A View to a Kill

Plot synopsis:
James Bond (Roger Moore) is sent to Siberia to locate the body of 003 and to recover a microchip. Upon doing so, he is ambushed by Soviet troops but flees in a submarine built to resemble an iceberg.After Bond returns to England a week later, Q (Desmond Llewelyn) has the microchip analysed and informs M (Robert Brown), Bond and the Minister of Defense that its design is an exact match of a microchip made by Zorin Industries. The retrieved microchip is also designed to withstand the damage caused to other chips by the electromagnetic pulse of a nuclear explosion.Bond and his superiors visit the Ascot Racecourse to observe the company's founder and CEO, Max Zorin (Christopher Walken). While at the track, Zorin's horse Pegasus miraculously pulls ahead to win the race. Later, Pegasus throws a fit and it takes some effort to get him under control.Sir Godfrey Tibbett (Patrick Macnee), an MI6 agent who works as a horse trainer, believes Zorin's horse was given drugs, although when screened by officials prior to the race, it did not show any drugs in its bloodstream. Through Tibbett, Bond meets a French private detective named Achille Aubergine (Jean Rougerie) at the restaurant on the Eiffel Tower to discuss how the horse may have won. Aubergine informs Bond that Zorin is holding an annual horse sale later in the month. Moments later, Aubergine is assassinated by Zorin's mysterious bodyguard, May Day (Grace Jones). Bond chases her to an upper level of the tower but she parachutes off before he can catch her. Bond steals a Renault taxi and chases her through the city but is unable to apprehend her. A boat driven by Zorin later picks her up on the Seine.Bond and Tibbett travel to Chantilly, France where Bond poses as James St. John Smythe (pronounced "sin-jin-smythe"), a rich dilettante who recently inherited horses, with Tibbett posing as his valet. During a reception party, they meet Zorin's head of security, Scarpine (Patrick Bauchau), and an American named Stacey Sutton (Tanya Roberts). Bond thinks the woman "bares closer inspection," but Tibbett reminds him of their primary mission. Bond uses polarizing sunglasses provided by Q to discreetly survey Zorin's mansion, discovering Zorin's secret lab. Bond and Tibbett break into the lab and discover the secret: Zorin plants microchips in his horses, programmed to release a steroid when prompted by a hidden radio transmitter snuck into the tip of the jockey's whip. Bond eludes Scarpine and retreats to May Day's room. He asks May Day to join him in bed and she does so with Zorin's amused permission.Their intrusion is discovered and Zorin asks Bond to report to his study, where he'll aid St. John Smythe in selecting a stud horse for the stables he supposedly inherited. During their meeting, Zorin uses a database to find a match for pictures he takes of Bond; Zorin discovers Bond's real identity. He invites Bond to race with him steeplechase-style. In an effort to get rid of Bond, he provides Bond with an ill-tempered horse; when Bond overtakes Zorin, Zorin activates a device that causes the horse to go wild. Bond escapes the track and sees his limousine, boarding it. However, Tibbett has been killed by May Day, who is driving the car. She and Zorin attempt to drown Bond in a nearby pond but the plan fails. Later, General Gogol (Walter Gotell) from the Soviet Union visits Zorin's estate with several other KGB agents. Zorin, it is revealed, has been in the employ of the KGB and is admonished by Gogol for his public image and attention-garnering business ventures. Zorin replies by saying he no longer sees the need to continue doing business with the KGB. When Gogol's assistant chides Zorin for being a "physiological freak" Mayday grabs the man and throws him. Gogol gravelly warns Zorin "no one leaves the KGB," but grudgingly leaves when Zorin's men pull guns on him.Later, in an airship over San Francisco, Zorin unveils to a group of investors his new criminal scheme to destroy Silicon Valley in an operation he dubs "Main Strike", which if implemented will gain them a monopoly in the microchip market. For involvement in the plan, Zorin demands $100 million from each participant in addition to a contract promising half of their net income through marketing deals. One man refuses and is dropped out of the airship by May Day, landing in San Francisco Bay.Meeting in San Francisco with his CIA contact, Bond learns that Zorin is a psychopath, the product of Nazi medical experimentation during World War II by Zorin's mentor, Dr. Carl Mortner (Willoughby Gray), who is revealed to be a former Nazi doctor named Dr. Hans Glaub. Bond assumes the identity of a reporter for the London Financial Times to continue his investigation. Bond learns from a local crab fisherman that a prolific crab patch has vanished near one of Zorin's oil pumping stations. Bond also learns from the mayor that Zorin has been testing his oil lines for leaks with seawater, an explanation