A View To A Kill


2h 11m 1985
A View To A Kill

Brief Synopsis

When James Bond (Agent 007) is sent to investigate a security leak at the high-tech Zorin Industries, he discovers a hotbed of murder and deception. The company's mysterious owner, Max Zorin has devised a plan to corner the world's microchip market--even if he has to kill millions to do it. But before Bond can stop Zorin, he must confront the madman's beautiful and deadly companion May Day. With help from the gorgeous Stacey, Bond launches an all-out assault on Zorin's deadly scheme, which leads to a treacherous duel against May Day on the upper spans of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Film Details

Also Known As
Dangereusement vôtre, Levande måltavla, View to a Kill
MPAA Rating
Genre
Action
Adaptation
Adventure
Drama
Sequel
Spy
Release Date
1985
Production Company
Eon Productions; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.; Metrocolor; Pinewood Studios, Ltd.
Distribution Company
MGM Distribution Company; MGM Home Entertainment; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.; Universal Pictures International
Location
Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom; Paris, France

Technical Specs

Duration
2h 11m

Synopsis

When James Bond (Agent 007) is sent to investigate a security leak at the high-tech Zorin Industries, he discovers a hotbed of murder and deception. The company's mysterious owner, Max Zorin has devised a plan to corner the world's microchip market--even if he has to kill millions to do it. But before Bond can stop Zorin, he must confront the madman's beautiful and deadly companion May Day. With help from the gorgeous Stacey, Bond launches an all-out assault on Zorin's deadly scheme, which leads to a treacherous duel against May Day on the upper spans of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Crew

Azzedine Alaia

Additional Wardrobe (Grace Jones)

Peter Allwork

Camera Operator (Stunts)

Eric Allwright

Makeup

Ted Ambrose

Art Direction Assistant

James M Arnett

Stunt Supervisor

Kenny Atherfold

Camera Grip

Agust Baldursson

Location Manager

Derek Ball

Sound Recording

Pat Banta

Stunt Supervisor

Reginald A Barkshire

Production Controller

Bill Barringer

Sound Editor Assistant (Dubbing)

John Barry

Music

John Barry

Song ("A View To A Kill")

John Barry

Music Conductor

Peter Bennet

Assistant 2nd Unit Director (2nd Unit)

Nicholas T Bennett

Stunts (Aerial)

Steph Benseman

Location Manager

Maurice Binder

Main Title Design

Robert Blasco

Stunts (Driving)

Willy Bogner

Ski Photography

Willy Bogner

Ski Sequence Director

Mauricette Boisard

Location Accountant

Christian Bonnichon

Stunts (Driving)

Jean-claude Bonnichon

Stunts (Driving)

Michael Boone

Art Direction Assistant

Brian Bowes

Stunts (Horse)

Laurent Bregeat

Additional Assistant Director

Albert R. Broccoli

Producer

Barbara Broccoli

Additional Assistant Director

Jillie Brown

Set Decorator

Joanna Brown

Other

Joe Brown

Stunts (Ski)

Katharina Brunner

Additional Art Direction

David L Butler

Camera Operator (Stunts)

May Capsaskis

Production Coordinator

Claude Carliez

Stunt Supervisor

Joan Carpenter

Hairstyles

Daphne Carr

Continuity 2nd Unit (2nd Unit)

Larry Cavanaugh

Special Effects

John Chisholm

Property Master

Ira Curtis Coleman

Other

Jennifer Collen-smith

Publicity Assistant

Ken Court

Additional Art Direction

Gerry Crayson

Helicopter Pilot

Hazel Crombie

Location Accountant

Jan D'alquen

Additional Photography

Penny Daniels

Continuity 2nd Unit (2nd Unit)

Nick Daubeny

Location Manager

Peter Davies

Editor

Leslie Dear

Model Photography

Roger Deer

Sketch Artist

Christian Delagarde

Horse Stunts

Jean-marc Deschamps

Location Manager

Serge Douy

Additional Art Direction

John Eaves

Stunts (Ski)

Tracey Eddon

Stunt Supervisor

Rory Enke

Location Manager

Michael Evans

Other

Anthony Fairbairn

Stunts (Horse)

Nathalie Farjon

Production Coordinator

John Fenner

Art Direction

Stan Fiferman

Sound Editor (Dubbing)

