A VIEW TO A KILL (1985, UK/USA, 131m, PG) **½
Action, Adventure, Thriller
dist. United International Pictures (UIP) (UK), MGM/UA Entertainment Company (USA); pr co. Eon Productions; d. John Glen; w. Richard Maibaum, Michael G. Wilson (based on the short story “From a View to a Kill” by Ian Fleming.; pr. Albert R. Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson; ph. Alan Hume (Technicolor | 2.39:1); m. John Barry; ed. Peter Davies; pd. Peter Lamont; ad. John Fenner.
cast: Roger Moore (James Bond), Christopher Walken (Max Zorin), Tanya Roberts (Stacey Sutton), Grace Jones (May Day), Patrick Macnee (Tibbett), Patrick Bauchau (Scarpine), David Yip (Chuck Lee), Fiona Fullerton (Pola Ivanova), Manning Redwood (Bob Conley), Alison Doody (Jenny Flex), Willoughby Gray (Dr. Carl Mortner), Desmond Llewelyn (Q), Robert Brown (M), Lois Maxwell (Miss Moneypenny), Walter Gotell (General Gogol), Geoffrey Keen (Minister of Defence), Jean Rougerie (Aubergine), Daniel Benzali (Howe), Bogdan Kominowski (Klotkoff), Papillon Soo (Pan Ho), Mary Stavin (Kimberley Jones), Dolph Lundgren (Venz).
A tired final outing for Moore as British secret agent James Bond. After recovering a microchip from the body of a deceased colleague in Russia, Bond discovers that the technology has the potential for sinister applications. Investigating further, Bond is led to Max Zorin (Walken), the head of Zorin Industries. Soon Agent 007 faces off against the villainous Zorin and his tough Amazonian bodyguard, May Day (Jones), who are scheming to cause massive destruction that will eliminate the competition. The plot recycles GOLDFINGER (1964), but the creative energy that made that film so enjoyable is sadly missing here. All the boxes are ticked but without the enthusiasm or originality that made the earlier films so special. On the plus side, Fullerton is sexy as a Russian spy and it is a shame her role was not larger whilst the interplay between Moore and Macnee is amusing. Maxwell’s final appearance as Miss Moneypenny. Duran Duran supplied the theme song. Followed by THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS (1987), in which Timothy Dalton took over as Bond.
