Now Playing: A View to a Kill

Original release May 24, 1985

A View to a Kill

Cast:
Roger Moore – James Bond
Christopher Walken – Max Zorin
Grace Jones – May Day
Tanya Roberts – Stacey Sutton

Directed by John Glen
Distributed by MGM
Written by Richard Maibaum and Michael G Wilson (screenplay), Ian Fleming (original story)

The seventh and final appearance of Roger Moore as James Bond, this 007 adventure was named after a short story by character creator Ian Fleming but presented an original screenplay. Critics were a little harsh, in particular due to Moore's age, even though the film was a commercial success. Admittedly, Moore probably was a little too old (57 at the time) for handling such an action-oriented character and the movie may have suffered a little because of this. On the other hand, Walken portrays a wonderful villain and Grace Jones is a splendid addition to Bond canon. If I am remembering correctly, this was the first Bond movie I saw in the theaters.



Before the movie begins there is this disclaimer:

Neither the name 'Zorin' nor any other name
or character in this film is meant to portray
a real company or actual person.

Because people are stupid and think that movies are real.

Actually, Zorin OS is the name of a GNU/Linux distribution operating system. It's built off the Ubuntu source code, which in turn is built off of Debian. I enjoy that a computer system is named after a fictional character who created microchips.

The film kicks off in Siberia where Bond zeroes in on the body of 003 to recover a microchip. He is discovered by the nearby Russian patrol and a ski chase persists – complete with Beach Boys music because that makes sense. He gets away in a sputtering 350 hp submarine disguised as a fake iceberg, piloted by a beautiful woman, and a 5-day journey to Alaska. This is convenient so Bond can put on his debonaire charm and seduce the pilot.

The title sequence of any Bond film is always a treat. Some popular musician of the time, melded with trippy imagery that is supposed to abstractly represent the story of the movie. I do recall being excited about Duran Duran doing the title song for this and I still can't help but groove to it. The Bond Dancers portrayed the era appropriately, being painted in neon glow-in-the-dark colors and hair that is sprayed into statuesque explosions of human follicles. While the dancing was emotionless and stiff, the neon glow coupled with the pop song results in a queezy, eye-squinting strain that is simultaneously dizzying and enjoyable. I'm pretty sure this is what an acid trip feels like.








Back at London Headquarters, Bond et al discuss how the microchip he recovered in Siberia is a match to one in top secret development that is supposed to be immune to Electro-Magnetic Pulses. They are concerned that super-secret technology that could protect them from the Russians is already in Russian hands. The chip is made by Zorin Industries so they decide to look into the company.

They first visit Ascot Racecourse to watch Zorin's horse in the races and to, rather conspicuously, watch Zorin himself. We are also introduced to May Day, Zorin's female right-hand man, played by the powerful presence of Grace Jones. When Zorin's horse wins, Bond arranges a meeting in a restaurant on the Eiffel Tower with the Inspector investigating the peculiarities of Zorin's continuous luck. After informing Bond that Zorin will be hosting a horse auction, but before being able to reveal any additional information, the Inspector is killed by May Day who parachutes off the Tower. Confiscating a taxi cab, Bond gives chase but only manages to show how poorly constructed Renaults are as it loses its top and then its back half, and he loses the chase.

James Bond then goes to Zorin's auction in Chantilly, France, accompanied by Sir Godfrey Tibbett. There's a mysterious S. Sutton (Tanya Roberts) and the discovery of a secret laboratory, where they figure out that Zorin's horses have been injected with a microchip that releases steroids in controlled bursts, enabling the horse to win without any drugs being detected. The snooping has made Zorin suspicious and so he calls him to his private office. Under the pretense of looking for an appropriate horse for him to bid on, he sneaks profile pictures to run a facial recognition... on an 8-bit computer! The line “I find a computer indespensible” is uttered here while he awaits the results.

8-Bit Killer: Usually armed... Extremely dangerous... LICENSED TO KILL

Zorin sets up a steeplechase in a manner that is supposed to get Bond killed. After a chase he is knocked out and placed in a car which is pushed into a lake. The Mythbusters tested the ability to get air from a tire so as to avoid lingering bad guys above water. It was Busted. But Bond does it anyway. Satisfied his adversary is taken care of, Zorin receives a visit from some old friends, the KGB. They are losing control of him and not even Dolph Lundgren is a match for the Amazonian power of May Day. Apparently Lundgren got this two-minute background cameo because he was dating Grace Jones at the time.

