A View to a Kill

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A View To A Kill

A View to a Kill film poster
James Bond Roger Moore
Also starring Christopher Walken
Tanya Roberts
Grace Jones
Directed by John Glen
Produced by Albert R. Broccoli,
Michael G. Wilson
Novel/Story by Ian Fleming (story)
Screenplay Michael G. Wilson,
Richard Maibaum
Cinematography by Alan Hume
Music by John Barry
Main theme A View to a Kill
Composer John Barry
Duran Duran
Performer Duran Duran
Editing by {{{editing}}}
Distributed by MGM/UA Entertainment Co.
Released June 13, 1985
Running time 126 minutes
Budget $30,000,000
Worldwide gross $152,400,000
Preceded by Octopussy (1983)
Followed by The Living Daylights (1987)
IMDb profile

A View To A Kill (1985) is the fourteenth spy film of the James Bond series, and the seventh and last to star Roger Moore as the fictional British Secret Service agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted from Ian Fleming's short story "From a View to a Kill", the film is the third Bond film after The Spy Who Loved Me and "Octopussy" to have an entirely original screenplay. In A View to a Kill, Bond is pitted against Max Zorin, who plans to destroy California's Silicon Valley.

The film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson who also wrote the screenplay with Richard Maibaum. It was the third James Bond film to be directed by John Glen.

Despite being a commercial success, A View To A Kill was received poorly by critics and was also disliked by Roger Moore himself. However, Christopher Walken was praised for portraying a "classic Bond villain."[1]

Contents

[edit] Plot

In the pre-title sequence, James Bond is sent to Siberia to locate 003's corpse and recover a microchip. Upon doing so, he is ambushed by Soviet troops but flees in a submarine built to resemble an iceberg. After Bond has returned to England, Q has the microchip analysed and informs M, Bond and the Minister of Defence 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 a nuclear explosion.

Bond and his superiors visit the Ascot Racecourse to observe the company's owner, Max Zorin. While at the track, Zorin's horse miraculously wins the race; Sir Godfrey Tibbett, a horse trainer, believes Zorin's horse was consuming drugs, although when screened prior to the race, it did not show any signs of addiction. Through Tibbett, Bond meets a French private detective named Aubergine to discuss how the horse won. Aubergine informs Bond that Zorin is holding an annual horse sale later in the month. However, during their dinner at the Eiffel Tower, Aubergine is killed by Zorin's mysterious bodyguard, May Day. Bond steals a Renault taxi to chase May Day but fails to apprehend her.

Bond and Tibbett travel to Chantilly, France where Bond poses as James St. John (pronounced "syngen") Smythe, a rich dilettante. They break into Zorin's secret laboratory and learn that he is using microchips in his horses to release a drug when prompted by a hidden switch. Tibbett is later killed by May Day, but an attempt to drown Bond in a lake fails. Later, General Gogol from the Soviet Union shows up at Zorin's estate with several other KGB agents, but Zorin, an ex-KGB agent himself, becomes upset with Gogol and forces him to leave.

Max Zorin and May Day.
Max Zorin and May Day.

In his airship, Zorin unveils to a group of investors his plan to destroy Silicon Valley in an operation he dubs "Main Strike" in order to gain a monopoly in the microchip market. Bond later learns that Zorin is a psychopath, the product of Nazi medical experimentation during World War II, and later trained by the KGB. Zorin plans to detonate explosives beneath the lakes along the Hayward Fault and the San Andreas Fault causing them to flood. 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.

Bond soon discovers state geologist Stacey Sutton, whose oil company had been taken over by Zorin, and 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 and sets the building on fire in order to frame Bond for the murder. Bond and Sutton are first rescued by the fire brigade and then chased by the police. They escape in a fire-engine.

The next day, Bond and Sutton infiltrate Zorin's mine where he plots to start the earthquake. He floods the mine with the first set of explosives, the action almost killing Bond and May Day, while Sutton escapes. Zorin and Scarpine also murder all of the mine workers as they attempt to flee. As a result of being 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. However, the brakes on the car malfunction. May Day stays on the car and holds the brakes, sacrificing her own life & saving Silicon Valley.

