The Eiffel Tower has appeared frequently in works of fiction because of its iconic nature. Movie critic Roger Ebert has noted in his online column that no matter where in Paris a film scene is set the Eiffel Tower will be visible in the background. Ebert's comment was meant in jest, but scenes in movies such as The Longest Day with gratuitous use of the Tower in the background lend credence to the joke.
Major plot element
In some cases the tower is the key plot element or a significant plot element.
1980 John Denis' novel The Hostage Tower (written under Alistair Maclean) features an audacious scheme to capture the tower and use the threat of its destruction to extort millions from the French government. The story was adapted into a telemovie of the same name.
1985 The James Bond film A View to a Kill contains a scene in the tower, including scenes in the Jules Verne restaurant there (filmed elsewhere), a fight on the stairway, and a BASE jump off the top of the tower as Bond (played for the last time by Roger Moore) chased a masked hitman who had just killed the......