Ian Fleming

Other

Ian Fleming

From Character

Andrea Florineth

Stunts (Ski)

Elaine Ford

Stunt Supervisor

Geoff Freeman

Unit Publicist

Mike Frift

Camera Operator

George Frost

Makeup Supervisor

Nigel Galt

Sound Editor (Dubbing)

Armin Ganz

Additional Art Direction

Norma Garment

Production Coordinator

Gerry Gavigan

Assistant (To John Glen)

Leonhard Gmur

Production Manager

Ramon Gow

Hairstyles Supervisor

Martin Grace

Action Sequence Arranger

Keith Hamshere

Stills

Jon Thor Hannesson

Production Manager

Graham V Hartstone

Sound Rerecording Mixer

Simon Haveland

Additional Assistant Director

Sally Hayman

Production Coordinator

John Hayward

Sound Rerecording Mixer

Nick Heckstall-smith

Additional Assistant Director

Robert Hillman

Camera Operator 2nd Unit (2nd Unit)

Janet Hirshenson

Casting (Usa)

Rick Holley

Helicopter Pilot

Jean-claude Houbart

Stunts (Driving)

Edi Hubschmid

Additional Assistant Director

Alan Hume

Director Of Photography

Alan Hume

Dp/Cinematographer

Simon Hume

Other

Jane Jenkins

Casting (Usa)

B D Johnson

Stunts

Dominique Julienne

Stunts (Driving)

Michel Julienne

Stunts (Driving)

Remy Julienne

Stunts Arranger (Driving)

Charles Juroe

Marketing Director

Alan Killick

Music Editor

Janine King

Other

Christl Kirchner

Location Accountant

Jack T Knight

Sound Editor (Dubbing)

Philip Kohler

Production Manager

Jean-claude Lagniez

Stunts (Driving)

Michael Lamont

Additional Art Direction

Peter Lamont

Production Designer

Jean-pierre Lelong

Sound Effects

Richard Lewzey

Music Mixer

Robert Liechti

Helicopter Pilot

Steven Link

Stunts (Ski)

Mario Luraschi

Stunts (Horse)

Terry Madden

Additional Assistant Director

Richard Maibaum

Screenwriter

Colin Manning

Camera Grip

Debbie Mcwilliams

Casting

Jane Meagher

Location Accountant

Serge Menard

Additional Assistant Director

Colin Miller

Sound Editor

Douglas Milsome

Camera Operator (Stunts)

Vera Mitchell

Hairstyles

Roy Moores

Other

James Morahan

Art Direction Assistant

John Morris

Special Effects

Ken Morris

Special Effects

Maureen Murphy

Production Coordinator

Francois Nadal

Stunts (Horse)

Willi Neuner

Special Effects

Tiny Nicholls

Costume Supervisor

Ken Nightingall

Boom Operator

Douglas Noakes

Production Accountant

Monty Norman

Music ("James Bond Theme")

John Nuth

Assistant Editor

Gidea Park

Song Performer ("California Girls")

Thomas Pevsner

Associate Producer

Bunty Phillips

Makeup

Maciek Piotrowski

Sketch Artist

Emma Porteous

Costume Designer

Ron Quelch

Props Buyer

Nic Raine

Original Music

June Randall

Continuity

Michael Redding

Construction Manager

Henry Richardson

Additional Editor

John Richardson

Special Effects Supervisor

Marcel Riou

Stunts (Horse)

Doug Robinson

Stunt Supervisor

Peter Rohe

Stunts (Ski)

Iris Rose

Unit Manager

Michael Runyard

Stunt Supervisor

Crispian Sallis

Set Decorator

Bobby Simmons

Stunt Supervisor

Thomas Sims

Stunts (Ski)

Ernest F. Smith

Scenic Artist

John S. Smith

Additional Editor

Doris Spriggs

Assistant (To Roger Moore)

Charles Staffell

Other

Jacqueline Stears

Scenic Artist

Chuck A. Tamburro

Helicopter Pilot

Alan Tomkins

Additional Art Direction

Serge Touboul

Production Manager

Andre Trielli

Special Effects

John Tythe

Supervisor

Olivier Victor-thomas

Stunts (Horse)

Malcolm Vinson

Camera Operator 2nd Unit (2nd Unit)

Antonio Vivaldi

Music ("The Four Seasons")

