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A View to a Kill

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Template:Infobox Film Bond A View To A Kill, released in 1985, is the fourteenth spy film of the James Bond series, and the seventh and last to star Roger Moore as the fictional British Secret Service agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted from Ian Fleming's short story "From a View to a Kill", the film is the third Bond film after The Spy Who Loved Me and Octopussy to have an entirely original screenplay. In A View to a Kill, Bond is pitted against Max Zorin, who plans to destroy California's Silicon Valley.

The film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson who also wrote the screenplay with Richard Maibaum. It was the third James Bond film to be directed by John Glen.

Despite being a commercial success, A View To A Kill was received poorly by critics and also disliked by Roger Moore himself. However, Academy Award winning actor Christopher Walken was praised for portraying a "classic Bond villain."[1]

Plot

In the pre-title sequence, James Bond is sent to Siberia to locate 003's corpse and recover a microchip. Upon doing so, he is ambushed by Soviet troops but flees in a submarine built to resemble an iceberg. After Bond has returned to England, Q has the microchip analysed and informs M, Bond and the Minister of Defence that the its design is an exact match of a microchip made by Zorin Industries.

Bond and his superiors then visit the Ascot Racecourse to observe the company's owner, Max Zorin. While at the track, Zorin's horse miraculously wins the race; Sir Godfrey Tibbett, a horse trainer, believes Zorin's horse was consuming drugs, although when screened prior to the race, it did not show any signs of addiction. Through Tibbett, Bond meets a French private detective named Aubergine to discuss how the horse won. However, during their dinner at the Eiffel Tower, Aubergine is killed by May Day. Bond steals a Renault taxi to chase May Day and learns that Zorin is holding an annual horse sale later in the month.

Bond and Tibbett travel to Chantilly, France where Bond poses as James St. John (Syngen) Smythe, a rich dilettante, with Tibbett as his chauffeur. They locate and break into Zorin's secret laboratory and learn that he is using microchips in his horses to release a drug when prompted by a switch hidden in his cane. Tibbett is later killed by May Day, but an attempt to drown Bond in a lake while unconscious inside his car fails. Later, General Gogol from the Soviet Union shows up at Zorin's estate with several other KGB agents, but Zorin, an ex-KGB agent himself, gets upset with Gogol and forces him to leave.

File:AVTAKZorin-and-MayDay.jpg
Max Zorin and May Day.

In Zorin's airship, the billionaire industrialist unveils to a group of investors his plan to destroy Silicon Valley in an operation he dubs "Main Strike" in order to gain a monopoly in the microchip market. However, one of the investors wants nothing to do with the scheme and demands to leave; he is promptly dropped out of the airship by a secret chute and plunges to his death. Bond later learns that Zorin is a psychopath, the product of Nazi medical experimentation during World War II, and later trained by the KGB. To succeed, Zorin plans to detonate explosives beneath the lakes along the Hayward Fault and the San Andreas Fault causing them to flood. A larger bomb is also on site in the mine to destroy a "geological lock" that is in place to prevent the two faults from moving at the same time. Once destroyed, it would supposedly cause a massive double earthquake.

Bond soon discovers state geologist Stacey Sutton, whose oil company had been taken over by Zorin, and the two team up to steal documents about his plan from the San Francisco City Hall. Zorin arrives, holding them hostage, and then forces a city official to call the police. He kills the caller and sets the building on fire in order to frame Bond for the murder. Bond and Sutton are first rescued by the fire brigade and then chased by the police. They escape in a fire-engine and then cross the Lefty O'Doul Bridge leaving the police cars behind when the bridge opens.

File:AVTAK-Bond in mine.jpg
Bond disguised as one of Zorin's miners.

The next day, Bond and Sutton infiltrate Zorin's mine where he plots to start the earthquake. He floods the mine with the first set of explosives, the action almost killing Bond and May Day, while Sutton escapes. As a result of being betrayed, May Day helps Bond remove the larger bomb that would destroy the lock. They put the bomb on a handcar and push it out of the mine along a railroad line. However, the brakes on the car malfunction. May Day stays on the car and holds the brakes. This costs her her life but saves Silicon Valley.

Soon Sutton reunites with Bond but is abducted by Zorin. Bond manages to grab a rope attached to Zorin's airship while leaving the mine. During the flight, he ties the rope onto the Golden Gate Bridge. Zorin's ally, Dr. Carl Mortner, is knocked out by Sutton (who escapes to the bridge) and is helpless for most of the fight. Zorin and Bond then battle on the bridge ending with Zorin falling to his death in the San Francisco Bay. Mortner regains consciousness and tries to toss out a dynamite but fails when Bond cuts the rope of the airship, making it sway frantically and explode.

