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From a View to a Kill - a James Bond Short Story
James Bond, 007, tracks a cold assassin and impersonates a helpless victim in France. Bond was in Paris when M was told that a dispatch rider had been murdered and his important files snatched. He quickly assigned the case to Bond but, for a long time, it seemed to 007 that he was getting nowhere.
Librarian's note: this entry relates to the short story "From a View to a Kill." It is one of five in the collection, "For Your Eyes Only." Entries for all nine Bond short stories can be found by searching Goodreads for: "a James Bond Short Story."
Librarian's note: this entry relates to the short story "From a View to a Kill." It is one of five in the collection, "For Your Eyes Only." Entries for all nine Bond short stories can be found by searching Goodreads for: "a James Bond Short Story."
22 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
2 people are currently reading
286 people want to read
About the author
Ian Fleming
731 books3,301 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Ian Lancaster Fleming was an English writer, best known for his postwar James Bond series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his father was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Henley from 1910 until his death on the Western Front in 1917. Educated at Eton, Sandhurst, and, briefly, the universities of Munich and Geneva, Fleming moved through several jobs before he started writing.
While working for Britain's Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War, Fleming was involved in planning Operation Goldeneye and in the planning and oversight of two intelligence units: 30 Assault Unit and T-Force. He drew from his wartime service and his career as a journalist for much of the background, detail, and depth of his James Bond novels.
Fleming wrote his first Bond novel, Casino Royale, in 1952, at age 44. It was a success, and three print runs were commissioned to meet the demand. Eleven Bond novels and two collections of short stories followed between 1953 and 1966. The novels centre around James Bond, an officer in the Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6. Bond is also known by his code number, 007, and was a commander in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. The Bond stories rank among the best-selling series of fictional books of all time, having sold over 100 million copies worldwide. Fleming also wrote the children's story Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang and two works of non-fiction. In 2008, The Times ranked Fleming 14th on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
Fleming was married to Ann Fleming. She had divorced her husband, the 2nd Viscount Rothermere, because of her affair with the author. Fleming and Ann had a son, Caspar. Fleming was a heavy smoker and drinker for most of his life and succumbed to heart disease in 1964 at the age of 56. Two of his James Bond books were published posthumously; other writers have since produced Bond novels. Fleming's creation has appeared in film twenty-seven times, portrayed by six actors in the official film series.
Ian Lancaster Fleming was an English writer, best known for his postwar James Bond series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his father was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Henley from 1910 until his death on the Western Front in 1917. Educated at Eton, Sandhurst, and, briefly, the universities of Munich and Geneva, Fleming moved through several jobs before he started writing.
While working for Britain's Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War, Fleming was involved in planning Operation Goldeneye and in the planning and oversight of two intelligence units: 30 Assault Unit and T-Force. He drew from his wartime service and his career as a journalist for much of the background, detail, and depth of his James Bond novels.
Fleming wrote his first Bond novel, Casino Royale, in 1952, at age 44. It was a success, and three print runs were commissioned to meet the demand. Eleven Bond novels and two collections of short stories followed between 1953 and 1966. The novels centre around James Bond, an officer in the Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6. Bond is also known by his code number, 007, and was a commander in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. The Bond stories rank among the best-selling series of fictional books of all time, having sold over 100 million copies worldwide. Fleming also wrote the children's story Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang and two works of non-fiction. In 2008, The Times ranked Fleming 14th on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
Fleming was married to Ann Fleming. She had divorced her husband, the 2nd Viscount Rothermere, because of her affair with the author. Fleming and Ann had a son, Caspar. Fleming was a heavy smoker and drinker for most of his life and succumbed to heart disease in 1964 at the age of 56. Two of his James Bond books were published posthumously; other writers have since produced Bond novels. Fleming's creation has appeared in film twenty-seven times, portrayed by six actors in the official film series.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
April 28, 2016
Probably the saddest Bond to date. But here's how it should have been done, courtesy of rebelarian and kohinki's post on Imagur:
I want an inverse spy flick. The spy is a woman. Her whole team is made up of diverse women. All the villains are women. There is only one man in the entire movie and he is a Strong Male Character who is like 25 and decently ripped and has a scene where he steps out of a pool wearing speedos because he is Confident and in Control of His Sexuality. We see his ass when he has to tug down his pants to get at the knife strapped to his thigh. His nipples are always erect for no fucking reason.
They are undercover in a nightclub. In order to keep their cover from being blown, he has to kiss another man.
He knits to relieve stress and to keep his mind sharp. It is never discussed by any of the characters.
Someone asks him how he knows how to do Traditionally Feminine Things. "I have four sisters," he answers. This is also how he knows how to fight while armed with nothing but a purse, a high heeled shoe and a can of hairspray. During this fight he is, for no apparent reason, shirtless.
