Every James Bond Movie, Ranked Worst to Best

The year: 1985

The 007: Roger Moore

The (non-UK) location(s): San Francisco, Russia, Paris

The theme song: "A View to a Kill" performed by Duran Duran

Easily the worst Bond film, A View to a Kill has one clear highlight: a terrific theme song by peak-popularity Duran Duran—the only Bond theme to chart at #1 in the U.S. But not even a welcome turn by Grace Jones as the henchwoman May Day (who received better reviews than Christopher Walken, playing the main villain Max Zorin after the role was turned down by both David Bowie and Sting) could salvage an overlong, by-the-numbers film that appeared to represent a series—or at least a character—on its last legs.

At the time it was just the second Bond film with a completely original story, with no connection to a particular Fleming work save for the borrowing of a title (and even that was incomplete; Fleming's title was "From a View to a Kill"). Critics felt the plot borrowed too heavily from Goldfinger (as well as 1978's Superman, another film in which a villain hopes to destroy California by triggering a massive earthquake) and failed at its attempts at humor, and also were quick to poke fun at 007's advanced age. A View to a Kill was the final Bond film to star Moore, who turned 57 just before the film's release, as well as the final one to feature Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny, ending a 14-film run.

“There is some magnificent stunt work, which only underscores how inadequate Moore has become. Moore isn't just long in the tooth -- he's got tusks, and what looks like an eye job has given him the pie-eyed blankness of a zombie. He's not believable anymore in the action sequences, even less so in the romantic scenes.” —Paul Attanasio, The Washington Post