A View to a Kill is a 1985 James Bond film directed by John Glen and the seventh and final appearance of Roger Moore as 007. In the story, Bond investigates industrialist Max Zorin, played by Christopher Walken, whose plan is nothing less than the destruction of Silicon Valley in order to dominate the microchip market. With Grace Jones as May Day and Tanya Roberts as Stacey Sutton, the film pushes the series toward a more extravagant and slightly comic-book direction, mixing horse-racing intrigue, Soviet connections, high-tech sabotage and one of the most spectacular finales of the Moore era. It may be one of the more divisive Bond entries, but it remains a very recognisable late-period 007 film, not least because of its scale, its villains and its famous Duran Duran theme song.
The film was shot across several countries, and those real locations are a major part of its visual identity. Production began in Iceland for the snowy pre-title sequence, before moving to England, France, Switzerland and the United States. In England, Pinewood Studios handled much of the interior work, while Royal Ascot Racecourse was used for the horse-racing scenes, and the mine material was filmed at a flooded quarry near Staines-upon-Thames and at Amberley Chalk Pits Museum in West Sussex. The French section gave the film some of its most memorable European imagery, including the Eiffel Tower, its Jules Verne restaurant and Château de Chantilly. In the United States, San Francisco became the film’s most important real-world setting, with major scenes filmed at Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco City Hall and the Golden Gate Bridge, while the Lefty O’Doul Bridge appeared in the fire engine chase. Altogether, the film moves from icy wilderness and aristocratic Europe to a highly recognisable San Francisco, giving it a broad, international feel even by Bond standards.
Pont d’Iéna Stairs
Pont d’Iéna Stairs appears in A View to a Kill (1985). The stairway is used as part of one of the film’s best-known Paris action sequences.
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