steven@ism70.UUCP (05/29/85)
SPOILER from Mr. Box Office: A VIEW TO A KILL Starring Roger Moore and Christopher Walken. Also starring Grace Jones, Tanya Roberts, Patrick MacNee, Patrick Bachau, David Yip, Lois Maxwell and Desmond Llewellyn. Directed by John Glen. Written by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson. Based on a character created by Ian Fleming. Produced by Albert Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson. Photographed by Alan Hume. Production Designed by Peter Lamont. Edited by Peter Davies. Music by John Barry. Title song performed by Duran Duran. From Metro Goldwyn Mayer/United Artists Pictures (1985). A disappointing Bond. Lots of conceptual and story problems that put this is in the class with _M_a_n_ _W_i_t_h_ _t_h_e_ _G_o_l_d_e_n_ _G_u_n and _T_h_u_n_d_e_r_b_a_l_l and _M_o_o_n_r_a_k_e_r. I think it's more appropriate to discuss James Bond movies piece by piece rather than by looking at the whole assemblage, since these things are Tinkertoy fantasies anyway. Main Villain: Christopher Walken gets moderately high marks as Max Zorin, psychotic multimillionaire who wants to corner the world microchip market by wiping out Silicon Valley. There's a point in the mineshaft scene where Walken's character crosses the line between being entertainingly nasty and needlessly cruel. After that, he's lost. McGuffin: Okay, so I'm Richard Maibaum and Michael Wilson and I decide the McGuffin this time will be to cause an earthquake and wipe out Silicon Valley (I'm getting tired of nuclear destruction; we've used it to death in our other scripts) So, my research shows that to cause an earthquake, one must flood not only the San Andreas Fault, which runs along the east side of Silicon Valley, but also another fault that runs along the west side. Is this too complicated for the audience? As it turns out, yes. Peter Lamont designs this colored lit-up map for me to explain it to the audience and half of them still don't get it. Bond movies never care too much about scientific accuracy anyway, so this is a mistake. Heroine: Not only can Tanya Roberts not act (knew that already), but she isn't even sexy. A real waste of time. Henchmen: Grace Jones has the best lines and the most presence of anyone in the cast (Walken a close second in the overall best impression sweepstakes). The best thing about the whole picture. Gadgets: Yes, let's talk about the lack of gadgetry in _A_ _V_i_e_w_ _t_o _a_ _K_i_l_l. Where's Q's scene wherein he passes on to Bond a set of neat guns, micro receivers, supercars, whatever to help do battle with? We've lost one of the more charming standard setpieces in a Bond film for no reason. No neat cars. No neat guns. Boring. Chases: High marks to the pre-credit ski-chase. Well conceived and executed. The Paris car chase is okay, though not as original as it could have been. Then we've got a steeplechase (which is dangerous as hell but doesn't look it from the way it's shot) that comes off as surprisingly dull. The fire truck sequence in San Francisco is completely pointless. The hook and ladder isn't used to good advantage at all: it was unclear to me that Bond had to get back to the rear steering wheel (there's no establishing shot of his goal). The ladder swings out, but it would have been a more effective scene had Bond swung out on it for a reason, perhaps to drop in on a pursuing car. (He really should have been _c_h_a_s_i_n_g someone there instead of being chased by cops we could care less about.) The Ending: As poorly conceived as can be. Very arbitrary how they end up at the Golden Gate Bridge. Okay, so I'm in story conference with Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson and we're sitting there trying to figure out how to end the picture. So, we've got main villain Walken up there with a 40 year old henchman and a 65 year old guy. Who do you kill last for maximum audience impact? I'll bet you dollars to donuts that who you pick isn't what you'll see on the big screen. It all comes down to this: the worst thing that a Bond picture can be is boring. And _A_ _V_i_e_w_ _t_o_ _a_ _K_i_l_l isn't all that exciting. Tanya Roberts' character supposedly has this big vendetta against Walken. But they never even meet in the movie!?! Some conflict. Time for Roger Moore to hang it up and retire. My vote for the next Bond: Mel Gibson. Two stars out of four.