James Bond in review - A View To A Kill (John Glen, 1985)

"Would you be interested primarily in stamina...or speed?"
"Well a little of both would be ideal."

June 27th 1984 – the once proudly erected 007 stage at Pinewood Studios, built to house the massive super tanker interiors for The Spy Who Loved Me is on fire. The Bond crew are preparing pre-production on Bond’s 14th adventure and Roger Moore’s last, A View To A Kill. Couple the devastation and personal loss of the stage with the fact that Moore, coming into his 7th Bond film, looks old enough to play James Bond’s dad, and there is justifiable reason to think that Bond 14 is doomed before the cameras have even begun to roll.

Christopher Walken and Grace Jones as Zorin and May Day

With the building of the new stage and the reliability of a series stalwart like Moore leading the film, the crew optimistically begin working on A View To A Kill and like a number of Moore’s Bonds it has its moments. There are some thrilling sequences like the burning of City Hall and some great characters, particularly Christopher Walken giving one of the most sadistic and wholly memorable villainous performances of Moore’s Bond tenure. For the good points there are the obligatory duff ones: Willoughby Gray as the bumbling Herr Dr Mortner/Hans Glaub; a character whose identity and methods are discovered by Bond but a character that is so underdeveloped and shoddily played it’s almost pantomimic. Then there’s the two main female characters of the piece. Tanya Roberts is whiny and frustrating as Stacey – she is given a theme of her own by John Barry which is far more than the character deserves: it’s no wonder Moore explains in the DVD commentary that there was no chemistry between Roberts and himself. Then there is Grace Jones as May Day who, despite giving a better performance than Roberts comes off as too over the top even for a Moore Bond film. Placing her and Moore in each others arms in bed together is one of the most alarming scenes in Bond history!

Moore joked that bedding Grace Jones was one of the hardest things for him to do

Kudos to Moore for deciding with A View To A Kill that it was finally time to hang his hat on Moneypenny’s stand for good. At nearly 60 he still remarkably brings good humour and an enthusiastic air to proceedings. As Moore expresses to Zorin himself in the film, “I’m almost speechless with admiration”. The one thing you can say for A View To A Kill as with each of the remaining 6 Moore Bonds is that it is entertaining to watch. The plot may be recycled, the one liners may be ludicrously corny but this is the 14th Bond and Moore’s 7th – give the writers a break. It is also still an entertaining film, more so than Octopussy. It is still uncomfortable however having Moore unzip the young Mary Stavin's top before the film’s opening credits in that predatory fashion – he looks old enough to be her grandfather!

A toast - to Roger Moore as James Bond 1973-1985

Ultimately, despite the misfires – Nick Nack, Miss Goodnight, Bond in space, Moore’s contribution to the series cannot be overstated. His films were also responsible for bringing us some series highs – the parachute jump in the pre-credits of The Spy Who Loved Me and kicking Locque’s car off the edge of the cliff in For Your Eyes Only to name two of the best. He is the actor to have played the part the most times of all to date and as former United Artists publicist Jerry Juroe has recognised he has done more publicity for the Bond series than anyone else. While A View To A Kill is most certainly not the best film for Moore to make his final bow it still remains a testament to all that he brought to the world of James Bond on the big screen. As Moneypenny states “Your dedication [...]is most commendable..." James Bond will return, in the guise of Timothy Dalton.