75 replies to this topic

[Qwerty]

Why is it every time I watch the cable car/ ambulance sequences in Moonraker I get a sudden urge to drink 7-Up?

As Bond would later quip in OP: "It certainly pays to advertise."

Quite.

The product placement is overdone in the cable car/ambulence sequences.

[A Kristatos]

Worst. Bond. Movie. EVER.

Don't get me wrong, I love Sir Roger Moore's performance as Bond but the only good scenes were the PTS and the scene where Bond is fighting the little asian assassin. That's it. It was nice to see Jaws in MR but this movie is just terrible.

Michael Lonsdale is possibly the dryest villan in the franchise history, and Lois Chiles' Dr. Goodhead...lovely lady and all...plays a good Bond girl but she tries too hard.

The plot was feasible, however Bond in space just doesn't fit. James Bond is an earthbound person with earthbound problems facing off with earthbound villians who want to sink continents..which should have been the true plot to Moonraker..oh wait it was, IN THE BOOK.

The title song suffers too. It's slow and boring, To add insult to the injury there's a disco version of the song at the end credits. Did the director want people to abondon this film after the PTS?

The only true positive thing I'll say about this movie: Thank goodness for For Your Eyes Only.

Thank you 008! Definately the worst Bond movie of all for me as well, with the exception of Casino Royale 1967. Yes it is one of Moore's best performances, but not much else is appealing here outside of two cute Bond girls. Way too over-the-top, and a plot that would even be stupid by Star Wars standards! (Okay, maybe not, but I'm just trying to make a point about how stupid a Bond movie this is!). 3 out of 10 for me.

[Keir]

No Tarzan ape calls, but oooof this is an awful movie. The gondola chase sequence was a new and lingering low. Having a Japanese guy wearing his suit in Venice is absolutely ridiculous. Cheap comic laughs are thrown in that do nothing to add to the film. Having weapons embossed with '007' looked more like a plug for Corgi toys than something I would believe to be produced for secret agents. And then there are the incongruities that flourish- like when Jaws nearly kills that woman and, having miraculously been saved by a crowd of revellers, simply touches her neck and says to Bond if he found anything. Meanwhile, Jaws is still on that street.
Why the theme to Magnificent Seven plays when that faux doctor crashes into a billboard with English is beyond me when we're still in Rio.
Someone mentioned the 'collateral damage' in the form of those doctors who get killed in Venice. What about those round mines Bnd releases from his boat. Dozens are released but only a few explode- leaving a major threat for anyone and anything.
Does anyone else notice that machineguns have no effect on any watercraft in this film, from gondolas to sppedboats?
The stunts in the film are quite breathtaking at times, though....

Edited by Keir, 06 July 2007 - 04:05 PM.

[BoogieBond]

I really like Moonraker. I gave it a 9.
So much works for me. It entertains like no other, apart from Spy and Thunderball. I normally switch of after 1hr 30 though(The space scenes take a point off as they are not up with the first hour and a half), which is why I didn't give it a 10.
It was also, my first Bond film I watched on the big screen(Another nostalgia post), remember thinking during the PTS "Wow that was really cool"

Edited by BoogieBond, 18 June 2008 - 11:23 PM.

[Colossus]

10 from me! Favorite Moore Bond unquestionably. This is the most fun Bond. A rollercoaster in every sense of the word, there are iconic scenes like the skydiving opening, the boat chase in the Amazon with the 007 theme, the museum fight, the quotably briliant Drax, Holly Goodhead is one of the most underrated Bond girls, the Q Lab in the Spanish Mission, Moore is at the top of his game.

Balls Q? Bolas 007. But also splendiforous!

[Scottlee]

Just voted on this one for the first time - I've awarded an '8'.

My 5th favourite Moore movie but I still love it, bar the odd stupid unnecessary comedic moment.

[broadshoulder]

Moonraker is like a big St Bernard dog so eager is it to please that its wagging tail knocks over every thing in the room.

Confused? Yes, well every action scene ends with a silly joke. Bond is pushed out of a plane, has to shoot down and wrestle the parachute off a guy, Jaws appears and falls into a circus tent. There is a brilliant speedboat chase on the canals, Bond escapes with a gondola which floats up onto St Marks Square to double taking pigeons. It goes on and on..with the exception of the burning off the exhaust pit every action scene is eventually played for laughs.

