A View to a Kill 1985

Even Christopher Walken couldn't save this movie.

Last August, a good friend of my asked me, "What's you least favorite Bond film out there?" and it took me about a year to find the worst Bond film out there. Until I watched "For Your Eyes Only", which I thought wasn't good at all. I tried and search like crazy to find the worst Bond film out there, it was like my destiny to find the worst. Until came across "A View to a Kill" and this is flat out awful in many ways possible.

Roger Moore gets on my nerves in this movie. Maybe it's the cheesy puns or just the writing. Moore didn't look like he cared at all during most of the scenes, it's like watching a cardboard box with arms and legs moving around during the big action scenes. Not caring at all.

The villain in this movie suck and I hate saying that because I know Christopher Walken could have been a great villain, but due to bad screen writing and poor delivery it ruined a great chance of a great Walken performance. I mean, Walken could have easily been like Christopher Lee villain in "The Man with the Golden Gun".

Tanya Roberts is completely awful and totally missed cast. No wonder she got nominated for a Golden Raspberry Awards for worst acting for this movie.

The movie itself feels like a straight up comedy spoof. The stunts are very noticeable and sometimes kind of messy. This is a James Bond film with messy stunts, a boring Villain and Bond getting under my skin. What kind of film is this? I'm shocked by this.

But is there anything good in this? Well, the movie doesn't look that bad, as the movie is actually pretty well shot at times and even the theme song is pretty good and the only thing that stops me from giving this a much lower rating.

Overall rating: The best way to describe this movie can go something like this: 'A View to a Kill' is like a rocky, bumpy roll coaster ride that you just wish it would end anytime soon.

The climax of Roger Moore's seven-picture run as the world's most notorious gentleman spy. For my money, Moore's take on the character is at the bottom of the pile, for a variety of reasons that are on proud display in this clunky, weak chapter.

Though his face-off with Christopher Walken and Grace Jones in Silicon Valley isn't quite as relentlessly cheesy and absurdly slapstick as 1979's Moonraker, my candidate for the worst Bond of all time, the two do have an awful lot in common thematically. What bothers me most is its constantly dopey attitude: always after the cheap gag or bad punchline, it thankfully stops just short of implementing a rimshot or laugh track. It's not like puns and cracks are strangers to the franchise - in fact, that's always been a part of their charm - but there's a point in the middle of Moore's run where the balance tipped and Bond's audience-aimed winks became more important than his spy work and lady-wrangling.

A View to a Kill also suffers from a distinct shortage of gadgetry, which makes it feel more generic and even less like a Bond adventure. Moore looks positively ancient in many scenes - a 57-year-old man nailing stunts and ladies that would stretch the imagination for a star half his age - and Walken is an appropriately maniacal if not particularly imaginative foil. A drizzling farewell that left me wishing the franchise had moved on to greener pastures much earlier.

Here we are, Bond number fourteen; the end of the Roger Moore era. At 57 he’s approaching the genuine retirement age, so it’s probably time he called it a day.

There have been a couple of decent ski chases so far in the franchise so it’s encouraging to see them attempt another right from the word go. Bond even has to fashion an impromptu snowboard when the shit hits the fan. Unfortunately, someone thought it would be funny to play ‘California Girls’ by the Beach Boys over the top, which leaves us launching into the title sequence with our heads in our hands.

While on the subject of title sequences, Duran Duran puts this film firmly in the 80s. A View to a Kill is a bold, cheesy, punchy song. It’s very well produced but doesn’t fit the genre, and doesn’t seem to match the tone of the film to come. However it’s a massive step up from from the depressing All Time High.

The theme song is used throughout the soundtrack, and it’s in these moments that it’s particularly jarring with the James Bond style of music. It just doesn’t match what’s happening on screen.

The story, like Octopussy and so many of the weaker films, never really makes any sense. It’s a loose take on the Goldfinger premise - a millionaire nutcase wants to destroy any competition his business may have to gain control of the market. In this case it’s Max Zorin, a Franco-German industrialist played by Christopher Walken, and he wants to destroy Silicon Valley.

It’s easy enough to follow on paper but throw in stuff about horses, steroids and Nazi doctors, and you’ve lost the audience.

Walken knows how to play a weird psycopath though and he’s well cast in the role.

Grace Jones plays his sidekick Mayday. She’s also very watchable, but isn’t given much to do besides giving funny looks to people. It’s a waste of talent.

Then of course there’s Moore himself. Still the suave, lovable dick we’ve come to enjoy as James Bond, but far too old. It’s easy to keep harping on this but Moore himself even said he was “four hundred years too old for the part” and was shocked to find out he was older than his co-star’s mother.

Talking of co-stars, Tanya Roberts plays Stacey Sutton, the granddaughter of someone shafted by the villain. She’s hopeless in the role and doesn’t add much to the film. This is a shame, since despite being sleazy towards women in general, the Bond films have often made the leading ladies central to the plot.

There’s also a problem with the tone of the film. Moore says he doesn’t like the level of violence in this one, and it’s clear to see why. At some points Zorin is mindlessly gunning people down for the fun of it. He’s supposed to be a psychopath but the way it’s been shot and edited together feels cold and psychopathic in itself.

Mindless is a word that could be used for much of A View to a Kill. There are complicated stunts but they are carelessly executed and cynically spliced into the film. There’s no regard for timing or pacing. This is not a complaint we’ve had to make so far, but A View to a Kill lacks professionalism.

We have gone through a bit of a rough patch with these films, and A View to a Kill only adds to Bond’s losing streak. Another forgettable entry into the annals of 007 history, and a sorry end to Moore’s stint as the spy.

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