BOND: 10 Things You Might Not Know About A VIEW TO A KILL

Geek Dave spends quite a lot of time in the saddle.

1. A View To A Kill was the second film in Roger Moore's lucrative two-picture deal negotiated to entice him to reprise the part of Bond in time for the 20th Anniversary feature, Octopussy, and although there was talk in the press that Moore would be back for yet another outing as 007 after this, he was never once offered an eighth picture. Albert R. Broccoli even went so far as stating he felt that retaining Moore, who turned 57 during filming, had been a mistake.

However, Roger Moore remembers it differently. He said that he finally realised enough was enough and decided to end his run as James Bond himself. He came to the decision when Tanya Roberts, who played his love-interest in A View To A Kill, Bond Girl Stacey Sutton, introduced him to her mother who was visiting her on-set. Moore discovered she was younger than him!

2. On the subject of this film's Bond Girls, in his 2008 biography My Name Is My Bond, Roger Moore says he never felt there was any chemistry between him and Tanya Roberts, which may not be surprising considering he was twice her age. Moore also revealed something of a dislike of one of A View To A Kill's other Bond Girls, May Day, as played by Grace Jones.

Well, I say he revealed a dislike for Jones, this is actually what he wrote...

"I've always said if you've nothing nice to say about someone, then you should say nothing. So I'll say nothing."

Director John Glen can shed some light on their relationship, as in his memoirs he wrote,

"We were filming the scene where Roger slips between the sheets when Grace suddenly produced a huge black dildo from under the covers. She was screaming with laughter for about 10 minutes, although I'm not sure Roger saw the funny side."

3. David Bowie was first in line to play Max Zorin, and was officially offered the part. He became so close to taking the role that early publicity for A View To A Kill in 1984 included an announcement that Bowie would be playing the Bond villain in the film.

That press release jumped the gun a bit as he ended up turning it down, saying,

"I didn't want to spend five months watching my stunt double fall off cliffs."

After Bowie passed on the role it was offered to Sting, who also declined, and finally to Christopher Walken, who became the first Academy Award-winning actor to star in a Bond film. Not bad company to keep.

4. As well as being Roger Moore's final Bond film, A View To A kill also marked Lois Maxwell's final appearance as Miss Moneypenny. She was the only actor still working on the series since the first release, way back in 1962 with Dr. No.

After she was told that she would be retiring from the role, she asked if her character could be killed off or even become the M character as a promotion. Maxwell later said that at the time Cubby Broccoli told her that audiences would not accept James Bond being given orders by a woman.

5. Maud Adams revealed that whilst visiting her friend Roger Moore on location she ended up appearing as an extra in the crowd during one of the Fisherman's Wharf scenes. Director John Glen also later confirmed Adams appearance.

Adams, of course, had already appeared in two other Roger Moore Bond films. In 1973 she played Andrea Anders in The Man with the Golden Gun, and the title character in 1983's Octopussy. You can see her above, she's behind and to the left of David Yip's character Chuck Lee, she's wearing sunglasses and walking with her then boyfriend.

6. It seems everybody had visitors whilst they were on location filming A View To A Kill. Dolph Lundgren, who was dating Grace Jones at the time, made his debut on screen appearance whilst he was visiting Jones on set. One of the extras hadn't turned up so John Glen asked Lundgren if he wanted to fill in for him.

Lundgren's character is called Venz, he's one of General Gogol's KGB Agents, and you can see him during the confrontation between Gogol and Zorin at the racetrack, standing several steps below Gogol.

7. When a company with a name similar to Zorin (the Zoran Corporation) was discovered in the United States, a disclaimer was added to the start of the film affirming that Zorin was not related to any real-life company. Making A View To A Kill the first Bond film to feature a disclaimer.

8. Duran Duran was chosen to record the theme song for A View To A Kill after bassist John Taylor (a lifelong Bond fan) approached producer Cubby Broccoli at a party, and somewhat drunkenly asked,

"When are you going to get someone decent to do one of your theme songs?"

Duran Duran's A View to a Kill reached number two on the UK Singles Chart and number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, thus becoming the most successful song in the James Bond series.

9. The mayor of San Francisco at the time of filming, Dianne Feinstein was a big Bond fan, and Roger Moore was her favorite of the first three actors to play 007. Because of this she granted all the necessary permits to film in the city without hesitation.

Thanks to this unprecedented level of co-operation from the San Francisco authorities, producer Albert R. Broccoli insisted that the film's premiere take place in the city, at the Palace of Fine Arts on May 22nd 1985. Making A View To A Kill the first Bond film to premiere outside the UK.

10. The title is adapted from Ian Fleming's short story From a View to a Kill (although the film has an entirely original screenplay), and it's a title which didn't translate well, meaning the film was totally renamed in nearly every foreign territory. Among them, it was known as In The Face Of Death (Germany), Dangerously Yours (France), Moving Target (Italy), The Beautiful Prey (Japan), Dangerous Mission (Belgium), Operation: Moving Target (Greece), and Living Target (Sweden).

Maybe it's because of the change of title that the Swedish dub and subtitles were incorrect for almost 15 years. As Max Zorin and May Day are hovering over the Golden Gate Bridge in their airship, she says "Wow, what a view", to which Zorin should add "...To a kill!" However, in the Swedish dub Zorin inexplicably says "Tokyo!"