Mission Summary

A silicon chip is captured from the Soviets by James Bond (Moore) and found to be identical to a British prototype design capable of withstanding the intense electromagnetic pulse of a nuclear blast. This leads MI\6 to suspect leading chip manufacturer Max Zorin (Christopher Walken) to be assisting the Soviets to undermine the British. While at Zorin's horse farm in Paris, Bond quickly learns that Zorin has bigger plans that simply helping the Soviets steal British secrets- he wants to destroy Silicon Valley to corner the market on computer chips. Bond then races to San Francisco, where he meets geologist Stacey Sutton (Tanya Roberts), who is being bribed by Zorin to surrender her shares in the company. Together, they work together to prevent the deadly earthquake that would sink Silicon Valley permanently.

Analysis

Rank: 18

When comparing things that are bad, it is hard to determine which is the best of a lousy group. As a result, the difference between this film and "Licence to Kill" isn't that great. Moore looks way too old to be playing a secret agent at this point and even his deadpan humor can't help save this disaster. On the other hand, Walken is one of the best villains in the series. While his plot doesn't make him the most sinister, he plays the part with such unflinching brutality that you believe he is psychotic.

When a movie has a weak plot, everything else seems to go down with it. This film doesn't quite have the international crisis that most of the other films have; never is our way of life threatened at any point by the villain's activities. OK, life would be tougher without computers, but there wouldn't be catastrophic loss of life outside of the Bay Area. In addition, it takes nearly an hour before we realize what Zorin is actually trying to do. About 45 minutes is spent on the horse racing subplot and despite setting up later action, it is incredibly boring.

I would almost hesitate to even call this an action movie, as there are only a few times when it seems Bond is in danger. As I said, nearly an hour is tied up with horses, so there is a real lull in the beginning. Seeing someone parachute off the Eifel Tower is cool, but the scene of Bond trying to chase the person in a car throughout Paris is unbelievable and unintentionally funny. A fire engine chase through San Francisco, while original, isn't anything special, with the typical inept policemen trying to catch Bond at every turn. The highlight of the film is the climax where Bond fights to the death atop the Golden Gate Bridge.

Besides Walken, the casting director should have been fired. Stacey is probably the worst Bond girl of the series (which really says something) and no one believes that this woman is a geologist with the city of San Francisco. She is constantly begging for Bond to help her, and it appears that even Moore is tired of her whining in some scenes. Zorin's mistress May Day (Grace Jones) is also a very wooden character that seems to only be a foil for Walken. While she is quite athletic and poses a challenge to Bond, it seems unlikely that Zorin would choose such an ugly mistress. All of Bond's friends seem to have the kiss of death in this film, as four of the five people who help him throughout the film are killed off at various points, which doesn't create any chemistry between Bond and these characters.

Moore's age was really beginning to show at this point, so I believe the producers toned down the action sequences to meet the frail Bond's needs. As a result, the film suffers for it, as well as Moore's non-existent supporting cast. The humor was also quite lame in this film too, with the one-liners being especially dry. The worst was during the pre-credits sequence when Bond is snowboarding in Siberia and "California Girls" is playing in the background. If anything, Walken is the only reason this film isn't in last place and worth seeing.