A View to a Kill. Let's make it better!

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Comments

  • Posts: 638
    Quoting Luds: She'd make a great entry for guess the character! I never slept with James Bond but I slept with his "son
    I actually did that one earlier in the week. I said something to the extent "I never slept with "my Bond", but I did sleep with two other Bond's including ones son". She was also in Taffin with Pierce Brosnan as well as Indian Jones TLC
  • LudsLuds MIA
    Posts: 1,986
    Ah I should have paid more attention then!
  • Posts: 4,813
    Here's a simple one- just occurred to me: When Bond is with the Russian Agent in the Hot tub, it was a bit too 'holding the audience's hand' to actually show Bond switch the tapes. It would have added quite a bit to the scene if we didn't see it until she was away in the car.
  • Posts: 4,762
    I can see the more glaring flaws with AVTAK, but I've still never understood the big hate for it. It's certainly not Top 5 worthy, and it'd be pushing it to say even Top 10, but I still like it more than others do.
    Even so, here are some things that would make it better:

    (1) Some better action sequences throughout the movie. The pre-title sequence is lackluster, the chase for May Day is fairly decent, the fight with Zorin's two thugs in the packaging room is lame and weak, the horse race is okay, the fight at Stacey's house is pretty nice, and the fire truck escape is all right. The only fantastic Bond-like action comes at the end starting with the mine collapse.

    (2) Possibly bring in Timothy Dalton. While I did like Roger in AVTAK, maybe Timothy could have made it even better. This one isn't huge with me, but it'd be a neat thought

    (3) Make May Day a villain throughout. Yes, her turning to the good side was a surprise and a help, but somehow it ruined her already pitiful character. Even if Zorin betrayed her, it could have been an Oddjob scenario where she doesn't even care, she just wants to do her job.

    (4) Some better locations. I can't lay my finger on it, but there's something about the locations that doesn't exactly make this movie pop with color and excitement.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 6,306
    Scrub the cast and script. Keep the locations. Start over.
  • JeffreyJeffrey The Netherlands
    edited July 2011 Posts: 308


    As a kid I enjoyed this film very much. I believe it was my fourd favorite film, after Octopussy, For Your Eyes Only and The Spy Who Loved Me.

    Looking back at it, I must admit Moore was too old, and they shouldn't have cast Tanya Roberts.

    However, I can still watch this movie today, and actually enjoy it. The scenes between Bond and Tibbet (makes me laugh every time), the fight on the Golden Gate Bridge and the great soundtrack of John Barry...
    I can see the more glaring flaws with AVTAK, but I've still never understood the big hate for it. It's certainly not Top 5 worthy, and it'd be pushing it to say even Top 10, but I still like it more than others do.
    You're not alone, Cheers!

  • j7wildj7wild Suspended
    edited July 2011 Posts: 823
  • SharkShark Banned
    edited July 2011 Posts: 348
    Quoting Lazenby.: Why tamper with perfection?
    You can't possibly be talking about A View To A Kill...
    Damn right he is.

    John Barry?

    Chris Walken?

    Patrick MacNee?

    Alison Doody?

    Grace Jones?

    Easily blows that overrated cash cow THE SPY WHO LOVED ME out of the water.

  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,187
    replace Tanya Roberts with either Phoebe Cates or Lea Thompson

    replace Grace Jones with Apollonia Kotero

    replace Allison Doody with Nicolette Sheridan
    Okay... NO! Tanya, Grace and Allison are three of the best elements in this film. I like Phoebe Cates and Lea Thompson but IMO they were never Bond girl material. Especially Lea Thompson would have been all wrong. She'd have been 24 at the time, six years younger than Tanya. Roger would have been 34 years older! :s
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    edited July 2011 Posts: 13,978
    replace Allison Doody with Nicolette Sheridan

    http://www.celebrityvideo.ru/screenshot/s/Sheridan_Nicollette_The_Sure_Thing_1_1280_720.jpg
    I think Sheridan would have been better as a 90's Bond Girl. Spy Hard, need I say any more? ;-)
  • KerimKerim Istanbul Not Constantinople
    Posts: 2,629
    Keep Walken, MacNee, Doody, Duran Duran and blow up everything else.

    Especially Grace Jones.
  • Posts: 7
    You can't possibly be talking about A View To A Kill . If you want a good see The spy Who Loved Me

    B-)
  • SharkShark Banned
    Posts: 348
    Keep Walken, MacNee, Doody, Duran Duran and blow up everything else.

