A View to a Kill (1985)
Trivia
Roger Moore turned 57 during filming, making him the oldest actor to play Bond. Sean Connery was 52 when he did Never Say Never Again (1983)
In his DVD commentary, Roger Moore said that of the seven Bond films in which he starred, this is his least favorite. He didn't like the increased violence, and he felt he was getting too old for the part.
This movie was intensely disliked by Sir Roger Moore, who was barely on speaking terms with Grace Jones during filming. He did not consider this to be a real 007 movie. Moore said, "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."
This film was Lois Maxwell's final appearance as Miss Moneypenny. Apparently, after she was told that she would be retiring from the role, she thought she could become M as a promotion. Producer Albert R. Broccoli believed that audiences wouldn't accept James Bond being given orders by a woman. M became a woman when Judi Dench took on the role in GoldenEye (1995).
As it turns out, the age difference between Roger Moore and his female co-stars was not as great as previously thought. Grace Jones and Tanya Roberts had long pegged their ages to 1952 and 1955 birthdates, respectively, but Jones was actually born in 1948 and Roberts was actually born in 1949.
At the time of this movie's release, Sean Connery told the press, "Bond should be played by an actor 35, 33 years old. I'm too old. Roger's too old, too!"
The final scenes for Lois Maxwell and Sir Roger Moore each make a reference to their end with the franchise. Maxwell's last scene as Moneypenny shows her in tears, while Moore's last scene as Bond has him, quite literally, throwing in the towel.
Reportedly, Grace Jones had a black dildo with her during the bed scene between May Day and James Bond, according to Sir Roger Moore's biography.
Although only appearing briefly, this movie is Dolph Lundgren's first on-screen role, playing General Gogol's KGB bodyguard Venz. He landed the position because he was dating Grace Jones at the time of filming, and was conveniently on-set when director John Glen realized he quickly needed someone to fill in as a simple gun-wielding bodyguard.
When Stacey comes out of the shack in Silicon Valley wearing a pair of coveralls, Bond comments "Pity you couldn't find one that fits", and Stacey gives him a dirty look. Roger Moore ad-libbed the line, and Tanya Roberts' reaction was genuine. Roberts had refused to film the scene until the wardrobe department made her a pair of custom-fitted coveralls that would look flattering on her. Because she was so difficult to work with, director John Glen decided to leave it in.
According to former CIA agent Tony Mendez (the subject of the spy movie Argo (2012)), after watching this movie, his superior at the CIA asked him if they have any facial recognition technology as depicted in this movie. When Mendez told him they did not, he ordered them to develop it.
Christopher Walken became the first Academy Award-winning actor to star in a Bond movie.
The title song was written by John Barry and Duran Duran, and was sung by Duran Duran. It has been the only James Bond song to reach number one in the U.S. It stayed at the top position for two weeks out of its 17-week run on the charts. It entered the U.K. and U.S. charts on May 18, 1985, and it peaked at number two on the U.K. charts. The soundtrack album charted in the U.K. on June 22, 1985, where it went to number 81. In the U.S., the soundtrack album entered the charts on June 29, 1985, peaking at 38.
The Remy-Julienne stunt team from France did many of the stunts in this movie, but in the San Francisco segment, a scene in which Sir Roger Moore was supposed to be driving a fire truck, the stunt driver was too short to reach the pedals and properly operate the truck. There wasn't much time to "rig" the truck, so Moore volunteered to drive it, quite expertly as noted by the local San Francisco Teamsters. Moore claims he was a lorry driver, among other things, before his acting paid the bills.
When Grace Jones (May Day) screams during the mine sequence, when sparks fly around her, her screams are for real. She did not know that electric cables around her would go off as a special effect for the scene.
The disclaimer, "Neither the name Zorin, nor any other name or character in this film, is meant to portray a real company or actual person" was added, after producers discovered a real company known as Zoran Ladicorbic Ltd. Their industry was fashion design.
When Bond is trapped underwater, he opened a tire valve, and breathes the air from the tire. MythBusters (2003) did a James Bond Special, and tried repeatedly to reproduce this action. It proved to be impossible to do.
With this being Lois Maxwell's final appearance as Miss Moneypenny, it brings her screen total across all of the James Bond movies in which she appeared to just one hour. She also delivered fewer than two hundred words.
Dianne Feinstein was the mayor of San Francisco at the time of filming. Because Sir Roger Moore was her favorite of the first three actors to play Bond, she granted all of the necessary permits to film in the city.
