''A View to a Kill'' is a 1985
spy film
The spy film, also known as the spy thriller, is a genre of film that deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way (such as the adaptations of John le Carré) or as a basis for fantasy (such as many James Bond films) ...
and the fourteenth in the
''James Bond'' series produced by
Eon Productions
Eon Productions Ltd. is a British film production company that primarily produces the ''James Bond'' film series. The company is based in London's Piccadilly and also operates from Pinewood Studios in the UK.
''Bond'' films
Eon was started ...
, and is the seventh and final appearance of
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 1 ...
as the fictional
MI6 agent
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...
. Although the title is adapted from
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., an ...
's 1960 short story "
From a View to a Kill
''For Your Eyes Only'' is a collection of short stories by the British author Ian Fleming, featuring the fictional British Secret Service agent Commander James Bond, the eighth book to feature the character. It was first published by Jonathan ...
", the film has an entirely original screenplay. In ''A View to a Kill'', Bond is pitted against
Max Zorin
Maximillian Zorin is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 1985 James Bond film '' A View to a Kill''. He is portrayed by Christopher Walken.
Biography
Zorin was born in Dresden around the end of World War II, after which Dresden be ...
(played by
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken (born Ronald Walken; March 31, 1943) is an American actor. Prolific in film, television and on stage, Walken is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Awa ...
), who plans to destroy California's
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo Cou ...
.
The film was produced by
Albert R. Broccoli
Albert Romolo Broccoli ( ; April 5, 1909 – June 27, 1996), nicknamed "Cubby", was an American film producer who made more than 40 motion pictures throughout his career. Most of the films were made in the United Kingdom and often filmed at Pi ...
and
Michael G. Wilson, who also wrote the screenplay with
Richard Maibaum
Richard Maibaum (May 26, 1909 – January 4, 1991) was an American film producer, playwright and screenwriter best known for his screenplay adaptations of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels.
Among his works are the first anti-lynching play on Bro ...
. It was the third James Bond film to be directed by
John Glen, and the last to feature
Lois Maxwell
Lois Ruth Maxwell (born Lois Ruth Hooker; 14 February 1927 – 29 September 2007) was a Canadian actress who portrayed Miss Moneypenny in the first fourteen Eon-produced ''James Bond'' films (1962–1985). She was the first actress to play the ...
as
Miss Moneypenny
Miss Moneypenny, later assigned the first names of Eve or Jane, is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. She is secretary to M (James Bond), M, who is Bond's superior officer and head of the British Secret Intelligence Serv ...
.
Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, who frequently took umbrage with the effects of Moore's advanced age on his performance, it was a commercial success, with the
Duran Duran
Duran Duran () are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger Taylor the following year the band we ...
theme song "
A View to a Kill
''A View to a Kill'' is a 1985 spy film and the fourteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and is the seventh and final appearance of Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted ...
" performing well in the charts, becoming the only Bond theme song to reach number one on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 and earning a
Golden Globe
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...
nomination for
Best Song.
Plot
MI6 agent James Bond is sent to
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part ...
to locate the body of 003 and recover a Soviet
microchip
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...
.
Q analyzes the microchip, establishing it to be a copy of one designed to withstand an
electromagnetic pulse
An electromagnetic pulse (EMP), also a transient electromagnetic disturbance (TED), is a brief burst of electromagnetic energy. Depending upon the source, the origin of an EMP can be natural or artificial, and can occur as an electromagnetic f ...
, made by government contractor Zorin Industries. Bond visits
Ascot Racecourse
Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races a ...
to observe the company's owner, Max Zorin. Sir Godfrey Tibbett, a racehorse trainer and MI6 agent, believes Zorin's horses, which win consistently, are drugged, although tests proved negative. Through Tibbett, Bond meets with French private detective Achille Aubergine, who informs Bond that Zorin is holding a horse sale later in the month. During their dinner at the
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.
Locally nicknamed ...
, Aubergine is assassinated by Zorin's bodyguard
May Day
May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. Tr ...
, who subsequently escapes.
Bond and Tibbett travel to Zorin's estate for the horse sale. Bond is puzzled by a woman who rebuffs him; he discovers Zorin has written her a cheque for $5 million. That night, Bond and Tibbett infiltrate Zorin's laboratory, where he is implanting
adrenaline
Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, is a hormone and medication which is involved in regulating visceral functions (e.g., respiration). It appears as a white microcrystalline granule. Adrenaline is normally produced by the adrenal glands an ...
-releasing devices in his horses. Zorin identifies Bond as an agent, has May Day assassinate Tibbett, and attempts to have Bond killed.
General Gogol
This is a list of allies of ''James Bond'' who appear throughout the film series and novels.