But jumping ahead, Zorin lays out his plan to gain control of the microchip market by obliterating the competition. He wants to destroy Silicon Valley in Operation Main Strike. When one of his prospective investors declines, he is shown his way out... of a blimp. The rest are on board and as the blimp arrives over San Francisco, we get that special moment where the movie title is spoken:

May Day: Wow! What a view!

Zorin: … to a kill.

When James Bond arrives in San Fransisco he meets up with a CIA agent who fills him in on some heavy character background. He couldn't find any information on the mysterious S. Sutton, but he had quite a bit on almost everyone else that surrounded Zorin. Also, apparently Zorin is a psychotic steroid baby born from unethical genetic experiments done in Soviet Russia just after World War II.

Does this look like the face of a psychopath?

Learning of an off-shore mining platform owned by Zorin, Bond sneaks his way out there to check it out. He discovers that instead of pumping out oil, the rig is designed to pump sea water into the ground. He has a brief encounter with a KGB agent, and we find out that of all the fantastic spy gear that can be had, conversations are secretly recorded on everyday cassette tapes, which leads Bond to learning about Main Strike.

A visit to City Hall leads to a chance encounter with the mysterious S. Sutton. She is apparently the daughter of an oil tycoon and is a mining geologist suing Zorin Industries for possession of a family rig or something. She claims that pumping sea water into a fault line will cause massive earthquakes. She confims this by turning on her Apple II with pretty green-line on black-field graphics that show recent seismic activity. Together they sneak back into City Hall to find out where all of Zorin's rigs are but are caught by Zorin who sets the place on fire. Escaping, Bond and Sutton steal a fire truck and are chased across the city by the police.

The next day, the duo reach a mining site owned by Zorin. Dressing as workers they sneak inside and learn that the scope of the plan is to flood the Hayward Fault and the San Andreas fault while detonating the “geologic lock” so that they will both slip at the same time, creating a double earthquake that will sink the whole of Silicon Valley! May Day pursues them through the tunnels but Sutton gets away. Before Bond can be taken, Zorin guns down the workers and floods the tunnels. Bond and May Day survive and, angry at her betrayal, she decides to help 007 remove the bomb. Due to a faulty brake, May Day stays on the mining cart with the bomb as it clears the tunnels and is blown up.

Zorin's airship swoops down and grabs Sutton, but as he takes off Bond snags onto a mooring line. Before being rammed into the Golden Gate Bridge, Bond is able to secure the rope, causing the blimp to come to a halt. Sutton manages to get outside and Zorin pursues. After a fight Zorin falls from the bridge into the bay, presumably dead. His mentor in the airship tries to toss a stick of dynamite, but the mooring line is cut loose by Bond and the airship is blown up.

Thus Bond has saved the day and gets the girl. Just another day at the office.

A couple points on theme here. The microchips, adoration of computers, Silicon Valley, they all serve as a reminder of how pervasive the new technology was becoming. Sure, we can laugh at the capabilities of the computers now, but the idea that they would eventually be all over the place was insightful. This predates the Dotcom Boom by a decade, and in fact about three or four years before the Internet even became commercially available. Still, the heavy focus on microchips and computer usage and how important they will be for collecting and collating data is almost prophetic.

Steroids were mentioned several times as well. At first in relation to the horses and that they were being pumped with them in order to win races. Secondly, they were said to have been given to pregnant women in post-WWII soviet experiments. In the mid-80s it was beginning to dawn on everyone how prevalent steroid use was in sports. In fact, many athletes from the 1984 Olympics were questioned, with results showing that usage was between 10 mg a day to 100 mg a day. The drug was finally being viewed as a serious evil. So it makes sense for a movie around that time to use it as a catalyst for their villain.

Another idea I had was the title itself. Aside from that moment when it was spoken by characters, there are several locations that offer a breathtaking view. From the Icelandic glacial caps used to portray Siberia to the gorgeous Ascot Racecourse, and above Paris atop the Eiffel Tower to the stunningly beautiful Château de  Chantilly, and ending atop the Golden Gate Bridge. The movie was reliant on locations with killer views. Intentional or coincidental? It's a shame the opening title sequence was wasted on portraying skiing, especially since the only skiing done was in the pre-title scene.

I dug up the original theatrical trailer and it seems to give away absolutely everything. However, it is narrated by Optimus Prime so I'll forgive them.