    Especially Grace Jones.
    John Barry?
    If you want a good see The spy Who Loved Me
    You left out "migraine."
  • KerimKerim Istanbul Not Constantinople
    edited July 2011 Posts: 2,629
    Yeah, keep him too.
  • j7wildj7wild Suspended
    Posts: 823
    Kelly Lynch in 1985 should had been a Bond Girl!!
  • PrinceKamalKhanPrinceKamalKhan Monsoon Palace, Udaipur
    edited July 2011 Posts: 3,262
    replace Allison Doody with Nicolette Sheridan

    http://www.celebrityvideo.ru/screenshot/s/Sheridan_Nicollette_The_Sure_Thing_1_1280_720.jpg
    Never!

    http://www.drawingsilence.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/403ceaa1_vbattach342173.jpg

    http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/3300000/Alison-Doody-Jenny-Flex-bond-girls-3326152-369-500.jpg

    http://www.indianajoneshistory.com/indiana_jones_and_the_last_crusade_classic_original_indy_jones_trilogy/pics_photographs_pictures_images_pix_photos_gallery/elsa.jpg
    AVTAK is easily the nadir of the series, so much to fix. Loose Moore (replaced with Dalton), and Roberts, promote Fullerton to Bond Girl #1 - Stacey and loose Grace Jones as May Day. Those changes right there, would improve the films.
    Major, you and I both being Daltonites and sharing similar views on AVTAK(I don't consider it the complete nadir of the series but certainly the weakest Bond film made between 1962 and 1997), I would love your feedback on this "alternate universe" AVTAK rough story idea I put on the previous page-

    Pre title sequence: Introduce Timothy Dalton as the new 007 in a mini-adventure that has nothing or little to do with the rest of the picture(in the style of the teasers for GF, TB, FYEO and OP).

    Title Sequence:(I would've retained the Duran Duran song, one of the few highlights of the actual film)

    Albert R. Broccoli presents

    Timothy Dalton as James Bond 007 in Ian Fleming's

    FROM A VIEW TO A KILL
    (I would have restored the full original Fleming title)

    starring

    Alison Doody as Mary Ann Russell

    Patrick Macnee as Sir Godfrey Tibbett

    Fiona Fullerton as Pola Ivanova

    Christopher Walken as Max Zorin

    and Tanya Roberts in a very small 5 minute appearance as the "sacrificial lamb" Jenny Flex

    Movie opens proper: The first 20-30 mins would be a relatively faithful adaptation of the actual short story "From A View To A Kill". The SHAPE driver's murder would appear on screen and 007's subsequent investigation. He would be assigned to work with fellow agents Tibbett and lovely Mary Ann Russell(the girl in the original story), and would impersonate the SHAPE driver and infiltrate the Russian spy gang in the forest. The head assassin(who Bond is sure he has seen before) of this spy gang gets away and Bond finds a stash of Zorin microchips among the KGB spy ring materials. After a brief dalliance with the gorgeous Mary Ann, Bond reports this information to M. Bond would learn that Zorin industries are a private British defense contractor that is developing microchips that are impervious to the magnetic pulse of a nuclear explosion but they've not been put in use by the British defense systems yet. Zorin would still be of East German origin but he defected to England, became a U.K. citizen and then spent several years in New York where he made his millions. (This would explain Walken/Zorin's NY accent). M then sends Bond to investigate Zorin at a party his Chantilly estate. While there Bond meets and flirts with Zorin's mistress/secretary Jenny Flex(who Zorin brought from NY, also explaining her accent) Bond also runs into another lady at the party, his ex-lover, ballerina/KGB agent Pola Ivanova. After some brief flirting and catching up on old times, Pola mysteriously vanishes. To get more info on Zorin, Bond starts romancing Jenny which Zorin learns about and of course has her promptly executed(a la Corinne Dufour). Bond uses his gadgets to listen in on Zorin and his partner-in-crime whom he recognizes as the KGB assasin from the forest. Thru closer detection, Bond realizes that Pola and the KGB assassin are one and the same. Bond is caught spying and is captured by Zorin & put in some deathtrap from which of course he escapes but not without Zorin thinking he is dead.