Andrew Warren

Additional Assistant Director

Anthony Waye

Production Supervisor

Bill Weston

Stunt Supervisor

Jason White

Stunt Supervisor

George Whitear

Stills

Joss Williams

Special Effects

Brian Wilson

Song ("California Girls")

Michael G. Wilson

Producer

Michael G. Wilson

Screenwriter

Marc Wolff

Helicopter Pilot

Arthur Wooster

Camera Operator 2nd Unit (2nd Unit)

Egil Woxholt

Additional Photography

Stefan Zurcher

Location Manager

Film Details

Also Known As
Dangereusement vôtre, Levande måltavla, View to a Kill
MPAA Rating
Genre
Action
Adaptation
Adventure
Drama
Sequel
Spy
Release Date
1985
Production Company
Eon Productions; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.; Metrocolor; Pinewood Studios, Ltd.
Distribution Company
MGM Distribution Company; MGM Home Entertainment; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.; Universal Pictures International
Location
Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom; Paris, France

Technical Specs

Duration
2h 11m

Articles

A View to a Kill


A View to a Kill (1985) was Roger Moore's seventh and final screen appearance as James Bond, a role that he had inherited from Sean Connery. Following quickly on the heels of Octopussy (1983), A View to a Kill took its title from a 1960 short story by James Bond creator Ian Fleming, but the screenplay was an original story written by Michael G. Wilson and Richard Maibaum, The plot has Bond (Moore) finding a microchip in the locket of a dead fellow agent, which Bond's tech expert "Q" (Desmond Llewelyn) finds to be able to withstand nuclear explosions. The technology was bought by Zorin Industries, headed by Max Zorin (Christopher Walken, in a role that Bond producer Albert Broccoli once considered for musician David Bowie) who wants to create a monopoly in microchips by destroying Silicon Valley. Also in the cast are Tanya Roberts, Grace Jones, Patrick Macnee, Alison Doody, Lois Maxwell and Dolph Lundgren in his film debut.

Production ran from August 6, 1984 until January 1985, with principal photography shot at Pinewood Studios in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, where a special "Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage" had been built for The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), but that stage burned down just as production on A View to a Kill was set to begin. Crews were able to rebuild the stage to its original size in a little over four months, but it necessitated having the repair crew work while the sets themselves were being constructed. While interiors were being filmed at Pinewood, as many as six units were working simultaneously in places as diverse as Iceland, Switzerland, Paris, Chantilly and several locations around San Francisco, California, including Potrero Hill, the Civic Center, Fisherman's Wharf and China Hill, with the pier scenes shot in Richmond. According to Daily Variety, the production brought $4 million to the local economy. Although the film's climactic sequence was set on top of San Francisco's iconic Golden Gate Bridge, it was actually filmed by using three separate scale models created by Peter Lamont. Likewise, the Eiffel Tower Restaurant's interiors were filmed at Pinewood, with exteriors shot at the tower in Paris. Surprisingly, according to director John Glen, the film came in $5 million under the projected $35 million budget, despite being two weeks over schedule.

A View to a Kill premiered on May 22, 1985 at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, only a few yards from the Golden Gate Bridge, making it the first James Bond film to premiere outside of London. A special royal charity gala for the Prince of Wales Trust and the British Deaf Association was held in the British capital on June 12th, the day before the film went into general release in the UK. A View to a Kill was the highest grossing Bond film to date at the UK box office, earning $604,376 in only 11 days. By 1998, the total worldwide gross had exceeded $152 million, despite reviews like Janet Maslin's in The New York Times. In it, she called the latest effort in the Bond franchise "strenuous to watch, now that the business of maintaining Bond's casual savoir-faire looks like such a monumental chore. The effort involved in keeping Roger Moore's 007 impervious to age, changing times or sheer deja-vu seems overwhelming, particularly since so much additional energy goes into deflecting attention away from him and onto the ever-stronger supporting characters whose presence is meant to rejuvenate the Bond formula. But as the scenery improves, the Bond films lose personality [...] A View to a Kill should be no surprise to anyone who has seen the other recent Bond films with Mr. Moore and no strain on the intelligence or memory of anyone else." The film may not have won over the critics, but its title track, performed by Duran Duran, became the first Bond film to reach the top of Billboard Hot 100 charts.

