A View to a Kill (1985)
Synopsis
Aryan microchip producer Max Zorin plans to take out the competition in Silicon Valley by engineering a bunch of earthquakes. Bond, under the name of St. John Smythe (that’s Smythe, not Smith, dear), is sent to investigate Zorin’s suspicious business practices and also to make quiche.
Particulars
Director: John Glen
Writer/s: Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson
Producers: Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson
Stars: Roger Moore as James Bond, Tanya Roberts as Stacey Sutton, Christopher Walken as Max Zorin, Grace Jones as May Day, Patrick Macnee as Sir Godfrey Tibbett, Walter Gotell as General Anatoly Gogol, Robert Brown as M, Desmond Llewelyn as Q and Lois Maxwell (for the last time) as Moneypenny.
Budget: $30 million
Shot: Iceland, France, San Francisco, the UK and Pinewood Studios
Based (in title alone) on: “From a View to a Kill”, the first short story in For Your Eyes Only, the 8th book (a collection of short stories) in Ian Fleming’s James Bond series
Roger, I’m so sorry
I’ve spent my whole life listening to people bash Roger Moore as Bond and had no means of defending him, nor the understanding that he should be defended. Having now watched his full era of Bond films, I’m of the opinion that Moore bashing is elder abuse.
Appropriately, Zorin’s obsession with protecting market dominance is a reflection of the same obsession that fucked Moore’s reputation. This then-57-year-old man had tried (and failed) to retire from the franchise but kept getting coaxed back because the producers wouldn’t take the financial risk of recasting Bond and shaking up the formula. And while 57 these days is still an age of vitality and capability (Tom Cruise has more than proven that), 57 in 1985 was a different story.
Moore copped the critical flack (mostly to do with him being too old to be believable as Bond) and he himself later admitted that he was “only about 400 years too old for the part.” He was right, the critics were right and it’s certainly one of the flaws of A View to a Kill. Here’s what I’ll say in its favour.
Duran Duran and 80s appeal
It’s been clear to me for some time that I was born too late and, given my musical tastes, should’ve been around to enjoy the 80s firsthand. This isn’t an ironclad rule when it comes to Bond songs — I don’t like Sheena Easton’s ‘For Your Eyes Only’ or Rita Coolidge’s ‘All Time High’ — but to me, Duran Duran’s ‘A View to a Kill’ is a certified banger and Maurice Binder’s title credits have the visual appeal of an 80s music video, which I mean as a compliment.
Had David Bowie actually taken the role of Zorin (he initially accepted) instead of Christopher Walken, we might’ve had a Bowie Bond song instead which I no doubt would’ve also loved. Maybe he and Grace Jones would’ve done a collab, less ‘Dancing in the Street’ and more ‘Dance Into the Fire’. As it stands, whenever the Duran Duran theme comes on, I never skip.
A brief glimpse into Bond’s inner world
As he does so often to everyone around him, Bond holds the audience at arm’s length, rarely letting us in. But in A View to a Kill we learn that he knows how to make a good quiche! And my life is richer for knowing this fact.
We also learn that Bond is something of a Real Housewife, his Louis Vuitton monogrammed luggage stealing the scene as he checks into Zorin’s chateau in Chantilly. I would’ve liked to see the look on M’s face when MI6 received Bond’s expense claim with the description “for St. John Smythe cover identity.” Perhaps there’s a deleted scene.
The chateau and everything in it
I pretty much like everything that takes place within the chateau. Bond and Tibbett’s bug hunting in the suite under the guise of St. John Smythe just being a pedant to hospo workers. Tibbett having just cleaned the car, then having to dirty it up again so he has an excuse to go into town and get it washed. Tibbett’s murder by the hands of May Day in that same Rolls-Royce (I always get upset when an ally dies).
The magnificent Château de Chantilly and its stunning interiors are what kept my attention and engagement in the film’s first act and it feels at its most espionage-y when Bond is there pretending to be a horse buyer.
Unfortunately, once we and Bond leave the chateau, that’s where the film gets a bit derailed. Here’s the stuff I didn’t like about A View to a Kill.
Stacey Sutton and the way she says “JAAAAAAMES”
Tanya Roberts and her vivid turquoise eyes are stunning but that’s where my appreciation for Stacey Sutton as a Bond girl ends. In fact, I think I hate her almost as much as I hated Diamonds Are Forever’s Tiffany Stone and her performance is not much better than Jill St. John's in that film.
I buy Stacey as an oil heiress but not as a geologist, mostly due to the way she’s written as a damsel in distress rather than a capable foil, something that’s only exacerbated when she’s sharing the screen with Grace Jones. And the way she screams the obligatory “JAAAAAAMES” with her pipsqueak voice made me sorry to have ears.
The pacing and plot
Zorin’s blimp, the stuff in San Francisco, the oil mine Temple of Doom ride and the pumping seawater details all blend together as ‘boring and silly’. At the very least it’s not loaded enough to become confusing but there’s nothing innovative or exciting in the film’s final act that’s worthy of much praise.
Is it possible for a long-term Bond era not to end on a down note? If we count Diamonds Are Forever as Connery’s last film, then no. If Rog had ended with The Spy Who Loved Me (which he would’ve, had he only accepted the initial contract), then he might’ve been remembered more fondly. Alas, he’s remembered as the silly old Bond who overstayed his welcome.
In the grand scheme of things, this is not my least favourite Bond film nor even my least favourite Roger Moore Bond film. But I enjoy it the way I enjoy low brow movies from the 80s and 90s: against my better judgement. My scoring reflects this.
RANKING CATEGORIES (70%)
Bond execution = 6
Villain = 5
Bond girl(s) = 3
Song = 8
Opening titles = 7
Plot/action/gadgets = 5
Franchise identity = 6
PERSONAL ENJOYMENT (30%)
4/10