Cast

Maud Adams is often 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, Adams explains that she was visiting her friend Roger Moore on location and ended up in the crowd, but admits she is unable to actually see herself in the film; In the same documentary, director John Glen confirms that Adams appears as an extra, but does not specify where she is visible.[2] The appearance remained a mystery for years until she was identified as standing in the background during one of the Fisherman's Wharf scenes. As a result, Adams appears in three Bond films, previously in The Man with the Golden Gun in 1974 and in Octopussy in 1983.[3]

See also: List of James Bond henchmen in A View to a Kill and List of James Bond allies in A View to a Kill

Production

A View to a Kill was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson. Wilson also co-authored the screenplay along with Richard Maibaum. At the end of Octopussy during the "James Bond Will Return" sequence, it listed the next film as "From a View to a Kill", the name of the original short story; however, the title was later changed.

When a company with a name similar to Zorin (the Zoran Corporation) was discovered in the United States, a disclaimer was added to the start of the film affirming that Zorin was not related to any real-life company. This is the first Bond film to have a disclaimer (Licence to Kill had a disclaimer about the dangers of smoking, while The Living Daylights had a disclaimer about the use of the Red Cross.)

Casting

Early publicity for A View to a Kill in 1984 included an announcement that David Bowie would play Zorin. The role was offered to Sting and finally to Christopher Walken.[4]

Dolph Lundgren, known for his role as Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, has a brief appearance as one of General Gogol's KGB agents. Grace Jones, who was dating Lundgren at the time, had asked the film's producers to find a cameo for him. Lundgren appears during the confrontation between Gogol and Zorin at the racetrack, standing several steps below Gogol.[5]

Filming

The film was shot at Pinewood Studios in London, Iceland, Switzerland, France and United States. Several French landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, its Jules Verne Restaurant and the Château de Chantilly were filmed. The rest of the major filming was done in the Fisherman's Wharf and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The Lefty O'Doul Bridge was featured in the fire engine chase scene. The horse racing scenes were shot at the Ascot Racecourse.[6]

The production of A View To A Kill began on June 23, 1984, in Iceland where the second unit filmed the pre-title sequence.[7] On June 27, 1984, several leftover canisters of gasoline used during filming of Ridley Scott's Legend caused the Pinewood Studios' "007 Stage" to be burnt to the ground. Broccoli arranged its reconstruction which was done by the end of July 1984.[8] The soundstage was renamed "Albert R. Broccoli's 007 Stage". The filming of A View to a Kill continued when Roger Moore rejoined the main unit at Pinewood on 1 August, 1984. The crew then departed for shooting the horse-racing scenes at Royal Ascot Racecourse. The scene in which Bond and Sutton enter the mineshaft was then filmed in a waterlogged quarry near Staines and the Amberley Chalk Pits Museum in West Sussex.[9]

File:AVTAK-Moore-Roberts-Jones-promophoto.jpg
Tanya Roberts, Roger Moore and Grace Jones in a promotional still.

On October 6, 1984, the fourth Unit headed by the special effects supervisor John Richardson, began its work on the climactic fight sequence. At first, only a few plates constructed to resemble the Golden Gate Bridge were used. Later that night, the shooting of the burning San Francisco City Hall commenced. The first actual scenes atop the bridge were filmed on October 7, 1984.[10]

In Paris it was planned that two stunt men, B.J. Worth and Don Caldvedt, would help film two takes of a parachute drop off a (clearly visible) platform that extended from a top edge of the Eiffel Tower. However, sufficient footage was obtained from Worth's jump, so Caldvedt was told he would not be performing his own jump. Caldvedt, unhappy at not being able to perform the jump, parachuted off the tower without authorization from the City of Paris. He was subsequently sacked by the production team for jeopardizing the continuation of filming in the city.[2]

Airship Industries managed a major marketing coup with the inclusion of their Skyship 500 series airship in the film. At the time Airship Industries were producing a fleet of ships which were recognisable over many capitals of the world offering tours, or advertising sponsorship deals. As all Bond films have included the most current technology, this included the lighter than air interest.[11]

The ship used in the climax was an actual 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, had "WELCOME" painted across the side of the hull, but the word was soon replaced by "ZORIN INDUSTRIES". During the 1984 season, the ship depicted green and red shades as a part of Fujifilm's blimp fleet; it was subsequently coloured white. In real life, inflating it would take up to 24 hours, but during filming it was shown to have taken 2 minutes.[11]