SOURCES:

AFI|Catalog. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58416-A-VIEWTOAKILL?sid=45052805-4ded-4284-9529-582e5dd82e4d&sr=16.57039&cp=1&pos=0
A View to a Kill (1985). (1985, May 24). Retrieved from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090264/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1
Maslin, J. (1985, May 24). THE SCREEN: JAMES BOND. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/24/movies/the-screen-james-bond.html

By Lorraine LoBianco
A View To A Kill

A View to a Kill

A View to a Kill (1985) was Roger Moore's seventh and final screen appearance as James Bond, a role that he had inherited from Sean Connery. Following quickly on the heels of Octopussy (1983), A View to a Kill took its title from a 1960 short story by James Bond creator Ian Fleming, but the screenplay was an original story written by Michael G. Wilson and Richard Maibaum, The plot has Bond (Moore) finding a microchip in the locket of a dead fellow agent, which Bond's tech expert "Q" (Desmond Llewelyn) finds to be able to withstand nuclear explosions. The technology was bought by Zorin Industries, headed by Max Zorin (Christopher Walken, in a role that Bond producer Albert Broccoli once considered for musician David Bowie) who wants to create a monopoly in microchips by destroying Silicon Valley. Also in the cast are Tanya Roberts, Grace Jones, Patrick Macnee, Alison Doody, Lois Maxwell and Dolph Lundgren in his film debut. Production ran from August 6, 1984 until January 1985, with principal photography shot at Pinewood Studios in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, where a special "Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage" had been built for The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), but that stage burned down just as production on A View to a Kill was set to begin. Crews were able to rebuild the stage to its original size in a little over four months, but it necessitated having the repair crew work while the sets themselves were being constructed. While interiors were being filmed at Pinewood, as many as six units were working simultaneously in places as diverse as Iceland, Switzerland, Paris, Chantilly and several locations around San Francisco, California, including Potrero Hill, the Civic Center, Fisherman's Wharf and China Hill, with the pier scenes shot in Richmond. According to Daily Variety, the production brought $4 million to the local economy. Although the film's climactic sequence was set on top of San Francisco's iconic Golden Gate Bridge, it was actually filmed by using three separate scale models created by Peter Lamont. Likewise, the Eiffel Tower Restaurant's interiors were filmed at Pinewood, with exteriors shot at the tower in Paris. Surprisingly, according to director John Glen, the film came in $5 million under the projected $35 million budget, despite being two weeks over schedule. A View to a Kill premiered on May 22, 1985 at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, only a few yards from the Golden Gate Bridge, making it the first James Bond film to premiere outside of London. A special royal charity gala for the Prince of Wales Trust and the British Deaf Association was held in the British capital on June 12th, the day before the film went into general release in the UK. A View to a Kill was the highest grossing Bond film to date at the UK box office, earning $604,376 in only 11 days. By 1998, the total worldwide gross had exceeded $152 million, despite reviews like Janet Maslin's in The New York Times. In it, she called the latest effort in the Bond franchise "strenuous to watch, now that the business of maintaining Bond's casual savoir-faire looks like such a monumental chore. The effort involved in keeping Roger Moore's 007 impervious to age, changing times or sheer deja-vu seems overwhelming, particularly since so much additional energy goes into deflecting attention away from him and onto the ever-stronger supporting characters whose presence is meant to rejuvenate the Bond formula. But as the scenery improves, the Bond films lose personality [...] A View to a Kill should be no surprise to anyone who has seen the other recent Bond films with Mr. Moore and no strain on the intelligence or memory of anyone else." The film may not have won over the critics, but its title track, performed by Duran Duran, became the first Bond film to reach the top of Billboard Hot 100 charts. SOURCES: AFI|Catalog. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58416-A-VIEWTOAKILL?sid=45052805-4ded-4284-9529-582e5dd82e4d&sr=16.57039&cp=1&pos=0 A View to a Kill (1985). (1985, May 24). Retrieved from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090264/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1 Maslin, J. (1985, May 24). THE SCREEN: JAMES BOND. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/24/movies/the-screen-james-bond.html By Lorraine LoBianco

Quotes

Trivia

Miscellaneous Notes

Released in United States Summer May 24, 1985

Formerly distributed by CBS/Fox Video.

Began shooting August 6, 1984.

Released in United States Summer May 24, 1985