The lead spy is Helen Mirren. She nails the Action Boy in the shower. There's a lot of lingering closeups on the way the shower spray runs across his breathlessly ecstatic face. We also hear every breathless whimper of his climax, while out in the hallway Lucy Liu is smoking impatiently, a duffel bag full of rocket launchers slung over her shoulder. The President isn't going to kidnap herself here, christ.
Action Boy emerges in a small towel, sheepish yet radiant. Helen Mirren emerges in a tuxedo, also smoking, also with a duffel bag full of rocket launchers.
In one scene, the lead villain captures the Strong Male Character. He is, once again, inexplicably shirtless as she ties him to the chair. He makes some quips about his sexual independence before he is rescued by a sweat-drenched Helen Mirren, who kicks down the door and nukes everyone in the room. Strong Male Character's hair remains perfect throughout the ordeal.
Strong Male Character is heartlessly slain in front of Helen Mirren's eyes despite all his skills and combat prowess. His body slumps to the floor, lifeless but supple. Helen Mirren makes a witty quip at Strong Male Character's killers before quickly and dramatically slaying them all.
She steals one last glance at Strong Male Character. His beautiful eyes stare back from a handsome face with perfectly tussled hair, lips positioned as if in a gentle sigh. There's no bringing him back now. Helen Mirren walks away, stronger than before. Strong Male Character's death has hardened her, but given her the strength and resolve to complete her task.
Roll credits.
An after credits preview clip comes on as a teaser. Helen Mirren with a huge explosion tearing things up behind her walks towards the camera with a new Strong Male Character wearing the tiny tattered remains of a burned shirt about his flexing pecs and deltoids, and he is carrying the bag of rocket launchers as he steps in behind her.
So Matt Bomer?
Nah, Matt Bomer is almost 40. Despite his great looks and great bod, he's way too old to play the shaggable romantic supporting character to 70-year-old Helen Mirren.
Matt Bomer plays Helen Mirren's sadder-but-wiser ex, computer-savvy, gorgeous but still single, fiercely independent (but it's all an act).
Helen Mirren shows up on his doorstep to ask him for one last hacker job, for old time's sake. Matt hauls off to slap Helen in the face, but Helen catches his wrist, pulls him close, and kisses him long and hard. Matt struggles at first but finally melts into her embrace. Lucy Liu strolls past them into Matt's chic apartment slapping Matt on the ass as she mutters "Some things never change, do they?"
Late the next night, as Matt and Helen hack into the CIA database, Helen tucks a stray lock of Matt's hair behind his ear and asks why there's no wife or kids in the picture after all this time.
Matt turns his sad, beautiful eyes towards her and confesses that there has only ever been Helen for him, but he couldn't stand never knowing if she would come back alive when she left on a mission. Helen and Matt nearly have a moment, but the computer beeps with the result of their search.
The next morning, Helen goes into the kitchen to find Matt's 20-year-old nephew has come to stay for the weekend. Helen and the camera slowly pan up and down his gorgeous, toned, oiled-up and glistening body as he stands, near-naked but for his tight, black satin booty-short underwear, and starts making a gourmet vegetarian omelette.
He turns around and smiles at Helen. "You must be a friend of Uncle Matt. I'm Caden. You hungry?"
Helen's eyes drift down to Caden's bulging crotch. "Oh, I could eat," she quips.
Helen Mirren and the actor who play the 20-year-old nephew get together in real life. Everyone is delighted.
I would watch this a million times.
April 29, 2015
Around the scene of the killing, the forest, which had held its breath while it was done, slowly began to breathe again.
First things first. The name of this James Bond short story is From a View to a Kill. I'm not sure why it's listed wrong on GR.
I enjoyed this story very much.
WHAT I LIKED:
1.) Fleming's beautiful writing. See the quote at the beginning of the review for a sample.
2.) Bond is a three-dimensional character. He doubts himself. He goes through rough patches, his life is not the constant, smooth, playboy lifestyle that is shown in the pre-Craig films.
3.) Bond is merciful. I've discussed this at length in my Goldfinger review. Fleming's bond is not the cold-hearted, selfish bastard portrayed in the pre-Craig films. Instead, he tries to help people. He takes mercy on people and sometimes this backfires on him. He doesn't only have mercy on beautiful young women! He tries to save and protect men, too.
Not wanting to kill, he had kept the safety catch up. He tried to get his thumb to it. A boot hit him in the side of the head and he let the gun go and fell back. Through a red mist he saw the muzzle of the gun pointing at his face. The thought flashed through his mind that he was going to die - die for showing mercy...!
4.) Bond values human life and tries to avoid killing people. Again, something not addressed in the films.
Bond hooked his right thumb through his belt within inches of his gun-butt. He hoped he would not have to do any more killing.
5.) The way Bond treats his women in the books is scads better than in the films. In the films, Bond often slaps females, uses them as human shields, sexually assaults them, or strangles them with their own bikini tops. I have no idea why directors thought this necessary and/or sexy. He's much sexier in the books. Even if he does refer to women as bitches, wretches, beasts, or idiots (most noticeably in the book Casino Royale, which I gave 1 star) - he always does it in his mind and not out loud and he always goes out of his way to keep them safe - whether he likes them or not, whether they've slept with him or not.