Music

Main article: A View to a Kill (soundtrack)

The soundtrack was composed by John Barry, and published by EMI/Capitol.[12] The theme song "A View to a Kill", was written by John Barry and Duran Duran, and performed by the band. It has three different versions of which the two made by Duran Duran make no reference to the James Bond theme; some of its notes are mixed while "May Day Jumps" is the only song of the film that features the original theme. Barry's composition On Her Majesty's Secret Service was modified for use in the songs "Snow Job," "He's Dangerous," and "Golden Gate Fight" of A View to a Kill.[13] "A View To A Kill" was second in the British charts and first in the American charts, thus becoming the peak song in the James Bond series.[14]

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; it has been suggested that this teaser sequence helped initiate interest in snowboarding.[15]

Release and reception

The British premiere of A View To A Kill was held on June 12, 1985 at the Odeon Leicester Square Cinema in London.[7] The film was first broadcast on British television on January 31, 1990. It achieved a box office collection of $152.4 million worldwide with $50.3 million in the United States alone.[16][17] On its opening Weekend in the U. S. it earned $10.6 million.[17]

Rotten Tomtoes gave A View to a Kill a 45% rating. The film was mentioned by Brian J. Arthurs of the Beach Reporter as the worst film of the James Bond series.[18] John Puccio of DVDtown.com said, "No Bond outing is awful, but this one comes close."[18] C. Pea of the Time Out Film Guide said, "Grace Jones is badly wasted."[19] Roger Moore has also stated A View to a Kill as his least favourite film. He was quoted saying "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".[20]

Appearances in other media

A View to a Kill was adapted into two video games in 1985. The first, titled A View to a Kill, was published by Domark. It was available on ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Oric 1 and Oric Atmos, and MSX. The second, titled James Bond 007: A View to a Kill was a text-based video game for DOS and Apple II computers. It was developed by Angelsoft, Inc. and published by Mindscape Inc.

May Day was a playable multiplayer character in the 1997 and 2000 video games GoldenEye 007 and The World Is Not Enough for the Nintendo 64. May Day also appears as a bot in the 2002 game, Nightfire.[21] Other references include Nikolai Diavolo, a character in the 2004 game James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing, claiming Zorin to be his mentor and friend.[22] In GoldenEye: Rogue Agent, a multiplayer level is the summit of the Golden Gate Bridge, Including a the Zorin blimp, which would fire on players when activated. Players are also able to climb the large suspension cables but only for a short distance (similar to the events of the film on the bridge).[23]

References

  1. ^ "A View to a Kill: A film review by Christopher Null". Retrieved 2007-10-02.
  2. ^ a b Maud Adams. Inside A View to a Kill (VCD/DVD). MGM Home Entertainment Inc. {{cite AV media}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessmonth= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ "Does Maud Adams appear in A View to a Kill?". Retrieved 2007-09-09.
  4. ^ The Complete David Bowie by Nicholas Pegg (2004, Reynolds & Hearn Ltd) p.561.
  5. ^ "Notes on A View to a Kill". Retrieved 2007-09-07.
  6. ^ "A View to a Kill filming locations". Retrieved 2007-09-07.
  7. ^ a b "June: This Month in Bond History". Retrieved 2007-09-07.
  8. ^ "This month in Bond History". Retrieved 2007-09-08.
  9. ^ "Production of A View to a Kill". Retrieved 2007-09-07.
  10. ^ "October: This Month in Bond History". Retrieved 2007-09-07.
  11. ^ a b "Movie Airship : SkyShip 500 "Zorin Industries"". The Airship Heritage Trust. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
  12. ^ "A View to a Kill: Soundtrack". Retrieved 2007-09-08.
  13. ^ "A View To A Kill". Filmtracks.com. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
  14. ^ "A View To A Kill". Mi6.co.uk. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
  15. ^ "Snowboard Club UK FAQs". Retrieved 2007-10-02.
  16. ^ "A View to a Kill: MI6 Profile". Retrieved 2007-09-06.
  17. ^ a b "A View to a Kill at Box Office Mojo". Retrieved 2007-09-02.
  18. ^ a b "A View to a Kill". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
  19. ^ "A View to a Kill". Timeout.com. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
  20. ^ [Barnes and Hearn 1997, p.169]
  21. ^ Eurocom (2002). 007: Nightfire.
  22. ^ EA Games (2004). James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (Game Boy Advance). Electronic Arts.
  23. ^ Electronic Arts. GoldenEye: Rogue Agent. Electronic Arts.
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