A View to a Kill or Diamonds Are forever?
Did Connery or Moore, have a better swansong? I'm gonna go with A view to a kill.
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MovieChat Forums > A View to a Kill (1985) Discussion > A View to a Kill or Diamonds Are forever...
A View To A Kill
Come on Johnny, we're countin' on you to fly us to the promised land!
Both films were upgraded to a '12' certificate in the UK - they're dark swansings and I really like both, but AVTAK wins.
DAF is camp and twisted, embodied by the creepy gay psychopaths Wint and Kidd who delighted in cruel murder of, often, the elderly. The drowning of Plenty O'Toole is another dark turn, and Bond being cremated alive is a nightmare's nightmare. The film unfortunately fizzles out with a weak climactic battle, but picks up when Bond finally takes out Wint and Kidd by burning one alive and bugger-throwing the other one into the sea strapped to a bomb which explodes mid-descent. A fine way for Connery to bow out.
They say a thriller is as good as its villain, and this is where AVTAK shines. Zorin is a fúcking maniac who erupts into gut busting laughter as he machine guns hundreds of his own men, as well as giggling at his own death, and all portrayed by Hollywood's finest nutcases - living legend Christopher Fúcking Walken. Throw in May Day, Sir Godfrey Your Hat and Jenny Flex, and you've got some great support. The lift shaft inferno and Golden Gate finale are truly memorable sequences, and Rodge does his grandpa-Bond, who's hard not to love.
Yeah Rodge is a bit too old, and the weirdest thing is how his eyes look different after his bad face lift, but who cares? He's a pleasure to watch in the role and I'm glad he came back for this fitting swansong.
I actually enjoy watching AVTAK, whilst DAF is one of my least favourite entries in the entire series. The slapstick approach just doesn't work in DAF. It's not suited to Connery's persona and is far better suited to Moore. Connery looks bored throughout DAF.
One of the reasons I dislike DAF is because it directly follows up one of my favourites (OHMSS) and almost completely ignores it.
AVTAK is at least entertaining to watch, has Bond and John Steed working together, and has a memorable villain in Max Zorin.
I even might think Never Say Never Again was a better swan song for Sean. At least he looks like he's having some fun there
Diamonds was the better swan song than A View To A kill, same goes with Licence to Kill, but wasn't intentionally Dalton's swansong because he had another movie left on his contract before he decides throw in the towel and hang up the tux.
shareI enjoy watching AVtaK. I prefer less jokes in my Bond movies so it ranks higher than most Moore films for me.
I think DAF is tied with DAD for worst Bond film.
Have to go w/Diamonds just because Connery was always the better Bond.
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