The selection of Duran Duran to perform the theme song was seen as an attempt to help market this movie (and potential future James Bond movies) towards a younger audience, specifically the "MTV generation".
Lois Maxwell suggested that Miss Moneypenny be killed off.
Filming was delayed when the "007 Stage" at Pinewood Studios burned down on June 27, 1984, during production of Legend (1985). It was completely rebuilt in less than four months, and renamed "The Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage". Coincidentally, the title song of the movie contained the lyric "Dance into the fire". The stage burned down again in July 2006 just after filming had been completed on Casino Royale (2006).
Duran Duran was chosen to do the song after bassist John Taylor (a lifelong Bond fan) approached producer Albert R. Broccoli at a party, and somewhat drunkenly asked "When are you going to get someone decent to do one of your theme songs?"
After producer Albert R. Broccoli told Lois Maxwell (Miss Moneypenny) that she would not return for the next Bond movie, he commented that they were the only two people from Dr. No (1962) who were still working on the franchise.
In the opening sequence in Siberia, when the Russian soldier is left dangling from a precipice, amongst his garbled words, can be heard "Roger Moore!"
David Bowie was offered the part of Max Zorin. He turned down the role, in favor of one in Labyrinth (1986). Bowie later explained that he thought this movie's script was too "terrible" and "workmanlike" to spend much time working on, and he told the producers what he thought of it. He also said that his directness wasn't received very well by them. In 2003, he admitted that he didn't like the Bond movies, and hadn't seen one since the Connery era.
Sir Roger Moore had some cosmetic surgery before filming began.
In a December 2007 interview, Sir Roger Moore said regarding this movie, "I was only about four hundred years too old for the part."
First theatrical movie of Alison Doody, who turned eighteen during filming, making her the youngest (credited) Bond girl ever.
Tanya Roberts had high hopes that this would be her big break, telling reporters at the time: "Kim Basinger got The Natural (1984) after making a James Bond movie. The same kind of thing could happen to me." Unfortunately, despite the global attention that comes with every Bond release, it did nothing to boost her career, and she has not appeared in a widely released theatrical motion picture since.
At "A Night with Sir Roger Moore" in Dublin, Ireland on November 20, 2016, Sir Roger Moore was asked who would win in a fight with Grace Jones. Moore paused and remained silent for several seconds before saying, "My mother once said if you have nothing good to say about someone, then say nothing at all." Jones on the other hand recalled working with Moore was enjoyable and was one of her favorite co-stars, and claimed her bad rapport was due to her wanting to 'stay in character' as she was meant to hate Bond: in her own book 'I'll never write my memoirs" [2015], she explains she deliberately kept in her hating him character, which 'creeped' Sir Roger Moore; but that he was helpful to her throughout as in the scene where she had to be 'surprised' to see Bond still alive, he eventually did some 'unnamed' thing to cause this genuine reaction for her.
This movie is often credited with helping to spark the interest in snowboarding, due to its use in the pre-credits opening action snow sequence. The snowboarding stunts were performed by Thomas Sims, American inventor of the snowboard. The The Beach Boys song "California Girls" can be briefly heard as an in-joke, when James Bond snowboards. The song does not feature on the soundtrack album.
There was much criticism that Sir Roger Moore's stunt doubles were too obvious in this movie.
Aside from using a shotgun loaded with rock salt, James Bond doesn't actually shoot anyone in this movie.
Bond beds four women in this movie, which is a tie for the most (at time of release) with Never Say Never Again (1983).
Because of the unprecedented level of cooperation from the San Francisco authorities, producer Albert R. Broccoli insisted that the premiere take place in the city. It was held at the Palace of Fine Arts, and was the franchise's first world premiere to be in the U.S.
The effect of splitting the Renault in half was achieved by disabling an electromagnet used to hold the front and rear sections of the car together. The car was equipped with a small fuel tank in the front section. Because the "half car" did not have a muffler, it was quite loud.
The description of Max Zorin in the script was based on Sting, and written with David Bowie in mind, but he turned this movie down.
The role of Russian Agent Pola Ivanova was originally meant to be the character Anya Amasova, the female lead from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). When Barbara Bach declined to reprise her role, the new character of Pola Ivanova was created, and was cast with Fiona Fullerton.
Timothy Dalton was considered to step in as James Bond, if Sir Roger Moore decided not to return. He ended up being cast as Bond in the next two films: The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence to Kill (1989). But after Licence, they recast Pierce Brosnan in the role because many felt Dalton didn't have the right charisma to play Bond.