In this book there is no name-calling of any females, to my immense relief. Instead, his love interest - Mary Ann Russell (how's that for a normal name! No Pussy Galore or Honeychile Rider here!) - gets the condescending Now, be a good girl and do as you're told. Insulting, however, I'll take it any day instead of "bitch" and "idiot."
6.) The love interest, Mary Ann Russell Kick-ass. Well, for a James Bond book.
7.) And this is what impressed me the most.
8.) We learn that Bond lost his virginity at age 16 in Paris. We learn that Bond loves to ride fast motorcycles.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
1.) No main villain. One of the funnest things about Bond books are the evil, over-the-top villains who make long speeches about how great they are, and have weird hobbies or backgrounds. Since this is a short story, there is no "main" villain - just some generic enemy spies - and that lessens the enjoyment.
2.) The relationship between Bond and Mary Ann is not developed. Again, this is the consequence of a short story. My absolute favorite thing in the Bond series is meeting different females and seeing how they interact with Bond, what their personalities are, and how that clashes with or compliments Bond's personality. I find it absolutely fascinating. While I did find Mary Ann to be a strong person, I knew next to nothing about her personality and her relationship with Bond barely gets a chance to blossom.
3.) I didn't like Bond's fantasy about meeting a "girl" at the beginning of the book. When Bond is not working, not on assignment - he tends to get depressed, introspective, morbid, and he tends to start drinking too much. Again, not something addressed in the pre-Craig films but an excellent extra layer to Fleming's character. This is good character development. ANYWAY. At the beginning of the story he is in one of his funks, and he is in Paris. Bond hates Paris. So he concocts this elaborate plan to find a girl, give her 50,000 francs, "name" her whatever name he likes, ... I don't know. Fleming doesn't make it seem like Bond is planning on getting a prostitute, but this kind of treatment of a non-prostitute sounds insulting to me. Luckily, dangerous stuff starts happening, so Bond never executes this plan, but he was giving me the wiggens for a second.
4.) He insults the French more than once. I have no idea if that bothers you or not, but I always like to include whatever prejudices and hatred Bond is spewing at the moment.
...
Overall, a good story, but unable to be completely satisfying due to its length and the limitations that puts on the plot.
...
This story can also be found in the collection For Your Eyes Only or Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories.
MOVIE UPDATE: 1985 A View to A Kill. Roger Moore.
Well, the movie was completely silly and also had nothing to do with the actual story. Highlights: Grace Jones as May Day (OMG Grace Jones is so fit and fierce! I adored her as Zula in Conan the Destroyer.) I always like seeing her on screen! And, to a lesser extent, it was fun to see a younger Chris Walken (42) be the villain. Roger Moore, who was playing Bond in this film, was 58! And no offense, but he looked 58. I was having a hard time believing he could kick three bad guy's butts at once. Miss Moneypenny (well, Lois Maxwell) was the exact same age as Moore - 58! It was nice to see her again, as well as Desmond Llewelyn playing Q, of course. He was 71 when this was filmed. :) RIP Llewelyn and Maxwell. Bond has sex with 4 women in the film. In the book he only has sex with one woman.
The short story is better, obviously. But it is really short and also completely unrelated to the film, so I guess picking which one you like better is just a matter of personal preference. I know people are crazy about the films!
First things first. The name of this James Bond short story is From a View to a Kill. I'm not sure why it's listed wrong on GR.
I enjoyed this story very much.
WHAT I LIKED:
1.) Fleming's beautiful writing. See the quote at the beginning of the review for a sample.
2.) Bond is a three-dimensional character. He doubts himself. He goes through rough patches, his life is not the constant, smooth, playboy lifestyle that is shown in the pre-Craig films.
3.) Bond is merciful. I've discussed this at length in my Goldfinger review. Fleming's bond is not the cold-hearted, selfish bastard portrayed in the pre-Craig films. Instead, he tries to help people. He takes mercy on people and sometimes this backfires on him. He doesn't only have mercy on beautiful young women! He tries to save and protect men, too.
Not wanting to kill, he had kept the safety catch up. He tried to get his thumb to it. A boot hit him in the side of the head and he let the gun go and fell back. Through a red mist he saw the muzzle of the gun pointing at his face. The thought flashed through his mind that he was going to die - die for showing mercy...!
4.) Bond values human life and tries to avoid killing people. Again, something not addressed in the films.
Bond hooked his right thumb through his belt within inches of his gun-butt. He hoped he would not have to do any more killing.
5.) The way Bond treats his women in the books is scads better than in the films. In the films, Bond often slaps females, uses them as human shields, sexually assaults them, or strangles them with their own bikini tops. I have no idea why directors thought this necessary and/or sexy. He's much sexier in the books. Even if he does refer to women as bitches, wretches, beasts, or idiots (most noticeably in the book Casino Royale, which I gave 1 star) - he always does it in his mind and not out loud and he always goes out of his way to keep them safe - whether he likes them or not, whether they've slept with him or not.
