OK, so let's get this over with straight away. Roger Moore is now clearly waaaaayyy too old to be playing Bond. When Bond meets with "M", it's more than a little embarrassing that Bond looks older than his boss, even if he actually isn't. Equally, we see old man Bond, old man "M", old man "Q", old man Defence Minister, old biddy Moneypenny and joined by old man Tibbet - it's like the pensioners are out to fight the good fight. However, as I cringed during Never Say Never Again while Bond got it on with a woman twenty years his junior, it's impossible not to feel the same about Moore and Tanya Roberts.
And, let's accept that fact that this movie is pretty much the plot of Goldfinger, with Goldfinger replaced by Zorin; Oddjob replaced by Mayday; gold replaced by microchips and irradiating Fort Knox becomes destroying Silicon Valley. That said, though, it's not like a story hasn't been recycled in the Bond movies.
So with that out of the way, I have to say I love A View To A Kill. I think, perhaps, the thing that impressed me the most about this movie is that, after twenty-three years of Bond movies, after thirteen films, you might think that the fourteenth just wouldn't have anywhere to go. And yet there is a great deal of originality in this movie, perhaps stemming from the fact that Michael G Wilson now moves into the producer's chair alongside his stepfather. The stuntwork on the movies continues to get better and better, with the Eifel Tower high dive of particular note. Equally the horse chase sequence is notable for so many reasons - the first being the aforementioned originality (I wonder why this has never been thought of before), the second being the fact that at the end of it Zorin calmly points out that he knows exactly who he is - no more stupid Bond/villain games in this film - and Bond about to leap into the car, only to discover that Tibbet is dead is very, very well played.
It's worth pointing out that, aside from his age, Moore is still on great form as Bond. He plays the part perfectly in this movie, giving Bond the humour and the deadly seriousness that is required. His relationship with Tibbet is laid back and well played, clearly stemming from the good relationship Moore and Macnee shared off set. Equally, after Tibbet's death, Bond is very, very serious and the cold delivery of his lines to Walken is brilliantly played. If it wasn't for his age, I actually feel at this point that I don't want Moore to stop playing the role.
Desmond Llewellyn and Lois Maxwell are back for their traditional cameos, which are wonderful as always (although Moneypenny, like Bond, is also getting on a bit. It's difficult to see how she will be able to carry the role on if Moore leaves), but this movie actually allows Robert Brown to stamp his mark on "M". With the Minister having very little screen time, "M" goes back to the position he used to play and his chance to go to Ascot gives him a great chance to establish his "M". The other regular - Gogol - also turns in an appearance, and as usual his character has something slightly different to do, visiting Zorin who is a KGB agent and there's a great moment where a fight breaks out and Walter Gotell establishes the strength and authority of his character.
So with all this talk of him, it's time to note Christopher Walken's performance as the villain Max Zorin. Walken has an unusual performance style, one I once saw described as Walken taking the punctuation out of all his lines. Here it seems completely true, with Walken's delivery boardering on the positively bizarre, but he still gets all the best lines in the film. What's great about Zorin is that he is completely psychotic. Walken shows the character is completely over the edge from little touches like his facial acting when he is described as psychotic, to the smile he gives just before he slips off the Golden Gate bridge. Walken ends up being completely enthralling and one of the best Bond villains to date.
The funny thing is that if someone suggested a movie starring Christopher Walken and Grace Jones, you'd have to sit there and go...yesss.... Conversely, though, if anyone's offbeat acting can counterbalance anyone else's, it's most definitely Walken and Jones. Tall, black and muscular, Grace Jones is not the typical Bond girl, or villain's henchman, yet, she works so well, particularly against Zorin. Backed up by Patrick Bachau as the creepy Scarpine and the extremely beautiful Alison Doody as Jenny Flex (I can't gush enough about this woman - as a young lad I was madly in love with her), Zorin's got a nice little army in the style of Mr Big in Live And Let Die.
Another great performance is Patrick Macnee as Sir Godfrey Tibbet (and thankfully we get no "Sir Tibbet"'s in this movie like the abominable "Sir Havelock" in For Your Eyes Only). As I said earlier, Macnee and Moore were clearly good friends offset and this helps the relationship between Bond and Tibbet no end. At the end of the day Macnee seems to be playing, essentially, Avenger John Steed (and let's face it, to the fans of Bond and The Avengers this makes it almost a dream come true), but the character he is given is pretty much Steed so there is no real issue here.