Sutton reunites with Bond but is grabbed by Zorin, who is escaping via airship with Scarpine and his mentor, Dr. Karl Mortner. Bond manages to grab hold of the mooring rope. During the flight, Bond ties the rope to the Golden Gate Bridge. Stacy attacks Zorin and in the ensuing fracas, Mortner and Scarpine are temporarily knocked out. Stacy flees on the bridge and joins with Bond, but Zorin comes after them, and Zorin and Bond battle on the bridge. At the end Zorin holds onto the bridge to not to fall, Mortner distracts him without knowing and Zorin laughs but that makes him fall to the ocean. Mortner gets his pistol and shoots at them. When he is out of bullets, he gets a dynamite and tries to throw it to the bridge. But he fails when Bond cuts the rope of the airship, making it sway frantically away from the bridge and knock Mortner off balance. Seconds later, the dynamite explodes and the airship with it.

[edit] Cast

Maud Adams is said to be visible as an extra in one of the Fisherman's Wharf scenes; in the DVD documentary Inside A View to a Kill, Adams explains that she was visiting her friend Moore on location and ended up in the crowd, but admits she is unable to actually see herself in the film; In the same documentary, director John Glen confirms that Adams appears as an extra, but does not specify where she is visible.[2] The appearance remained a mystery for years until she was identified as standing in the background during one of the Fisherman's Wharf scenes. As a result, Adams appears in three Bond films, previously in The Man with the Golden Gun in 1974 and in Octopussy in 1983.[3]

[edit] Production

A View to a Kill was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson. Wilson also co-authored the screenplay along with Richard Maibaum. At the end of Octopussy during the "James Bond Will Return" sequence, it listed the next film as "From a View to a Kill", the name of the original short story; however, the title was later changed.

When a company with a name similar to Zorin (the Zoran Corporation) was discovered in the United States, a disclaimer was added to the start of the film affirming that Zorin was not related to any real-life company. This is the first Bond film to have a disclaimer (The Living Daylights had a disclaimer about the use of the Red Cross.)

[edit] Casting

Early publicity for A View to a Kill in 1984 included an announcement that David Bowie would play Zorin. He turned it down, saying, "I didn't want to spend five months watching my stunt double fall off cliffs." The role was offered to Sting and finally to Christopher Walken.[4]

Dolph Lundgren has a brief appearance as one of General Gogol's KGB agents. Grace Jones, who was dating Lundgren at the time, had asked the film's producers to find a cameo for him. Lundgren appears during the confrontation between Gogol and Zorin at the racetrack, standing several steps below Gogol.[5]

[edit] Filming

The film was shot at Pinewood Studios in London, Iceland, Switzerland, France and United States. Several French landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, its Jules Verne Restaurant and the Château de Chantilly were filmed. The rest of the major filming was done in the Fisherman's Wharf and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The Lefty O'Doul Bridge was featured in the fire engine chase scene. The horse racing scenes were shot at the Ascot Racecourse.[6]

The production of A View To A Kill began on June 23, 1984, in Iceland where the second unit filmed the pre-title sequence.[7] On June 27, 1984, several leftover canisters of gasoline used during filming of Ridley Scott's Legend caused the Pinewood Studios' "007 Stage" to be burnt to the ground. Broccoli arranged its reconstruction which was done by the end of July 1984.[8] The soundstage was renamed "Albert R. Broccoli's 007 Stage". The filming of A View to a Kill continued when Roger Moore rejoined the main unit at Pinewood on 1 August 1984. The crew then departed for shooting the horse-racing scenes at Royal Ascot Racecourse. The scene in which Bond and Sutton enter the mineshaft was then filmed in a waterlogged quarry near Staines and the Amberley Chalk Pits Museum in West Sussex.[9]

Tanya Roberts, Roger Moore and Grace Jones in a promotional still.
Tanya Roberts, Roger Moore and Grace Jones in a promotional still.