In this book there is no name-calling of any females, to my immense relief. Instead, his love interest - Mary Ann Russell (how's that for a normal name! No Pussy Galore or Honeychile Rider here!) - gets the condescending Now, be a good girl and do as you're told. Insulting, however, I'll take it any day instead of "bitch" and "idiot."
6.) The love interest, Mary Ann Russell Kick-ass. Well, for a James Bond book.
7.) And this is what impressed me the most.
8.) We learn that Bond lost his virginity at age 16 in Paris. We learn that Bond loves to ride fast motorcycles.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
1.) No main villain. One of the funnest things about Bond books are the evil, over-the-top villains who make long speeches about how great they are, and have weird hobbies or backgrounds. Since this is a short story, there is no "main" villain - just some generic enemy spies - and that lessens the enjoyment.
2.) The relationship between Bond and Mary Ann is not developed. Again, this is the consequence of a short story. My absolute favorite thing in the Bond series is meeting different females and seeing how they interact with Bond, what their personalities are, and how that clashes with or compliments Bond's personality. I find it absolutely fascinating. While I did find Mary Ann to be a strong person, I knew next to nothing about her personality and her relationship with Bond barely gets a chance to blossom.
3.) I didn't like Bond's fantasy about meeting a "girl" at the beginning of the book. When Bond is not working, not on assignment - he tends to get depressed, introspective, morbid, and he tends to start drinking too much. Again, not something addressed in the pre-Craig films but an excellent extra layer to Fleming's character. This is good character development. ANYWAY. At the beginning of the story he is in one of his funks, and he is in Paris. Bond hates Paris. So he concocts this elaborate plan to find a girl, give her 50,000 francs, "name" her whatever name he likes, ... I don't know. Fleming doesn't make it seem like Bond is planning on getting a prostitute, but this kind of treatment of a non-prostitute sounds insulting to me. Luckily, dangerous stuff starts happening, so Bond never executes this plan, but he was giving me the wiggens for a second.
4.) He insults the French more than once. I have no idea if that bothers you or not, but I always like to include whatever prejudices and hatred Bond is spewing at the moment.
...
Overall, a good story, but unable to be completely satisfying due to its length and the limitations that puts on the plot.
...
This story can also be found in the collection For Your Eyes Only or Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories.
MOVIE UPDATE: 1985 A View to A Kill. Roger Moore.
Well, the movie was completely silly and also had nothing to do with the actual story. Highlights: Grace Jones as May Day (OMG Grace Jones is so fit and fierce! I adored her as Zula in Conan the Destroyer.) I always like seeing her on screen! And, to a lesser extent, it was fun to see a younger Chris Walken (42) be the villain. Roger Moore, who was playing Bond in this film, was 58! And no offense, but he looked 58. I was having a hard time believing he could kick three bad guy's butts at once. Miss Moneypenny (well, Lois Maxwell) was the exact same age as Moore - 58! It was nice to see her again, as well as Desmond Llewelyn playing Q, of course. He was 71 when this was filmed. :) RIP Llewelyn and Maxwell. Bond has sex with 4 women in the film. In the book he only has sex with one woman.
The short story is better, obviously. But it is really short and also completely unrelated to the film, so I guess picking which one you like better is just a matter of personal preference. I know people are crazy about the films!
April 26, 2020
James Bond detects and defeats a spy ring in France.Very boring,I couldn't get interested at all.
The film with this title is based on a totally different,original screenplay.It was Roger Moore's last James Bond film and he was clearly getting on in years.
It did pretty well commercially,but I didn't like it all that much.James Bond takes on Max Zorin,who plans to destroy California's Silicon Valley.
Two stars for the film,one for the short story.
The film with this title is based on a totally different,original screenplay.It was Roger Moore's last James Bond film and he was clearly getting on in years.
It did pretty well commercially,but I didn't like it all that much.James Bond takes on Max Zorin,who plans to destroy California's Silicon Valley.
Two stars for the film,one for the short story.
December 2, 2020
3 Stars. A touch light. This 31 page novella appears in a 1960 collection of five titled, "For Your Eyes Only." It was first in the "Daily Express" in 1959. The title is intriguing, especially the word "From." The movie dropped the word when Roger Moore starred in 1985. Until my reading, I never understood it's meaning! Bond has time on his hands. He has just finished an assignment which didn't go well, trying to get a man out of Communist Hungary. A mine field on the border with Austria ended that one. He's in Paris for a short break but, unlike many of us, he doesn't like the city much. He thinks it has sold its heart to tourists. This is 1959! When a motorcycle messenger carrying high-level secrets for SHAPE, an agency related to NATO, is murdered with his dispatch case missing, our hero is sent by M to St. Germain and Versailles to investigate. After several days of bureaucracy, and little in the way of results, he strikes out on his own. You'll enjoy his meeting a young agent, Number 765 - Mary Ann Russell; indeed one could say he persists in his search for the culprit just to have dinner with her! She turns out to be quite resourceful. What's your view? (August 2020)
August 11, 2018
Really! There is no logical sense at all. Ian was in such a hurry to finish the book. A total disaster and waste of time
October 8, 2022
از یک نگاه تا یک قتل
بسیار جذاب! ماموریتی بیشتر با باطن کارآگاهی برای مامور 007. ماجرا حول محور دزدیده شدن اسناد انتقالی بین دو سازمان می چرخه و باند ماموریت داره که پرده از ماجرا برداره قبل از اینکه MI6 استقلالش رو از دست بده!
