A View To A Kill (DVD) > Reviews > Stunt Double O Seven

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Disliked it
Story	Very weak
Characters / Performances	Weak
Special Effects	Standard
Soundtrack	Unmemorable

Advantages:	Occassional moments of professional film making
Disadvantages:	lazy & tired .  .  .  a real stinker in the Bond canon

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

Think hard Lee, come on, if you were really pushed, this one or Man With the Golden Gun? Which is the real nadir of the Bond series?

Well, the one thing 'Man' has going for it is that Moore was obviously present during the making of the film. 'View' however is more reminiscent of those awful Pink Panther films cobbled together after Seller's had passed away. Moore appears occasionally, looking very very old, not even the layers of hairspray and blue eyeshadow can hide his age in this one. To be fair, Moore had wanted to leave the series from before production on 'For Your Eyes Only' and it was only Broccoli that kept on tempting him back. What is worse is that 'View' is just rubbish full stop. It's adding insult to injury that we are asked to believe that Moore is still believable in the role of a suave, sophisticated and sexy secret agent.

The supporting cast is of no help whatsoever. Grace Jones is just plain unattractive and all the snarling and high heels in the world won't make her a classic foe in the mould of Red Grant. Her senior cohort, Max Zorin - even the names were bad by now - is played with an annoying collection of twitches and hisses by Christopher Walken, who appears far too young and lightweight to be of any menace. A bright spot is the role of Sir Godfrey Tibbet, played with a delightfully light touch by Patrick Macnee, who could still cut it as Steed whilst Moore looks out of his depth as Bond...ironic.

The story is hokum of the first order and is a collection of tired set pieces, lame gags, and recycled ideas. Glen is out of sorts in his third outing as director, in fact the whole production crew seems to be on some sort of leave of senses. Peter Lamont comes out best with his sets, particularly those in the mines during the climax to this sorry mess.

John Barry provides a weak score, and is not helped by the arse achingly awful Duran Duran theme song. Maurice Binder comes up with a hilarious and instantly dated collection of images for the opening credits, he had lost his way since Moonraker.

The story such as it is takes us through Zorin's plans to destroy Silicon Valley with a provoked earthquake triggered by himself at the centre of the San Andreas Fault. In fact, that IS the story. Other things happen in an attempt to move the plot along, but it is a painful experience getting to the end of this Bond, and i haven't even mentioned the leading lady! Tanya Roberts as an educated woman, give me strength.

The film is a triumph for Moore's stunt double who clocks up far more screen time than Roger. He appears in all sorts of weak action sequences, the worst probably being the opener. What was possibly going to be a great skiing extravaganza is ruined by some dodgy back projection, obvious modelwork, and worst of all the Beach Boys on the score whilst Bond does some impromptu surfing. The sequence on the Eiffel Tower is okay, but could've been better served by a better film, a crap comedy car chase follows and for once you feel glad when the action comes to a stop. The finale is a quite well staged fight atop the Golden Gate bridge in San Fransisco, but for me the highlight is the banter between Moore and Macnee for the sequence set at Zorin's stables deep in the French countryside. These is probably the best section of the film, it looks good, Barry does some good stuff on the soundtrack and there are even a few tense scenes that could have come from the pen of Fleming. On the whole though this is awful, tired, lazy film making to be avoided if possible.