The role of Max Zorin was offered to Rutger Hauer.
Dr. Carl Mortner, a.k.a. Hans Glaub (Willoughby Gray), was modelled after Josef Mengele, the infamous Nazi doctor who performed unethical and sadistic experiments on Jewish prisoners in Auschwitz during World War II.
In his 2008 autobiography "My Word Is My Bond", Sir Roger Moore admitted he felt at the time that he was too old to play James Bond in this movie.
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, as seen in the end credits of Octopussy (1983), but the word "From" was dropped before filming began in May 1984.
The opening sequence of this movie was the first time James Bond was depicted on a mission inside Russia. Specifically, it was the snow-capped region of Siberia (which was filmed in Iceland).
Barbara Broccoli had to collect Grace Jones every morning, because Jones didn't enjoy early morning starts. She learned to be very diplomatic with Jones in the car ride to the studio.
This is the last movie in the franchise on which long-time stuntman Bob Simmons worked. He died in 1988.
None of the principal cast ever went to Iceland for this movie, not even Sir Roger Moore.
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 this movie's jumps was so successful, that the second jump was cancelled, thereby eliminating any further risk, cost, and time. However, as mentioned in Inside 'A View to a Kill' (2000), 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. The non-permitted stunt jump cost them their jobs, as it jeopardized the remaining filming of the shoot in the French capital.
The story is considered a re-working of much of the story structure of the earlier James Bond movie Goldfinger (1964). The two movies share many similar story elements.
Third official Bond movie to not state the title of the next Bond movie during the ending credits. Neither Dr. No (1962) nor Thunderball (1965) stated the next movie at the end of their credits either.
The 1962 silver Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II seen in this movie was owned by producer Albert R. Broccoli, who lent it to the production. Its license plate number in this movie was 354 HYK. A duplicate model without an engine was used when Zorin and May Day push it into the lake.
First James Bond movie to have an associated computer game produced tied-in with it. The game had two versions, one was called "James Bond 007: A View to a Kill (1985)," and the other "James Bond 007: A View to a Kill (1985)." Though there had been a James Bond video game produced prior to it, called "James Bond 007 (1983)," this was the first to have a Bond movie's name, which was also the name of the video game. A computer game called "James Bond as seen in Octopussy" had been developed in 1984 by Capcom and Parker Brothers for Octopussy (1983). It was designed for the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Commodore 64, and ColecoVision platforms, but was never released.
This is the only James Bond movie where the famous spy genre catchphrase "Nobody ever leaves the K.G.B." is heard. It is said by General Gogol (Walter Gotell).
Patrick Macnee had spoken very critically about the James Bond film franchise. He said he had preferred Ian Fleming's original James Bond novels compared to the movies. Macnee took his part largely as an opportunity to work again with Sir Roger Moore, who was a good friend of his. The pair worked on "The Sea Wolves (1980)" and "Sherlock Holmes in New York (1976)."
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' (2000), Adams explains that she was visiting her friend Sir Roger Moore on-location, and ended up in the crowd, but admits she is unable to actually see herself in this movie. In the same documentary, John Glen confirmed that Adams appeared as an extra, but does not specify where she was visible. The appearance remained a mystery for several years, until she was apparently identified as standing in the background during one of the Fisherman's Wharf scenes. On one hand she's said to be walking behind Bond and Chuck Lee, whilst others believe she's the woman clutching a bag, wearing sunglasses and a hat, stepping off the tram car. As a result, Adams is confirmed to have appeared in this, and two other Bond movies, The Man With the Golden Gun (1974) and Octopussy (1983).
The Eiffel Tower jump was made from a platform extending out into the air, which was necessary in order to perform the stunt. The platform was painted the same color as the Eiffel Tower, and it can still be seen in the final footage.
The idea to set the story in California's Silicon Valley was a concept conceived by producer and co-writer Michael G. Wilson. In the first draft, Zorin wanted to destroy Silicon Valley by changing the course of Halley's Comet, but it was later decided that this plot was not believable.
This is the only Bond film that has the distinction of being placed on Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert's Worst of The Year list. Siskel in particular never cared for Roger Moore as Bond.
As reported by "Variety" on November 26, 1985, while this movie was still in release in some territories, Sir Roger Moore officially had advised producer Albert R. Broccoli that he would be retiring from the role of James Bond.