On October 6, 1984, the fourth Unit headed by the special effects supervisor John Richardson, began its work on the climactic fight sequence. At first, only a few plates constructed to resemble the Golden Gate Bridge were used. Later that night, the shooting of the burning San Francisco City Hall commenced. The first actual scenes atop the bridge were filmed on October 7, 1984.[10]

In Paris it was planned that two stunt men, B.J. Worth and Don Caldvedt, would help film two takes of a parachute drop off a (clearly visible) platform that extended from a top edge of the Eiffel Tower. However, sufficient footage was obtained from Worth's jump, so Caldvedt was told he would not be performing his own jump. Caldvedt, unhappy at not being able to perform the jump, parachuted off the tower without authorization from the City of Paris. He was subsequently sacked by the production team for jeopardizing the continuation of filming in the city.[2]

Airship Industries managed a major marketing coup with the inclusion of their Skyship 500 series airship in the film. At the time Airship Industries were producing a fleet of ships which were recognisable over many capitals of the world offering tours, or advertising sponsorship deals. As all Bond films have included the most current technology, this included the lighter than air interest.[11]

The ship used in the climax was an actual Skyship 500, then on a promotional tour of Los Angeles after its participation in the opening ceremony of the 1984 Olympic Games. At that time, had "WELCOME" painted across the side of the hull, but the word was soon replaced by "ZORIN INDUSTRIES". During the 1984 season, the ship depicted green and red shades as a part of Fujifilm's blimp fleet; it was subsequently coloured white. In real life, inflating it would take up to 24 hours, but during filming it was shown to have taken 2 minutes.[11]

[edit] Music

Main article: A View to a Kill (soundtrack)

The soundtrack was composed by John Barry, and published by EMI/Capitol.[12] The theme song "A View to a Kill", was written by Barry and Duran Duran, and performed by the band. It has three different versions of which the two made by Duran Duran make no reference to the James Bond theme; some of its notes are mixed while "May Day Jumps" is the only song of the film that features the original theme. Barry's composition On Her Majesty's Secret Service was modified for use in the songs "Snow Job," "He's Dangerous," and "Golden Gate Fight" of A View to a Kill.[13] "A View To A Kill" was second in the British charts and first in the American charts, thus becoming the peak song in the James Bond series.[14]

Duran Duran was chosen to do the song after bassist John Taylor (a lifelong Bond fan) approached producer Cubby Broccoli at a party, and somewhat drunkenly asked "When are you going to get someone decent to do one of your theme songs?"[15][16]

During the opening teaser, a cover version of the 1965 Beach Boys song "California Girls", performed by Gidea Park (a tribute band), is used during a chase in which Bond snowboards; it has been suggested that this teaser sequence helped initiate interest in snowboarding.[17]

[edit] Release and reception

A View to A Kill was the first Bond film with a premiere outside of the UK, opening on May 22, 1985 at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts.[18] The British premiere was held on June 12, 1985 at the Odeon Leicester Square Cinema in London.[7] The film was first broadcast on British television on January 31, 1990. It achieved a box office collection of US $152.4 million worldwide with 50.3 million in the United States alone.[19][20] On its opening Weekend in the US it earned $10.6 million.[20]

Rotten Tomatoes gave A View to a Kill a 45% "Rotten" rating.[21] One of the most common criticisms was that Roger Moore's age was 57 - Sean Connery declared that "Bond should be played by an actor 35-43 years old. I’m too old. Roger’s too old, too!".[18] Moore has also stated A View to a Kill as his least favourite film. He was quoted saying "I was horrified on the last Bond I did. Whole slews of sequences where Christopher Walken was machine-gunning hundreds of people. I said 'That wasn't Bond, those weren't Bond films.' It stopped being what they were all about. You didn't dwell on the blood and the brains spewing all over the place".[22] The film was mentioned by Brian J. Arthurs of the Beach Reporter as the worst film of the Bond series.[21] John Puccio of DVDtown.com said, "No Bond outing is awful, but this one comes close."[21] C. Pea of the Time Out Film Guide said, "Grace Jones is badly wasted."[23] Norman Wilner of MSN chose it as the worst Bond movie,[24] while IGN staff chose it as the fourth worst, over The Man With The Golden Gun, Die Another Day and Diamonds are Forever.[25] In a December 2007 interview, Roger Moore remarked, "I was only about four hundred years too old for the part."[26]

