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DVD A View to a Kill
Roger Moore's last outing as James Bond is evidence enough that it was time to pass the torch to another actor. Beset by crummy action (an out-of-control fire engine?) and featuring a fading Moore still trying to prop up his mannered idea of style, the film is largely interesting for Christopher Walken's quirky performance as a sort-of supervillain who wants to take out California's Silicon Valley. Grace Jones has a spookily interesting presence as a lethal associate of Walken's (and who, in the best Bond tradition, has sex with 007 before trying to kill him later), and Patrick Macnee (Steed!) has a warm if brief bit. Even directed by John Glen, who brought some crackle to the Moore years in the Bond franchise, this is a very slight effort. --Tom Keogh
Posting a few comments about Roger Moore's film "ffolkes" has inspired me to take a crack at one of his Bond efforts. It's not an easy task reviewing one of these films, let me tell you. I've seen most of the Bond movies so many times that I ought to be able to write up a review in my sleep. The problem comes when deciding WHICH Bond film to review first. So many of them deserve the honor that I'm having trouble deciding. Oh well, I'll just toss out "A View to a Kill" and let it go at that. This 1985 entry, Roger Moore's last outing as 007, certainly isn't the franchise's finest hour. I consider "Octopussy," "For Your Eyes Only," and even "Moonraker" better Roger Moore/Bond films than "A View to a Kill." Yet there's something special going on here that is irresistible. Perhaps it's Christopher Walken hamming it up as the villain, or Grace Jones scowling her way through her part as Walken's primary henchman (henchwoman?). Perhaps it's seeing Dolph "I will break you" Lundgren in a bit part. Or maybe it's the fact that "A View to a Kill" is the only Bond film I've watched on DVD. Whatever the case, here we go.
James Bond has had to contend with numerous villains over the years, villains whose sole goal is to conquer, destroy, or otherwise irreparably damage the planet. "A View to a Kill" is, of course, no exception. This time around Bond must stare down a power mad super industrialist and KGB sleeper operative called Max Zorin (Christopher Walken). Of course, the movie takes a bit of time establishing the particulars. The opening sequences of the movie, as in all Bond films, show 007 pulling off a spectacular escape usually unrelated to the main plot. In this film it involves an interesting snowboarding sequence somewhere in the Arctic. Did they have snowboarding back in the 1980s? Apparently, and Bond's a natural. Then we move on to the main story, involving some cryptic plot centered on silicon computer chips. Bond has to discover what the scheme is, kick some you know what, and save the world in the process. He also has to bed as many beautiful women as possible, banter with Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell), and verbally spar with Q (Desmond Llewelyn) and M (Robert Brown). All while looking like a million bucks...er, pounds. That Moore pulls it off despite his age (58) is a tribute to his acting abilities.
Zorin's quest to corner the market on computer chips involves, let me say without trying to spoil the movie, taking advantage of certain tectonic fault lines in and around Silicon Valley. The specifics of the plot involve a trip to Paris and a chase scene on and around the Eiffel Tower, a jaunt into the French countryside to Zorin's sumptuous estate, drugging horses to win races, a visit from series regular General Gogol (Walter Gotell), an ominous subtext revolving around Dr. Carl Motner (Willoughby Gray) and German World War II racial experiments, an out of control fire engine in San Francisco, pumping stations with fans that can chew up human bodies, and a battle of the ages on a blimp floating over the Golden Gate bridge. Whew! And that's leaving a ton of stuff out! As you can see, the makers of "A View to a Kill" pack in plenty of action and scenery to keep us busy. They also throw in the supremely annoying Tanya Roberts as Bond girl Stacy Sutton. A good drinking game would involve tossing back some booze whenever Roberts screams "JAMES!" It's all a lot of fun, however, and Moore's usual wit and manners keep the movie humming along nicely.
I see I've still got some space to blather on, so I'll use it on a few points of interest. I'm a big Christopher Walken fan, which means "A View to a Kill" gives me plenty of scenes to feed my fix. Walken is totally in his element here as the unbalanced Zorin. His cackles of delight as he murders anyone who gets in his way is a lot of fun to watch--especially the scenes in the mine. The utter joy he takes in machine-gunning hapless workers comes across as pretty shocking imagery for a Bond film. Just as delightful as Walken is Grace Jones as May Day, although in a different way. I've never been a fan of the strange Jones, but she's good villain material. Her baleful countenance serves the movie well. Whatever happened to her, anyway? So we've got Moore, Walken, and Grace Jones. Could it get any better? Yep. "A View to a Kill" also gives us Patrick Macnee in a small role as Sir Godfrey Tibbett, one of Bond's associates who goes undercover with him to infiltrate Zorin's French estate. The two men play well off of each other, bantering back and forth in an extremely humorous fashion. Despite the film's drawbacks--by and large Tanya Roberts incessant shrieking--"A View to a Kill" is a movie I can watch again and again.
