Movie Review: "007: A View To A Kill" (1985)Producers Albert R. Broccoli (1909-1996) and Michael G. Wilson (b. 1942) send off actor Roger Moore in his seventh performance as "James Bond" with an honorable $30 Million Dollar production budget, high class special effect work and the most compelling antagonist duo, since Kananga & Solitaire in "Live and Let Die" (1973) here with musician / singer Grace Jones and actor Christopher Walken, who performs as sharp-minded industrialist Max Zorin and his highly-trained bodyguarding sidekick May Day.Director John Glen comes back to his "For Your Eyes Only" (1981) roots in delivering a clear cut 125 Minutes "007" action-thriller that embraces some hard-boiled stunt work from skiing in Antartica, Parisian car chases and a special occasion showdown location at "Golden Gate" bridge's wire balancing act with a fist fight between Zorin and Bond; Moments when blonde 29-year-old bond girl Tanya Roberts stays passive as just being an "007" beauty-spreading sidenote.Second appearances of actor Robert Brown (1921-2003) as "M", filling in since "Octopussy" (1983) after Bernard Lee's death in 1981. "007's" mission briefing accompanied with a pin-pointed Miss Moneypenny flirt, portrayed by sharp-beating actresss Lois Maxwell (1927-2007). She and Roger Moore are building a fine chemistry to delight "A View To A Kill" as their final "007" universe appearances before the picture continues in fair well-paced manner, especially at a suspenseful horse racing espionage scene and the infamous mine massacre interior, making, even at today's standards, this Roger Moore farewell picture an highly enjoyable movie ride from beginning to finish.© 2017 Felix Alexander Dausend (Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC)

Feast your eyes on the last and weakest entry in the Roger Moore era of James Bond flicks. "A View to a Kill" follows a much older looking bond as he rides horses, takes down blimps, and runs on top of a bridge. With a laughable villain in Christopher Walken, there is some enjoyment to be had with this film, even though it is not good enjoyment. With one-liners at a new low, a villain that is not interesting, excess build-up to a disappointing finale, and an atmosphere that is way too far from the feel of bond, this film fails on many levels. Aside from a few cool action bits spread throughout, everything else feels uninspired. This is one of the worst films of the franchise by far. "A View to a Kill" is just plain dumb.

These are two classic lines when Zorin decides to accept a business man's request to opt-out of his nefarious plans, and we see Mayday taking the unwitting and morally upright business man dropping to his death in the sea (a drink, get it??!!). And he drops to his death (dropping out, get it???!!!). The business man (not sure of his name) joins a gallery of minor characters who meet gruesome deaths at the expense of a funny quip, e.g. the gangster who witnesses The Joker's pencil trick, the guy who is Arnie's body shield in Total Recall.This was Roger Moore's final performance as Bond, and since then I haven't watched a Bond movie. Anyway, there are humorous lines in this Bond movie, and it's impressive.

A VIEW TO A KILL is the most frustrating 007 movie in the series because it's far from being a good film but my memory, for whatever reason, continues to paint it as one. I'll go for a while without watching it and then, one day, I'll be mulling over which 007 movie I feel like revisiting. Inevitably, A VIEW TO A KILL will come to mind and I'll think back and remember how much cheesy fun it is. On the chance I settle on the movie, I'll watch it and, not even halfway through, discover I've been conned yet again. I can't bring myself to call it a horrible movie (though I might see how others could accuse it of such) because I'm a major 007 fan. I've got a bias and I still believe that the worst of the films are still better than most other garbage out there. I can always find something to love about the movies and that includes this one. So, if you're looking for an outsider's unbiased perspective on A VIEW TO A KILL, this probably isn't the place. Roger Moore's final outing as the legendary British secret agent tries to jump on, what was at the time, at modern adventure about the technology industry. It starts with an investigation into industry mogul Max Zorin (Christopher Walken) and some potential funny business in the world of horse breeding. It's soon revealed that Zorin, a powerful man in the world of microchip production, has a plan to eliminate his competition by literally wiping Silicon Valley off the map.We'll ignore the fact that the destruction of Silicon Valley is the exact opposite of how Zorin would accomplish his goal and would, actually, ruin his business this way. Plot holes and poor research are expected often in these movies. So what are my problems with A VIEW TO A KILL? For starters, poor Roger Moore is just too old to be globe-trotting and fighting evil at this point. Just one look at the man tells you he is well past the point of successfully portraying this iconic character. I give him props for doing his best but, come on, his stunt doubles are the most blatant in this movie than in any other. It's almost distracting. Anything that isn't the most basic of movement for Moore is a stand-in. The film wastes no time in flaunting this with an opening sequence in Siberia where Bond must escape some Russians on skis. At no point is it believably Moore. And don't get me started on the use of the Beach Boys tune to the scene of Bond snowboarding to escape. It's just not right. Moving on, the film is just too long. Well, length isn't the problem. I've got no problem with a 007 movie being over two hours; my problem is that it feels it because there's so little going on to care about. The first act at Zorin's estate with the horse-breeding (which, keep in mind, has little to do with the big-picture plot of the film) lasts something like half the movie. So the movie is somewhere around half over when the microchip stuff and Silicon Valley stuff come into play. And then there's Tanya Roberts as the movie's Bond woman, Stacy Sutton. Roberts is only slightly more believable as a geologist than Denise Richards was as a nuclear physicist in THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH, and she spends most of her screen time screaming "James!" and failing to stay out of danger.So what worked? Well, Roger Moore has always been one of my top 007 actors because of the charm and humor he brings to the character. His body might be showing his age but his personality is intact and makes some of the cheesier dialogue a little easier to stomach. And then there's the fact that he's facing off in this movie against Christopher Walken. Let me repeat that: Christopher Walken. In a 007 movie. That's awesome enough. I do wish his character had been built up more. Zorin is really underdeveloped and his history is a little shady. Apparently he was genetically modified since birth by the KGB (in the same manner as his horses, I guess) and he's supposed to be a near-perfect human: vastly intelligent and above-average physical prowess. He doesn't display it much here. I mean, his plan makes little sense and he's bested by an aged Roger Moore in physical combat. He just goes the route of the psychopath. That's his one real character trait. His main "henchman" and the film's femme fatale is Grace Jones as May Day. Really, if Zorin wanted to win, all he had to do was send May Day after 007. She's an imposing woman. Her character also gets the most "character development" (I know I'm using a lot of quotes here but I want to be clear I'm using a lot of these terms loosely) in the film. She's Zorin's most trusted associate and we find she views him as more than that, culminating in a proper send-off for her character in the final act. Let's see…I loved the use of San Francisco as a location. When I think of Bond, I think of exotic locations so the juxtaposition of putting him in 80's era California still entertains me. And I would be stupid not to mention the film's title song, performed by Duran Duran. I love this song and it rates as probably my favorite title song of the entire series. When I have the urge to watch this movie, I think it's just my brain trying to tell me I need to go listen to this track.Would I recommend A VIEW TO A KILL? To the average viewer, probably not. To a 007 fan, you've probably already seen it. The real question is: can we bring Walken back for another new 007 movie or have we wasted our chance?