Maryam d'Abo screentested for the role of Pola Ivanova, but was ultimately rejected, because she was too young for the part. She appeared briefly in White Nights (1985), where she played the French girlfriend of Mikhail Baryshnikov. She earned a major place in the James Bond universe, when she starred as 007's main love interest in The Living Daylights (1987).
When Stacey Sutton shows Bond the Earth tremor details on her home computer, the electronic sound made by the computer is the same sound as that made by the computer in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) when the submarine-launched missiles are in the air.
Sir Roger Moore became good friends with San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein and her husband after their support in helping to make this movie.
Bond makes quiche for Stacey, a reference to the popular 1980 humorous book "Real Men Don't Eat Quiche" (1980), written by Bruce Feirstein. Feirstein wrote the screenplay for GoldenEye (1995).
According to the James Bond encyclopedia by John Cork and Collin Stutz, Felix Leiter was originally going to be Bond's contact in San Francisco. However, owing to Chinatown being such a prominent part of the city, David Yip was cast as Chuck Lee instead.
Bond tells M and the Minister about how an electromagnetic blast over the U.K. will render anything with a chip useless. In GoldenEye (1995), the villain's plot is to create an electromagnetic blast over London, after stealing money, to do exactly that.
Anthony Chinn (Taiwanese Tycoon) played a S.P.E.C.T.R.E. guard in You Only Live Twice (1967), and was a servant at Auric Stud Farm in Goldfinger (1964). Manning Redwood (Bob Conley) played General Miller in Never Say Never Again (1983).
Grace Jones recalled in her autobiography that while doing automatic dialogue replacement for this movie, her clothes kept making rustling noises. So she stripped off, and carried on while naked.
John Barry reportedly didn't like the producers' idea of having a pop-rock band performing the title song.
In 1959, The "London Daily News" published an original Ian Fleming short story (conceived as a plot for an abandoned James Bond television show) called "Murder Before Breakfast". Fleming felt the title did not capture the essence of the story, and re-titled it "From A View To A Kill" when it was included in his "For Your Eyes Only" collection of five James Bond stories in 1960. Fleming found the inspiration for this new title from John Woodcock Grave's 1820 Cumberland Hunting Song, "D'Ye Ken John Peel". It read in part: "From the drag to the chase. From the chase to the view. From the view to a death in the morning." Fleming adapted the third stanza for his short story title.
The Swedish and Finnish VHS release of this movie subtitled the line "What a view...To a kill" as "What a view...Tokyo" as they fly over San Francisco Bay.
The San Francisco cable cars seen in this movie are road vehicles. At the time of filming, the entire system was being overhauled, meaning the bus-like vehicles had to be used instead. (This is evident during the fire truck chase, where the vehicles have been placed over the rails to give the real effect, but clearly have tires, and larger wheels). The cable cars, unlike in this movie, do not run to Fisherman's Wharf.
Fourteenth James Bond movie in the EON Productions Bond film franchise. Seventh and final Bond movie to star Sir Roger Moore as James Bond.
When M is discussing Zorin at the Ascot race track, he says, "Now the talk of the City and the Bourse." "The City" refers to a city and county within London, which is a major business and financial center. "The Bourse" is a building in Paris that is used as a commodities exchange.
The external mine sequences were filmed at Amberley Chalk Pits Museum in Sussex, England, and when the air ship was flown with a dummy dangling underneath, the Sussex Police switchboard was reportedly inundated with calls to report a man hanging from a balloon.
According to Inside 'A View to a Kill' (2000), 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 used from this in the finished movie, and the long shots had to match the close-ups.
The only element of this movie taken from the original Bond story by Ian Fleming is its title, and the French location. However, it has been pointed out that the 1981 James Bond novel "Licence Renewed" by John Gardner featured an Ascot horse racing scene similar to that seen in this movie.
The second Bond movie, after The Man With the Golden Gun (1974), to include a scene where female pubic hair is visible (during the fight exercise between Zorin and May Day). Granted, it's very brief and one would have to freeze the movie at the precise moment, but it's clearly seen sticking out from May Day's workout attire.
When Bond first talks with Chuck Lee near the boat, a horn sounds the first notes of the James Bond theme.
Bo Derek was considered for the role of Stacey Sutton.
The title song by Duran Duran was recorded in two sections. The group recorded their performance at Maison Rouge, and John Barry recorded his orchestral backing at CTS Wembley.
Airship Industries managed a major marketing coup with the inclusion of their Skyship 500 series airship in this movie. At the time, Airship Industries was producing a fleet of ships, which were recognizable over many capitals of the world offering tours, or advertising sponsorship deals. As all Bond movies have included the most current technology, this included the lighter than air interest.
