NO TIME TO DIE Countdown: A VIEW TO A KILL Revisited

In the No Time To Die Countdown, Jake Tropila takes a look back at every Bond film – official and unofficial – in anticipation of the release of the latest entry.

Alas, the party had to end at some point. Not this column; we have plenty of entries to go before we reach that conclusion. The party I’m referring to, of course, is the tenure of Sir Roger Moore. Twelve years and seven later, Moore appeared in more (official) films than any other Bond Actor. Whether or not he was the best is a matter of taste; all that matters is he was the best at what he did.

And what he did was so much fun! A suave presence with ace comic timing, Moore was game to take the series to stratospheric heights of goofiness, yet it never felt any less credible in his hands. Drop Craig into Moonraker, and the enterprise falls apart quickly. Besides, who else could pull off that clown makeup with such panache? Not Timothy Dalton, that’s for sure. Every time I run through the series, I always find it tough to say goodbye to a Bond, and today is no exception.

This brings us to this week’s entry, A View to a Kill. For many, this is as bad as it gets. Overlong. Inexcusable. Incomprehensible. One film too many. Hell, even Moore quipped that he was “only four hundred years too old for the part.” The age certainly shows – you could host a drinking game for every instance you spot Moore’s stunt double, and everyone would be properly sauced by the end of the Paris sequence (best not to attempt such a thing). And sure, if one were to take the aggregate totals of all Bond reviews, A View to a Kill lands somewhere near the bottom.

So you’ll have to forgive me as I buck the trend of the general consensus and proudly proclaim that I think this movie is a total blast. Flawed? Sure. But the worst? With these villains? With *that* theme song? Absolutely not. We’re gonna cover it all, and hopefully, I’ll make a believer out of you yet. The year is 1985 – what a time to be alive. Let’s base jump off the Eiffel Tower and into the action.

Dance Into the Fire

Huh, that legal disclaimer is odd. Anyways. Moore’s ultimate cold open is an especially chilly one, finding the agent in snow-covered Siberia, exhuming the corpse of 003 to locate a special microchip. He’s almost immediately spotted by enemy soldiers, necessitating a quick escape, during which Bond inadvertently invents snowboarding while a Beach Boys cover band sings “California Girls.” Scoff all you want, I’m busy grinning ear to ear. Bond shoots a helicopter down with a flare before shacking up with a gorgeous blonde agent in a submarine disguised as an iceberg. Did I mention this movie is fun?

Okay, let’s lay all the cards on the table. Past and present, always and forever, I will officially declare this as if it were an objective fact: Duran Duran’s theme song is the greatest James Bond song ever composed. Yes, “Goldfinger” is a classic. Yes, “Live and Let Die” is a stellar bop. And yes, “Nobody Does It Better” is truly exquisite. But “A View to a Kill” really gets the blood flowing, in ways no other song in the franchise does. After a series of soft ballads that openly revere 007, Duran Duran kicks the doors in and goes extremely hard with this supernova of sonic goodness.

And how about these crazy lyrics! “First crystal tears / Fallen snowflakes on your body / First time in years / To drench your skin of lover’s rosy stain / A chance to find the phoenix for the flame / A chance to die / But can we dance into the fire / The fatal kiss is all we need!” I love it. Extra points go to the visuals in the credit sequence, which features a rich dichotomy of ice and fire, and some glorious shots of downhill skiers adorned in dayglo ribbons. Terrific.

Off to the races! Literally, the entire staff of MI6 heads over to the racetrack to scope out our Bond Villain. But first, we must bid farewell to another franchise stalwart. Making her fourteenth consecutive appearance as Miss Moneypenny (seriously, she’s reported for duty in every film since Dr. No), Lois Maxwell will also be departing alongside Moore. Three Bonds, two M’s, and one cinematic legacy later, I’ll always miss her flirtatious moments with James, even if she only appeared in a solitary scene. She will be missed.

After a slew of drab heavies, Max Zorin is just he shot in the arm this series needed. A French industrialist by way of Nazi steroid experimentation, Zorin is sharp, psychotic, and preternaturally blonde – deadly in all the right ways. Better yet, he’s played by Christopher Walken, arguably in the peak of his career. Walken plays the fiend with palpable zest, stealing the show without chewing the scenery. It’s truly one of the series’ best performances.

Perhaps a proper Villain can only be judged by the quality of his henchperson. Fortunately for Zorin, May Day scores big in the win column. All hail the might of Grace Jones, who’s built like she could heave a horse clean over her head. Statuesque, Amazonian, and downright ruthless, she and Zorin form such a formidable duo that I’m inclined to grant them the position of “Featured Photo” for this installment of the No Time To Die Countdown (all previous entries were variations of Bond). Well-deserved, I might add.

Speaking of, let’s talk Bond. As much as I adore Moore, he’s arguably the weakest part of A View to a Kill. He still manages his quips well, but the action just ain’t what it used to be. Consider the interlude in Paris. We get an assassination by butterfly, a base jump off the Eiffel Tower, and a reckless two-wheel drive car chase through the city streets. All potentially exciting, but the film frequently (and haphazardly) cuts around Moore in a poor attempt to disguise his many stuntmen. Director John Glen makes the most out of the scenario, but more often than not I’m actively playing “Spot Not-Roger.”