بسیار جذاب! ماموریتی بیشتر با باطن کارآگاهی برای مامور 007. ماجرا حول محور دزدیده شدن اسناد انتقالی بین دو سازمان می چرخه و باند ماموریت داره که پرده از ماجرا برداره قبل از اینکه MI6 استقلالش رو از دست بده!
October 7, 2022
felt like a bad straight fanfic. 2(.5?) stars for the masculine man guys who manhandled the motorcycle
November 11, 2023
Part eleven (and the final entry) of my 2023 James Bond movie/book project. Continued from Octopussy in October.
A View to a Kill theme song by Duran Duran. 15 James Bond songs charted on the Billboard Hot 100. 10 made it to the top 40, seven to the top 10, four to the top five, two hit number two, but this was the only one to make it all the way to the top spot where it stayed for two weeks in July of 1985.
Yummers!
Duran Duran got the gig when bassist John Taylor, a big Bond fan, approached one of the producers at a party, drunk as a fart, and asked "When are you going to get someone decent to do one of your theme songs?" This may have been a slap in the face to Shirley Bassey, Paul McCartney and Wings, Sheena Easton, and several others, but apparently it had that "well shit, if you're so damn good, why don't you do it" affect.
"From a View to a Kill" appeared in the For Your Eyes Only collection. Since I'm making this project needlessly complicated, two stories are in that review, and this review will cover the other three including "Quantum of Solace" and "The Hildebrand Rarity" since I don't know where else to put them.
"From a View to a Kill" (story): ★★★✰✰
The story and the movie share two things: the title and James Bond. However, this was the most movieish of the stories in one way. If that ain't James Bond movie fun, then I don't know what is. None of the other books have that kind of secret spy set up that I can recall.
This was a pretty straightforward story. Someone is dispatching dispatchers and stealing their intel, but nobody can figure out how, at least not until Bond comes along. He spends almost an entire day lying in a tree casing the joint because he knows something fishy is going on there. This is something you'd never see movie Bond doing due to a dearth of action. Also, the girl Bond is shagging and not vice versa which was kind of cool.
A View to a Kill (movie): (no star rating since it's a movie)
This used to be my least favorite of the Moore Bonds, but it's grown on me over the past 25 years. Part of it is Christopher Walken whom I love in just about anything he does, and this film might've been my introduction to him.
"Intuitive improvisation is the secret of genius."
Mayday is also one of my favorite villains, and I was usually her in Goldeneye 007 for the N64. I would love to have used Jaws more, but he presented such a big target that he was hard to use without getting shot.
I don't know where this movie now stands in my personal ranking for the Roger Moore films, but it's a moot point since I love all of them. It's definitely not in last place anymore, though. As with most of the movies, I don't really need to watch it since I have it mostly memorized, but watch it I shall every time I see it on. I've actually seen the opening 10 minutes to this about 87 million times, and once upon a time I'd have been fine never seeing it again, but I don't mind it now. It's not a bad opening, but supersaturation can take the fun out of anything. My father and I were visiting my uncle for a week once, and this was when unc was still drinking 24/7. He was often a load of fun drunk or sober, but as you know, certain annoyances accompany someone when he's in his cups. I'd picked up this movie from the video store, we'd start it, get somewhere about a minute or two before or after the opening credits, then uncle would have to get up to do something. We'd pause the movie, he'd come back five or 20 minutes later, then ask us to start it over at the beginning because he couldn't remember it. This happened, like I said, about 87 million times, and after the fifth or sixth, daddy and I just started rolling our eyes and tried to suggest doing something else. We eventually got the movie watched sometime that week, though I think that was because uncle had passed out and stayed that way for the duration. When he wanted to watch it again, I was fine with him restarting it since I just read a book instead. I had a couple glasses of whatever throughout this and figured if I got knackered myself, I could enjoy this the same way as my uncle, but I didn't want to get shitfaced in front of my dad since he wasn't a drinker, so I restrained myself with only a modicum of difficulty. (I wasn't yet a hopeless sot since I'd only been drinking for a couple of years at that point). Needless to say, A View to a Kill was not the highlight of that trip no matter how much I like it now.