This movie takes place in May 1985, which at the time of filming (mostly 1984), was the future. This is unusual in that previous Bond movies were set at the time of filming, as evident in car tax discs, I.D. tags, et cetera.
The name on the cat's bowl is "PUSSY". The word has previously been used as part of one of the most ever popular Bond girl's name, Pussy Galore, in the novel and movie Goldfinger (1964), as well as in the short story and James Bond movie Octopussy (1983), where it appeared in a title.
Bond's line about Stacey serving him Whiskas cat food was lost on American audiences, as it was still being sold under the Kal Kan brand name in the U.S. at the time.
Some people felt that a little bit of artistic license was taken with one of the movie's main posters, as James Bond was shown as being considerably taller than May Day. However, Grace Jones' height is 5' 10½" (1.79 meters), while Sir Roger Moore's height is 6' 1" (1.85 meters), making James Bond approximately taller by 2 1/2 inches (six centimeters). It should be noted though that Jones was wearing four inch heels in the picture, which would have made her taller than Moore in reality.
Grace Jones strongly disagreed with Roger Moore's support for the apartheid regime in South Africa.
The Eiffel Tower featured prominently in this movie. In Moonraker (1979), it is mentioned that Hugo Drax bought the structure, but his application to transport the tower was refused.
James Bond utilized two aliases in this movie, in third place after second ranked Octopussy (1983), where he used three, and Diamonds Are Forever (1971), where he used the most, four. The first alias was as James St. John Smythe while visiting Zorin's horse sales. The second alias was as journalist James Stock (a pun on stocks and bonds) of the London Financial Times while in San Francisco. In neither case, did he use a disguise.
The age difference between Grace Jones and Alison Doody (eighteen and a half years) was the greatest age difference between two Bond Girls in the same movie until Monica Bellucci and Léa Seydoux (almost twenty-one years) in Spectre (2015).
A significant amount of this movie's principal cast played characters with different nationalities than their own. For example, Christopher Walken is an American actor, who played a character of German origins, Willoughby Gray was a British actor, who played a German doctor, Fiona Fullerton is a Nigerian-born British actress, who played a Soviet Agent, and Grace Jones is a Jamaican actress, who played Zorin's American henchwoman.
The title song for this movie, "Dance Into the Fire (A View To A Kill)", was the last song recorded by Duran Duran before the band briefly split up. According to the sleeve notes for the CD soundtrack, as a joke, Composer John Barry used the melody from this song in the score for the scene where James Bond and Stacy Sutton escape from the fire in San Francisco City Hall. Lead singer Simon Le Bon shares a surname with Sir Otto Le Bon, an ancestor of James Bond mentioned in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). At the end of the music video for this song, Simon Le Bon says: "Bon. Simon Le Bon" similar to famous Bond catchphrase of the film franchise. Coincidentally, the Danish title for the James Bond movie Thunderball (1965) was actually called "Agent 007 Into The Fire."
When James meets his C.I.A. contact (Chuck Lee) in San Francisco, there is a reference to a South African mining accident. Sir Roger Moore starred in Gold (1974), where he portrayed a gold mine General Manager, who uncovered a plot to stage a gold mining accident (with a plot similar to Goldfinger (1964)).
Patrick Macnee, who played racehorse trainer Sir Godfrey Tibbett, was the son of a racehorse trainer.
The Washington Post critic said, "Roger Moore isn't just long in the tooth - he's got tusks, and what looks like an eye job has given him the pie-eyed blankness of a zombie. He's not believable anymore in the action sequences, even less so in the romantic scenes - it's like watching women fall all over Gabby Hayes."
With the release of this movie, Sir Roger Moore's Bond bedded a total of seventeen women, one more than Sir Sean Connery's (Bond bedded four women in this movie, which is a tie for the most (at the time of release) with Never Say Never Again (1983)). (Connery's Bond did bed one character twice in two different movies, counting as one woman).
Product placements, brand integrations, and promotional tie-ins for this movie include: Renault automobiles; Michelin tires; Stolichnaya vodka; BP; Phillips computers; Phillips Electronics; Apple computers, Lafite Rothschild wine; The Sharper Image; Cartier; Bollinger Champagne, particularly a Bollinger '75; Diner's Club; Chevron Oil USA; Seiko Time (U.K.) Ltd.; Whiskas, and two spin-off video games, James Bond 007: A View to a Kill (1985) and James Bond 007: A View to a Kill (1985).
Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson had noted the explosion in available computer technology, and the public's fascination and concern with all things hi-tech, so they decided that their story should center around the planned destruction of America's Silicon Valley.
Originally, Bond was to have used the electronic snooping device created by Q. When the device is threatened by guard dogs, it sprays them, skunk-like, with a noxious liquid, and then gets stuck in a tunnel. Q later berates Bond for deserting "a fellow Agent in the field."
The literal translations of some this movie's foreign language titles include: Moving Target (Italy); Dangerously Yours (Canada and France); A Panorama To Kill (Spain); Dangerous Mission (Belgium); Operation: Moving Target (Greece); In The Face of Death (West Germany); Murder In The Eyes (Hebrew and Israel); The Beautiful Prey (Japan); Living Target (Sweden); 007: In The Aim Of The Assassins (or 007 At The Aim Of The Killers)/The Preview To A Death (Latin America); 007 In The Target Of The Assassins (Portugal and Brazil); 007 And A View Of Death (or 007 And The Look of Death) (Finland); and Agent 007 In The Line Of Fire (Denmark).
First James Bond movie where Michael G. Wilson, stepson of producer Albert R. Broccoli, is credited as a regular producer. He had previously been an executive producer on Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), and Octopussy (1983), and a special assistant to the producer on The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). His association with the James Bond franchise started with Goldfinger (1964), in which he was a third assistant director, and made an appearance, the cameo becoming a tradition regularly from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). He was also a screenwriter for the franchise on five occasions. This was also the first Bond movie that Broccoli shared a producer's credit with anyone besides original Bond co-producer Harry Saltzman.
The credit card used by James to access Stacey's house visibly bears the legend of Special Properties team The Sharper Image.
May Day, the first henchwoman to have a sexual relationship with a leading Bond villain, is named for the French term "M'aidez" (literal translation: "Help me").
The producers wanted to bring back Barbara Bach as Major Anya Amasova from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). After Bach declined, the character name was changed to Pola Ivanova, and cast with Fiona Fullerton.
The MI6/Universal Exports building exterior, used in this movie, Octopussy (1983), The Living Daylights (1987), and Licence To Kill (1989), is the old War Offices near Westminster. It is close to other Bond filming locations, including the College of Arms (used in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)), Westminster tube station exit (used in Skyfall (2012)), and Westminster Bridge (used in The World Is Not Enough (1999), Die Another Day (2002), and Spectre (2015)).
FIrst Bond movie to feature an MBB Bo 105 helicopter, a similar one is seen in Spectre (2015) during the opening teaser (which was the Red Bull helicopter painted olive green) which was modified for stunts.
Two classical pieces of music are excerpted in the movie. The piece of classical music heard during the French château sequence was Antonio Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" (Italian title is Le quattro stagioni). The piece of music heard during the hot tub sequence was classical music composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Neither piece of music though is included on the movie's soundtrack album as they are only excerpted for the movie.
Together, Paris and the Eiffel Tower were major locations for this movie. But it wasn't the first time they had been used in an EON Productions official James Bond movie. Paris was seen in the opening scenes of Thunderball (1965) which included a long shot of the Eiffel Tower.
The ship used in the climax was a 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, it had "WELCOME" painted across the side of the hull, but the word was replaced by "ZORIN INDUSTRIES" for this movie. During the 1984 season, the ship was painted green and red, as a part of Fujifilm's blimp fleet. It was subsequently colored white. In real-life, inflating it would take up to twenty-four hours, but during this movie, it was shown to take two minutes.
For several days during the filming in the Financial District in San Francisco, the sunken outdoor plaza of the Crown Zellerbach Building (now known as One Bush Plaza) at Market and Bush Streets, served as the outdoor dining area for the cast and crew of this movie. This delighted the thousands of office workers in the area, who gazed down to catch a glimpse of the stars while they dined.
This is the final time we would see Bond put his trilby on the stand in Moneypenny's office. The tradition had been resurrected in For Your Eyes Only (1981), and had continued to this entry. Roger Moore unlike his 2 predecessors however, was never seen wearing it nor ever wore it in the gun barrel opening.
Zorin's thoroughbred stud sale is dated to May 3, 1985 (via the $5 million check he makes out to Stacey). His "Main Strike" takes place on the twenty-second, which became the real-life date of this movie's premiere in San Francisco.