MI6
M
M is a Rear Admiral of the Royal Navy, and the head of the Secret Intelligence Service. Fleming based the character on a number of people ...
of the
KGB confronts Zorin for trying to kill Bond without permission, revealing that Zorin was initially trained and financed by the KGB, but has now gone rogue. Later, Zorin unveils to a group of investors his plan to destroy
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo Cou ...
, which will give him and the potential investors a monopoly over microchip manufacture.
Bond travels to San Francisco and meets with CIA agent Chuck Lee, who says that Zorin is the product of
medical experimentation
Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel vaccines, drugs, dietar ...
with steroids performed by Dr. Carl Mortner, a Nazi scientist who is now Zorin's veterinarian and racehorse-breeding consultant. Bond then investigates a nearby oil rig owned by Zorin, and while there finds KGB agent Pola Ivanova recording conversations and her partner, Klottoff, placing explosives on the rig. Klottoff is caught and killed by Zorin, but Ivanova and Bond escape. Later Ivanova takes the recording but finds that Bond had switched tapes with one of Japanese music.
Bond tracks down state geologist
Stacey Sutton, the woman Zorin attempted to pay off, and discovers that Zorin is trying to buy her family's oil business. The two travel to
San Francisco City Hall
San Francisco City Hall is the seat of government for the City and County of San Francisco, California. Re-opened in 1915 in its open space area in the city's Civic Center, it is a Beaux-Arts monument to the City Beautiful movement that epitomi ...
to check Zorin's submitted plans. Having been alerted to their presence, Zorin kills the Chief Geologist, traps Bond in a lift between floors, and sets fire to the building to both frame Bond for the murder and kill him. Bond and Stacey flee from the police in a fire engine to Zorin's mine.
Infiltrating Zorin's mine, Bond and Stacey discover his plot to detonate explosives beneath the lakes along the
Hayward and
San Andreas faults, which will cause them to flood and submerge Silicon Valley. A larger bomb is also in the mine to destroy a "geological lock" that prevents the two faults from moving simultaneously. Once in place, Zorin and his security chief Scarpine flood the mine and kill the workers. Stacey escapes while Bond fights May Day; after realising Zorin abandoned her, she helps Bond remove the larger bomb, putting the device onto a handcar and riding it out of the mine, where it explodes and kills her.
Escaping in his airship with Scarpine and Mortner, Zorin abducts Stacey while Bond grabs hold of the airship's mooring rope. Zorin tries to knock him off, but Bond moors the airship to the framework of the
Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Pen ...
. Stacey attacks Zorin to save Bond, and in the fracas, Mortner and Scarpine are temporarily knocked out. Stacey flees and joins Bond out on the bridge, but Zorin follows them out with an axe. The ensuing fight between Zorin and Bond culminates with Zorin falling to his death in the sea. Mortner attempts to kill Bond with dynamite, but Bond cuts the airship free, causing Mortner to drop the dynamite in the cabin, whereupon it promptly detonates, blowing up the airship and killing himself and Scarpine. Later, General Gogol awards Bond the
Order of Lenin
The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration ...
for foiling Zorin's scheme, whilst Bond romances Stacey at her home.
Cast
*
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 1 ...
as
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...
,
MI6 agent 007
*
Tanya Roberts
Tanya Roberts (born Victoria Leigh Blum; October 15, 1949 – January 4, 2021) was an American actress. She played Julie Rogers in the final season of the television series ''Charlie's Angels'' (1980–1981), Stacey Sutton in the James Bond fi ...
as
Stacey Sutton, the granddaughter of an oil tycoon whose company is taken over by Zorin.
*
Grace Jones
Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a model, singer and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for ...
as
May Day
May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. Tr ...
, Zorin's lover and chief henchwoman.
*
Patrick Macnee
Daniel Patrick Macnee (6 February 1922 – 25 June 2015) was a British film and television actor. After serving in the Royal Navy during World War II, he began his acting career in Canada. Despite having some small film roles, Macnee spent much ...
as Sir Godfrey Tibbett, Bond's ally, a horse trainer who helps him infiltrate Zorin's chateau and stables.
*
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken (born Ronald Walken; March 31, 1943) is an American actor. Prolific in film, television and on stage, Walken is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Awa ...
as
Max Zorin
Maximillian Zorin is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 1985 James Bond film '' A View to a Kill''. He is portrayed by Christopher Walken.
Biography
Zorin was born in Dresden around the end of World War II, after which Dresden be ...
: a psychopathic industrialist, the product of a Nazi genetic experiment, who plans to destroy Silicon Valley to gain a monopoly in the microchip market.
*
Patrick Bauchau as Scarpine, Zorin's murderous loyal associate.
*
David Yip
David Nicholas Yip (; born 4 June 1951) is a British actor of Chinese and English descent. He gained prominence through his lead role in the BBC series ''The Chinese Detective''.
Early life
Yip was born in Liverpool to a Chinese father, a seama ...
as Chuck Lee, a CIA agent who assists Bond and Sutton in San Francisco.