for the disappearing crab stock.007 spies on an oil rig owned by Zorin. He catches KGB agent Pola Ivanova trying to blow up the rig, while recording Zorin announcing his plans. Bond meets Stacey again, and he learns that her grandfather's oil company had been taken over by Zorin. The two team up to steal documents about his plan from the San Francisco City Hall. Zorin arrives, holding them hostage, and then forces a city official to call the police. He kills the official with Bond's Walther PPK pistol and sets the building on fire in order to frame Bond for the murder. Bond and Sutton escape from the fire but when the police try to arrest Bond, they escape in a fire engine. A chase ensues, during which multiple SFPD cruisers are wrecked. Bond and Sutton then manage to shake the police off completely when the police captain leading the chase orders a bridge operator to open the Third Street Drawbridge. Bond and Sutton's fire truck makes it across just as the bridge gates close to stop traffic and the bridge begins to rise. The police cars are unable to stop in time and pile up at the bottom of the bridge. The senior officer is berating his underlings when his own car is crushed by the bridge's counterweight.The next day, Bond and Sutton infiltrate Zorin's mine near Silicon Valley, discovering his plot to detonate explosives beneath the lakes along the Hayward Fault and the San Andreas Fault causing them to flood, submerging Silicon Valley. The resulting disaster will make Zorin the sole manufacturer of microchips in the world. A larger bomb is also on site in the mine to destroy a "geological lock" that is in place to prevent the two faults from moving at the same time. Once destroyed, it would supposedly cause a double earthquake. Zorin and Scarpine flood the mines, nearly killing Bond and May Day and murder all of the mine workers as they attempt to flee. Stacey manages to escape. Because she was betrayed, May Day helps Bond remove the larger bomb that would destroy the lock. They put the bomb on a handcar and push it out of the mine along a railroad line. May Day stays on the car to hold the faulty brake lever, sacrificing her own life as the bomb explodes outside, away from the lock.Sutton is quickly captured by a devastated Zorin, who is escaping via airship with Scarpine and Mortner. Bond grabs hold of the mooring rope and clings on as the airship ascends. Zorin tries to kill Bond by flying him into the Golden Gate Bridge, but Bond manages to moor the airship to the bridge framework, stopping it from moving. Stacey attacks Zorin and in the ensuing fracas, Mortner and Scarpine are temporarily knocked out. Stacey flees onto the bridge and joins with Bond, but Zorin comes after them with an axe and engages in a fierce battle with Bond. Bond gains the upper hand and sends Zorin plummeting off the bridge to his death. An enraged Mortner attempts to kill Bond with a bundle of dynamite, but Bond slashes the mooring rope, causing Mortner to drop the dynamite into the cabin. Seconds later, the dynamite explodes and destroys the airship, killing Mortner and Scarpine.In the aftermath, Bond is ironically awarded the Order of Lenin by General Gogol. Q, inside a special van in California, uses his fake-dog surveillance camera to locate 007. He safely finds him making love to Stacey in her shower.

Tags: violence, cult, murder, sadist

Review:
It is very underrated and I know that Roger Moore him self has stated that A View to a Kill is his at least favorite James Bond film because Christopher Walken was machine gunning everyone.
He did 100% off him and he is acting was decent it wasn't so much goofy or terrible in my opinion.A View to a Kill is the 14th entry in the official James Bond series and the final film to star Roger Moore in the role of Agent 007.
I will say I have simply enjoy this flick more then I did The Man With The Golden Gun, Octopussy, From Russia With Love, Skyfall, Spectre, Quantum of Solace, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day and of course the worst Bond ever On Her Majesty's Secret Service.The cast: Tanya Roberts as Stacey Sutton was in my opinion good Bond girl.
Along with some of the best music scoring of all the films in the series, including the fantastic Duran Duran song which epitomizes the 80's, the final showdown between Zorin and Bond on top of the golden gate bridge is breathtakingly exciting.
Personally, I don't even rate it as the poorest of Roger Moore's Bond outings, with Moonraker and The Man With the Golden Gun standing out in my memeory as less memorable escapades than this one.It's Moore's final appearance as 007, and he is trying to prevent a psychotic business magnate, Max Zorin (Walken) from destroying Silicon Valley and cornering the world electronic market all for himself.
With A View To a Kill, the cutain falls on one of the greatest era's in action/adventure movies, as we, EON and the rest of the world bid a fond farewell to Roger Moore's James Bond.