This was Roger Moore's final outing as Bond, and he had actually been trying to get away from the role for the last two or three movies, but they kept offering him more money, and he kept coming back. However, once he found out he was two years older than his leading lady's mother in this one, he said "That's it; I'm out. This is too sick, even for me." He doesn't exactly phone in this performance, but you can tell his heart's not in it. He didn't have any chemistry with the leading lady (probably due to the age thing), and he didn't get along well with Grace Jones who played Mayday, at least not for a while. Jones would play loud rock music in her dressing room while Moore was trying to take his afternoon nap. She wouldn't quit it until one day he stormed into her room, yanked the plug to the radio, blew up at her, threw a chair at the wall which was permanently scarred afterward, then stormed out. (Lack of sleep can have that affect on someone.)
Jones didn't play the music anymore, but this happened just before they were supposed to film a sex scene. Jones thought she'd lighten the mood by surprising Moore with a huge, black dildo when he slipped into the sheets, and here's where there are conflicting reports. Jones found it hilarious and laughed uproariously for 10 minutes. Moore either laughed too and all was forgiven, or didn't find it all that funny but was able to get through the scene.
Jones also stayed in character off camera as many actors and actresses are wont to do, and since she was supposed to be Bond's enemy, she stayed surly with him. I expect this didn't help matters.
As much as I hate to admit it, this movie owes a debt of gratitude to Dianne Feinstein, and... I... (come on Pierce, you can type this sentence. I believe in you.) Okay. I... am grate... Shit, I can't do it. (Yes you can! Even the worst of us can get something right once in a while, and you know she nailed it here, so say it, and be done with it!) Okay, fine. I'm grateful for the odious woman's involvement here. You happy now? (Yes... mostly. It could've been better, but we'll have to take what we can get.) Ah, blow it out your blimp.
Feinkenstein was a huge Bond fan with Roger Moore being her fave, so I suppose we can meet there and mingle before going our separate ways again. She was mayor of San Francisco at the time this was filmed and pretty much gave them carte blanche to do whatever the hell they wanted to in the city. The producers were so grateful that they premiered the film in San Fran, making it the first Bond film to have a premier outside of the United Kingdom.
Just as "Octopussy" didn't translate well (or at all) for some foreign languages, the phrase "A View to a Kill" had the same problem. Below is what it was called in other countries. None of these make any sense, but in all fairness, neither does the English title.
Germany: In the Face of Death
France: Dangerously Yours
Italy: Moving Target
Japan: The Beautiful Prey
Belgium: Dangerous Mission (Now there's an original title.)
Greece: Operation: Moving Target
Sweden: Living Target
The Swedes had even more trouble with their translation of the line in the film itself during the following exchange:
Mayday: "Wow, what a view."
Zorin: "To a kill."
But in Sweden with both the dubs and the subtitles, Zorin replies "Tokyo." Somewhere around the turn of the millennium, someone noticed that this was pretty asinine since they're staring at the Golden Gate Bridge and even foreigners know that ain't in Tokyo, so they changed it for future releases.
There's no comparison between the story and the movie. There's nothing wrong with the story, but the movie is better.
"Quantum of Solace": ★★★★✰ (3.5)
I don't really consider this to be a James Bond story, but it's still a good yarn. James Bond is in it, but there is no spy action other than him mentioning a case he was wrapping up involving supplies being given to Castro and the rebels in Cuba. Then he mentions that even though he had to help shut that down, his sympathies actually lied with Castro, and sup wit dat?! Fleming was writing this during the tail end of the revolution, and Batista was rather unlovely as well, so I guess it's a comparison, but still, Castro became a super commie. They were Bond's enemies!
All that really happens here is that after a dinner party, a governor tells Bond a story about a marriage gone bad, and it's pretty good. It made me think of Madam Bovary, but thank God it's a lot better than that.
"The Hildebrand Rarity": ★★★★✰ (3.5)
Bond uses his skills to clean up someone else's misbehavior though he's not sure who did the deed. He really doesn't care all that much, though, because the guy had it coming, and Bond doesn't want to be involved in an inquest when they get back to port. Bond might be a great spy and have a license to kill, but he only kills in the line of duty or to protect his own life or maybe someone else's. He's not always a great human being, but he is a fun character to read about.
Apparently elements of this were used in the movie License to Kill, but I'm so unfamiliar with that one that I couldn't tell you what elements were used. All I know about the movie is that it's the one with the opera singing Fratelli brother from The Goonies and FBI agent in Die Hard... And something about an exploding man in a pressure chamber.
I guess this is enough of an excuse to drop the License to Kill theme song sung by Gladys Knight here. I love Gladys, and although this isn't my favorite theme from the series, I do really like how they repeatedly use a chord progression from "Goldfinger." Nice touch.
Thus ends the 2023 James Bond movie/book project. Thanks for following along.
A View to a Kill theme song by Duran Duran. 15 James Bond songs charted on the Billboard Hot 100. 10 made it to the top 40, seven to the top 10, four to the top five, two hit number two, but this was the only one to make it all the way to the top spot where it stayed for two weeks in July of 1985.