*
Desmond Llewelyn
Desmond Wilkinson Llewelyn (; 12 September 1914GRO Register of Births: DEC 1914 11a 490 NEWPORT M. – Desmond W. Llewelyn, mmn = Wilkinson – 19 December 1999GRO Register of Deaths: JUN 2000 A70E 247 EASTBOURNE – Desmond Wilkinson Llewelyn, D ...
as
Q, an
MI6 officer in charge of the research and development branch. He supplies 007 with his equipment for his mission.
*
Robert Brown as
M, the head of
MI6.
*
Walter Gotell
Walter Jack Gotell (15 March 1924 – 5 May 1997) was a German actor, known for his role as General Gogol, head of the KGB, in the Roger Moore-era of the James Bond film series,Tom VallancObituary: Walter Gotell ''The Independent'', 20 June 1 ...
as
General Anatoly Gogol, the head of the
KGB.
*
Lois Maxwell
Lois Ruth Maxwell (born Lois Ruth Hooker; 14 February 1927 – 29 September 2007) was a Canadian actress who portrayed Miss Moneypenny in the first fourteen Eon-produced ''James Bond'' films (1962–1985). She was the first actress to play the ...
as
Miss Moneypenny
Miss Moneypenny, later assigned the first names of Eve or Jane, is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. She is secretary to M (James Bond), M, who is Bond's superior officer and head of the British Secret Intelligence Serv ...
, M's secretary.
*
Geoffrey Keen
Geoffrey Keen (21 August 1916 – 3 November 2005) was an English actor who appeared in supporting roles in many films. He is well known for playing British Defence Minister Sir Frederick Gray in the ''James Bond'' films.
Biography
Early lif ...
as
Frederick Gray (credited as Minister of Defence), the British Minister of Defence.
*
Willoughby Gray
John Willoughby Gray MBE (5 November 1916 – 13 February 1993) was an English actor of stage and screen.
Early life
Willoughby Gray was born in London to his mother, Mary Henderson; his father, John Gray, was killed in action in Iraq soon af ...
as Dr. Carl Mortner, formerly Hans Glaub, a
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
scientist and father figure to Zorin (in the German release version, he is a Polish communist).
* Manning Redwood as Bob Conley, Zorin's chief mining engineer who handles his oil interests on the East Bay.
*
Alison Doody
Alison Doody (born March 9, 1966) is an Irish actress and model. After making her feature film debut as Bond girl Jenny Flex in ''A View to a Kill'' (1985), she went on to play Elsa Schneider in ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'' (1989). O ...
as Jenny Flex, one of May Day's assistants who is often seen with Pan Ho.
* Papillon Soo Soo as Pan Ho, one of May Day's assistants.
*
Fiona Fullerton
Fiona Elizabeth Fullerton (born 10 October 1956) is a British actress and singer, known for her role as Alice in the 1972 film ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and as Bond girl KGB spy Pola Ivanova in the 1985 James Bond film ''A View to a ...
as Pola Ivanova, a KGB agent known to Bond, sent by Gogol to spy on Zorin.
*
Dolph Lundgren
Hans Lundgren (, ; born 3 November 1957), better known as Dolph Lundgren, is a Swedish actor, filmmaker and martial artist. His breakthrough came in 1985, when he starred in '' Rocky IV'' as the imposing Soviet boxer Ivan Drago. Since then, Lu ...
as Venz, a KGB henchman.
Maud Adams
Maud Adams (born Maud Solveig Christina Wikström; 12 February 1945) is a Swedish actress and model, known for her roles as two different Bond girls, first in '' The Man with the Golden Gun'' (1974) and then as the eponymous character in ''Oct ...
filmed a cameo as an extra in the background of a
Fisherman's Wharf scene. However, she cannot be clearly identified in the crowd, with some fans speculating her scene may have been cut from the final edit. If she is in the film, this would have been her third Bond film appearance.
Production
Along with the other stories in
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., an ...
's 1960 anthology ''
For Your Eyes Only,'' the original short story "From a View to a Kill" was originally envisioned as an episode of an abandoned 1958
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
''James Bond'' television series''.''
''A View to a Kill'' was produced by
Albert R. Broccoli
Albert Romolo Broccoli ( ; April 5, 1909 – June 27, 1996), nicknamed "Cubby", was an American film producer who made more than 40 motion pictures throughout his career. Most of the films were made in the United Kingdom and often filmed at Pi ...
and
Michael G. Wilson. Wilson also co-authored the screenplay along with
Richard Maibaum
Richard Maibaum (May 26, 1909 – January 4, 1991) was an American film producer, playwright and screenwriter best known for his screenplay adaptations of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels.
Among his works are the first anti-lynching play on Bro ...