Not working quite so well, though, is Tanya Roberts who delivers a fairly lacklustre and passionless performance as Stacy Stutton. As usual John Glen makes Bond less of a guy who uses women as his pawns, and so Moore attempts to give Bond's relationship with Stacy a little bit of depth, but it's very hard when he's playing against someone who is not quite so interested in giving the same kind of depth. Although she is very beautiful, she is in a movie with a group of girls who are all extremely attractive, and when Fiona Fullerton can not only look beautiful but give her cameo appearance as KGB agent Pola Ivanova a great deal of depth, especially given it is an ultimately unnecessary part; Roberts needs far more than beauty to get by.
Looking at other aspects of the production; John Barry gives a wonderful score for AVTAK which, while not having the originality of Octopussy, still has a great deal of style, and is helped out no end by a fantastically brilliant title song from Duran Duran. Duran Duran and Barry working together on the theme clearly inspired both sides of the deal, and Barry, of course, was able to use the theme throughout the movie. My favourite example of this is the fanfare version when Bond rescues Stacy from the burning Town Hall - although enough of people drinking wine when Bond does incredible things!
DP Alan Hume has his work cut out for him given that there are virtually no real exotic locales to play with - it's set in San Francisco and...er...well, there's that bit in the Arctic at the beginning... In spite of that, you never get the feeling that the movie lacks that certain Bondian setting that you got in Diamonds Are Forever. And with Peter Lamont apparently having studied very well under Ken Adam, the production design is quite astounding. What is the most amazing is the mine set at the end which is simply massive and allows Glen and Hume to shoot from so many angles that the set looks even more amazing.
Glen's direction is absolutely outstanding in this film and so with things like the Golden Gate fight (note the performances not just of Moore and Walken but also Bachau and Willoughby Gray) and the mine massacre (which is actually quite disturibing) the film stands out from the other Bond movies by showing us that Glen is still full of ideas for the series.
And so it's to the bits and bobs part of the review. If Moore is going to continue to play Bond it's about time they reshot the gunbarrel logo - Bond is still in flares! Why do the guards immediately start shooting at Bond in the pretitle sequence? Is that just standard Russian policy? And the "California Girls" is perhaps a little misjudged. The decision to insult the French so soon after the Indians is perhaps also misjudged. Given that Zorin doesn't know who Bond is until he meets him the day after Bond arrives, why is everyone so mistrustful of "St John Smythe" when he immediately arrives? Equally, surely Zorin's residence would have video surveillance as well as audio (in fact there is a bank of monitors in the surveillance room) - why did Bond and Tibbet think that just a recorded conversation would be good cover? And clearly "Oh, James" is now going to be the standard ending to the Bond films...not sure if that's a good thing though...and the next movie is? Well, we don't know. But...James Bond Will Return.
Favourite Bond: 1. Roger Moore; 2. Sean Connery; 3. George Lazenby
Favourite movie order: 1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service; 2. Dr No; 3. A View To A Kill; 4. Live And Let Die; 5. Thunderball; 6. For Your Eyes Only/Octopussy 7. The Spy Who Loved Me; 8. From Russia, With Love; 9. Goldfinger; 10. You Only Live Twice; 11. Moonraker; 12. The Man With The Golden Gun; 13. Diamonds Are Forever
Favourite Bond girl: 1. Claudine Auger/Dominio; 2. Diana Rigg/Tracy; 3. Carole Bouquet/Melina; 4. Barbara Bach/Anya; 5. Maud Adams/Octopussy 6. Mie Hama/Kissy; 7. Daniela Bianchi/Tanya; 8. Ursula Andress/Honey; 9. Jane Seymour/Solitaire; 10. Lois Chiles/Holly; 11. Honor Blackman/Pussy; 12. Tanya Roberts/Stacy; 13. Britt Ekland/Mary; 14. Jill St John/Tiffany
Favourite Bond villain: 1. Donald Pleasance/Blofeld; 2. Gert Frobe/Goldfinger; 3. Christopher Lee/Scaramanga; 4. Christopher Walken/Zorin; 5. Louis Jordan & Steven Berkov/Kahn & Orlov 6. Adolfo Celi/Largo; 7. Michael Lonsdale/Drax; 8. Yaphet Kotto/Mr Big-Dr Kananga; 9. Julian Glover/Kristatos; 10. Joseph Wiseman/Dr No; 11. Lotte Lenya/Klebb; 12. Telly Savalas/Blofeld; 13. Charles Gray/Blofeld; 14. Curt Jurgens/Stromberg
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