A View to a Kill (1985)

An investigation of a horse-racing scam leads 007 to a mad industrialist who plans to create a worldwide microchip monopoly by destroying California's Silicon Valley.

Director:

John Glen

Writers:

Richard Maibaum (screenplay), Michael G. Wilson (screenplay),

Stars:

Roger Moore, Christopher Walken, Tanya Roberts

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Roger Moore	...	James Bond
Christopher Walken	...	Max Zorin
Tanya Roberts	...	Stacey Sutton
Grace Jones	...	May Day
Patrick Macnee	...	Sir Godfrey 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

Storyline

James Bond has one more mission. Bond returns from his travels in the USSR with a computer chip. This chip is capable of withstanding a nuclear electromagnetic pulse that would otherwise destroy a normal chip. The chip was created by Zorin Industries, and Bond heads off to investigate its owner, Max Zorin. Zorin may only seem like a innocent guilty man, but is really planning to set off an earthquake in San Andreas which will wipe out all of Silicon Valley. As well as Zorin, Bond must also tackle May Day and equally menacing companion of Zorin, whilst dragging Stacy Sutton along for the ride.

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Plot Keywords:

microchip | silicon valley | earthquake | computer | explosion | 

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Taglines:

Has James Bond met his match? [USA]

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 May 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dangereusement vôtre

Filming Locations:

2201 Broadway, Oakland, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$50,300,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Danjaq, Eon Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

131 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First James Bond movie to have an associated video game produced tied-in with it. The game had two versions, one was called James Bond 007: A View to a Kill and the other A View to a Kill. Though there had been a James Bond video game produced prior to it called James Bond 007, this was the first to have a Bond film's name which was also the name of the video game. A video game called "James Bond as seen in Octopussy" had been developed in 1984 by Capcom and Parker Brothers for the previous film Octopussy. It was designed for the Atari 2600/5200, Commodore 64 and ColecoVision platforms but was never released.

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Goofs

During the opening sequence, Bond takes a runner from a skidoo and uses it as a snowboard. The trail he leaves behind is from a real snowboard instead of from a skidoo runner, as it leaves a smooth track instead of leaving the mark of a running groove.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Kimberley Jones: I thought you'd never get back.
James Bond: Well, there was a heck of a crowd on the piste!

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Crazy Credits

James Bond will return

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Connections

Followed by The World Is Not Enough (1999)

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Soundtracks

"California Girls"
Written by Brian Wilson
© Almo/Irving Music
Performed by Gidea Park
Courtesy of Adrian Baker

User Reviews

The "New Coke" of James Bond films

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. It's entertaining, the story is fresh and creative, and the characters are well-cast. Firstly, Roger Moore, who was 57 at the time, was NOT too old to play 007 in this film. Can we really define "too old" when actors that are in their 50's such as Harrison Ford, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Sylvester Stallone regularly star in action films today. If Indiana Jones 4 and Terminator 3 both came out tomorrow, most of us would rush to buy tickets, thinking little about the fact that Ford and Schwarzenegger might be "a little old". I think that Christopher Walken played an excellent villain. His character, Max Zorin has it all: creepiness, unpredictability, and an appetite for death and conquest. Some people are shocked about the segment in the mine scene when Zorin takes out a bunch of his workers with an Uzi. To those people I say, "Hello! Max Zorin was psychotic! This scene was an excellent demonstration of his sick mind. Had you been paying attention to the movie you'd know that!" The bottom line is that the cast is great and the story makes perfect sense(more than I can say for The Living Daylights, which is somehow rated higher on this site). In light of this, I don't see how anyone could hold it with such contempt. In a way, A View to a Kill is like the New Coke which was introduced around the same time. It's formula, while deviating from the original, offered a far superior taste. Despite the excellent taste, it was still shunned by the public and fans of the original Coca-Cola, much like this movie is shunned by James Bond fans.