A View To A Kill (DVD) > Reviews > A View To...Some Cocoa

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Indifferent to it
Story	Satisfactory
Characters / Performances	Satisfactory
Special Effects	Good
Soundtrack	Good

Advantages:	Walken and Jones
Disadvantages:	The franchise looks old and dated

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

Roger Moore's last stab at the James Bond pie marked the end of an era. Was it a happy era or a sad era? Who knows - I'll leave that to a review of Roger Moore as James Bond. But does Mr Moore end on a high note?

After retrieving a highly advanced silicon chip (capable of surviving a magnetic pulse given out by a nuclear bomb) British Intelligence sends their top man to investigate the alarming lack of security at the manufacturer - Zorin Industries. Using an interest in horse racing as a cover Bond infiltrates Zorin's French chateau and discovers that owner Max Zorin is also creating microchips that enable horses to run faster, longer, and further by releasing steroids into them mid-race. Following hunches and luck, and doing his best to avoid Zorin's deadly traps, James finds out Zorin's real aim - to destroy the infamous Silicon Valley. By flooding the San Andreas fault with seawater, Zorin intends to flood the valley, destroying the industry, and making himself master of the silicon chip (and fairly rich to boot). Can anyone stop him? Our best man's already on the job...

The use of the silicon chip tries to bring Bond into the technological age big time but unfortuneately he's a several years late - very much like Roger Moore himself. The obvious thing to say is that Roger looks too old to play the part and indeed well...he is. Seeing the almost pensionable Moore grappling with hired hoods, being intimate with the delectible Tanya Roberts, and charging around like a 20 year old is pretty bad but does it spoil the film? Well not totally. He does bring a lot to the role - a touch of humour, some credibility, and a whole lot of experience.

But Moore isn't the only thing past it's prime. The entire film and concept appears dated - the production looks middle aged instead of flashy and new, the cast look old and past it (this was Maxwell's final appearance as Moneypenny, and Macnee would make a great salesman for Stanah Stairlifts but as a secret agent? Might as well get my Grandad doing the job). It still has it's plus points but they're almost totally on the 'baddie' side.

Walken brings some class to his role but once again is playing a psycho, while Grace Jones is excellent as May Day, but both are a little underused and in Walken's case that's probably a good thing (his insane personna gets a little overbearing after a while). But youth does not necessarily mean good as Roberts (although stunning) is very ineffectual and weak, with her 'breathless' performance just grating (and it's nigh on impossible to imagine her as a qualified anything, never mind geologist - think Denise Richards as Chistmas Jones in The World Is Not Enough and you'll know what I mean)

The stunts are up to the usual standard but this just adds to the problems - can we really see 60 year old James racing around the Eiffel Tower? It just doesn't wash.

Age problems aside it's not a bad film. The story is acceptable, the soundtrack is great, and the cast do a fairly good job, but without the Bond trimmings and name it wouldn't work nearly as well.

Fans will watch it regardless and 80's fans might get a kick out of it's visuals but for a Bond this is a below par outing (average at best) and no mistake