. Broccoli initially wanted to rehire
George MacDonald Fraser
George MacDonald Fraser (2 April 1925 – 2 January 2008) was a British author and screenwriter. He is best known for a series of works that featured the character Flashman.
Biography
Fraser was born to Scottish parents in Carlisle, England, ...
from ''Octopussy'' to co-write the screenplay but he was unavailable. Originally Maibaum's script included Zorin manipulating
Halley's Comet
Halley's Comet or Comet Halley, officially designated 1P/Halley, is a short-period comet visible from Earth every 75–79 years. Halley is the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and thus the on ...
into crashing into Silicon Valley, but Wilson insisted on a more realistic plot.
At the end of ''
Octopussy
''Octopussy'' is a 1983 spy film and the thirteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. It is the sixth to star Roger Moore as the MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by John Glen and the screenplay was written by ...
'', the "James Bond Will Return" sequence listed the next film as "From a View to a Kill", the name of the original short story, but later the title was 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 (''
The Living Daylights
''The Living Daylights'' is a 1987 spy film, the fifteenth entry in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the first of two to star Timothy Dalton as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by John Glen, the film's ...
'' had a disclaimer about the use of the
Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...
).
Casting
Roger Moore had originally signed a three-film contract with Eon Productions, His original contract had been for three films (''
Live and Let Die'' in 1973, ''
The Man with the Golden Gun'' in 1974 and ''
The Spy Who Loved Me'' in 1977) which was fulfilled. Moore's following three films (''
Moonraker'' in 1979, ''
For Your Eyes Only'' in 1981 and ''
Octopussy
''Octopussy'' is a 1983 spy film and the thirteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. It is the sixth to star Roger Moore as the MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by John Glen and the screenplay was written by ...
'' in 1983) were negotiated on a film-by-film basis. Uncertainty surrounding his involvement in ''
Octopussy
''Octopussy'' is a 1983 spy film and the thirteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. It is the sixth to star Roger Moore as the MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by John Glen and the screenplay was written by ...
'' in 1983 led to other actors being considered to take over but was convinced to come back as he was competing against
Sean Connery
Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...
in ''
Never Say Never Again
''Never Say Never Again'' is a 1983 spy film directed by Irvin Kershner. The film is based on the 1961 James Bond novel '' Thunderball'' by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original story by Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham, and Fle ...
''. Eon convinced Moore to do ''A View to a Kill'' but he announced in December 1985, 6 months after the release of ''A View to a Kill'', that he would retire from the role after seven films.
Early publicity for the film in 1984 included an announcement that
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
would play Zorin. He initially accepted the role, but later decided against it, saying "I didn't want to spend five months watching my stunt double fall off cliffs." The role was then offered to
Sting
Sting may refer to:
* Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger
* Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself
Fictional characters and entities
* Sting (Middle-earth ...
, who turned it down, and finally to Christopher Walken.
Priscilla Presley
Priscilla Ann Presley ( Wagner, changed by adoption to Beaulieu; born May 24, 1945) is an American actress and businesswoman. She is the former wife of American singer Elvis Presley, as well as co-founder and former chairwoman of Elvis Presley ...
was originally going to be cast as Stacey Sutton, but she had to be replaced by Tanya Roberts because of her contract with ''
Dallas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
''.
The original script had
Barbara Bach
Barbara Bach, Lady Starkey (born Barbara Goldbach in 1947) is an American actress and model. She played the Bond girl Anya Amasova in ''The Spy Who Loved Me''. She is married to former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr.
Early life
Bach is a nati ...
reprising her role as Major Anya Amasova from 1977's ''
The Spy Who Loved Me''. However, Bach declined the role, and so an entirely new character, Pola Ivanova, was created, played by
Fiona Fullerton
Fiona Elizabeth Fullerton (born 10 October 1956) is a British actress and singer, known for her role as Alice in the 1972 film ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and as Bond girl KGB spy Pola Ivanova in the 1985 James Bond film ''A View to a ...
.
Patrick Macnee, as Bond's ally Tibbett, became the fourth former star of ''
The Avengers'' television series to appear in a Bond film, following
Honor Blackman
Honor Blackman (22 August 1925 – 5 April 2020) was an English actress, known for the roles of Cathy Gale in '' The Avengers''Aaker, Everett (2006). ''Encyclopedia of Early Television Crime Fighters''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 58. (1962 ...
,
Diana Rigg
Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg (20 July 193810 September 2020) was an English actress of stage and screen. Her roles include Emma Peel in the TV series '' The Avengers'' (1965–1968); Countess Teresa di Vicenzo, wife of James Bond, in ''On H ...
and
Joanna Lumley
Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an English actress, presenter, former model, author, television producer, and activist. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (1992 ...
.
David Yip
David Nicholas Yip (; born 4 June 1951) is a British actor of Chinese and English descent. He gained prominence through his lead role in the BBC series ''The Chinese Detective''.
