A View To A Kill.... Forgetable?
delliott101
Posts: 115MI6 Agent
I just watched it again for the first time in years...
I dunno... the movies hlds a special place for me as it was the first I saw on the big screen. BUT it just seems like... oh.. a filler movie.
So much rehashing of previous Bonds... Moore walked through the movie (as well as very obvious stunt man work).
Is it me? Anyone else think so?
I dunno... the movies hlds a special place for me as it was the first I saw on the big screen. BUT it just seems like... oh.. a filler movie.
So much rehashing of previous Bonds... Moore walked through the movie (as well as very obvious stunt man work).
Is it me? Anyone else think so?
Comments
I wouldnt say its his best performance, but he does a good job. Moore in a bad adventure is alot better than Connery in one (DAF, anyone.) It is pretty tame at times, and I deem it one of the two Moores I have trouble watching.
I should warn you, theres a certain someone out there who will defend AVTAK to the death
The villains are very good. Christopher Walken is really terrific as Zorin, and Grace Jones is absolutely terrifying as May Day!!
The villain's scheme, although derivative of Goldfinger is still quite novel. I think it is one of the better plots of the Moore era - far better than the Stromberg/Drax destroy the world types.
Also, the score by John Barry is very good as is the title song.
The best thing about AVTAK is the fight on Golden Gate bridge. It is very nail biting and well filmed. Also, John Barry's music adds plenty to the scene.
So - there is quite a lot in AVTAK to enjoy, but it will always remain in the bottom half of my favourite Bond films list, but a good standby for a rainy afternoon's viewing!
The movie bored me. It tried to incorporate some comedy, but I missed it. I will watch it sometimes but only because I haven't watched it in about a long time, and when I'm done I can wait to watch it again.
As basically a re-make of Goldfinger, it doesn't even come close.
There ARE great elements... the score was awesome, MacNee makes 3 Avengers to have appeared in the series and gave it a great feel and Walken is probably my favorite villain.
I'm thinking, though, the film is just a forgetable entry in the series. Like does it come to mind in most peoples minds that it was a Bond film back in the '80's?
And compared to TLD, this movie also felt like a comic book. That's how it feels to me, at least...
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
If I were to identify the major reason why I love AVTAK, it would be the script. Most Bond films aren't original, and so a great script can make or break a film. TSWLM wasn't entirely original but IMO had a fantastic script which is one of the reasons I consider it to be a true masterpiece. AVTAK, on the other hand, has IMO a horrible script which makes it's rip-off of GF all the more unforgivable.
If I am at home, and a Bond film is on TV, I will always watch it, regardless of what else I am doing. There are three exceptions: TLD, DAD and AVTAK. It's been years since I last saw it and I am still recovering.
Since I'm referenced in almost every AVTAK thread known to man, I will now come out and help it. AVTAK is not a forgettable movie at all, it has some of the most beautiful and memorable locales in a Bond movie, from the picturesque Chateau Chantilly to the quaint Stacey's Manor, the domineering San Fran City Hall, the vast Main Strike Mine and the view... from the Golden Gate Bridge.
Also, the PTS is one of the most well done ever with all the ski/snowboarding stunts as well as the very interesting ice boat.
Are we forgetting the cast as well? We have Christopher Walken playing a younger but shrewd and absolutely loony Max Zorin, a Nazi experiment gone awry, who defines the over-the-top villain in every way, shape and form. He's absolutely and positively EVIL! We can't forget his trio of genetically-enhanced deadly lady assassins May Day, Jenny Flex and Pan Ho can we? May Day steals the show in some of her scenes when she acts like the Amazonian that she is, absolutely frightening! While Jenny and Pan Ho don't get nearly as much screen time, they're still nice to look at and do menial tasks very well (also, Alison Doody proves that you can make mine clothes sexy). Patrick Macnee is welcome in his small part as Sir Godfrey uniting with his old friend Roger Moore is wonderful, as they have great chemistry.
Now here's the big clincher, Ms. Tanya Roberts. We all know that she isn't the best actress ever but with the material given, she plays the part of Stacey Sutton, the independent, yet naive and spoiled heiress to a tee. She's not afraid to fight, but she's not the best at it. (The way she attacks resident psychopath Zorin in the blimp proves she'll throw herself into a fight, even if she knows she can't win, because without her, Bond might've died when Zorin broke free of the rope!