This trend is continued to the full with A View To A Kill, and in his goodbye performance Roger Moore manages to remarkably combine all the best elements of his previous Bond movies, and comes up with a perfect way to leave behind Bond and Her Majestys Secret Service.Cubby Broccoli could hardly have awarded Roger a better acolade in wich to leave the series, than to give him the opportunity to act alongside one of America's all time best character/villain actors : Christopher Walken.
Not perfect, mind you, as Timothy Dalton's 'The Living Daylights' would be better, this one is still is a good Bond film that probably did represent the 80's more so than did any other Bond film from its opening featuring a Duran Duran song and lots of neon to the inclusion of Grace Jones as villainous sidekick Mayday.The story has Bond recovering a microchip from a Russian facility that mirrors one at a plant run by Max Zorin.
Christopher Walken with a machine gun, Duran Duran while they were still popular, James Bond while he was still Roger Moore, steroid-enhanced horses, evil Grace Jones, a zeppelin: it's really tough to find something in this movie that's not cool.
James Bond-Roger Moore- in his last appearance,the first was ¨Live and let Die¨ .This new mission takes him to the France and USA ,where he must fight the stylish villainous Max Zorin(Christopher Walken).
After an impressive adventure in the Arctic,extravagant OO7 is assigned by MI6: M(Bernard Lee),Minister of Defence(Geoffrey Keen),Q(Desmond LLewelyn) a dangerous mission concerning to microchips: It's a silicon integrate circuit essential to all modern computers,until recently ,all microchips were susceptible to damage from the intense magnetic pulse of a nuclear explosion.One burst in outer space over UK and everything with a microchip in it,from the modern toaster to sophisticated computers and the defence systems would be rendered absolutely useless.UK would be paralysed at the Russians mercy,that's why one of the private defence contractor,came up with this : a chip totally impervious to magnetic pulse damage.Placed on the micro-comparator and compared with the chip Bond recovered from the body of 003 in Siberia,bringing the two images together resulted are identical,six months ago a company was acquired by an Anglo-French combine,Zorin industries.Max Zorin is a perfect baddie,here is his biography(the film warns neither the name nor any other character is meant to portray a real company or actual person): Born in Dresden,fled from East Germany in the sixties,ex-KGB agent,nowadays is immensely rich,he actually is a product of a genetic Nazi experiment,French passport,he's a leading French industrialist,a staunch anti-communist with influential friends in the government,speak at least five-languages ,no accent ,now he deals the Bourse and the City,made his first fortune in oil and gas and second in electric and hi-tech.Zorin celebrates a reunion with magnates,he explain them ¨the project main strike¨aboard a private blimp,they pay 100 million dollars,except one,who will be rewarded with unfortunate finale.Another characters are : Stacey Sutton( a beauty Tanya Roberts),a geologist in charge supervision oil refineries,she discovers the Zorin plan: a bomb explosion and originate an earthquake destroying California's Silicon Valley.
The film contains action packed ,apocalyptic and overwhelming scenarios along with the typically glossy ingredients series but Roger Moore looks a little boring ,in fact is his Bond last film.Colorful,spectacular cinematography by Alan Hume and appropriate-as usual-musical score by John Barry.Main title song is catching and is performed by Duran Duran.The motion picture is professionally directed by John Glen..
For me the movie has all the essential bond elements a sexy bond girl, a great theme song, terrific bad guy (Christopher Walken) and Roger on top form.
It's strange, I didn't realize until now that I've seen all of Roger Moore's Bond movies.Anyway, I might lose all of my nonexistent credibility but A View to a Kill is my second favorite of the Bond series (The Spy Who Loved Me is first).
It's been said that A View to a Kill has a few similarities to Goldfinger but I didn't (and don't) really mind since I saw it first.Oh yeah, and Duran Duran's title song for AVtaK is my favorite of the series (GoldenEye and Live and Let Die would be a close second and third, respectively) and John Barry's score is also great..
So far the only film I haven't enjoyed in the series has been Roger Moore's Moonraker, just because of the over the top silliness and the obvious sell-out to appeal to moviegoers who had just seen Star Wars.Upon seeing 'A View to a Kill' I instantly was prepared for the worst, and let me tell you this certainly is a bad Bond film.
You'd think a super-strong female henchwoman would make for a memorable moment in the franchise, but this is so poorly handled that she winds up as one of the most forgettable characters in the series, as opposed to one of the best.Roger Moore, unfortunately, ends his career on Bond in perhaps his own worst performance, which is undeniably sad.