But somehow it works. It wins you over on pure charm alone.

The witty lines given to Michael Lonsdale, the Ken Adam sets, the John Stears SFX, the grinning Mooreisms, the fabulous shots of Rio or Iguacu Falls, the chateau in France, the comedic Lewis Gilbert direction, the lovely Lois Chiles, the lush John Barry soundtrack, the sheer bonkers idea of a space station about to unleash nerve gas only made from an Amazonian orchid.

Moonraker, has a lot of faults, but may be the most likeable film of the lot.

[RJJB]

Gimme room...

Moonraker represents a time in which the creative juices have completely dried up and the producers are coasting completely on auto-pilot. The movie is just formulaic and boring. The prevailing attitude is “Let’s throw in everything but the kitchen sink.” Forgetting once again that Bond movies are supposed to set trends and not follow other trends, the producers created a steaming pile almost as large as the one that buried Dr. No in the novel of the same name.

First the movie’s good points: The title song. Ah, Shirley Bassey singing a smooth as silk ballad. After the horrible songs of the three previous movies, it was good to get back to a more mature title tune.
Second: the scene in which Ms. Dufour is taken down by the Dobermans. Nice cinematography and actually chilling.
Third: the beautiful blonde that beckons Moore to Drax’s pyramid. Very alluring.

Of course the weakest part of the movie is its leading man. An actor who walks through the movie, poses no physical threat, has no chemistry with women and shamefully mugs for the camera has no business appearing in a James Bond movie.

Other folks have mentioned the asininity of the pre-title sequence, so I won’t kick that dead horse, except to ask what the hell is Jaws doing in that scene? He adds nothing. He’s the “kitchen sink” for the PTS. And what happened to the woman that Moore was romancing when the plane eventually crashed?

Moore’s initial meeting with M shows how the scene was just put in the movie because they needed the traditional briefing scene. When Moore walks through the door and asks “Moonraker, sir?” it’s a good indication that we are going to plod through the movie. No intrigue for Moore, just another routine assignment.

Lethargy continues as Moore meets Drax. A more boring confrontation I can not recall. Verbal sparring is nowhere to found and the conversation between the two is just tedious. At least in a bold creative touch, Drax has a silent Oriental right hand man. Where do they get these innovative ideas?

Moore’s interaction with his leady lady starts poorly. Holly Goodhead’s icy demeanor is met by Moore’s adolescent smirking and effeminate demeanor. I think she could have neutered the wimp without breaking a sweat. When Moore again meets Holly in Venice and exclaims “Dr. Goodhead!”, it’s more hammy acting, no at all representative of the cool masculinity the character is supposed to possess. Poor Lois Chiles is given a poorly written character – no pizzazz—and is forced to try to appear interested in the buffoon playing opposite here. Their poorly acted battle of the sexes is forced and never believable. I think Lois Chiles is very beautiful but her role was so bland that the poor woman never had a chance to shine. The scene in which she disables the radar jamming device is so bad. She drones on with no emotion at all.

The re-introduction of Jaws to the story was probably a good time to go out to the concession stand in the theater. By that time, the well of ideas had completely dried up and I was parched. Another example of the ridiculousness that the series embraced, made even worse by the return of a threat that had overstayed his welcome in the previous cartoon.

The action sequences
We all know about the lousy scene in Venice. The Bondola violates the basic rule that the audience is supposed to have been introduced to the gadgets before they are actually used. That Moore goes zipping around the canals and then sits in it as it becomes a hovercraft is pure trash. The entire scene also suffers from its comedic approach. Moore dispatches the unnamed henchman who rises out of a coffin during a funeral. When the guy dies and the coffin lid closes on him, the scene feels like part of an amusement park ride, not a Bond movie. Of course Moore closes the scene with more prissy mugging for the camera, as the fop rides the hovercraft through St. Mark’s Square.

I can’t say too much about Moore’s final encounter with Chang. I haven’t seen it for years and I don’t remember too much about it—which is a good indication as to how bad it was.

I do however remember a lot about cable car encounter between the forces of good and evil. The entire scene was poorly orchestrated, Jaws’ leap from one car to another looked completely fake. And the fisticuffs with Moore and Holly lacked any kind of suspense. And why would they dump Jaws into the cable car, instead of throwing him over the side? I thought someone had a license to kill, not a license to appear in live action Looney Toon cartoons.

