A View to a Kill is the final lap for Roger Moore’s Bond, and you can feel it. The film is a strange mashup of Cold War spycraft, Silicon Valley anxiety, and 80s glitz, all delivered with a heavy dose of Moore’s increasingly obvious retirement energy. He’s still got the charm, but let’s just say when Bond beds a woman half his age again, it starts to feel more “spy grandfather” than superspy.
Still, this one’s a 3 out of 5 for me. I liked it. The villain is fun, the action is slick in places, and the tone hits that so-bad-it’s-good groove more than once. It’s a weird swan song, but not a boring one.
Earthquake by Microchip
The story centers on Max Zorin, a tech mogul who wants to destroy Silicon Valley by triggering a massive earthquake along the San Andreas fault, giving him total control of the microchip market. Bond’s mission? Stop the earthquake, stop the billionaire, and flirt with Grace Jones without getting stabbed.
There’s something charming about how low-tech this version of a tech-world apocalypse is. Zorin wants to flood California, not hack it. It’s an old-school evil plan dressed up in 80s aesthetics, which gives the movie a bit of retro-futuristic flair—even if the science is nonsense.
Roger Moore: Past the Expiration Date
Moore is still doing his thing—quips, raised eyebrows, tailored suits—but at 57, he’s visibly aging out of the role. The film tries to hide it, but there’s only so much camera soft focus can do. He looks bored in some scenes, winded in others, and wildly out of place in a nightclub full of people half his age.
That said, he handles the material with the professionalism of a guy who’s played Bond longer than anyone else. He’s not phoning it in; he’s just, well… clearly ready to go home. And you can’t blame him.
Walken Unleashed
Christopher Walken as Max Zorin is absolutely the highlight here. He’s grinning, twitchy, and just the right amount of unhinged. Zorin isn’t subtle. He’s gleefully evil, whether he’s throwing henchmen out of blimps or machine-gunning his own employees into a mine shaft. Walken knows exactly what movie he’s in and treats every scene like a jazz solo.
He’s also one of the few Bond villains who feels genuinely fun to watch. He’s evil, sure, but he’s entertaining while he does it—and that counts for a lot.
A Henchwoman Who Actually Rules
Grace Jones as May Day is another standout. She’s strong, unpredictable, and completely unlike any other Bond girl or villain. She’s not just muscle—she’s got style, menace, and an energy that makes every scene she’s in more interesting.
Her arc is one of the few emotionally resonant ones in the film. When she turns on Zorin at the end, it actually lands. It’s rushed, sure, but it’s a moment of character development this movie desperately needed.
The Scream Machine
Now, about Tanya Roberts as Stacey Sutton… she’s not it. She’s got the classic damsel look, but the performance is mostly shrill screaming and wide-eyed helplessness. There’s very little chemistry with Moore, and even less believability that this woman is a state geologist who could help stop an underground catastrophe.
She’s not the worst Bond girl ever, but she might be one of the most forgettable.
Fire Engines, Ice Floes, and the Eiffel Tower
The action scenes here are surprisingly solid. The Eiffel Tower chase is pure Bond excess, and May Day parachuting off the top is iconic. The San Francisco fire truck chase is chaotic in all the right ways—Bond hanging off ladders, careening through traffic, Moore probably wondering if this counts as cardio.
The finale inside a burning mine, followed by a blimp fight over the Golden Gate Bridge, is just goofy enough to be enjoyable. It’s completely over the top, but that’s kind of the point.
Duran Duran and the Last Hurrah
Let’s not forget the theme song. Duran Duran’s “A View to a Kill” absolutely slaps. It’s one of the franchise’s most stylish and era-defining tracks, and it gives the film an edge of cool it otherwise struggles to earn.
The score, by John Barry, also works well—lush, dramatic, and just modern enough to keep pace with the synths.
Messy, Campy, But Entertaining
A View to a Kill is a mess. The plot is thin, the romance is forced, and Moore is clearly ready for retirement. But it’s also weirdly enjoyable. Walken hams it up, Grace Jones dominates, and the action is often better than you remember. It’s not a great Bond movie, but it’s never boring—and sometimes that’s enough.
It’s the end of an era, and while it’s not graceful, it’s definitely memorable.