Yummers!
Duran Duran got the gig when bassist John Taylor, a big Bond fan, approached one of the producers at a party, drunk as a fart, and asked "When are you going to get someone decent to do one of your theme songs?" This may have been a slap in the face to Shirley Bassey, Paul McCartney and Wings, Sheena Easton, and several others, but apparently it had that "well shit, if you're so damn good, why don't you do it" affect.
"From a View to a Kill" appeared in the For Your Eyes Only collection. Since I'm making this project needlessly complicated, two stories are in that review, and this review will cover the other three including "Quantum of Solace" and "The Hildebrand Rarity" since I don't know where else to put them.
"From a View to a Kill" (story): ★★★✰✰
The story and the movie share two things: the title and James Bond. However, this was the most movieish of the stories in one way. If that ain't James Bond movie fun, then I don't know what is. None of the other books have that kind of secret spy set up that I can recall.
This was a pretty straightforward story. Someone is dispatching dispatchers and stealing their intel, but nobody can figure out how, at least not until Bond comes along. He spends almost an entire day lying in a tree casing the joint because he knows something fishy is going on there. This is something you'd never see movie Bond doing due to a dearth of action. Also, the girl Bond is shagging and not vice versa which was kind of cool.
A View to a Kill (movie): (no star rating since it's a movie)
This used to be my least favorite of the Moore Bonds, but it's grown on me over the past 25 years. Part of it is Christopher Walken whom I love in just about anything he does, and this film might've been my introduction to him.
"Intuitive improvisation is the secret of genius."
Mayday is also one of my favorite villains, and I was usually her in Goldeneye 007 for the N64. I would love to have used Jaws more, but he presented such a big target that he was hard to use without getting shot.
I don't know where this movie now stands in my personal ranking for the Roger Moore films, but it's a moot point since I love all of them. It's definitely not in last place anymore, though. As with most of the movies, I don't really need to watch it since I have it mostly memorized, but watch it I shall every time I see it on. I've actually seen the opening 10 minutes to this about 87 million times, and once upon a time I'd have been fine never seeing it again, but I don't mind it now. It's not a bad opening, but supersaturation can take the fun out of anything. My father and I were visiting my uncle for a week once, and this was when unc was still drinking 24/7. He was often a load of fun drunk or sober, but as you know, certain annoyances accompany someone when he's in his cups. I'd picked up this movie from the video store, we'd start it, get somewhere about a minute or two before or after the opening credits, then uncle would have to get up to do something. We'd pause the movie, he'd come back five or 20 minutes later, then ask us to start it over at the beginning because he couldn't remember it. This happened, like I said, about 87 million times, and after the fifth or sixth, daddy and I just started rolling our eyes and tried to suggest doing something else. We eventually got the movie watched sometime that week, though I think that was because uncle had passed out and stayed that way for the duration. When he wanted to watch it again, I was fine with him restarting it since I just read a book instead. I had a couple glasses of whatever throughout this and figured if I got knackered myself, I could enjoy this the same way as my uncle, but I didn't want to get shitfaced in front of my dad since he wasn't a drinker, so I restrained myself with only a modicum of difficulty. (I wasn't yet a hopeless sot since I'd only been drinking for a couple of years at that point). Needless to say, A View to a Kill was not the highlight of that trip no matter how much I like it now.
This was Roger Moore's final outing as Bond, and he had actually been trying to get away from the role for the last two or three movies, but they kept offering him more money, and he kept coming back. However, once he found out he was two years older than his leading lady's mother in this one, he said "That's it; I'm out. This is too sick, even for me." He doesn't exactly phone in this performance, but you can tell his heart's not in it. He didn't have any chemistry with the leading lady (probably due to the age thing), and he didn't get along well with Grace Jones who played Mayday, at least not for a while. Jones would play loud rock music in her dressing room while Moore was trying to take his afternoon nap. She wouldn't quit it until one day he stormed into her room, yanked the plug to the radio, blew up at her, threw a chair at the wall which was permanently scarred afterward, then stormed out. (Lack of sleep can have that affect on someone.)
Jones didn't play the music anymore, but this happened just before they were supposed to film a sex scene. Jones thought she'd lighten the mood by surprising Moore with a huge, black dildo when he slipped into the sheets, and here's where there are conflicting reports. Jones found it hilarious and laughed uproariously for 10 minutes. Moore either laughed too and all was forgiven, or didn't find it all that funny but was able to get through the scene.
Jones also stayed in character off camera as many actors and actresses are wont to do, and since she was supposed to be Bond's enemy, she stayed surly with him. I expect this didn't help matters.
As much as I hate to admit it, this movie owes a debt of gratitude to Dianne Feinstein, and... I... (come on Pierce, you can type this sentence. I believe in you.) Okay. I... am grate... Shit, I can't do it. (Yes you can! Even the worst of us can get something right once in a while, and you know she nailed it here, so say it, and be done with it!) Okay, fine. I'm grateful for the odious woman's involvement here. You happy now? (Yes... mostly. It could've been better, but we'll have to take what we can get.) Ah, blow it out your blimp.
