A View To A Kill 1985 Movie Review - Analysis

From the far reaches of the Milky Way Galaxy, It's Retro Nerd Girl with a film review for you.

Today I'll be reviewing the movie A View To A Kill released in 1985.

Starring:
Roger Moore, Christopher Walken, Tanya Roberts

Directed by:
John Glen

Genre:
Action, Adventure, Thriller

Rating:
PG

Budget:
$30,000,000 (estimated)

IMDb Rating is currently:
6.3

The Synopsis is:
James Bond is back for another installment going after a mysterious microchip maker, Max Zorin of Zorin Industries and helped along by geologist, Stacey Sutton.


*THE REST OF THE REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. *


Story:
This was the 14th James Bond movie and the 7th and final James Bond role for Roger Moore.

The screenplay was written by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson.

The title comes from the 1959 publishing of an Ian Fleming short story "From A View To A Kill" when it was included in his "For Your Eyes Only" .

The word "From" was dropped before filming began in May 1984.

This film has no real relation to the original story but borrows some ideas from the 1981 James Bond novel "Licence Renewed" written by John Gardner.  The book features Ascot horse-racing similar to that seen in this film.

The film also borrows some themes from Goldfinger released in 1964 regarding a plan to commit mass murder for financial gain.

When it comes to Bond flicks you get the same story formula that has worked since the 60’s that never fails to entertain.

We have the:

• Opening action scene.
• Opening title sequence featuring a new impressive title song and hot girls dancing with in an artistic montage.
• The classic soundtrack melody.
• Damsel in distress or female counterpart.
• Bond infiltrates the bad guys organization.
• Bond gets caught and escapes.
• Big show down at the end.
• Bond saves the day and wins the girl.

The one thing that was missing from the Bond movie formula was a memorable tech gadget scene.  If it happened, I totally missed it and I’ve watched this film so many times.  I can’t find it.

The story begins with a big over the top snow chase scene and it’s pretty amazing.  Somehow, I’ve never watched a snow chase scene I didn’t like in my life as of yet.  It’s a weird thing but it always seems to get me pumped up.

All of the action is about a microchip Bond swipes from Russia.  It turns out that this chip is nearly indestructible and is made by Zorin Industries.  And so the adventure begins to discover exactly why this company is making these microchips.  In the wrong hands it could be dangerous in weaponized technology.

It seems pretty weird to connect these two things, but a thoroughbred horse racing scheme leads Bond to a fault line mining tunnel, he saves Silicon Valley.  It’s pretty far fetched, but hey, I’m not a spy or an expert at technology so, “I’ll buy that for a dollar”.

The fishing line butterfly weapon used in the Eiffel Tower restaurant to kill Bond’s french liaison, was another borrowed concept and a ditched idea from another one of my favorite James Bond films, Moonraker released 1979.  And though it was clever, but a poisonous dart would have sufficed and possibly been more inconspicuous.

Bond unexpectedly makes quiche at Stacey’s home as a reference to the popular book "Real Men Don't Eat Quiche" released in 1980, written by Bruce Feirstein, who later went on to write the screenplay for GoldenEye released in 1995.

Pacing:
At 2 hours and 11 minutes this movie is too long and it really feels as if there are two movies in one.  We have a racehorse sleuth section, that is probably the most boring to get through and then we have a major disaster to foil, which brings back the excitement.

Challenge:
The challenge in this film is Max Zorin.  Max is actually a creation of Dr. Carl Mortner whose real name is Hans Glaub.  Mortner experimented on pregnant women in concentration camps during World War II in an attempt to enhance intelligence using steroids.

Hans Glaub was modeled on Josef Mengele, the infamous Nazi doctor who performed unethical and sadistic experiments on Jewish prisoners in Auschwitz during World War II.

Max was the result of Glaub’s experiments and ever since he and Mortner have been as thick as thieves.  They have an odd father and son relationship.

To be honest, Max seems suspicious to us in the beginning, but not really doing anything too sinister besides cheating the racehorse industry.  We’d never suspect him of much more than that if he weren’t always trying to kill Bond and his contacts.

That was one specific thing I loved about this villain.  He was always a step ahead of Bond.  He’s a real challenge before he even knew that Bond was MI6.

It is only through some so moving sleuthing that we discover about and an hour and a half into the film that Max plans is to destroy Silicon Valley so he can have the monopoly on microchips in the world.

This is slightly nonsense since the microchip’s capabilities to withstand potential damage alone would make it the most desirable on the market.

