A View to a Kill Appreciation Thread- Anybody else want to drop out?

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  • Posts: 16,169
    Years ago I watched AVTAK and FYEO back to back and discovered I enjoyed VIEW more so. It had usually been towards the bottom for me, but it's grown immensely in the past decade or so.
    When I was in elementary school this Bond was extremely popular among us kids. It seemed to have everything and played up the fun angle of Bond, while still giving us some serious moments.
  • Posts: 1,917
    mtm wrote: »
    BT3366 wrote: »
    Part of the reason is the uneven tone between the camp and the serious. From people being dropped from great heights, dropped into spinning rotors, shot at point blank range in cold blood and machine gunned in cold blood one moment and then shifting to moments of hanging off firetrucks chased by comic cops and drunks caught up in watching Bond escape from the City Hall fire.

    Well okay, I quite like that though. I much prefer the bigger, broader Octopussy and AVTAK to the pure seriousness of FYEO, which I find a little on the dull side. Give me a mix of the serious and the silly any day. The whole climax does feel nicely serious to a kid, with John Barry really ramming home that this is all very important and dangerous.

    I really like the level at which AVTAK is pitched at, it's perfect comfort Bond for me. It hits a flat spot just after they travel to San Francisco, but it's not the only Bond to run out of steam in its second major location.

    And is Zorin one of the great Bond villains? Yes, absolutely! He's brilliant. Best Bond villain of the entire decade in fact, I'd say. Sanchez comes second I guess, but he has a touch of the rent-a-baddie about him: he could be in any non-Bond action movie. Zorin and Mayday could only be from a Bond, and they're played brilliantly.

    You've hit on something here for me and that's that I rank OP as my favorite Moore Bond film. It has everything and while there are silly moments, it just works better all around.

    As for the films surrounding it, FYEO and AVTAK are both near the bottom of my informal rankings. FYEO was a disappointment after the fun that was MR, just a collection of stunts, most of which were repeats of previous stunts in the series, with a pretty bland story attached to it. It shows having a direct Fleming influence doesn't necessarily enhance it and is too much of a swing in one direction.

    You hit on an important factor for my lack of enthusiasm for AVTAK and that's when the location shifts to San Francisco, it doesn't just go flat, it lands with a thud and barely moves, the single most boring stretch of any Bond film for me. Bond baking quiche, certainly a low point for the series. You get just a lot of piecing things together and little action or intensity. Bond trying to reach the air base is filled with suspense and intense action in OP is superior with tons of memorable stuntwork.

    And I may be the only one in Bond fandom who is not taken with Barry's score. It's my least favorite. The action theme just doesn't do it and even the incidental music just doesn't fit the standard he's set in previous scores. The Duran Duran theme is probably top 2 for me and Barry's variations of it for romantic moments work, but little else. It's by far my least listened-to Barry Bond soundtrack.

    As for Zorin, I love the character. When he made AVTAK, Walken wasn't the brand he is now. He was then known more for his character work in dramas or a few genre films like Dead Zone. He brought a fresh take to the by-then stale megalomaniac behind the mayhem. That San Francisco stretch really suffers when he's not onscreen. It's a relief when he shows up in Howe's office. Others have mentioned there's more of a personal thing between Bond and Zorin than with past villains. Bond really has it in for him more so than many others.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,416
    BT3366 wrote: »
    mtm wrote: »
    BT3366 wrote: »
    Part of the reason is the uneven tone between the camp and the serious. From people being dropped from great heights, dropped into spinning rotors, shot at point blank range in cold blood and machine gunned in cold blood one moment and then shifting to moments of hanging off firetrucks chased by comic cops and drunks caught up in watching Bond escape from the City Hall fire.

    Well okay, I quite like that though. I much prefer the bigger, broader Octopussy and AVTAK to the pure seriousness of FYEO, which I find a little on the dull side. Give me a mix of the serious and the silly any day. The whole climax does feel nicely serious to a kid, with John Barry really ramming home that this is all very important and dangerous.