"A View to a Kill" marked Roger Moore's last film as 007 (a forced exercise to him, since he was hoping that "For Your Eyes Only" would be his final), not much of a great exit but still a fun thing to watch.
Fine, the oldest ones like "A View to a Kill" were ridiculously in its editing, you can clearly see the stunt double changing places with Moore or Connery, or whoever is playing Bond, and it's very funny and a little bit over-the-top but they were fun, amazing, pleasant to watch.
This is so much fun, highly entertaining, it's always a pleasure to see Moore as Bond (the funniest and in a good way!) and there's the best theme song ever in a Bond movie, Duran Duran's title song (the video clip is even better, with the band members at the Eiffel tower, mixing scenes with 007 chasing the mysterious killer).You can't miss this!
Despite the lousy treatment that this movie has received on this site, I think that this is easily one of the best of the Roger Moore 007 films and ranks among my all-time favorite Bond films.
The Best 007 soundtrack of them all!Roger Moore get his hats off to me as being the great James Bond next to Connery.Christopher Walken is totally suave and cool as the blonde villain with that snickering sneer and relaxed motive of taking over the world in high style.
It has one of the better looking Bond girls in the series, memorable villains (Zorin and Mayday), great action sequences (The opening ski chase scene, the fight on the Eiphal Tower, the fire engine chase, and the dual on the Golden gate Bridge), great plot (Zoring trying to destroy Silicon Valley so he can take over the microchip market) and a great original song.
Roger Moore still puts out a good performance as Bond, but I feel this time around that Christopher Walken was even better as the villain.
Anyone who likes this film has no idea about what is necessary to make a decent film, let alone a good Bond.Nothing to recommend it except an o.k.(not great) Duran Duran theme song which sounds much better later in the film arranged by John Barry for a (dreadful) love scene.I don't blame the actors - their task was impossible.I DO blame the scriptwriter and the director.
Zorin also has something far more sinister planned in San Francisco.Like "Octopussy", "A View to a Kill" is a highly underrated Bond movie.
The movie also has a great theme song by Duran Duran and John Barry's best score since "On Her Majesty's Secret Service".Moore definitely is showing his age here and it was obviously time for him to quit.
Just watching him laugh while he shoots people with a machine gun shows how crazy he is."A View to a Kill" is not amongst the best Bond films made, but it's definitely above average and a fun movie to watch.
It stars Roger Moore, Tanya Roberts, Christopher Walken, Patrick Macnee, Grace Jones and David Yip. Music is scored by John Barry and cinematography by Alan Hume.Bond 14 and 007 is assigned to investigate millionaire industrialist and race horse owner Max Zorin, who MI6 suspect is selling critical microchip information to the Soviets.It was touch and go if Roger Moore would carry out his intention to quit the franchise, as it happened he slotted into the tux for one last time.
Basically the plot is about a psychotic billionaire named Max Zorin who wants to destroy Silicon Valley in California so his corporation gains a monopoly in the computer and IT industry.However, while a decent film to round off Moore's 12 years as Bond and vastly better than Connery's sign off with the ghastly Diamonds Are Forever, what really stands out for me is Grace Jones as Mayday.
The settings are great, the action is awesome, the theme song (despite the horrible pre-movie credits) is one of the best, Christopher Walken plays one of the greatest villains ever, and Roger Moore is just fine.
Roger Moore Last bond and one of the great baddie's in my view Max Zorin And Christopher Lee are my two favourite's Christopher of cause in The Man With The Golden Gun. The film does not portray so many stunts maybe due to sir Roger age.
A View To A Kill was to be Roger Moore's last James Bond movie and not his best either, but very enjoyable though.Highlights of this movie include the sequence in Paris with Bond using a Renault 11 taxi which breaks into several bits and is still driving after this!.
Also, the quarry sequence at the end and the final scene aboard the airship above the Golden Gate Bridge.Joining Roger Morre in the cast are Christopher Walken who plays a great part as baddie Max Zorin who likes killing people, Patrick Macnee (The Avengers) and David Yip. The girls are played by Tanya Roberts, Grace Jones and Fiona Fullerton.
Stacey Sutton is an out of the norm Bond girl, she's far more of a damsel-in-distress, and while this is exactly what most people dislike about her, I think it's an interesting change of pace, though I'm glad they didn't overuse the damsel-in-distress character throughout the series, as it definitely would've gotten tiring.The always-entertaining Christopher Walken is of course great as villain Max Zorin (he would again play a villain named Max in Batman Returns), and there's a lot of good action throughout.
