SimonJack
"A View to Kill" was the last of the Agent 007 movies that starred Roger Moore as James Bond. As with Sean Connery before him, Moore slowed down with age toward the end of his reign in the role. That refers to the amount, level and finesse of their physical prowess. Each older Bond has much less fighting, and the martial arts of the "older" scenes don't seem quite authentic - with the bad guys having to slow down accordingly. But, this film has plenty of action otherwise. It's one of the few films that doesn't have a big piece of the story take place in a tropical setting. Instead of exotic locales, this film has scenes in London, Paris, San Francisco and the Bay area, especially the Silicon Valley. Action scenes take place on the Eifel Tower and atop the Golden Gate Bridge. The interesting plot is set around the San Andreas Fault in California.Christopher Walken is the guest villain. He plays psychopath Max Zorin whose plot is to corner the world's computer chip industry. Patrick Macnee, former star of the long-running TV series, "The Avengers," plays an MI6 cohort of Bond's, Sir Godrey Tibbett. He's their resident expert on art. Here are a couple of favorite lines from the film. Sir Godfrey Tibbett, "Another wealthy owner?" James Bond, "Who knows. But she'd certainly bear closer inspection." Sir Godfrey, "We're on a mission." James Bond, "Sir Godfrey, on a mission I am expected to sacrifice myself."Max Zorin, "You amuse me, Mr. Bond." James Bond, "Well, it's not mutual."
JohnHowardReid
Admittedly, "A view to a Kill" certainly starts off with a bang, but, alas, it's all downhill from there, as the project quickly deteriorates into a talk, talk, talk fest, illuminated by lots of boring, and downright irritating, television-style close-ups.The movie's advertising phrase catchwords, "Bond As Never Before", is certainly right on target. Never has Bond looked so old and haggard, as played here by an aging Roger Moore. Even his photo on the cover of the M-G-M DVD has necessitated being touched up! (Look at it through a magnifying glass and you'll see what I mean!). The movie's advertising catch phrase, "Bond As Never Before!" was right on target. It turned out to be Roger Moore's final performance as James Bond. A shame! Less TV-style close-ups and more medium and long shots could have maintained the illusion that Bond was still as chipper as ever! "Moneypenny" is also looking old and weary!On the credit side, a lot of money has obviously been spent on actually shooting the movie. There are certainly some good stunts and a small fortune has undoubtedly been spent on crowds of extra players and filming scenes on real locations.
D' Francis
This is a mixed opinion film for me. It did a number of things very well, but all of its merits were inside a fundamentally flawed movie.It has a number of elements which I thought were really well done. Max Zorin does a great job at playing a classic megalomaniac Bond villain. The Golden Gate bridge fight is one of my favorite scenes in the franchise. The Nazi allusions and darker violent elements in the movie with Mortner is a bit creepy and the singular May Day henchwoman as well. I like the self-parody elements like the California Girls' skiing scene and the fact that the Bond series is not afraid to poke fun at itself. I just like the overall classic nostalgic Bond-feeling it has.Unfortunately, there's just too many flaws for it to be a good movie. It spent the first 50 whole minutes on a slow horse-racing plot to lead into the villains' real plan. I nearly fell asleep at certain points in the movie ; it runs a bit long in general. Moore, despite his best efforts, was just too old here. The script should have probably been rewritten for Dalton. The Bond girl is half his age and not believable as a a geologist. The plot is a verbatim clone of Goldfinger. And overall, the movie is slow and lacking in energy.A View to a Kill is the transition point between the classic and the modern Bonds. It has the campy light-hearted spy elements, as well as the darker violent action elements. The former was getting old at that point and the latter was about to take hold.
jessicakneeson
Possibly the most underrated Bond film ever, and it comes right at the lowest point in the franchise.Christopher Walken, Grace Jones, Dolph Lundgren, Tawnya Roberts...almost enough to make you forget about Roger Moore! But come on, the opening ski scene is fantastic, the action is diverse throughout...skiing, horseback, BASE jumping, fire truck racing, mine chases...this film has it all! Plus half is set in San Francisco? BONUS! Not to mention one of the most kick ass Bond themes ever, and a great opening credit sequence to go with it.This is a great great Bond film, and now it's a matter of waiting for the next Daniel Craig one to arrive