[edit] Appearances in other media

A View to a Kill was adapted into two video games in 1985. The first, titled A View to a Kill, was published by Domark. It was available on ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Oric 1 and Oric Atmos, and MSX. The second, titled James Bond 007: A View to a Kill was a text-based video game for DOS and Apple II computers. It was developed by Angelsoft, Inc. and published by Mindscape Inc.

May Day was a playable multiplayer character in the 1997 and 2000 video games GoldenEye 007 and The World Is Not Enough, for the Nintendo 64 and both N64 and PlayStation respectively. In the 2002 game Nightfire, May Day and Max Zorin also appears as bots.[27] Other references include Nikolai Diavolo, a character in the 2004 game James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing, claiming Zorin to be his mentor and friend.[28] In GoldenEye: Rogue Agent, a multiplayer level is the summit of the Golden Gate Bridge, including the Zorin blimp, which would fire on players when activated. Players are also able to climb the suspension cables (similar to the events of the film).[29]

[edit] References

  1. ^ A View to a Kill: A film review by Christopher Null. Retrieved on 2007-10-02.
  2. ^ a b Maud Adams. Inside A View to a Kill [VCD/DVD]. MGM Home Entertainment Inc. Retrieved on 09.
  3. ^ Does Maud Adams appear in A View to a Kill?. Retrieved on 2007-09-09.
  4. ^ Nicholas Pegg (2004). The Complete David Bowie. Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, pg. 561. 
  5. ^ Notes on A View to a Kill. Retrieved on 2007-09-07.
  6. ^ A View to a Kill filming locations. Retrieved on 2007-09-07.
  7. ^ a b June: This Month in Bond History. Retrieved on 2007-09-07.
  8. ^ This month in Bond History. Retrieved on 2007-09-08.
  9. ^ Production of A View to a Kill. Retrieved on 2007-09-07.
  10. ^ October: This Month in Bond History. Retrieved on 2007-09-07.
  11. ^ a b Movie Airship : SkyShip 500 "Zorin Industries". The Airship Heritage Trust. Retrieved on 2007-10-02.
  12. ^ A View to a Kill: Soundtrack. Retrieved on 2007-09-08.
  13. ^ A View To A Kill. Filmtracks.com. Retrieved on 2007-09-07.
  14. ^ A View To A Kill. Mi6.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-09-07.
  15. ^ Malins, Steve. (2005) Notorious: The Unauthorized Biography, André Deutsch/Carlton Publishing, UK (ISBN 0-233-00137-9). pp 161-162
  16. ^ Paul Gambaccini Interview with John Taylor, 1985, Greatest DVD extras.
  17. ^ Snowboard Club UK FAQs. Retrieved on 2007-10-02.
  18. ^ a b A View To A Kill - The Premiere & Press. mi6.co.uk (2005-05-22). Retrieved on 2007-12-21.
  19. ^ A View to a Kill: MI6 Profile. Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
  20. ^ a b A View to a Kill at Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2007-09-02.
  21. ^ a b c A View to a Kill. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
  22. ^ Barnes and Hearn 1997, p.169
  23. ^ A View to a Kill. Timeout.com. Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
  24. ^ Norman Wilner. Rating the Spy Game. MSN. Retrieved on 2007-12-21.
  25. ^ James Bond's Top 20. IGN (2006-11-17). Retrieved on 2007-12-21.
  26. ^ http://www.topnews.in/light/roger-moore-admits-stretching-bond-stint-too-long-24550
  27. ^ Eurocom. 007: Nightfire. (2002)
  28. ^ EA Games. James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing. Electronic Arts. Game Boy Advance. (2004)
  29. ^ Electronic Arts. GoldenEye: Rogue Agent. Electronic Arts.

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