A View to a Kill (1985)

At last, our James Bond marathon comes to the end of the Roger Moore era, with the 14th official film, A View to a Kill (1985).

SYNOPSIS:
James Bond (Roger Moore) recovers a microchip from the body of 003, found buried in an avalanche in Siberia.  Escaping KGB capture, he brings it back to MI6, where Q (Desmond Llewelyn) briefs M (Robert Brown), the Minister of Defence (Geoffrey Keen), and 007 that it's a highly advanced chip, resistant to electromagnetic pulses.  M sends Bond to investigate its creator, Max Zorin (Christopher Walken) to determine why advanced US technology is being found in the hands of the KGB.  From there, Bond uncovers a wicked plot to make Zorin Industries the leading (and only) microchip company in the world!

REVIEW:
I bet you didn't expect the legendary Christopher Walken to play a Bond villain, did you?  This was long ago, before he developed his quirky habits on film.  He's hardly recognizable, being so young and skinny and bleached-blond.  Despite Bond claiming that Max Zorin is clinically insane (literally, through genetic manipulation), he's actually the most sane Christopher Walken role I think I've ever seen.  Sure, he has no problem with murdering thousands.  But at least he talks like a normal human being.

A young, blonde, normal Christopher Walken

This is the last James Bond film for both Roger Moore, who plays 007, and Lois Maxwell, who plays Moneypenny.  Both actors were getting on in years and were starting to look like young grandparents.  Roger Moore, being 58 the year of this release, couldn't handle the vigorous role anymore and had stunt doubles doing pretty much anything physically demanding for him.

Lois Maxwell, dressed all fancy for her last role as Moneypenny, gives her last witty banter with James Bond

Similarly, this is the second film for Robert Brown as M.  I didn't mention it in the Octopussy (1983) review, but after Bernard Lee, who played M, passed away, his role in For Your Eyes Only (1981) was split between the Minister of Defence and Q, with Moneypenny making a comment about how M was on leave.  The producer felt they should leave the role vacant for a film, in honor of Bernard Lee.  Starting with Octopussy (1983), Robert Brown took over as M.

James Bond, the Minister of Defence, and M

This film was actually criticized for being a similar plot to Goldfinger (1964).  In both, you have a rich entrepreneur with Communist ties who plans to overthrow an industry so their product becomes more valuable.  Also, both had a scene where investors are being let in on the scheme, and when one decides he wants no part, he's allowed to leave, where he's then murdered away from the other investors.  But despite the overall plot being similar, the actual story and how they approach it is very different.

Q shows up at the beginning of the film to brief what he's learned about the microchip, but he doesn't personally hand off any gadgets to Bond in this film.  However, Bond does use several spy gadgets throughout this film, including a camera hidden in a ring, an electric razor that can be used to scan for listening devices in a room, sunglasses that allow one to see through tinted windows, and a Sharper Image credit card that hides a lockpick.  Q also introduces a remote-controlled robot that can be used for remote surveillance, which he later uses to track down Bond at the end of the film.

I don't know what this robot is called, but I'm calling it a Q-Bot

The title of this film was taken from the short story, "From a View to a Kill," in Ian Fleming's 8th James Bond novel, "For Your Eyes Only."  Again, the film had nothing to do with the story it borrowed its title from.  The short story was about James Bond investigating a motorcycle assassin who stole top secret documents from a motorcycle dispatch-rider and then murdered him.

The self-titled theme song for this film is a perfect representation of the '80s, and personally, one of my favorite Bond theme songs (Yes, I'm a child of the '80s).  It was performed by Duran Duran and written by them and John Barry (who wrote/performed the original James Bond theme).  You can listen to it here:

RECOMMENDATION:
I actually enjoyed this film.  It's one of my favorites from the Roger Moore era.  With a plot focusing around microchips, it's starting to delve into the technological future instead of inventing spy gadgets that weren't technologically feasible for the time.  Bond would get an overhaul in the '90s, reinventing him for modern times, but this felt like the first film to acknowledge the future of modern computing with an attempt to take a monopoly on the young market.  Plus, I enjoyed Zorin's henchwoman, May Day (Grace Jones).  She was intense and very different from most women Bond meets on his missions.  It's a shame Grace Jones didn't do more serious acting roles past the '90s.  Overall, I'd say this film was entertaining, and a great send-off for the late Roger Moore.  I'd recommend you check it out!