Early life
Yip was born in Liverpool to a Chinese father, a seama ...
's character Chuck Lee was originally scripted as
Felix Leiter
Felix Leiter is a fictional character created by Ian Fleming in the ''James Bond'' books, films and other media. The character is an operative for the CIA and Bond's friend. After losing a leg and his hand to a shark attack, Leiter joined the ...
, but he was rewritten into a new
Asian-American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous peopl ...
character in order to capitalize on the setting of San Francisco.
Dolph Lundgren
Hans Lundgren (, ; born 3 November 1957), better known as Dolph Lundgren, is a Swedish actor, filmmaker and martial artist. His breakthrough came in 1985, when he starred in '' Rocky IV'' as the imposing Soviet boxer Ivan Drago. Since then, Lu ...
has a brief appearance as one of General Gogol's KGB agents. Lundgren, who was dating
Grace Jones
Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a model, singer and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for ...
at the time, was visiting her on set when one day an extra was missing, so the director
John Glen then asked him if he wanted to attempt the role. Lundgren appears during the confrontation between Gogol and Zorin at the racetrack, standing several steps below Gogol.
Filming
Principal photography began with the horse racing scenes at
Ascot Racecourse
Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races a ...
on 1 August 1984.
The film was shot at
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London.
The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...
in London, Iceland, Switzerland, France and the United States with the budget initially being $35 million.
Several French landmarks such as the
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.
Locally nicknamed ...
, its Jules Verne restaurant and the
Château de Chantilly
The Château de Chantilly () is a historic French château located in the town of Chantilly, Oise, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Paris. The site comprises two attached buildings: the Petit Château built around 1560 for Anne de Montmor ...
were filmed. The rest of the major filming was done at
Fisherman's Wharf,
Dunsmuir House
The Dunsmuir House and Gardens (also known by the name The Dunsmuir-Hellman Historic Estate and previously known as Oakvale Park) is located in Oakland, California on a site. The Dunsmuir House has a neoclassical-revival architectural style an ...
,
San Francisco City Hall
San Francisco City Hall is the seat of government for the City and County of San Francisco, California. Re-opened in 1915 in its open space area in the city's Civic Center, it is a Beaux-Arts monument to the City Beautiful movement that epitomi ...
and the
Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Pen ...
in San Francisco. The
Lefty O'Doul Bridge
The Lefty O'Doul Bridge (also known as the Third Street Bridge or China Basin Bridge) is a bascule bridge connecting the Neighborhoods in San Francisco#China Basin, China Basin and Mission Bay, San Francisco, Mission Bay neighborhoods of San Fra ...
was featured in the fire engine chase scene.
Production of the film began on 23 June 1984 in Iceland, where the second unit filmed the pre-title sequence.
On 27 June 1984, several leftover canisters of petrol used during filming of
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades th ...
's ''
Legend
A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...
'' caused Pinewood Studios' 007 Stage to burn to the ground. The stage was rebuilt, and reopened in January 1985 (renamed as
Albert R. Broccoli's 007 Stage) for filming of ''A View to a Kill''. Work had continued on other stages at Pinewood when Roger Moore rejoined the main unit there 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-upon-Thames
Staines-upon-Thames is a market town in northwest Surrey, England, around west of central London. It is in the Borough of Spelthorne, at the confluence of the River Thames and Colne. Historically part of Middlesex, the town was transferred t ...
and the
Amberley Chalk Pits Museum in West Sussex.
On 6 October 1984, the fourth unit, headed by 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, shooting of the burning San Francisco City Hall commenced. The first actual scenes atop the bridge were filmed on 7 October 1984.
In Paris it was planned that two stunt
parachutists, B.J. Worth and Don Caldvedt, would undertake two jumps from a (clearly visible) platform that extended from a top edge of the
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.
Locally nicknamed ...
. However, sufficient footage was obtained from Worth's jump, so Caldvedt was told he would not be performing his own descent. Caldvedt, unhappy at not being able to perform the jump, parachuted off the tower without authorisation from the City of Paris. He was subsequently sacked by the production team for jeopardising the continuation of filming in the city.
Airship Industries
Airship Industries was a British manufacturers of modern non-rigid airships (blimps) active under that name from 1980 to 1990 and controlled for part of that time by Alan Bond. The first company, Aerospace Developments, was founded in 1970, and a ...
managed a major marketing coup with the inclusion of its
Skyship 500 series blimp
A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is an airship (dirigible) without an internal structural framework or a keel. Unlike semi-rigid and rigid airships (e.g. Zeppelins), blimps rely on the pressure of the lifting gas (usually helium, rather than hy ...
in the film. At the time Airship Industries was producing a fleet of blimps 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.
The blimp seen in the climax was then on a promotional tour of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
after its participation in the
opening ceremony
An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event. of the
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...