By the time the epic space battle begins, there is little anticipation for any cinematic satisfaction left, except maybe for the realization that our suffering will soon be over. The cliché of the final battle had become so stale by this point, that it was completely without any excitement. Another example of how the movies had become a cookie cutter experience. Let’s just be sure to include each little piece and hope that the big picture comes out OK.

And let’s not forget the tense scene after the epic battle in which has to shoot down one last remaining globe. Oops, the firing system isn’t working properly. Use the force, Roger,

Moonraker was ballyhooed by Broccoli as “not science fiction, but science fact.” I am still waiting to see an actual laser gun such as those used in this movie. The simple fact is the producers capitulated to the current trends and produced a second rate science fiction adventure. Let’s face it: if this were a no name entry in the genre, it would have been completely dismissed. Unfortunately, Broccoli and company sold out the entire audience for the sake of making a piece of crap. It made millions, but it lowered the standards for the series. There had been earlier missteps (YOLT and DAF spring to mind), but Moonraker took the franchise deeper into the toilet than any earlier movie.

There are folks who refer to this movie as one of the “fun” Bonds. Sorry, but if I want comedy, I’ll see a real comedy. Turning the focus to lame, juvenile humor was a mistake. No matter how much money the movie earned. Bond movies are supposed to be exciting, innovative, and dare I say ADULT entertainment. Too bad the producers lost sight of their original vision. But they made their money. Another common fallacy is that the movie reflected the sprit of the times. I think that’s another cop out. What movies of the same period were recognized for their quality? Generally, it’s the serious dramas that win Academy Awards. They may not be the huge money makers, but the effort is there to produce a quality movie on the terms of the producers’ intent.

Moonraker is best forgotten as any kind of movie.

Edited by RJJB, 12 July 2008 - 12:30 PM.

[Johnboy007]

7/10.

At least this film recognizes the fact that it's absolutely ridiculous and never even attempts to take itself seriously. The pre-titles is a doozy with James Bond falling out of an airplane, catching up with a henchman, stealing his parachute, and "defeat" Jaws. James Bond rassles a huge snake, drives a gondola through the streets of Venice, survives a centrifuge at 9 bagillion G's, and operates multiple space shuttle controls. I'll take any of that over Pierce Brosnan attempting to carry a scene with "acting". Holly Goodhead... what more is there to say? John Barry and Bassey deliver again.

The only real thing to hate is Chang. He's such a boring, uninspiring henchman in such a wonderfully outrageous movie.

Yet amidst all of the silliness the gassing of the scientists, Jaws in the alleyway, and the attack dogs are some of the more chilling scenes of the franchise.

[Qwerty]

The only real thing to hate is Chang. He's such a boring, uninspiring henchman in such a wonderfully outrageous movie.

At least he comes to life a little bit during the Venetian glass museum fight.

[DAN LIGHTER]

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this film. I cant remember ever seeing it on TV in the UK. I think they skip it when doing re-runs of Bond films. Which is a shame. Watch it on a Sunday afternoon. Lie back on the sofa and relax. Your be surprised how much fun it is. Drax was a great. I really like the look of this film.

Great Fun!=)

[Double-Oh Agent]

A 7 out of 10 for me.

[Judo chop]

If I’m honest, it’s Moore’s second best film behind SWLM. But since I’m a fork-tongued liar, it’s his third best and LALD beats ‘em all out.

In either event, Moonraker IS Bond. Its flaws are superficial and with just a little discipline can be easily laughed away. At its core, it’s one of the most beautiful and charming 007 adventures of the bunch.

[Daddy Bond]

If I’m honest, it’s Moore’s second best film behind SWLM. But since I’m a fork-tongued liar, it’s his third best and LALD beats ‘em all out.

In either event, Moonraker IS Bond. Its flaws are superficial and with just a little discipline can be easily laughed away. At its core, it’s one of the most beautiful and charming 007 adventures of the bunch.

I agree. Personally, I gave it an 8. I always enjoy watching Moonraker.

