scores of henchmen or even well fit aggravated heavies like Zorin. Even Moore was mortified when he discovered he was older than Tanya Roberts' own mother. Also, because of this the action scenes weren't as much about what Bond was doing as much as it was about what everyone else was doing. All he really had to do was hang on if you catch my drift. As a result, the execution of the plot was far more tame than it could've been, and the filmmakers would've been able to take advantage of the potential far more had Roger bowed out of the franchise after "Octop*ssy" (1983) where he was visibly in better shape a mere two years earlier. So overall, the screenwriters' requirement to keep the storyline tolerable for Moore's Bond is what held this film back from tapping its full potential.

So what was the saving grace you ask? Simply put: Christopher Walken. If ever in the imaginary book of the things that had to happen, it would written somewhere in the anthology of statements that Christopher Walken had to play a Bond villain. He was easily the most evil of the Moore Era, and even better than any villain up to that point as far as characterization goes. You could really tell that this guy was a sociopathic sadist rather than just surmising it by his plot, for Zorin certainly showcases his villainy long before he unveils his master plan. His execution of a public official, his two unique ways to dispose of incompetent insubordinates or rivals, and his excessively violent betrayal of many henchmen by kalishnakofps with extreme enjoyment made him the most evil villain yet. And the way he carries himself as the amused, yet sinister industrialist and horse aficionado adds all the more to the performance. A perfect chameleon of a villain if there ever was one. His performance was the most highly praised element in the film, for many fans and critics alike recognized that Roger Moore was way past his prime, including Roger Moore himself who blames his old age as a reason that this was the worst in his era. Though he also criticized the graphic violence Max Zorin dishes out, claiming it was too graphic for a Bond film, and that it went too far for the types of villains audiences were used to in the franchise. But if there was one redeeming quality, it was inarguably Max Zorin. I mean really, who wouldn't want to see Christopher Walken take on a lead Bond villain? Honestly?

When the film premiered in San Francisco on 22 May 1985, B.J. Worth reenacted his Paris stunt to land at the Palace of the Fine Arts where he handed off the $100,000 production check to Mayor Feinstein. During the ceremony, Roger Moore announced to the effect that when you're as old as the Bond girl's mother it's time to go, and with that, he formally announced his retirement as James Bond. It was a decision Roger made on his own, and he insists that he wasn't encouraged to depart the role by EON Productions or MGM. Even Sean Connery accepted the fact that you've got to quit sometime, acknowledging that he was too old to play Bond in "Diamonds Are Forever" (1971), was definitely too old in the "Thunderball" (1965) remake "Never Say Never Again" (1983), and that Moore was definitely too old. He added that Bond should be around thirty-three to thirty-five years of age. This is even more obvious from the awkwardness of the jacuzzi scene with KGB spy Pola Ivanova (Fiona Fullerton), let alone the television crime drama couple seeking justice type relationship between Moore & Roberts. Due to the aforementioned issues with his age being noticeable in the film, it was widely considered the worst of the Moore Era, and the fourth worst installment to date. But again, Walken was praised above all. Though ironically enough, despite the criticism, the title song by Duran Duran went on to be nominated for Best Song at the Golden Globes, and is considered the best title song to date. With $157,800,000 off a thirty million dollar budget, fans remained loyal for Moore's sendoff. Overall, my mental image of the film fares better than the film itself. For when thinking about it, the whole thing sounds like a thrilling film, but when you get down to watching it, you can see it missed a lot of opportunities to become the next Bond phenomenon due to the restrictions placed on it from the moment Roger Moore agreed to reprise the role for a seventh time at fifty-seven. Needless to say, this will most certainly be the last time an actor of such an age stars as James Bond.