. At that time, it had "Welcome" painted across the side of the gasbag, but was replaced by "Zorin Industries" for the film. During the summer of 1984, the blimp was used to advertise
Fujifilm
, trading as Fujifilm, or simply Fuji, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, operating in the realms of photography, optics, office and medical electronics, biotechnology, and chemicals.
The offerings from the ...
. In real life, inflating the airship would take up to 24 hours, but during the film it was shown to take two minutes.
Despite filming going over schedule by two weeks, the production was completed $5 million under budget at $30 million according to John Glen.
Filming completed on 16 January 1985.
Music
The soundtrack was composed by
John Barry and published by EMI/Capitol. The theme song, "
A View to a Kill
''A View to a Kill'' is a 1985 spy film and the fourteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and is the seventh and final appearance of Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted ...
", was written by Barry and
Duran Duran
Duran Duran () are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger Taylor the following year the band we ...
, and performed by the band. "May Day Jumps" is the only track that uses the "
James Bond Theme
The "James Bond Theme" is the main signature theme music of the James Bond films and has featured in every Eon Productions Bond film since '' Dr. No'', released in 1962. Composed by Monty Norman (with arrangements for film provided by John Bar ...
". Barry's composition from ''
On Her Majesty's Secret Service On Her Majesty's Secret Service may refer to:
* ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' (novel), a 1963 novel by Ian Fleming
* ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' (film), a 1969 film adaptation of the novel
** ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' (sou ...
'' was modified for use in the songs "Snow Job", "He's Dangerous" and "Golden Gate Fight" of ''A View to a Kill.'' "A View to a Kill" reached number two on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
and number one on the
Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online stream ...
in the United States, thus becoming the peak song in the James Bond series. The 2015 track ''
Writing's on the Wall'' later out performed the song in the UK by reaching number one.
Duran Duran was chosen to do the song after bassist
John Taylor, a lifelong Bond fan, approached producer
Albert Broccoli
Albert Romolo Broccoli ( ; April 5, 1909 – June 27, 1996), nicknamed "Cubby", was an American film producer who made more than 40 motion pictures throughout his career. Most of the films were made in the United Kingdom and often filmed at ...
at a party, and somewhat drunkenly asked "When are you going to get someone ''decent'' to do one of your theme songs?"
During the opening sequence, a cover version of the 1965
Beach Boys
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...
song "
California Girls
"California Girls" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1965 album, '' Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)''. Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, the lyrics detail an appreciation for women across the world and a wish ...
", performed by tribute band Gidea Park with
Adrian Baker, is used during a chase in which Bond snowboards; it has been suggested that this sequence helped initiate interest in
snowboarding
Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympic ...
.
Release and reception
This was the first Bond film with a premiere outside the UK, opening on 22 May 1985 at San Francisco's
Palace of Fine Arts
The Palace of Fine Arts is a monumental structure located in the Marina District of San Francisco, California, originally constructed for the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition to exhibit works of art. Completely rebuilt from 1964 t ...
. The British premiere was held on 12 June 1985 at the
Odeon Leicester Square
The Odeon Luxe Leicester Square is a prominent cinema building in the West End of London. Built in the Art Deco style and completed in 1937, the building has been continually altered in response to developments in cinema technology, and was the ...
cinema in London.
It achieved a box office gross of US$152.4 million worldwide. In the United Kingdom, the film grossed £8.1 million ($13.6 million).
On its opening weekend in the US and Canada it grossed $13.3 million from 1,583 theaters over the four-day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...
weekend, the biggest opening for a Bond film ever at the time, but not enough to beat ''
Rambo: First Blood Part II'' which was number one for the weekend with a gross of $25.2 million from 2,074 theaters.
It went on to gross $50.3 million in the United States and Canada.
Other large international grosses include $11.7 million in Germany, $9.1 million in Japan and $8.2 million in France.
[
Although its box office reception was excellent, the film's critical response was mostly mixed. On ]Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
, the film has an approval rating of 38% based on reviews from 61 critics, which is the lowest rating for the Eon-produced Bond films on the website. On Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film has a score of 40% based on reviews from 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
One of the most common criticisms was that Roger Moore was 57 at the time of filming—and that he had visibly aged in the two years that had passed since ''Octopussy''. ''Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...
'' critic Paul Attanasio said, "Moore isn't just long in the tooth—he's got tusks, and what looks like an eye job has given him the pie-eyed blankness of a zombie. He's not believable anymore in the action sequences, even less so in the romantic scenes—it's like watching women fall all over Gabby Hayes
Gabby is a given name, usually a short form of Gabriel or Gabrielle or Gabriella.
Gabby or Gabbie may refer to:
People with the name
* Gabby Chaves (born 1993), Colombian-American racing driver
* Guy Gabaldon (also "Gabby"; 1926–2006 ...