    I really like the level at which AVTAK is pitched at, it's perfect comfort Bond for me. It hits a flat spot just after they travel to San Francisco, but it's not the only Bond to run out of steam in its second major location.

    And is Zorin one of the great Bond villains? Yes, absolutely! He's brilliant. Best Bond villain of the entire decade in fact, I'd say. Sanchez comes second I guess, but he has a touch of the rent-a-baddie about him: he could be in any non-Bond action movie. Zorin and Mayday could only be from a Bond, and they're played brilliantly.


    You hit on an important factor for my lack of enthusiasm for AVTAK and that's when the location shifts to San Francisco, it doesn't just go flat, it lands with a thud and barely moves, the single most boring stretch of any Bond film for me. Bond baking quiche, certainly a low point for the series. You get just a lot of piecing things together and little action or intensity. Bond trying to reach the air base is filled with suspense and intense action in OP is superior with tons of memorable stuntwork.

    That's fair enough. I'm not quite as down on it, but I can see that Octopussy is only getting more exciting and building to a climax where AVTAK is winding down. Certainly I couldn't claim that Bond having a fight in an empty house against a couple of old men is an action scene that I can really understand getting beyond script level: they couldn't think of anything more unique or exciting?
    BT3366 wrote: »
    And I may be the only one in Bond fandom who is not taken with Barry's score. It's my least favorite. The action theme just doesn't do it and even the incidental music just doesn't fit the standard he's set in previous scores. The Duran Duran theme is probably top 2 for me and Barry's variations of it for romantic moments work, but little else. It's by far my least listened-to Barry Bond soundtrack.

    I love the tone of the score: I think it creates a really good, serious atmosphere. But as an actual listen it is one of the more boring. The main strike theme is rather repetitious.
    BT3366 wrote: »
    Others have mentioned there's more of a personal thing between Bond and Zorin than with past villains. Bond really has it in for him more so than many others.

    That's an interesting thought, yes I can see what you mean. Bond and Zorin do really seem to hate each other, an impression you don't really get with him and, say, Drax or Kamal Khan. Roger is practically spitting at him by the end of the film.
  • Posts: 113
    I recorded an audio commentary in my Bond commentary series and finally put my random analysis and Bond praise into some sort of video form:

    For me AVTAK is criminally underrated and the essential bridge between the final Roger films and the Dalton era. It has the emerging darker tone, greater focus on Bond as a human and experienced character, greater focus on the real world and political situations, increased emphasis on the heroine being romanced etc.
    Like anything it has its flaws as a film but despite the lower key plot, Goldfinger structure and Roger’s between film plastic surgery-it is a more rewarding experience than people give it credit for and if I’m forced to choose I prefer AVTAK over the immediate two predecessors. Though admittedly choosing between the original 16 is impossible.
  • VTAK isn't a series favourite of mine but I'm a bit partial to it now and again. Being a Durannie I obviously love the title track. Chris Walken is a classy villain. Roger is obviously way too old by this stage and the fight scene with the obviously wigged stuntmen is embarrassing. But it still has it charms.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    edited April 2021 Posts: 6,304
    I once met Tanya Roberts at a signing about 20 years ago. I've not been to many of those sort of things but have to say she the rudest and most dismissive of all of them.

    Compared to Maud Adams, Caroline Munro, Valerie Leon etc, who were all nice and happy to chat about their time in Bond.

    I also had a nice conversation with John Glen about his approach to shooting action scenes, who until Martin Campbell is the best director of action in the series imo.

    If I may defend Roberts' screechy repeated "James!" for a moment: she is a geologist, not a spy. And she's pretty resourceful at figuring out Zorin's plot and knocking out Scarpine.

    In the second half of the film, she is (1) trapped in a burning elevator, (2) clinging for dear life to a collapsing mine shaft, and (3) hanging on the edge of the Golden Gate Bridge.

    I think *any* of us in her situation would be screaming "James!" as well.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,416
    I've no idea what will go on, but if you want to recreate Project Main Strike, I see Amberley Museum (location of the mine in the film) have a James Bond Weekend on 25th September! https://www.amberleymuseum.co.uk/whats-on/
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