I appreciated the number of extras on the DVD. MGM gives us an audio commentary with director John Glen, a short documentary on the making of the film, a deleted scene, a short about creating the music for the Bond series, and the now incredibly cheesy Duran Duran music video that was such an enormous hit on MTV back in the day. I enjoyed the DVD so much that I'm hoping to check out other Bond films on disc in the near future. As I said above, I've seen nearly all of them many times. But now that I know most contain bonus features and commentary tracks, I'm interested in giving them another go on DVD. You should, too.
1980's BOND VIDEO
VIEW TO A KILL should have let Roger Moore bow out with class appropriate and fitting to the 007 mode. Instead, it's a high budget MTV video with all the mid-1980's trappings: Duran Duran, Grace Jones, San Francisco. It appears Roger had alot of fun screaching "stretch" to Tanya Roberts, maybe he was auditioning for his next career as an aeorbics teacher (remember this is 1985). This one gets saved by Christopher Walken's over the top performance and the double Duran theme song that ranks high in their songbook. Why didn't Simon LeBon have a walk on part?
A View to Kill
This is the last movie that Roger Moore appears as 007. I like the plot of the film and the acting of Christopher Walken as Zorin. The scene on top of the Golden Gate Bridge was great. Even though some Bond flicks done by Roger Moore are better, this is movie is great and I would highly recommend seeing it.
Roger Moore was nearing the end of his reign as James Bond when he made Octopussy, and he looks a little worn out. But the movie itself infuses some new blood into the old franchise, with a frisky pace and a pair of sturdy villains. Maud Adams--who'd also been in the Bond outing The Man with the Golden Gun--plays the improbably named Octopussy, while old smoothie Louis Jourdan is her crafty partner in crime. There's an island populated only by women, plus a fantastic sequence with a hand-to-hand fight that happens on a plane--and on top of a plane. The film even has an extra emotional punch, since this time out 007 is not only following the orders of Her Majesty's Secret Service, but he is also exacting a personal revenge: a fellow double-0 agent has been killed. Two... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Roger Moore - Maud Adams Director(s): John Glen (II) DVD Release Date: Released the 17 October 2000 This item is currently not available.
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Roger Moore was introduced as James Bond in this 1973 action movie featuring secret agent 007. More self-consciously suave and formal than predecessor Sean Connery, he immediately reestablished Bond as an uncomplicated and wooden fellow for the feel-good '70s. This film also marks a deviation from the more character-driven stories of the Connery years, a deliberate shift to plastic action (multiple chases, bravura stunts) that made the franchise more of a comic book or machine. If that's not depressing enough, there's even a good British director on board, Guy Hamilton (Force 10 from Navarone). The story finds Bond taking on an international drug dealer (Yaphet Kotto), and while that may be superficially relevant, it isn't exactly the same as fighting supervillains on the order of... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Roger Moore - Yaphet Kotto Director(s): Guy Hamilton DVD Release Date: Released the 19 October 1999 This item is currently not available.
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This was the first James Bond adventure produced after the success of Star Wars, so it jumped on the sci-fi bandwagon by combining the suave appeal of Agent 007 (once again played by Roger Moore) with enough high-tech hardware and special effects to make Luke Skywalker want to join Her Majesty's Secret Service. After the razzle-dazzle of The Spy Who Loved Me, this attempt to latch onto a trend proved to be a case of overkill, even though it brought back the steel-toothed villain Jaws (Richard Kiel) and scored a major hit at the box office. This time Bond is up against a criminal industrialist named Drax (Michel Lonsdale) who wants to control the world from his orbiting space station. In keeping with his well-groomed style, Bond thwarts this maniacal Neo-Hitler's scheme with... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Roger Moore Director(s): Lewis Gilbert (II) DVD Release Date: Released the 16 May 2000 This item is currently not available.
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Timothy Dalton made his 007 debut in the lean, mean mode of Sean Connery, doing away with the pun-filled camp of Roger Moore's final outings. He establishes his persona right from the gritty pre-credits sequence, in which he hangs from a speeding truck as it barrels down narrow cobblestone streets, battles an assassin mano a mano, and lands in the arms of a bikinied babe. This James Bond is ruthless, tough, and romantic. The Living Daylights, set during the thaw of the cold war, begins with the defection of Russian KGB General Koskov (Jeroen Krabbé) and his revelation of a Soviet plot to eliminate Britain's secret agent force. Assigned to eliminate Koskov's Soviet boss (John Rhys-Davies, cutting a memorable figure in his brief appearance), Bond uncovers a... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Timothy Dalton - Maryam d'Abo Director(s): John Glen (II) DVD Release Date: Released the 17 October 2000 This item is currently not available.
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For Your Eyes Only, I think, is the best Bond film of all time. It has it all- exciting and realistic action, brilliant acting, beautiful settings, superb directing and productions, excellent production design and a thrilling music score. Roger Moore gives his best and most dangerous performance as Agent OO7. The locations- Madrid, Cortina and Greece, are some of the best in a Bond film. The action is brilliant- the ski and the motorbike chase, the opening helicopter sequence and the climax scene where Bond must climb a massive mountain. The music is also brilliant. This is so much better than Moonraker, or any other Bond film. Buy this one! More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Roger Moore - Carole Bouquet Director(s): John Glen (II) DVD Release Date: Released the 19 October 1999 This item is currently not available.
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