"A View To A Kill" is an abridged title derived from the Ian Fleming short story "From A View To A Kill". The title and the story's French setting and some Russian spies are the only common story elements of this movie and the short story. The short story was included in the "For Your Eyes Only" short story anthology, which was the first collection of Ian Fleming James Bond short stories. This was first published on April 11, 1960. The collection was subtitled "Five Secret Occasions in the Life of James Bond", and was the eighth James Bond book. Working titles for the story included "The Rough with the Smooth" and "Murder Before Breakfast". The name of the Bond Girl in the short story was Mary Ann Russell, but this name was not used for this movie.
The mansion in A View to a Kill is the same building as the mortuary in Phantasm (1979).
Patrick Macnee also narrated the making-of documentaries on the James Bond DVD releases until Licence To Kill (1989).
The sound effects used in the burning elevator shaft are the same ones used during the destruction of the space station in Moonraker (1979).
David Yip and Alison Doody appeared in an entry in the Indiana Jones film franchise. Yip played Wu Han in Indiana Jones and The Temple Of Doom (1984), while Doody starred as Elsa in Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (1989), which co-starred former James Bond, Sir Sean Connery, as Professor Henry "Indiana" Jones, Jr.'s father, Professor Henry Jones, Sr.
After Sherlock Holmes in New York (1976) and The Sea Wolves (1980), this was Sir Roger Moore and Patrick Macnee's final movie together.
The opening sequence of this movie is the first time 007 is depicted on a mission inside Russia. Specifically, it was the snow-capped region of Siberia, Russia (which was filmed in Iceland).
Vehicles featured include: two Zorin airship blimps, one with green and white, and the other with green, red, and white markings, the larger being a SkyShip 6000, and the smaller is marked G-BIHN, and was inflatable from a Portakabin; a 1962 silver Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II, chauffeured by Tippett, but owned by the producer; a 1984 blue Renault 11 TXE French taxi; a Peugeot 604 limousine; a 1977 Cadillac Fleetwood 75 limousine (used by Zorin's thugs), a 1985 Ford LTD U.S. sedan; a truck carrying explosives; a red American LaFrance Tiller Fire Engine Truck, belonging to the San Francisco Fire Department; a MBB Bo-105 helicopter; Stacy's Jeep Cherokee XJ; Pola's 1984 Chevrolet Corvette C4 hire-car; Polaris Indy 600 snowmobiles; an Aerospatiale SA 341/342 Gazelle helicopter; an Iceberg mini-submarine, and various makes and models for the San Francisco Police Department squad and patrol cars, such as late 1970s Dodge Monacos, Dodge Diplomats, a Plymouth Volaré, and vehicles typical of Mopar Squads, one of two James Bond movies ever to feature them.
Although Moore is seen as more lighthearted compared to Connery, he racked up more onscreen kills than Connery.
The ill-fated KGB agent Klotkoff is played by former 60s pop star Mr. Lee Grant, here credited under his true name Bogdan Kominowski which he had used since turning to acting.
Fans of Roger Moore in The Saint (1962) will recognise the elevator sound effect used as James and Stacey ascend the lift during the city hall arson scene.
The title song by Duran Duran is the last in the franchise is the last to be played in its entirety throughout the opening credits sequence. Every Bond theme from The Living Daylights (1987) (by A-Ha) onward had been edited to fit a roughly three-minute credit sequence, as they all clock in at over four minutes.
Priscilla Presley turned down a role in this movie.
Patrick Macnee was featured in television commercials for Sterling Motorworks, which played on some James Bond iconography.
Lee Van Cleef was considered for the role of Max Zorin.
When Max Zorin arms the bomb set to explode at 9:41, the timer reads 3,600. Three thousand six hundred seconds are actually one hour, indicating that it was 8:41 when he armed the bomb.
The Charity World Premiere of this movie, held on May 22, 1985, at San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts. The Gala Charity Premiere Benefit was held in aid of the (San Francisco's) Mayor's Youth Fund to benefit the Tenderloin Child Care Center. A Benefit Premiere was also held in Los Angeles on the following night, on May 23, 1985. The British and European Gala Royal Charity Premiere was held on June 12, 1985, at London's Odeon Leicester Square Theatre. This is the usual venue for Bond World Premieres. The after-premiere party was held at the Inner Temple Hall.
Director John Glen wanted George MacDonald Fraser to return as screenwriter, but he was unavailable.
The first line of the Ian Fleming short story read: "The eyes behind the wide black rubber goggles were as cold as flint." The last line read: "Bond took the girl by the arm. He said: 'Come over here. I want to show you a bird's nest.' 'Is that an order?' 'Yes'."
