Bond Revisited

A View To A Kill (1985)
Bond 14

007 (Roger Moore) returns from the USSR with a new computer chip; one that is invulnerable to the magnetic pulse of a nuclear explosion. The chip is being manufactured by Zorin Industries, headed up by a sociopathic businessman named Max Zorin (Christopher Walken) who is planning to corner the world microchip market by using explosives to cause an earthquake in the San Andreas fault that will wipe out Silicon Valley - and the millions who live and work there! Bond must face not only Zorin himself, but the equally twisted May Day (Grace Jones) and Scarpine, another one of Zorin's henchmen. Assisted by San Francisco City employee Stacy (Tanya Roberts) Bond goes after the would-be computer magnate in a series of frightening confrontations - including fire in the SF City Hall, a wild chase through the city with Stacy at the wheel of a fire department ladder truck, and finally in a hand-to-hand fight atop San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: The Swedish release of the film subtitled the line "What a view...To a kill" as "What a view...Yeah, Tokyo." Just before the jump off the Eiffel Tower stunt was to be undertaken, two thrill-seeking members of the public made an unauthorized jump off Paris' famous landmark. It has long been a dare, lark and thrill for people to jump off famous structures without permission. The first of the film's jumps was so successful that the second jump was canceled thereby eliminating any further risk, cost and time. However, two of the crew, including Don 'Tweet' Caltvedt, allegedly went and made an unauthorized jump as they were apparently so disappointed that they didn't get to jump off the Eiffel Tower (they would have been part of the second jump that was canceled). The non-permitted stunt jump cost them their jobs as it jeopardized the remaining filming of the shoot in the French capital. This is the only James Bond movie to have the title from an Ian Fleming work be amended or changed in some way. The source title which is from the "For Your Eyes Only" collection of short stories was called "From a View to a Kill". This was also this movie's working title but the word "From" was dropped three months before filming in May 1984.

According to Inside 'A View to a Kill', the color scheme of red , white and green of the Zorin Airship was based on the Fuji Airship logo color scheme. This is because during a location scout actual footage was shot of the Fuji Airship and that footage was used in the finished movie and the long shots had to match the close-ups. The literal translations of some of A View to a Kill's foreign language titles include "Moving Target" for Italy; "Dangerously Yours" for Canada and France; "A Panorama To Kill" for Spain; "Dangerous Mission" for Belgium; "Operation: Moving Target" for Greece; "In The Face of Death" for West Germany; "Murder In The Eyes" (Hebrew) for Israel; "The Beautiful Prey" for Japan; "Living Target" for Sweden; and "007: In The Aim Of The Assassins" and "The Preview To A Death" for Latin America.

A View To A Kill marks Lois Maxwell's final movie as Miss Moneypenny, M's secretary. She had been in all the previous movies. Maud Adams happened to be visiting San Francisco when the film was in production there. Roger Moore got her to appear as an uncredited extra in a crowd scene, making her the only actress to appear in 3 Bond films (excluding actresses in recurring roles), after The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) and Octopussy (1983). Christopher Walken became the first Academy Award-winning actor to star in a Bond film. Roger Moore said that he decided to end his run as James Bond when he realized that Tanya Roberts's mother was younger than he was.

The Characters:

• James Bond - Roger Moore's final mission as the iconic secret agent.
• Max Zorin - Christopher Walken. Zorin was a leading French business man, operating on the microchip market. However, it is revealed later in the movie that he was the product of Nazi medical experimentation during World War II, in which pregnant women were injected with massive quantities of steroids in an attempt to create "super-children." Most of the pregnancies failed. The few surviving babies grew to become extraordinarily intelligent—but also psychotic. (Christopher Walken fit right in)
• May Day - Grace Jones. Max Zorin's bodyguard, partner-in-crime, and sometimes lover is May Day. Possessing superhuman strength and stealth. She is assisted in turn by two henchwomen: Jenny Flex and Pan Ho. When her friends Jenny Flex and Pan Ho are killed by the onslaught of the floodwaters, while searching for Bond and Stacey, Zorin betrays her, prompting her to switch allegiance and foiling his master plan to plunge half of California into the sea.
• Stacey Sutton - Tanya Roberts. The lead Bond girl of A View To A Kill is Stacey Sutton, an oil heiress forced to worked as a State Geologist because of Max Zorin, who tried to take over the family business of Sutton Oil. She is seen briefly near the beginning of the film, where Zorin tried to pay her off with a five million dollar check, and reappeared much later when Bond accidentally ran into her at the City Hall of San Francisco.
• Pola Ivanova - Fiona Fullerton. Russian agent Pola Ivanova is yet another one of Bond's previous paramours (whom we never saw before, or since). Pola and a fellow agent was spying and recording Zorin's conversations at one of his oil rigs when Bond indirectly gave their presence away. Pola managed to escape with the audio tape. She ran into 007 and the two retired to a nearby spa where they reminisce about old times. Pola snuck out on Bond, and to her dismay, she took the wrong audio tape with her.
• Jenny Flex - Alison Doody. Jenny Flex is one of May Day's all-female bodyguards. Her first appearance is at the chateau where she marches down the stairs to greet Bond with the line: "Welcome sir, I'm Jenny Flex" following with Bond's "Of course you are". Jenny is seen throughout the rest of the movie performing many tasks for May Day and Zorin. During the mine sequence, Jenny Flex is killed during the onslaught of the floodwaters. Her body is seen floating in the tunnels as May Day and Bond are escaping.
• Pan Ho - Palillon Soo Soo. Pan Ho is the other part of May Day's all-female bodyguard regiment. She makes her first appearance as Sir Godfrey drives the Rolls-Royce through the front gates of the chateau, demanding them to stop so she can inspect their invitation. She also performs tasks with Jenny Flex under the orders of Max Zorin and May Day who she also remains loyal to. However, in the mine sequence, as Jenny Flex and Pan Ho are searching for Bond and Stacey, she is killed by the onslaught of the floodwaters.

The Theme Song:

The theme tune "A View To A Kill", performed by Duran Duran, was written by Duran Duran and John Barry and peaked at #1 and #2 in the US and UK charts respectively. Although the movie underperformed commercially, "A View to a Kill" is considered the most successful Bond theme to date. The song was the last track that the original five members of Duran Duran recorded together until 2001. 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.

The Vehicles & Gadgets:

• Iceberg Submarine — Bond escapes from a mission in Siberia by getting into a boat built to look like an iceberg.
• Camera Ring — Bond wears a ring given to him by Q-Branch that acts a camera.
• Polarized glasses — A pair of glasses with a variable polarization filter which enables Bond to see though a window despite daylight glare.
• Louis Vuitton Cheque-Book Imprint/Photocopier — Fortuitously shaped copying device which exactly fits over Zorin's cheque book allowing Bond to make a copy of the last cheque written.
• 1984 Renault 11 TXEG — Bond steals this from a Parisian taxi driver to chase May Day after she killed a French secret agent, the car ends up being decapitated, and then chopped in half after going through a typical James Bond chase sequence.
• 1984 Chevrolet Corvette - Bond emerges from the waters of San Francisco bay and a KGB agent picks him up in the Corvette [Source]

The Pretitle Sequence:

This film is often credited with helping to spark the interest in snowboarding due to its use in the pre-credits opening action snow sequence. James Bond is sent to Siberia to track down 003 and recover a microchip. Upon doing so 007 is ambushed by Soviet troops and is forced to flee using a makeshift snowboard made from parts of a snowmobile. This is also the first time we see Bond undertake a mission on Soviet soil. After returning to England and having the microchip analysed by Q-Branch, Q informs M, Bond, and the Minister of Defence that the microchip's design is an exact match of a microchip made by "Zorin Industries."

Well, with this movie Roger More hangs up his Walther PPK for a new Bond, he was getting pretty old. The San Fransisco City Hall fire and subsequent Fire Engine chase through the streets of San Fransisco were the highlights of the film. Christopher Walken was his usual creppy self. Tanya Roberts was pretty. Umm...after 16 of these it is getting hard to come up with new material...Bring on Timothy Dalton...but first, I am taking a long awaited hiatus to go visit my sister so this will be my last post until after the first of December. Be sure to mark your calendars. See ya then.

Next Up: The Living Daylights, Bond 15, James Bond is living on the edge to stop an evil arms dealer from starting another world war. Bond crosses all seven continents in order to stop the evil Whitaker and General Koskov. Timothy Dalton's first turn as Bond.