." Sean Connery
Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...
declared that "Bond should be played by an actor 35, 33 years old. I'm too old. Roger's too old, too!" In a December 2007 interview, Roger Moore remarked, "I was only about four hundred years too old for the part."
Moore also said that, at the time, ''A View to a Kill'' was his least favourite Bond film, and mentioned that he was mortified to find out that he was older than his female co-star's mother. He was quoted as 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".
Pauline Kael
Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael's opinions oft ...
of ''The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' said, "The James Bond series has had its bummers, but nothing before in the class of ''A View to a Kill''. You go to a Bond picture expecting some style or, at least, some flash, some lift; you don't expect the dumb police-car crashes you get here. You do see some ingenious daredevil feats, but they're crowded together and, the way they're set up, they don't give you the irresponsible, giddy tingle you're hoping for." Kael also singled out the dispirited direction and the hopeless script. "Director John Glen stages the slaughter scenes so apathetically that the picture itself seems dissociated. (I don't think I've ever seen another movie in which race horses were mistreated and the director failed to work up any indignation. If Glen has any emotions about what he puts on the screen, he keeps them to himself.)"[Available online.]
However, not all reviews were negative. Lawrence O'Toole of ''Maclean's
''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian pers ...
'' believed it was one of the series' best entries. "Of all the modern formulas in the movie industry, the James Bond series is among the most pleasurable and durable. Lavish with their budgets, the producers also bring a great deal of craft, wit and a sense of fun to the films. Agent 007 is like an old friend who an audience meets for drinks every two years or so; he regales them with tall tales, winking all the time. The 14th and newest Bond epic, ''A View to a Kill'', is an especially satisfying encounter. Opening with a breathtaking ski chase in Siberia, ''A View to a Kill'' is the fastest Bond picture yet. Its pace has the precision of a Swiss watch and the momentum of a greyhound on the track. There is a spectacular chase up and down the Eiffel Tower and through Paris streets, which Bond finishes in a severed car on just two wheels. But none of the action prepares the viewer for the heart-stopping climax with Zorin's dirigible tangled in the cables on top of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge." And although O'Toole believed that Moore was showing his age in the role, "there are plenty of tunes left in his violin. James Bond is still a virtuoso, with a licence to thrill."
Brian J. Arthurs of ''The Beach Reporter
''The Beach Reporter'' is a weekly newspaper serving the Beach Cities
Beach Cities is a nickname for the coastal area of Los Angeles County comprising the oceanfront cities of Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Redondo Beach, located on the ...
'', however, said it was the worst film of the Bond series. Chris Peachment of the ''Time Out
Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to:
Time
* Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team
* Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken
* Timeout (computing), an engine ...
Film Guide'' said, "Grace Jones is badly wasted." Norman Wilner of MSN
MSN (meaning Microsoft Network) is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps for Windows and mobile devices, provided by Microsoft and launched on August 24, 1995, alongside the release of Windows 95.
The Microsoft Net ...
also chose it as the worst Bond film, while IGN picked it as the fourth-worst, while ''Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...
'' ranked it as the fifth-worst.
Danny Peary
Dannis Peary (born August 8, 1949) is an American film critic and sports writer. He has written and edited many books on cinema and sports-related topics. Peary is most famous for his book '' Cult Movies'' (1980), which spawned two sequels, '' Cu ...
had mixed feelings about ''A View to a Kill'' but was generally complimentary: "Despite what reviewers automatically reported, oore
Oore is a village in Tori Parish, Pärnu County in southwestern Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finla ...
looks trimmer and more energetic than in some of the previous efforts ... I wish Bond had a few more of his famous gadgets on hand, but his action scenes are exciting and some of the stunt work is spectacular. Walken's the first Bond villain who is not so much an evil person as a crazed neurotic. I find him more memorable than some of the more recent Bond foes ... Unfortunately, the filmmakers – who ruined villain Jaws
Jaws or Jaw may refer to:
Anatomy
* Jaw, an opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth
** Mandible, the lower jaw
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Jaws (James Bond), a character in ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''Moonraker''
* ...
by making him a nice guy in ''Moonraker'' – make the mistake of switching May Day at the end from Bond's nemesis to his accomplice, depriving us of a slam-bang fight to the finish between the two (I suppose gentleman Bond isn't allowed to kill women, even a monster like May Day) ... he film
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
lacks the flamboyance of earlier Bond films, and has a terrible slapstick chase sequence in San Francisco, but overall it's fast-paced, fairly enjoyable, and a worthy entry in the series."
Also among the more positive reviews was ''Movie Freaks 365''s Kyle Bell: "Good ol' Roger gave it his best. ... Whether you can get past the absurdity of the storyline, you can't really deny that it has stunning stunt work and lots of action. It's an entertaining movie that could have been better." Walken was also praised by online critic Christopher Null for portraying a "classic Bond villain". Bond historian John Brosnan
John Raymond Brosnan (7 October 1947 – 11 April 2005) was an Australian writer of both fiction and non-fiction works in the fantasy and science fiction genres. He was born in Perth, Western Australia, and died in South Harrow, London, fro ...
believed ''A View to a Kill'' was Moore's best Bond entry. He said Moore looked in better shape than the previous Bond film, ''Octopussy''. Brosnan, an airship enthusiast, especially admired the dirigible finale.
