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A psychotic businessman (Christopher Walken) plans to plunge Silicon Valley into the ocean to create a worldwide microchip monopoly for himself in Roger Moore’s final outing as James Bond. A View to Kill is more aggressively paced than other Bond films, and features more than its fair share of set pieces and stunts, including a parachute jump off the Eiffel Tower and a climactic gunfight atop the Golden Gate bridge. While it’s widely regarded as one of Moore’s worst Bond films, I can’t hide my love for this movie: I think it’s one of the best of the franchise.

Walken and Grace Jones play memorable villains. Jones, in particular, leaves a lasting impression. She’s more than a beautiful face here, thanks to a screenplay that gives her character a respectable arc. Hollywood never figured out quite what to do with the odd but beguiling Jones, but as a villain’s right-hand assassin and lover, she’s perfect. I also enjoy Tanya Roberts as the “Bond girl” this time around. She’s not the strongest character, but Roberts is beautiful and charming — if a bit too young for the aging Moore. John Barry’s score is one of his best for the series, and Duran Duran’s title song is also a favorite. I love how Barry incorporates the song’s melody (which he cowrote) into the score, to both highly romantic and triumphant effects.

In addition to this being Moore’s swan song, it would also be the last to feature the late Lois Maxwell, who played Miss Moneypenny in every film up to that point (all 14 of them).

Directed by John Glen. With Patrick Macnee, Peter Bauchau, David Yip, Alison Doody, Robert Brown, and Desmond Llewelyn.