007 - Bersaglio mobile

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.

A View To A Kill seems to get more than its fair share of criticism. Often it is labelled the weakest of the Bond entries, but I don't think this is particularly true. Personally, I don't even rate it as the poorest of Roger Moore's Bond outings, with Moonraker and The Man With the Golden Gun standing out in my memeory as less memorable escapades than this one.

It's Moore's final appearance as 007, and he is trying to prevent a psychotic business magnate, Max Zorin (Walken) from destroying Silicon Valley and cornering the world electronic market all for himself. To make matters worse, Zorin is not your average adversary, since he was born as the result of a Nazi doctor's scientific tamperings resulting in him being hyper-intelligent but also uncontrollably murderous. The mission takes Bond from Zorin's French chateau, to San Francisco, and ultimately to an abandoned mine close to Silicon Valley, where Zorin plans to detonate a bomb which will trigger a cataclysmic earthquake.

The set pieces are memorable, including a parachute pursuit from the Eiffel Tower, a fire engine chase around the hilly streets of San Francisco, and an airship crash on the Golden Gate bridge. Moore looks a bit old for the part, and his sexual humour bears a greater emphasis than usual of the "dirty old man" baggage. However, he still has an easy-going charisma and good comic timing. Walken makes for a good, supremely confident villain, and is well backed by the fearsome Grace Jones. However, Tanya Roberts Bond girl character is whining and screaming so much in this film that she eventually wears out her welcome. The theme song from Duran Duran is rather too '80s, but the instrumental music by John Barry is stirring and dramatic.

I'm not sure what all the disappointment is about. A View To A Kill is an above average Bond flick with plenty to keep you entertained.

For a lot of people, Roger Moore is usually dismissed from the 'who was the best Bond' argument. For me, he was my favorite, possibly still is. Part of the reasons for this is a pure nostalgia factor in that he was the Bond when I was growing up. His films were the ones that were on television and when there was a new film he was Bond. Another reason he may be my favorite is the movies themselves. His Bond films were an eclectic collection of movies that were usually fast paced and fun. Most of his films featured multiple exotic locations , lots of cool action sequences and an awesome villain. Roger Moore's Bond got to duel with Christopher Lee and in this one Christopher Walken two of the best actors to portray Bond villains. Sure, Octopussy was almost the Austin Power's of its day in that it was almost a parody, but this one reigned in the campiness a bit and while not his best work, still ended his tenure as Bond in nice fashion. Not perfect, mind you, as Timothy Dalton's 'The Living Daylights' would be better, this one is still is a good Bond film that probably did represent the 80's more so than did any other Bond film from its opening featuring a Duran Duran song and lots of neon to the inclusion of Grace Jones as villainous sidekick Mayday.

The story has Bond recovering a microchip from a Russian facility that mirrors one at a plant run by Max Zorin. Meaning that somehow the Russians have gotten a hold of one of these chips. James sets out to investigate Zorin at his horse staples as Zorin seems to also have an unnatural edge in the racing of horses as well. It is not too long before Zorin tries to off Bond and show himself as the bad guy and soon Bond must go to San Francisco where he must try to figure out what Zorin's plans are as Zorin seems to be plotting something large. Bond will be assisted by a lady that Zorin has been trying to pay off and intimidate and together they will find themselves in a cave that is laden with Zorin's men as they plan to do something insane to turn the world of computers and microchips decidedly in Zorin's favor.

Roger Moore was quite old by this time and it was time for him to relinquish the role of 007. That being said, he still did a great job as the one thing you can say about him is that unlike Sean Connery near the end of his run as Bond, Moore still seemed to have fun doing it. In fact, I would say had Moore started as Bond instead of Connery, he would likely have kept the role up to View To a Kill. Here his age is apparent, as he is older than Connery, so one knows that you're mainly getting stunt doubles, but they made it work. Christopher Walken is the main villain of the piece and he is crazy good. Probably one of the more psychotic Bond villains he relishes killing those who work for him and laughs as he faces death. Grace Jones is also in this film and like most of the villains henchmen, she is a formidable opponent. Patrick Mcnee also does a good job as the agent initially investigating Zorin's horses. Now for the main problem with the film, Tanya Roberts. She has the looks, but she just does not seem like a Bond girl to me. She is perhaps, my least favorite Bond girl besides Denise Richards in The World is Not Enough.

So, I think this film was a nice farewell for Roger Moore as Bond. I actually thought Octopussy was good too, but this one was just a better send off as it had less comedic elements than did that film. Like I stated above, that one was nearly a parody in areas. Roger Moore's age does show, but he still carries the film well as he faces off a very nice opponent in Zorin played by Walken. I did not enjoy this one as much when I was younger, but it has grown on me, it is just nice to see so many very well down practical special effects rather than mainly CGI ones that accompany nearly every film released these days. It is also interesting that this is the film that sort of brought snowboarding into the open and made it quite big, so Roger Moore's final Bond film did start something rather big and that is rather cool. So is this film…not even Moore's best Bond movie, but a nice cool entry into the series and a nice farewell to probably the actor who enjoyed being Bond the most.

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.

James Bond sets out to stop a psychopathic business man and a successful horse breeder. Stars Roger Moore and Christopher Walken.

Moore was clearly too old for this role but the film has all the elements of a great Bond film. An excellent villain in Walken, a dastardly plot, beautiful girls and amazing locations.

A lot of fun. Grace Jones is a great henchman.