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gra ...
reviewed ''A View to a Kill'' for '' Imagine'' magazine, and stated that "When Grace Jones went to bed with Moore, I was sure the producers had hit upon a way to kill the old fellow off with dignity, but when Bond was seen wandering around fresh as a daisy the next morning I realised how escapist this all is. Unless he just rolled over and went to sleep, of course, which is what I was strongly tempted to do."
Roberts was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award
The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy ...
as Worst Actress, but she lost the trophy to Linda Blair
Linda Denise Blair (born January 22, 1959) is an American actress and activist. She played Regan MacNeil in the horror film ''The Exorcist'' (1973), for which she won a Golden Globe Award and received a nomination for an Academy Award. The film ...
, who appeared in ''Night Patrol
Night (also described as night time, unconventionally spelled as "nite") is the period of ambient darkness from sunset to sunrise during each 24-hour day, when the Sun is below the horizon. The exact time when night begins and ends depends on ...
'', ''Savage Island'' and ''Savage Streets
''Savage Streets'' is a 1984 American teen vigilante action film directed by Danny Steinmann and starring Linda Blair. The film premiered on October 5, 1984.
Plot
After nearly being run down in the street by a gang known as the Scars, Brenda ( ...
''.
Other media
This film was adapted into two video games in 1985. The first, titled ''A View to a Kill'', was published by Domark
Square Enix Limited (formerly Domark Limited and Eidos Interactive Limited) is a British subsidiary of the Japanese video game company Square Enix, acting as their European publishing arm. The company formerly owned ''Tomb Raider'', which was in ...
. It was available for the ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer.
Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...
, Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Si ...
, Commodore 64
The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness W ...
, Oric 1
Oric was the name used by UK-based Tangerine Computer Systems for a series of 6502-based home computers sold in the 1980s, primarily in Europe.
With the success of the ZX Spectrum from Sinclair Research, Tangerine's backers suggested a hom ...
and Oric Atmos, and MSX. The second, titled ''James Bond 007: A View to a Kill'' was a text adventure
''
Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the ...
for DOS
DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems.
DOS may also refer to:
Computing
* Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel
* Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicat ...
and Apple II
The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...
computers. It was developed by Angelsoft, Inc. and published by Mindscape Inc.
The film was loosely adapted into a series of four ''Find Your Fate'' adventure game books: ''Win, Place, or Die''; ''Strike it Deadly''; ''Programmed for Danger''; and ''Barracuda Run'', which were released in 1985.
Furthermore, a tabletop role-playing game
A tabletop role-playing game (typically abbreviated as TRPG or TTRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a form of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech. Participa ...
adventure for the ''James Bond 007
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
'' game system was released under the film's name.
May Day
May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. Tr ...
was a playable multiplayer
A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system ( couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...
character in the 1997 and 2000 video games '' GoldenEye 007'' and '' 007: The World Is Not Enough'' for the Nintendo 64
The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and ...
. In the 2002 game ''Nightfire
''James Bond 007: Nightfire'' is a 2002 first-person shooter video game published by Electronic Arts for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox (console), Xbox and Microsoft Windows, with additional versions released for the Game Boy Advance in 2003 ...
'', May Day and Max Zorin also appears as bots
The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remnants of the former Bri ...
. 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. In '' GoldenEye: Rogue Agent'', a multiplayer level is the summit of the Golden Gate Bridge, including the Zorin blimp, which would fire on players when activated. Players are also able to climb the suspension cables (similar to the events of the film).
See also
* List of films shot in Iceland
* Outline of James Bond
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to James Bond:
James Bond is a fictional character created in 1953 by the journalist and writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. ...
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:View to a Kill, A
1985 action thriller films
1980s adventure films
1980s spy films
1985 films
British sequel films
Cold War spy films
1980s English-language films
Eon Productions films
Films about technology
Films about terrorism in the United States
Films directed by John Glen
Films produced by Albert R. Broccoli
Films produced by Michael G. Wilson
Films scored by John Barry (composer)
Films set in California
Films set in London
Films set in Paris
Films set in Russia
Films set in San Francisco
Films set in the San Francisco Bay Area
Films shot at Pinewood Studios
Films shot in California
Films shot in England
Films shot in France
Films shot in Iceland
Films shot in Paris
Films shot in San Francisco
Films shot in Switzerland
Films with screenplays by Michael G. Wilson
Films with screenplays by Richard Maibaum
James Bond films
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
1980s British films