The firetruck chase is original and is a lot of fun, along with the MayDay chase in Paris, and the , chock full of silly moments but it's a lot of fun. People also love to rag on this as a silly Bond. In fact, it's the next serious Moore outing next to FYEO. Watch City Hall and watch Roger Moore provide some serious acting after Mr. Howe is killed and watch the whole Oil Pumping Station sequence is very tense as well, as well as the flooding of the mine.
Moore is also not too old, he's playing a world-weary spy that is getting up there but still has enough energy to pull out one final spy adventure. I also hope I look as good as he does at nearly 60!
So to answer the question? AVTAK, forgettable? Hardly. It's no filler, in fact, it's better than Goldfinger who people call the movie it's cloned from, with a better villain, better plot and better locations.
And to RJJB, I wish LTK was forgettable as well, as every time I watch it I look for a blunt object to end my misery.
Puttins aside the villains and locations, how can you say AVTAK's plot is superior since its plot is virtually identical to GF's?
I feel the same way about Dalton's first film.
The firetruck chase was original in the 1920s, when Mack Sennett's great "Keystone Cops" first did it...come to think of it, I think Moore was in that one, as well :v
He's a good-looking 60, no doubt about it...I just don't think Bond should ever be that old, unless his age is part of the story---as it (arguably) was in NSNA, when it's made clear that Bond has been out of the field for years, "teaching...not doing."
All righty
"Jaaaaames!!! Don't leeeeaaavvve meeeee!!!"
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
If you dislike LTK so much, why watch it again?
Now, let's have some fun. You know how movie ads take critics's comments out of context to hype a film? Let's do the same with some of the previous posts here and see what we get.
Moore walked through the movie...Moore in a bad adventure...A VIEW TO A KILL is simply a rehash of GOLDFINGER...Its a big dumb action movie...one last romp for old times sake...It's been years since I last saw it and I am still recovering...absolutely frightening!...just a forgetable entry in the series.:p
I love The Avengers but I would rather Macnee not have appeared in AVTAK. The reason being, unlike Honor Blackman and Diana Rigg, I think he was rather wasted and his role did nothing for him.
And JennyFlexFan, I feel the same as you about Flex... needed more of a part, but I'm glad she was in it!
There are some great elements in it, great one-liners and Zorin turned me onto Walken as an actor... Zorin was psychotic and Chris played him as such. Laughing while mowing down his people? Sick and disturbing, but Walken really delivered (Good... right on schedule).
BUT as a whole and compared to FYEO and even OP, a very weak effort.. although I like it more than MR and it's a lot more polished than TMWTGG.
He's a good looking 57, no doubt about it. Your point about Bond being that old unless his age is part of the story is a very fair one. That's my biggest criticism of AVTAK. Roger signed up almost a year in advance, so Eon/Maibaum/Wilson knew they had a 57 year old Bond but chose to ignore that.
There ARE a lot of flaws- Tanya Roberts and her character are simply dreadful and totally one dimensional. The 'California Girls' schtick is embarassing and the plot itself is not really that interesting. Roger Moore was clearly over the hill (yet interestingly in a documentary done a few years later to promote Dalton, he looks younger than he does in AVTAK!?).
But, there's something for me which stops this hitting the bottom of the barrel. Christopher Walken and Grace Jones are complete nutters but I do find them to be very memorable characters, Patrick Macnee is terrific here, the Eiffel Tower/chase scene is excellent and Roger's performance is fine.
So it's not exactly first rate, but nevertheless there are elements I like. But Octopussy simply trounces it, to be fair, so perhaps it could have been better to go 'out on a high' in some ways.
Perhaps, but at the same time having him in the role made the role much more memorable than what it could have been.
As for being memorable, if I was Macnee, I would hope that people would forget that I appeared in this disaster of a film.
Four, surely?
And sorry, but what film were we talking about?
Did I miss someone? Blackman in GF, Rigg in OHMSS and Macnee in AVTAK.
Joanna Lumley played Purdey in The New Avengers and briefly appeared as one of the girls being treated for allergies by Blofeld at Piz Gloria in OHMSS.
Dan... Dan... Dan... X-(
NEW Avengers? When was that? Why was it "New" and not just "Avengers"?