[Lazenby880]

"Moonraker" is one of my favourite Fleming novels. The writing is uniformly excellent, the characterisation particularly strong (Gala Brand is a classic Bond girl), the book has a bittersweet ending and a superb plot. A superb plot for a book. It would be exceedingly difficult to film in an exciting way as a straight adaptation with the technical advances in movie-making by the 1970s. Had it been filmed in the 1950s it could have been a classic. I can imagine the cliff/beach scene having a real sense of danger at the time. However, with the story set entirely in England, the plot revealed at a comparatively slow pace and the danger (a missile at London) quite low-key it would not have worked in 1979. I can almost see made now as a period thriller for BBC4 or something like that, however for a blockbuster picture it is rather tame.

And although "Moonraker" the film probably doesn't stand up to much analysis it is incredibly good fun. The script is sharp. The well-judged humour allows Moore to play to his strengths and there are some fantastic humorous moments (such as the 80-year-old line, the gas-masks, the jibe about Britain's contribution to the civilised world being little more than afternoon tea with cucumber sandwiches). Juxtaposed with this are several quite disturbing moments, notably the centrifuge scene and Miss Dufour being hunted down by dogs. Yes, it has been made for a laugh. The rampant commercıalısm is very evident throughout (British Airways got great exposure from this film). Yet the whole enterprise is executed with such aplomb and such tongue in cheek that the film-makers get away with it.

I do have a real soft spot for "Moonraker": it is ludicrous and absurd and cheesy however it *knows* it is ludicrous and absurd and cheesy. As mentioned, the film contains one of Roger Moore's strongest performances, there is a hilariously camp and entertaining villain in Drax, there are some moments of genuinely good humour (the cucumber sandwiches, for instance, and the gas masks) and "Moonraker" enjoys some very witty writing. There are a few clunkers ('I never learned to read' springs to mind), however by not trying to be serious the film even gets away with 'Bond in Space' and a whole host of other daft bits. Coupled with that, conversely, are a few of the more violent episodes in Bond such as the death of the lovely Corinne and the rather callous non-reaction of Bond (so much for 'fun for the family' Bond flicks).

By not trying to do anything 'deep' or 'important' Moonraker succeeds on its own merits as a thoroughly entertaining Bond picture. This sets it apart from the split-personality and woefully written/acted "Die Another Day".

Would I want every Bond film to be akin to "Moonraker"? Absolutely not. I prefer "Casino Royale" and "The Living Daylights". To prefer one kind of Bond film does not mean one must loathe another. To coin a tired cliché variety *is* the spice of life: Moore playing with eyebrow raised all the way through, the luxurious cinematography, the brilliant jokes; I cannot deny that "Moonraker" can be relied upon to bring a smile to my face.

Edited by Lazenby880, 25 February 2009 - 11:13 PM.

[scaramunga]

I enjoy Moonraker for the many locations, fine John Barry score, great Shirley Bassey theme song and the lightness of the film. I really enjoy all of the Bond films for different reasons. The Roger Moore ones are my favorites however. I appreciate how the character has changed with the times and yet is essentially the same too.

Looking forward to Moonraker on blu ray on Tuesday too!

[Matt_13]

6

All the points go to the locations minus space.

[tim partridge]

Does anyone else really rate the moment where Bond is spying on the Drax aeroplane through that pay telescope? That's pretty definitive for me. I love how he meets Goodhead up there too.

[Turn]

Does anyone else really rate the moment where Bond is spying on the Drax aeroplane through that pay telescope? That's pretty definitive for me. I love how he meets Goodhead up there too.

That is a nice little unsung moment. I also like the gesture when Bond walks over to her and puts his hand on hers and Goodhead remarks. "The face is familiar, as is the manner."

[Fiona Volpe lover]

Moonraker is glorious fun and as I get older it doesn't diminish for me,it actually gets better and better! I've even grown to like Jaws changing sides [after all,even in Thr Spy Who Loved Me they played him for laughs some of the time]. The only thing that really doesn't work for me is the cable car sequence. Such great potential,and then the sequence starts and is over before you know it. I was watching Where Eagles dare the other day snd that has a GREAT cable car fight!

[dee-bee-five]

Moonraker is glorious fun and as I get older it doesn't diminish for me,it actually gets better and better! I've even grown to like Jaws changing sides [after all,even in Thr Spy Who Loved Me they played him for laughs some of the time]. The only thing that really doesn't work for me is the cable car sequence. Such great potential,and then the sequence starts and is over before you know it. I was watching Where Eagles dare the other day snd that has a GREAT cable car fight!