Gotell always provides a note of levity in the Bond films, but never more so when he tells Robert Brown as M as to why he's happy that Walken gets foiled in his plot which we all know James Bond will do in the end.So as Roger Moore rode off in his Astin-Martin car into the sunset we can thank 007 and the rest of the gang at British Intelligence that San Jose, California is not now an underwater city.
A View To A Kill was Roger Moore's last time as the suave secret agent 007 James Bond before being replaced by Timothy Doltan in the James Bond film The Living Daylights released in 1987.
A View to a Kill is a great James Bond film, Christopher Walken did a great job as the Bond Villain, Grace Jones did a great job as May Day, Roger Moore still does a great job as James Bond.
James Bond is sent to investigate Max Zorin, a leading businessman in the microchip market, who unknowingly to him not only has a shady past with the KGB and the Nazis but also intends to destroy the Silicon Valley.The last of Roger Moore's 007 films, and frankly his worst.
It tries to be slightly 'gritty' yet keeps the silliness of an action-fantasy (for example, the car chase); this ends up only making it lose the flash and style that makes 007's films so fun to watch.Roger Moore looks far too old, and his Bond feels tired; not only are his stunts even less believable to the point of ridiculousness, but he lacks the wit and charm he was known for.
The opening ski scene, the later dirigible confront, and above all one of the best Bond villains in the form of Christopher Walken's Max Zorin (even in his better outings Moore would be hard-pressed to match him).
Roger Moore's much-maligned final outing as Bond is often cited by fans as the worst in the franchise, yet I've always had a soft spot for it and consider it one of the best despite its flaws.It's not a perfect film, but it has a great deal more going for it than many give it credit for.
A View to a Kill is a good Bond film that suffers from one thing, Moore was to old to be playing James Bond by 1985, because Bond has to look like he can handle himself in a fight and perform all manner of stunts plus look like a woman as young as Tanya Roberts would be attracted to him, Moore couldn't pull off either of those things.
There are hardly any similarities and this film is simply no match for the 1964-classic.The best thing about "A view to a kill" is Christopher Walken's fantastic performance as the villain Max Zorin.
.........as far as I,m concerned; 'A View To A Kill' is the second best Roger Moore 007 adventure and one of the best of the series.What more could you want in a Bond Movie - Christopher Walken; Grace Jones; Tanya Roberts; great locations; superb action set pieces and stunts.
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!
Max Zorin is one of my favorite Bond villains, Christopher Walken is a great actor, and I think its nice that he contributed to this film series.
Being almost of bus pass age, however, Roger's stamina wasn't quite what it used to be, and there are a fair few lifeless moments where the film threatens to stall while he seemingly catches his breath.Fortunately, Moore makes sure he is well rested for the film's most elaborate set pieces—an exciting scene in a fiery lift shaft, a chase involving a San Francisco fire truck, and the excellent finale, a real showstopper that sees Bond battle with Grace Jones in a flooded mine, go up against Christopher Walken atop the Golden Gate Bridge, and take a shower with Tanya Roberts—and it is these moments that make this a more respectable way for Moore to end his stint as 007.6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb..
I can sum up what I disliked about this film in a few statements:Roger Moore was far too old to be convincing in the role of 007; Grace Jones (who I actually like) was very stiff in this role; Tanya Roberts' incessant screeching gave me a splitting headache; and the combination of the poor writing for Christopher Walken's character (Max Zorin) combined with the unnecessary platinum blond hair made him laughable in his role ...
One of the weakest of the Bond films, A VIEW TO A KILL still has some good things going for it.Though Roger Moore is clearly long in the tooth for the role of James Bond, he actually looked younger and "perkier" than he did in his previous Bond outing OCTOPUSSY.
Roger Moore, Moneypenny, M, and Q are all pensionable here, and the screenplay has little to do with the short-story From A View To A Kill (besides its French location) but I still think this is an improvement over the previous Bond film, with a more serious tone to some scenes, better action and a sexier leading lady (even though her character in annoying) Sequences at the stables are good, and seem like they are loosely based on a similar section of the book Diamonds Are Forever, but don't really go anywhere.
I think it is one of the most "fun" movies of the seriesOver all.Also it is one of the very best Roger Moore performances during .his long run as James Bond.
I've seen this movie multiple times and it's still a great Bond movie that features a good plot and one of my favorite villains, Max Zorin that is played by the fantastic actor Christopher Walken.
During the filming of A view to a Kill, Roger Moore had turned 57 years old.