Max’s henchman is a henchwoman, the ridiculously strong and impressive, May Day.  She was a fantastic edition in comparison to Max’s pale look, to her dark one.

At some point you get the feeling that May Day could be the only person he could love.  They certainly make a cruel pair as the two of them say the title quote, “What a view… to a kill”.

They are just deliciously on the same level in every scene they are together.

However, it turns out Max is not too attached as chance would have it that he makes the decision to leave her and his men to die in the tunnels at the very end.

This proves that Max Zorin is one of the vilest of the vile as he guns down his own men with glee.  No only does he do it for the practical reason of not wanting any witnesses to connect him to this unnatural disaster, he is a new age of villainy as he really enjoys being a cruel and unjust.   All of his actions tips you into his warped mind and I enjoyed that.


Empathy:
Bond gets a lot of empathy right off the bat for being who he is.  And that’s fine.  But you never feel as if he is in any real danger.  He’ll just find a way to succeed.

But you do find yourself worried about the people he’s with.

Sir Godfrey Tibbett was Bond’s compadre during his stakeout at Zorin’s mansion.  He and Bond have great chemistry.  It’s really sad to see him get killed, because he seems like a sweet older guy that was just trying to help out the best he can.

Chuck Lee was another one, who was trying to help out but got caught in the mess of casualties.

Then Bond got involved with Stacey Sutton, who has been getting harassed by Zorin to sell her property.  I don’t know why because he didn’t need it in the end.

But what we did need was her super geological skills to tell us exactly what Zorin has been up to and what his plans are.

I really didn’t feel much empathy for Stacey because she is always in need of saving.  She does help move the story along, and there is a lot of exposition around her character, but she has very little impact on the story except for being drop dead gorgeous and screaming “James” as often and as possible in the dialogue at the top of her lungs.


Technical:
The biggest issues that have been universally pointed out how many of the fantastic stunts are clearly done by stunt actors.  Some who don’t even look like the actors.  It kinda ruins the illusion and takes you out of the story.

But no doubt, the stunts are pretty impressive and quite memorable.

The film has many soft smudge focus scenes to mask wrinkles on the actors and it’s hard to watch.

Dianne Feinstein was the mayor of San Francisco during the filming and because of her love of the James Bond franchise and specifically Roger Moore she granted all the necessary permits to film in her city.  And the film captures the beauty of the city wonderfully.  It’s always nice seeing Bond films feature American locations and it nearly always leads to a bump in tourism.

John Barry wrote the theme song, Dance Into The Fire along with Duran Duran and the lovely melody was wonderfully cycled into the score and some brand new sequences heard mainly during the action scenes.

Dance Into The Fire was the only James Bond song to reach #1 in the USA, which achieved the goal of reaching the young MTV generation.

For me, this was a great iconic Bond Song with an energetic tune.  It also has some of the weirdest lyrics, sung in the sultry twang of the lead singer, Simon LeBon.  It sounds like the ramblings of an intoxicated lunatic.  I loved it.

Meeting you with a view to a kill

Face to face in secret places feel the chill

Nightfall covers me

But you know, the plans I'm making

Still oversee

Could it be the whole earth opening wide

A sacred why, a mystery gaping inside

The weekends why, until we

Dance into the fire

That fatal kiss is all we need

Dance into the fire

To fatal sounds of broken dreams

Dance into the fire

That fatal kiss is all we need

Dance into the fire

The choice for you is the view to a kill

Between the shades assassination standing still

The first crystal tears

Fall as snowflakes on your body

First time in years

To drench your skin with lover's rosy stain

A chance to find a phoenix for the flame

A chance to die, but can we

Dance into the fire

That fatal kiss is all we need

Dance into the fire

To fatal sounds of broken dreams

Dance into the fire

That fatal kiss is all we need

Dance into the fire

When all we see is the view to a kill

Unfortunately, this was the last song recorded by Duran Duran before the band split up for a while and got back together in the 2000’s.

Performances:
The performances were pretty awesome in my opinion.

Roger Moore reprises the role as James Bond for one last time.  One big comment I hear a lot is that he was too old for the role at 57.  I highly disagree.

To me it was no different than seeing Sean Connery at the end of his career as Bond.  And I think he looked a lot like he did in the previous Bond movie.  But I could understand if Roger didn’t want to keep up the physical aspects of the role any further.

Christopher Walken was amazing to me as Max Zorin.  I thought his performance was brilliant illustrating the character’s diabolical psychological sense play with his eyes and his body language.  I loved every moment he was on screen.