Watch it on Blu Ray; it's even more glorious.

Okay, so Moonraker isn't in the same league as OHMSS, CR or QoS - for me the three front runners in the series (by a mile) - but as camp, escapist nonsense on a big budget, it's up there with the best of them.

[O.H.M.S.S.]

I recently rewatched all the Bond films. I have to say I really liked Moonraker this time. I still think there are too many campy moments and the plot doesn't always make sense. But the music is great, the production design breathtaking, the cinematography creates a great atmposhere and the direction is done properly. The casting was good as well. So I decided that Moonraker deserves a 7/10. And maybe it was somewhat of a missed opportunity, because of the silliness.

Edited by O.H.M.S.S., 28 March 2009 - 02:39 PM.

[Licence_007]

It is a strictly middle of the road Bond in my view. It isn't terrible, but it is far from the best. Whilst it is more memorable than some Bond films (Thunderball and Diamonds Are Forever right away come to me as quite forgettable Bond flicks), this is mainly due to the climax of the film. The space setting and Jaws return are quite possibly the only reasons I remember this film, since the main villian is bland and is essentially overshadowed by the metal-toothed henchman. An attempt to cash in on the fascination with Sci-fi, it makes for quite a poor outing in my opinion. Bond whilst not remaining firmly rooted in reality, should not be as fantastic as this film.

5/10

[chrisno1]

In 2008 I watched all the Bond movies and wrote a series of reviews for another site. The aim was to watch them in order in the run up to the premiere of QOS. I succeeded and the reviews were well received.
However, subsequently, I have re-read my reviews and re-watched a number of the movies (the BFI had a whole 007 season earlier this year and I saw quite a few on the big screen again!).
This is my updated review for Moonraker.

MOONRAKER
REVISED REVIEW 14/1/10

When defending his critics against Moonraker, Cubby Broccoli used to talk of the Harry Houdini Syndrome: that if an audience liked something you gave them more of the same. He certainly does that here.

Moonraker is a re-run of The Spy Who Loved Me, from its plot machinations to the cast and crew. It has the same exotic look and a similarly unruffled hero. We are in another world; by the end of the film, literally.

Moonraker starts with an irrelevant but fantastic sky diving stunt, accompanied by a re-vamped Bond Theme from John Barry, who does some sterling work on this film. His title song, while slight, has a melancholic touch and he integrates this mood through film. Maurice Binder’s film sequence to accompany it is above standard, recalling his sixties heigh day.

Next, during airborne transportation, a space shuttle is stolen and Bond is assigned to discover who is responsible. His travels take him to a French palace imported and reconstructed in the California desert, real palaces in Venice, the carnival in Rio de Janerio, Mayan temples in the Amazon and, ultimately, a space station orbiting the earth. On the way he gets into numerous scrapes and beds a bevy of beautiful, but passive, women.

It’s all splendidly photographed by Jean Tournier and magnificently realised by Ken Adam and a willing army of designers, set dressers and costumers. You can’t fault the stunt team either who give us fights in glass museums, chases on rivers and over waterfalls, a particularly nasty episode in a centrifuge machine and a stunning confrontation on the cable cars at the Sugar Loaf Mountain.

Michael Lonsdale does and an adequate job as Drax, the villain of the piece, as smooth a megalomaniac as you will ever meet. Writer Christopher Wood gives him a nice turn of phrase, never more so than when, having witnessed Bond dispatch a twenty foot anaconda, he sighs: “You defy all my attempts to plan an amusing death for you.”

But other than competing for the wittiest line, Lonsdale hardly raises an eyebrow of concern from Roger Moore’s Bond. Ditto Richard Kiel’s Jaws, who returns to pad out some of the less interesting showdowns. Bond seems more likely to be curtailed by Lois Chiles’ icy Holly Goodhead, who has a handbag of tricks as smart as Bond’s own, and isn’t adverse to using her womanly charms to get her way.

