A View to a Kill (John Glen, 1985) Review

*DING* Controversal Bond review number 4! Here it is: 'From a View to a Kill'! What? What do you mean they changed the title? It said at the end of Octopussy "Bond will return in 'From a View to a Kill'! Fine then. This is actually considered one of the worst Bond films ever. Yes, Roger Moore was 57 when he did this film and that is WAY too old to be Bond but does that really make this film any worse? Let's find out!

While out on a mission, Bond (Roger Moore) finds a computer chip that can withstand a nuclear EMP Pulse. The chip was made by Zorin Industries, headed by Max Zorin (Christopher Walken). While Zorin may seem like an innocent businessman, he is far from it. Zorin plans to set off an earthquake along the San Andreas fault that will wipe out Silicon Valley, thus making his Silicon more valuable. He sends his henchwoman, May Day (Grace Jones), to deal with Bond, who has teamed up with Stacy Sutton (Tanya Roberts) in order to stop the earthquake from happening.

Here we go: I LOVE THIS FILM! This is actually one of my favourite Bond films. The reason? Christopher Walken steals the show. Max Zorin is one of the greatest adviseries Bond has ever faced. The fact that he's insane and a genetic experiment makes for a very interesting character and one hell of a bad guy. Sure, his plan is the same as Goldfingers but I considering that Goldfinger wasn't anything special (ZING!), I'll let it pass...for now. May Day is actually a terrifying character. Grace Jones is a weird person anyway so making her act weird is just asking for weird...ness. Another good thing is the action. From Bond and Stacy escaping a burning building to the climatic battle on the Golden Gate Bridge (which I love!), the action is a thrill to watch.

It's not all good though. Roger Moore was far too old for this. A View to a Kill should have been given to the next Bond...so should Octopussy. Also Stacey Sutton, while useful (shocking for a Bond girl), just comes off as annoying. Not the worst Bond girl but nowhere near the best. This film also has one of the worst moments in Bond history: the Beach Boys is played over a sking scene...WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!? Also, I feel that there wasn't enough Q in this one...but that's just me.

A View to a Kill is easily one of my favourites (maybe even my number one favourite...drawn with another one). Christopher Walken is truly fantastic, the action is great (especially that climax), the plot, while recyled, is actually quite good and Grace Jones works surpisingly well. Most people pass this film as they feel that Moore is too old but look past that and you'll see a great Bond film.

Verdict:
8.5/10
One of my favourites. The villain is great, the action is great and the whole thing is great...more or less...