Throwing in the Towel

All this talk of villains and songs and I’ve hardly made a dent in the plot. No matter, we’re moving right along now (doog-a-doon doog-a-doon). A View to a Kill could be split into two halves, labeled thusly: Horses and Microchips. Neither has anything to do with the other. The horses don’t inform the microchip plot, nor do they pay off in any sort of fashion. They exist because Zorin enjoys racing (and winning) via carefully administered doses of steroids. A tenuous connection to his own backstory. Go figure!

Bond goes undercover in Zorin’s compound under the guise of James St. John Smythe (pronounced Sinjin Smith), accompanied by fellow agent-turned-manservant Sir Godfrey Tibbett (played by Avengers alum Patrick Macnee, in a witty bit of meta-casting). I enjoy Bond’s repartee with Tibbett, an age-appropriate ally, but I do question the great lengths they take to keep their cover, which involves recording what must be hours upon hours of bickering and bantering into a tape recorder in order to fool the bug in their room.

Bond and Tibbett infiltrate Zorin’s lab, where the horse steroids are discovered and a plot point seemingly develops, were it not immediately abandoned minutes later. No matter. To evade capture, Bond beds May Day, in what is quite possibly the most uncomfortable scene in the Moore films (second perhaps to Bibi Dahl in For Your Eyes Only, or kissing Magda in Octopussy). Sadly, Tibbett doesn’t make it far. He’s murdered by May Day, and in a subsequent steeplechase-turned-assassination attempt, Bond is left for dead at the bottom of a pond (luckily, the tires of his Rolls-Royce provide sufficient air supply). Onward to San Francisco.

A View to a Kill is one of the few Bonds that is set primarily stateside. The target of Zorin’s operation is Silicon Valley: he aims to detonate a massive explosion under the San Andreas fault, which would then cause the Valley to be flooded and allow him to have a monopoly on microchips. Think Goldfinger, only nonsensical. Whatever, I’m having a good time. Walken sells the hell out of his speech, and May Day drops a poor bastard out of their blimp. Did I mention Zorin has a blimp? We also get the title of the movie spoken, as May Day and Zorin admire the Golden Gate Bridge: “What a view.” “To a kill!” Hey, I don’t know what it means either; all I know is I like it.

It’s telling that I’ve made it this far into this retrospective and I haven’t even mentioned our Bond Girl yet. Stacey Sutton is introduced early in the picture, shortly after Zorin’s first horse race. I always think of her as a constant presence in this movie, but to my surprise I found she actually disappears for an hour or so, returning to dominate the latter half of Bond’s adventure in San Francisco. Now, the part certainly has its naysayers, and while I cannot really provide a cogent defense, I will say that Tanya Roberts is not to blame. She answers the call of duty; trouble is, the role largely turns thankless. The best analog I can think of is Tiffany Case in Diamonds Are Forever – starts strong, operates independently, has her own agency, but is ultimately reduced to a shrieking hostage in the final act. A shame, really.

(One major gripe I can’t let go: how the hell does Stacey not hear an enormous blimp approach her from behind? She’s literally scooped up off the ground into it. That’s unforgivable, really.) 

Stacey is embroiled in a legal battle with Zorin for control of her family’s oil company. Zorin attempts to buy her out, but Stacey won’t back down so easily. Bond accompanies her to City Hall as James Stock, reporter of Financial Times, to get to the bottom of Zorin’s plan. Surprise! Zorin has already beaten them there, and not only does he murder their City Hall contact, he sets the whole damn building on fire. Bond and Stacey escape, but they are fingered for the murder of the dead City Hall official. Bond and Stacey escape again, this time with an absconded firetruck and a dozen police officers in tow. As far as chases go, this feels more Blues Brothers than For Your Eyes Only, right down to the obnoxious, Chicago-esque cop who chews out his subordinates.

Everything comes to a head in Zorin’s mine. As a sign of the changing times of cinema, flippant murder of nameless and faceless extras became very much in vogue, so Zorin has a ball gunning down his own men to cover his tracks. Unfortunately for him, he also leaves behind May Day, who turns good and sacrifices herself to foil his nefarious dreams. Zorin responds by kidnapping Stacey, but Bond manages to get his blimp tangled on the Golden Gate Bridge for the final showdown. I do like this, as a setpiece; Walken’s giggle before falling to his doom hits just right. And so, the day is saved, and Bond enjoys Stacey in the shower. The end.

Conclusion: A View to Kill

A View to a Kill is nowhere near as reviled as its reputation suggests. It might not be the proper send-off Roger Moore deserved, but the film has a great sense of fun, and its Villains are in a league of their own. Have I mentioned the Duran Duran track? All in all, I’m grateful Moore stuck around for as long as he did; Connery set the precedent, but Moore ensured the franchise could endure. Were it not for him, we wouldn’t have as many cinematic treasures to cherish. So, thank you Roger Moore. Thank you for your service.

Coming up next: it’s time to meet our new Bond, and this one means business. The No Time To Die Countdown will return with The Living Daylights.

What do you think? Is A View to a Kill better than its reputation suggests? Let us know in the comments below.

Watch A View to a Kill