    Bond continues his mission in pursuit of Pola to learn more about what she and Zorin are up to. The Siberian ski chase could be inserted here where Bond pursues her but ultimately rescues Pola from an avalanche(a la Bond and Elektra). After this experience, they "warm up" in a hot tub reminiscing about old times. As Bond gets more of the information on their plan, Pola doublecrosses Bond and he is again captured by Zorin. It turns out that Zorin and Pola are planning to cause a nuclear blast in outer space over the U.K. to, as Frederick Gray put it, "paralyze us at the Russian's mercy". This will be done after Zorin installs the "nuclear-explosion impervious" microchips(which of course won't be) in all of Britain's national defense systems. In the end, Bond of course thwarts Zorin and Pola's plans with the aid of Mary Ann who Bond ends up with in the final clinch. Tibbett would also have a larger role as Bond's ally and not be killed off. Perhaps Tibbett should become head of Station F-France.
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,978
    That's very good PKK. If it could be made in 1991 instead of 1985, it sounds like it would make a good 3rd Dalton Bond.

    Though i've nothing aginst him, i'm not sure about the casting of Macnee as Tibbett with Dalton as Bond. It's possible that Dalton and Macnee may well have a good chemistry, but I feel Tibbett should be around Bonds age.

    Oh, and I love the idea of reintroducing the 'From..' in the title. I don't see why it was taken out, not when the title of OHMSS made it to the screen intact, and OHMSS is a more awkward title than (F)AVTAK.
  • PrinceKamalKhanPrinceKamalKhan Monsoon Palace, Udaipur
    edited July 2011 Posts: 3,262
    That's very good PKK. If it could be made in 1991 instead of 1985, it sounds like it would make a good 3rd Dalton Bond.
    Thanks, MajorDSmythe.
    Though i've nothing aginst him, i'm not sure about the casting of Macnee as Tibbett with Dalton as Bond. It's possible that Dalton and Macnee may well have a good chemistry, but I feel Tibbett should be around Bonds age.
    Fair point, although Dalton did work well with Moore's Leiter/David Hedison so it's not an impossibility. Although I'm not unhappy with Robert Brown's M, a part of me wished that Patrick Macnee had taken over the role of M after Bernard Lee's passing and been the boss to Moore's, Dalton's and (hopefully) Brosnan's Bonds. Macnee played an M type when he was cast as Napoleon Solo's boss in "The Return of the Man From UNCLE"(1983).
    Oh, and I love the idea of reintroducing the 'From..' in the title. I don't see why it was taken out, not when the title of OHMSS made it to the screen intact, and OHMSS is a more awkward title than (F)AVTAK.
    Agreed. Maybe the scriptwriters couldn't figure a way to shoehorn "from" in like they did with the May Day/Zorin exchange as the Zeppelin approaches San Francisco. IMHO, "From A View To A Kill" is one of Ian Fleming's 2 best Bond short stories. I wished that they had given it the TLD approach, i.e., use the shorty for the first 1/4 of the film and then build the rest of the screenplay from there.

  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,978
    Fair point, although Dalton did work well with Moore's Leiter/David Hedison so it's not an impossibility. Although I'm not unhappy with Robert Brown's M, a part of me wished that Patrick Macnee had taken over the role of M after Bernard Lee's passing and been the boss to Moore's, Dalton's and (hopefully) Brosnan's Bonds. Macnee played an M type when he was cast as Napoleon Solo's boss in "The Return of the Man From UNCLE"(1983).
    I don't want to go too deep into it here, as this isn't the thread, but I believe in my full-cast Bond timeline, I had Brown stay on as M until 1992 (having started in 1980), 1994 debuts the new M, David Warner.
  • edited July 2011 Posts: 11,189
    Keep Walken, MacNee, Doody, Duran Duran and blow up everything else.

    Especially Grace Jones.
    John Barry?
    If you want a good see The spy Who Loved Me
    You left out "migraine."
    It's well documented that out of the 7 Bond films he was in:

    a). Moore thought Spy was his best.

    b). Moore thought View was his worst.

    I enjoy them both and have seen each many times but I think the question of which film is "better" has been answered by the man who starred in each ;) The PTS of Spy alone beats anything in View - whether John Barry is in the picture or not.
  • SharkShark Banned
    Posts: 348
    Keep Walken, MacNee, Doody, Duran Duran and blow up everything else.