I have always liked Grace Jones and I was so excited when I saw the advertising for the film back in 1985. She nailed the character of the henchwoman Mayday and she just blew me away.  I really like the playful screen presence between Grace and Christopher’s characters.

I really enjoyed seeing Patrick Macnee playing Sir Godfrey Tibbett.  For me,  I was mostly familiar with him being the opening credit announcer on Battlestar Galactica TV Series from 1978 to 1979 and he also played a secret agent in the The Avengers UK TV Series from 1961–1969.  It was re-run on television in the U.S. in the 80’s.

This film was the acting debut of Dolph Lundgren as KGB agent Venz as he was Grace Jones’s boyfriend at the time.

And as a special note, this was Lois Maxwell’s last time playing the role 14 times as Miss Moneypenny since Dr. No in 1962.  She was also a close friend of Roger Moore’s as they were in the same class at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.


Best:
There are so many memorable moments that I really loved.

I enjoyed the scene when Bond is trapped underwater and he breathes the air from the tire.  I thought that was cool and the imagery of Mayday and Max above water was an excellent touch.

I also enjoyed seeing May Day and Bond work together at the end.  In that whole scene she is totally onboard because she has nothing to live for seeing her friends dead and realising Zorin left her to die.

I like the way May Day dies in the film, becoming the ultimate hero.  She single handedly saves Silicon Valley!  I also love the way she tells Bond, “Get Zorin for me!”  What an amazing scene!  What an amazing character!

When Max sees that May Day has survived, he appears to be honestly surprised and happy to see her for a few brief moments.  And his anguish is a bit of disappointment that his plans were foiled, she was killed in front of him and she betrayed him all at once.

Another great scene is the big final fight scene at the end on the Golden Gate Bridge.  It’s highly emotional when Mortner freaks out as he watches his Zorin die.  And we see their father son dynamic.

Another thing that I love about this film is how super 80’s it is.  The computer technology and gadgets were pretty cool along with the fashions and style unique to the era.  It’s quite the time capsule.  I love it.


The Ending:
The ending is part of the James Bond formula, and that’s fine.  But then we get that great title soundtrack from Duran Duran along with beautiful views of the San Francisco Bridge.  It’s breathtaking.


Wish List:
I wish that the film had better pacing through the whole film. The first half could have used a little stronger editing to create a bit more energy in the scenes.

I wish that the filmmakers appropriately aged Bond’s love interests to match Roger Moore or maybe not even had any in the film.  Just add the fact that he was aging into the film.  That’s a plot point audiences can follow.

I think that they are doing that more now with more recent Bond actors so that maybe something the filmmakers learned.

I think that the character of James Bond doesn’t always have to be a young man, but just a professional spy and to be honest, the script should have reflected his abilities or disabilities more.  He can still foil the bad guy at 57.  He’s a seasoned professional and there are always things that he knows from his vast experience.

I would have loved to see more of Zorin and Mayday.  I know it’s not their movie, but I love those two characters.  I wish we knew why she was so strong and her connection to her two cohorts Jenny Flex and Pan Ho.


Enjoyment:
Initially when it was released it really looked like the battle between the old versus new… the younger freakshow villains versus the old MI6.  And of course, older audiences didn’t like the film very much but younger audiences enjoyed it.  It was a film made for the MTV generation, and they’ve kept a flame burning for the film for decades.

The film influenced the age, as the CIA requested facial-recognition technology after its appearance in this film, although the capacity for it was not possible at the time.

It broke new ground by being the first James Bond movie to have an associated video game tied-in with it, but not the first game for James Bond game.

Modern snowboarding began in 1965.  But this film inspired and tapped into the interest of many young kids toward the sport as it was growing more popular.

I am actually a big James Bond fan and this is one of my favorites.  I’m not a Bond snob either, whether it’s dark and serious, or campy and fun, I pretty much like them all.

This is not the best quality of Bond movies, so why is it one of my favorites?

I saw this film when it came out and it had everything I wanted.  James Bond, two incredibly flamboyant 80’s villains, good action, great music and great cheesy fun.  It delivered.  It has a lot of flaws and that is why this is a delicious guilty pleasure of mine.


My Rating:
8.2

That sums up my review.  I hope you liked it.  This is Retro Nerd Girl signing off!

Take care movie lovers!  I'm off to the next review!

Join the Retro Nerd Girl movie lovers community over at:

o Retro Nerd Girl YouTube Channel

o Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retronerdgirl/
o Twitter: https://twitter.com/Retro_Nerd_Girl

o Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/retronerdgirl