Despite all the mayhem, the film is rather charmless and director Lewis Gilbert, who did such good work last time around, isn’t inclined to control it here and by the time Bond is floating about in zero gravity, we’ve given up on it also. Moonraker has all the flash high tech wizardry, but there is no place for Ian Fleming. The real Harry Houdini Syndrome on show is the disappearance of James Bond.

RATING 7 from 10

[PrinceKamalKhan]

Does anyone else really rate the moment where Bond is spying on the Drax aeroplane through that pay telescope? That's pretty definitive for me. I love how he meets Goodhead up there too.

That is a nice little unsung moment. I also like the gesture when Bond walks over to her and puts his hand on hers and Goodhead remarks. "The face is familiar, as is the manner."

I like the way she says it with that smoky Lauren Bacall/Suzanne Pleshette-type voice of hers. The Bond/Holly relationship is another unsung plus of MR. It's essentially "Bond/Anya lite" from TSWLM but done more playfully. I love their following exchange of dialogue from Christopher Wood:

"Detente?
Agreed.
Understanding?
Possibly.
Cooperation?
Maybe.
Trust?
Out of the question."

[elizabeth]

i give it a 4. not really a captivating story line, and roger was older, but it had a great bond girl.

Edited by elizabeth, 28 January 2010 - 11:11 PM.

[SecretAgentFan]

Re-watched it. And...

... it didn´t hold up as well as I remembered it.

Okay. I was in full Star Wars mode when I saw it for the first time in theatres. And I enjoyed the hell out of it back then. I had been bitten by the Bond bug two years ago when I encountered TSWLM as my first Bond film. From then on I dragged my dad or my friends to every James Bond film that was shown in theateres (back then, some cinemas ran Bond marathons - every week another Bond film; fantastic times!). I didn´t have any problems with Bond going into space at that time. I actually loved it. And it was the time of Space Shuttles and Skylab - so it was rooted in reality and didn´t even seem to be so farfetched.

Yeah, I was a teenager back then.

Today, I must say "Moonraker" still has fantastic sequences (parachute fall, centrifuge, Corinne´s death, cable car fight). And it has lots of amusing dialogue, Roger Moore in great form (although certainly looking older than two years ago - due to his kidney stones?), a very sexy and charming Lois Chiles, and a wonderful John Barry score and title song.

It also has one of the creepiest scenes in a Bond film: the carnival figure approaching through the small street, revealing Jaws underneath the costume. That really is still a scary image to me.

Yet, the film totally plays JAWS´s menace for laughs this time. It´s a bit like Schwarzenegger becoming the friendly, fatherly Terminator in T2 - this time Jaws is the stupid brute who grins too quickly, has a pratfall and gets up a bit depressed before he starts anew. AND then there is his falling in love with the pigtail girl. That romance really got huge laughs in the cinema and people seemed to embrace that comedy concept. But it kills the tension.

Accordingly, in the second half of the film lots of sequences just seem to go through the motions (the boat chase, the climax). Although the film is never really dull because there is always something happening, it is not involving. Watching MR directly after TSWLM makes one appreciate the artistry of TSWLM even more. In that film the action was relentless but one always feared for Bond to succeed. In MR I feel as if Bond himself always knows what to do before anything happens instead of figuring it out after it happened.

So - I´m sorry, dear old childhood friend, but you did not age quite as well as I had thought you would.

6,5 out of 10.

[Hotwinds]

I saw the film when it came out as well and I was 19 years old.
Back then I still had a problem with Bond without Connery even though I enjoyed all of them with Moore.
Now I love Moore and seem to identify with him the most.
I give it a 9 for pure enjoyment and how life should be for all of us as hero's.

Re-watched it. And...

... it didn´t hold up as well as I remembered it

[Genuine Felix Leiter]

My little brother is going through a whole big Bond phase at the moment, and both me and him watch them together and I can tell you that this is his favourite at the moment, he can't get enough of it, especially the Gondola and sentrifuge sequences.

[Attempting Re-entry]

Watched this last night with my nine year old son and eight year old daughter. They loved it, as did I. Took me back to seeing it on TV when I was their age in the 80's. Brilliant.

Love when Bond, M, and the minister arrive at Drax's in Venice in gas masks. Hilarious. Also, Drax phoning the Acme Evil-Henchman Store for a new right hand man: "Well, if he's available...". Brilliant, just brilliant.

10/10 for me. That surprises me, but there you go.