The 6 million francs in damage Bond causes in Paris was equal to about $640,000 USD at the time the film was released in May 1985. This is about $1.5 million USD in 2020.
Grace Jones states in her memoirs book (2015) she took her character's evil look stare from her Jamaican childhood schoolmaster 'Mas P's look, who regularly "beat" all the shoolchildren and her when there.
Of the five films in the series he personally directed, John Glen pronounced A View to a Kill as the one with the most beautiful Bond girl - Tanya Roberts' Stacey Sutton.
In his memoir, Sir Roger Moore remembered that Grace Jones would play loud music in her dressing room, which meant he couldn't get his afternoon nap. Moore admitted that after unsuccessfully asking Jones to turn the music down, he got so annoyed he threw a chair at the dressing room wall. As he dryly observed, this did not help set the mood for their yet-to-be-shot sex scene.
The score for this movie was recorded at CTS Studios, Wembley, London in March and April 1985. Engineered by Dick Lawzey.
Four novelizations based on this movie were written and published in 1985, as part of a series of children's book tie-ins called "Find Your Fate". The novels were called (in order): Find Your Fate #11: James Bond in Win, Place, or Die; Find Your Fate #12: James Bond in Strike It Deadly; Find Your Fate #13: James Bond in Programmed for Danger and Find Your Fate #14: James Bond in Barracuda Run.
At the end of the introduction sequence, Bond fires a weapon that enters and explodes inside the Russian helicopter. The "weapon" is a regular emergency flare, which wreaks havoc inside the helicopter.
[21:00]James Bond falls through the roof of a boat. He would do so again in The Living Daylights (1987).
As of 2020, it marks as the first of two films from the James Bond franchise to ever receive nominations to the Razzie Awards, with Tanya Roberts being nominated in the Worst Actress category. The second film was Die Another Day (2002), winner of the Worst Supporting Actress award - given to Madonna's cameo - and nominated in the Worst Original Song category. Coincidentally, both films mark the last time actors Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan played Bond, respectively.
Christopher Walken also played another villain named Max in "Batman Returns". His name is Max Shreck. Walken has actually played three different characters with the name Max in movies, in Kiss Toledo Goodbye (1999), Batman Returns (1992), and A View to a Kill (1985).
The scar on Scarpine's left cheek is quite prominent. Unless it was very deep, it should have discolored over time. The scar must be fairly new.
When the CIA agent leaves the mansion, he is driving a full-sized Ford Bronco which was left on the list of vehicles used in the movie.
Although he was not really Russian, this is the first of 5 times Walter Gotell played a Russian character. The others were:
- KGB: The Secret War (1985)
- Basic Training (1985)
- The Living Daylights (1987), Reprising his role from KGB: The Secret War (1985) as General Anatol Gogol
- MacGyver: Gold Rush (1989)(#4.14)
Cameo
Maud Adams: As a woman in the crowd at Fisherman's Wharf. Adams happened to be visiting San Francisco when the film was in production there. Sir Roger Moore got her to appear as an uncredited extra in a crowd scene, making her the only actress to appear in three Bond movies (excluding actresses in recurring roles), after The Man With the Golden Gun (1974) and Octopussy (1983).
Dolph Lundgren: as KGB agent Venz. The film is Lundgren's acting debut, even though he is only on screen for a few seconds and he has no lines.
Michael G. Wilson: Man heard over the loudspeaker at San Francisco City Hall.
Spoilers
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors forbade any falling stunt (as per The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), and For Your Eyes Only (1981)) from the Golden Gate Bridge, in fear of copy-cat suicides. As such, the death of Zorin was created by special optical effects.
Sir Roger Moore's first Bond movie started, and his last Bond movie ended, in the U.S. Live and Let Die (1973) opened at a U.N. meeting in New York City, and this movie ended in San Francisco.
U.K. actor, comedian, and writer Tony Hawks made an uncredited appearance during the scene of Aubergine's assassination. He is at the next table to Bond, and goes along side him as they examine the corpse.
For an unknown reason, there are several inside jokes in this movie that refer to the John F. Kennedy assassination. Zorin's "Main Strike" is scheduled for the twenty-second, the same day as the assassination. Patrick Macnee's character was murdered, and named "Sir Godfrey Tibbet". Dallas police officer J.D. Tippit was killed the same day as the assassination. The Texan in the movie was named "Conley". Texas Governor John Connally was also shot during the assassination.