Feinkenstein was a huge Bond fan with Roger Moore being her fave, so I suppose we can meet there and mingle before going our separate ways again. She was mayor of San Francisco at the time this was filmed and pretty much gave them carte blanche to do whatever the hell they wanted to in the city. The producers were so grateful that they premiered the film in San Fran, making it the first Bond film to have a premier outside of the United Kingdom.
Just as "Octopussy" didn't translate well (or at all) for some foreign languages, the phrase "A View to a Kill" had the same problem. Below is what it was called in other countries. None of these make any sense, but in all fairness, neither does the English title.
Germany: In the Face of Death
France: Dangerously Yours
Italy: Moving Target
Japan: The Beautiful Prey
Belgium: Dangerous Mission (Now there's an original title.)
Greece: Operation: Moving Target
Sweden: Living Target
The Swedes had even more trouble with their translation of the line in the film itself during the following exchange:
Mayday: "Wow, what a view."
Zorin: "To a kill."
But in Sweden with both the dubs and the subtitles, Zorin replies "Tokyo." Somewhere around the turn of the millennium, someone noticed that this was pretty asinine since they're staring at the Golden Gate Bridge and even foreigners know that ain't in Tokyo, so they changed it for future releases.
There's no comparison between the story and the movie. There's nothing wrong with the story, but the movie is better.
"Quantum of Solace": ★★★★✰ (3.5)
I don't really consider this to be a James Bond story, but it's still a good yarn. James Bond is in it, but there is no spy action other than him mentioning a case he was wrapping up involving supplies being given to Castro and the rebels in Cuba. Then he mentions that even though he had to help shut that down, his sympathies actually lied with Castro, and sup wit dat?! Fleming was writing this during the tail end of the revolution, and Batista was rather unlovely as well, so I guess it's a comparison, but still, Castro became a super commie. They were Bond's enemies!
All that really happens here is that after a dinner party, a governor tells Bond a story about a marriage gone bad, and it's pretty good. It made me think of Madam Bovary, but thank God it's a lot better than that.
"The Hildebrand Rarity": ★★★★✰ (3.5)
Bond uses his skills to clean up someone else's misbehavior though he's not sure who did the deed. He really doesn't care all that much, though, because the guy had it coming, and Bond doesn't want to be involved in an inquest when they get back to port. Bond might be a great spy and have a license to kill, but he only kills in the line of duty or to protect his own life or maybe someone else's. He's not always a great human being, but he is a fun character to read about.
Apparently elements of this were used in the movie License to Kill, but I'm so unfamiliar with that one that I couldn't tell you what elements were used. All I know about the movie is that it's the one with the opera singing Fratelli brother from The Goonies and FBI agent in Die Hard... And something about an exploding man in a pressure chamber.
I guess this is enough of an excuse to drop the License to Kill theme song sung by Gladys Knight here. I love Gladys, and although this isn't my favorite theme from the series, I do really like how they repeatedly use a chord progression from "Goldfinger." Nice touch.
Thus ends the 2023 James Bond movie/book project. Thanks for following along.
August 27, 2015
My first Bond story. The writing is descriptive and imaginative From pleasant tongue-in-cheek-Brit musings about what drink to order, to the gripping action sequences, this has it all.
August 2, 2016
My favorite short story of james bond. Dont know why there are so many bad reviews. I enjoyed this story and if you're a bond fan you will too!!!
May 9, 2023
The set, with the view, is one of the most memorable scenes Fleming ever wrote. It just pops into my head when I think of Bond.
Read
January 22, 2016A nice little short story by Fleming!
March 24, 2025
Very short story. The film used the title, but had nothing to do with the book’s story.
September 12, 2022
Stick to novels, Ian. Short stories aren’t your forté.
September 29, 2020
It’s short, it’s punchy and it contains all the elements of Fleming’s Bond.
April 3, 2021
A serviceable story, this Bond thriller takes not more than an hour to read, and engages all the elements of a Bond story. It is interesting enough, worth the hour it takes.
October 21, 2021
A dispatch rider gets killed with a satchel of important classified documents taken after the fact. Bond comes up with a plan of impersonating a replacement driver. Our man escapes death by millimeters once again. Recommended.
June 2, 2022
Read in 2June2022 as part of the collection For Your Eyes Only.
August 18, 2022
Eh, it was ok.
March 15, 2023
Ridiculous enemy hideout.
November 7, 2023
THIS SUCKED.
read it for class i hated it omg so complicated and goes into such unnecessary details so it’s hard to focus
read it for class i hated it omg so complicated and goes into such unnecessary details so it’s hard to focus
October 20, 2024
Is it just my imagination or does (the novel) James Bond always need to be rescued?
January 7, 2025
Exactly why I love Ian Fleming. I tight, well written short story with all the crucial elements in abundance.
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