007 - Bersaglio mobile

"A View To A Kill" usually gets a lot of flak, but criticizing a larger-than-life action flick (as James Bond usually is) is like criticizing a hamburger, or any other mass product. It's no Mona Lisa and it's not meant to be. And to be honest, even the Mona Lisa is not the masterpiece it's made to be. -)

OK, so there are serious considerations about the film. And it's not so much that Roger Moore looks old, but rather that he *acts* old. Gone is the exuberance and youthful spirit of previous Moore Bonds. Moore seems tired and unenthusiastic, as if going through the motions, as if he doesn't care anymore. He doesn't convince.

Pace-wise, there's a serious flat spot early on and it lasts for a long time. It simply is boring from the moment Bond enters the Zorin residence trying to find out about any wrongdoings and about until Tanya Roberts enters the frame. It's not helped by the plot either: ex KGB agent/ specimen turned microchip businessman trying to take over the market by blowing up Silicon Valley. It could be better, much better.

What literally saves the film is the two stunning action sequences in the second half. First we got Moore and Roberts' narrow escape, leading to one of the best Bond car-chases ever. In a fire-truck of all vehicles! With Moore hanging from the extending ladder!! And then the spectacular Golden Gate Bridge sequence, brilliantly directed - is it a first for John Glen?

So, among the best Bonds this is not, but a nice farewell from Mr. Moore all the same.

While Ian Fleming created a great character in 007, time is wilting away the logic to a lot of the plots to the early films in this series. While this one still has touches of the Cold War Theme, the plot actually holds up better over time than some of the other films. In fact, this film does very well with the location shots being scenic including the Eifel Tower & Golden Gate Bridge in the same film.

Even though Flemming's material is long gone by this time the plot in this film actually holds together quite well. Actually, in a way the plot borrows on the plot of Goldfinger replacing Gold with sand. This does hold the film together quite well. The biggest problem with this film is Tanya Roberts, on my list the second worst Bond girl. Trouble is there is nothing good to balance her here & since her poor performance dominates the film, we are stuck with her here.

(In case your wondering, the worst Bond Girl of the entire series is Lynn-Holly Johnson. In FOR YOUR EYES ONLY, Lynn proved she can't act, & couldn't even be a believable skater even though in real life she is one. Carol Bouquet balances her off because she is one of the best Bond women ever, because without her, Lynn would have killed the series off for Moore sooner.) Christopher Walken is good as the heavy in this. Grace Jones does a good turn as "Mayday" also.

Roberts is the reason this ended Roger Moore's reign as 007. Maybe this is a good thing, but I wish they could re-shoot it with another better actress (not Johnson) because this film is good. The scenery is good, and the rest of the cast brings this off well. The stunts in this one are top notch too. This film grows on you when you watch it. There are times when Moore's advanced age shows up plainly though.

A View To A Kill commonly comes under as one of Roger Moore's weakest Bond films, however in my opinion, that is completely wrong. It is one of the most best of his films. The action is stronger than many previous films, the music is good and the locations such as France and San Francisco. Roger Moore is great as a Bond actor, especially down to the fact he is 57. Christopher Walken makes a fantastic and one of the very best villains. Overall, there are some bits which are a bit slow, but lots of it is exciting, strong and thrilling.

This was much like it's predecessors, good and safe and was fun to watch. It was pretty violent too. This maybe had the most villainous villain yet! He was ruthless. I miss the gadgets and spy cars. We're these a new thing to the bond movies? Moore was good. I think I may like him more than Connery? This was his last film as Bond. We'll see how Dalton does.

After the success of 'Octopussy', it was felt that actor Roger Moore should continue winning ways of James Bond. Nobody had any idea that 'A view to a kill' would turn out to be his last film as British agent James Bond. After this film, Timothy Dalton was chosen to represent James Bond on the big screen. This is something which his loyal fans and other admirers of this series must bear in mind while watching this Bond flick where American actor Christopher Walken appears as a highly dangerous, psychopathic villain with a smile on his face who set his mind on destroying America's Silicon valley. Actor Roger Moore doesn't disappoint a bit as James Bond continues to move from one place to another in order to gather valuable information about the villain's nefarious plans. However, it is through sudden twists and turns of events that Bond achieves final victory over the villain. There are times when even a villain can also be more popular than a hero. This is depicted in Christopher Walken's performance as Zorin, a shrewd businessman with stakes in an expensive stable. Actor Christopher Walken dominates this film to a huge extent. It is his arrogance which brings his downfall. When this film was being made, there was absolutely no link between horses and a silicon valley as 1985 was too early a period to speak about the destruction of 'Silicon Valley'. However, the inventiveness of the script ensured that even such an idea was practical. This is one of the film's key strengths.