    Especially Grace Jones.
    John Barry?
    If you want a good see The spy Who Loved Me
    You left out "migraine."
    It's well documented that out of the 7 Bond films he was in:

    a). Moore thought Spy was his best.

    b). Moore thought View was his worst.
    So what are you saying? We should all nod our heads in agreement? As Scashy might say, MI6 has become overrun by sheeple. Bien pensants.

    Besides, actors opinions on their own pictures are often shaped by the filming experience, or what was happening at that time of their life. It's never a reliable measure.
  • SeveSeve The island of Lemoy
    edited August 2011 Posts: 425
    I can see the more glaring flaws with AVTAK... here are some things that would make it better:

    (3) Make May Day a villain throughout. Yes, her turning to the good side was a surprise and a help, but somehow it ruined her already pitiful character. Even if Zorin betrayed her, it could have been an Oddjob scenario where she doesn't even care, she just wants to do her job.
    Right On The Money!
    (4) Some better locations. I can't lay my finger on it, but there's something about the locations that doesn't exactly make this movie pop with color and excitement.
    I paricularly disliked the transplanted French Chateau idea, if your using America as a location, find an American location (e.g. like the Hearst mansion)

    save the Chateaus for the French supervillains

  • Posts: 1,856
    Keep The Villeins' Plot, Keep Walken, At Least Try to make Moore younger.

    Other Then That

    START FROM SCRATCH
  • edited August 2011 Posts: 11,189
    Keep Walken, MacNee, Doody, Duran Duran and blow up everything else.

    Especially Grace Jones.
    John Barry?
    If you want a good see The spy Who Loved Me
    You left out "migraine."
    It's well documented that out of the 7 Bond films he was in:

    a). Moore thought Spy was his best.

    b). Moore thought View was his worst.
    So what are you saying? We should all nod our heads in agreement?
    In regard to Spy - YES! ;) Moore perhaps at his peak, Carly Simon, Jaws, Lewis Gilbert, Ken Adam, Kurt Jurgens on very icy form and of course THAT PTS.

    I don't think View is Moore's worse though.

    Anyway, my advice for making View better.

    - Get rid of the fire truck chase - the comedy sheriff is entertaining but the whole thing is filler.

    - Don't have Moore get with Stacey at the end ("THAT is not the soap" - ewww!)

    - A bit more time with Jenny Flex (with a name like that this is essential)

    - lose the Beach Boys song
  • Posts: 4,762
    BAIN123 said:
    - Get rid of the fire truck chase - the comedy sheriff is entertaining but the whole thing is filler.

    Agreed. It wasn't really necessary, and even if it was, then it should have been in something other than a fire truck. Take a look at DAF's car chase around Las Vegas. If they're going to do a chase with the police, then that's how it should be done!

    BAIN 123 said:
    - A bit more time with Jenny Flex (with a name like that this is essential)

    Agreed. Her character was wasted, given only a few seconds of meaningful screentime when checking Bond into his room.

    @PrinceKamalKhan: I really liked your ideas with Timothy Dalton as 007 and the title From a View to a Kill. That was a great scenario! Nice job!
  • PrinceKamalKhanPrinceKamalKhan Monsoon Palace, Udaipur
    Posts: 3,262
    @PrinceKamalKhan: I really liked your ideas with Timothy Dalton as 007 and the title From a View to a Kill. That was a great scenario! Nice job!
    Thank you, sir! B-)
  • Posts: 4,762
    @PrinceKamalKhan: You're welcome. If only that was the version we got!
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    I wish I'd seen this sooner. I could have saved the thread the trouble. Do with AVTAK like I do with Die Hard 2, every Batman movie in the 90's, Indiana Jones 4, Spiderman 3, every Harry Potter movie since Goblet of Fire and the 2nd and 3rd Bourne novels: Pretend they do not exist! If AVTAK comes up in conversation leave quietly or change the subject at risk of danger in alerting your distaste for the film. This approach wouldn't work for most Bond fans though. I view improvements as positive changes, and deleting a Bond film from history, no matter how bad it is, is just plain criminal. :)>-
  • Erase the movie from existence and just enjoy the original short story for what it is. :)
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,187
    Erase the movie from existence and just enjoy the original short story for what it is. :)
    Never! It may be one of my least favourite Bonds, but I still have a tremendously good time with this film over and over again. Walken, Jones, McNee, Roberts... I hold them all close to my heart because of the film (yes, even the stunningly beautiful and not at all poorly acting Tanya Roberts/ ;;) ) And then there's Barry's score. No sir, AVTAK is a keeper. :P

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