55 replies to this topic

[Gri007]

Just watched Moonraker actually. Just realised it isn't eaxactly the best Bond film.

How is it Dolly soon became part of Drax's team.

There is no oxygen in space, so there fore when the space station explodes, why is there a huge fireball.

And if a cable car had stoppped, would you consider of getting out on top of it.

[PrinceKamalKhan]

Moonraker is perhaps the most underrated James Bond film in the series. Often cited as being too humourous, too "out of this world", filled with too much fantasy and other things like so, I think this is without a doubt one of the best James Bond films in the entire canon.

This is Roger Moore as James Bond. He looks the part and acts well alongside Bond girl Lois Chiles and villain Michael Lonsdale. While there is alot of comedy in this film compared to some of the others, it doesn't detract from the story or film itself much at all.

Hugo Drax has, perhaps, the very best lines of any character in any James Bond film, thanks to some sharp writing by Christopher Wood:

"Look after Mr. Bond, see that some harm comes to him."

"Observe Mr. Bond, your route from this world to the next."

"You're not a sportsman Mr. Bond, why did you break off the encounter with my pet python?"

"Mr. Bond, you appear with the tedious inevitability of an unloved season."

...and many more. He is an excellent villain who has a quiet menace about him. One of the very best in the series.

Lois Chiles as Holly Goodhead is also sorely underrated. She's an intelligent Bond girl who doesn't immediately fall for Bond's charm, making her very interesting as the film progresses. The scene between Bond and herself in the hotel room is excellent.

The action sequence between Chang and Bond in the glass museum is also rather amusing.

Moving on, we come to John Barry's score. The best, quite simply. Melodic cues in the space scenes, a terrific '007' Theme appearance, a strong theme on the whole running through the film and simply terrific on all fronts. It's a shame it is not better represented on the official soundtrack.

Shirley Bassey's title song is also my personal favorite of the bunch by far. Whether it's the main theme of the disco end-title, it never ceases to be the best. Furthermore, it's also matched with my favorite main-title sequence designed by master Maurice Binder in the film. The deep blue backdrops and acrobat women flying throughout are perfect.

Moonraker seems to have become regarded in a higher fashion lately, and I hope more fans come to enjoy it for the outstanding Bond adventure it is.

Ditto.

Moonraker

I dug it in '79 when it was new, I still dig it 2005. It may be of a certain time period, but I have more fun with it than anything Eon has done in the last decade.

Ditto, as well. For all its silliness and outlandishness, Moonraker is just good, old-fashioned and unpretentious fun. It never pretends to be anything but 2 hours of light-hearted escapism. I prefer it to any of the Brosnan era films anyday.

The blue-print for making Moonraker a classic Bond - and not the camp, Star Wars rip-off it became - exists. It is Christopher Wood's novelisation of his script. The bulk of the stupidity goes, Jaws role is cut down.

Follow that script, get rid of Roger - having a lead who plainly gives the impression that the whole situation is ludicrous destroys ANY tension: yes, Rog, we know its fantastic but go a long with it - this guy Drax is threatening the human race with armagedon. In fact, Dalton-style straight playing by the lead against the sci-fi background - Jesus, the guys really going to destroy the world if I don't stop in AND I'm in a space shuttle I can't fly heading to a space station in orbit! - would have balanced it nicely.

In fact, just get Dalton and film the Wood book.

Can't agree here. I wouldn't want any other Bond actor but Roger Moore going into outer space to battle Drax. Timothy Dalton was the right "down-to-earth" serious Bond for the Eighties but Moore was perfect for the "comedy/fantasy" Bond of the Seventies. Of course, if they had made a Moonraker that was faithful to the original novel in 1984, that would have been fine with Dalton but then that goes into one of those "what if they had made On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in 1965 with Connery?" or "what if Lazenby had played Bond in Diamonds Are Forever?" type questions that can never be satisfactorily resolved.

[tdalton]

I don't think that Dalton would have been the right fit for the actual film version of Moonraker that we have now, but I think that he would have been quite good for an adaptation of Fleming's Moonraker novel.

[Qwerty]

And if a cable car had stoppped, would you consider of getting out on top of it.

If I saw Jaws coming...

[codenamel]

There are indeed many things to like about MOONRAKER and most of them have already been mentioned. However, let me mention my seven favorite things about the film just for the record.

1. The pre-title sequence with the RAF pilot and hijacking of the space shuttle was played seriously and you felt the loss of that pilot.

2. All of the scenes with Corine Dufour and Roger Moore were very well done, including Corine's dismissal and hideous death courtesy of Drax.

3. Bond breaking into the Drax safe at the chateau.

4. The title song by Shirley Bassey and one of the best John Barry scores of the 1970s and 80s.

5. Virtually all of the dialogue by Michael Lonsdale as Drax. He is one of the highlights of the film and has not been equalled as a Bond villain since.

6. The last scenes with Bernard Lee as M in his 11th James Bond film.

7. The fabulous Ken Adam sets, especially the complex in Brazil. Ken Adam has been missed in the 25 years since 1979 and would have brought a vast improvement to DIE ANOTHER DAY.

The problem with the film for me when I saw it then and when I watch it today is that there are too many scenes that just make me cringe and feel embarrassed that I am a fan of the series. They are simply too many to mention. Suffice it to say the punches in the fights were telegraphed all the way from outer space, the deaths from thrown knives and bullets in the gondola chase were as high camp as in a 60s Batman movie, Jaws was transformed from the colossal, indestructable killer of TSWLM into an Abbott & Costello cartoon monster and the sophomoric sex humor that belongs more on the Benny Hill show than in a James Bond movie.

Roger Moore, as always, was just fine and turned in his usual confident performance as Bond and the sci-fi special effects are still dazzling. I would not ever say that I regret this film being made, because like all the films, it has scenes that are absolutely priceless to me, but the cringe factor for this one was high...... very high.

[Janus Assassin]

I love Moonraker. It was the first Bond movie I ever saw. Particually because I happend to be on the Aztec level of the GoldenEye game and I knew thats what Moonraker was based on. But anyways there are some things that should have been taken out of Moonraker. The Bondola thing was cool until it became a hovercraft and went across the square. How did Bond not know that Jaws was on that plane? Jaws is like 7 feet tall, and the plane was small but W/E. The boat chase in the Amazon was another good scene. Until Jaws came in at the end and broke the steering wheel. Ok, after the fall down that waterfall, he really should have been dead. But I still like Moonraker for what it is.

[Qwerty]

4. The title song by Shirley Bassey and one of the best John Barry scores of the 1970s and 80s.

Both the best ever from the entire series.

[Taro Todoroki]

Speaking of Drax's lines, don't forget "Can I press you to a cucumber sandwich?"

[Bond Bug]

Moonraker

I dug it in '79 when it was new, I still dig it 2005. It may be of a certain time period, but I have more fun with it than anything Eon has done in the last decade.

I agree with you. Whilst I do criticise the silly aspects of Bond movies, I would love to see another Bond flick that was as fun as Moonraker.

The movies seem too dark visually now and are not as enjoyable. I see Bond as movies that are made for teenagers and adults like me that have never grown up.

[Bond Bug]

I haven't seen Moonraker for a while, but are these images from Moonraker?

http://www.sonoran-s...m/columbia.html

No, thats Armageddon or something...

Thank you

[Qwerty]

The movies seem too dark visually now and are not as enjoyable. I see Bond as movies that are made for teenagers and adults like me that have never grown up.

Interesting point you bring up. While I can see the darkness in a film like GoldenEye, I fail to see it in the most recent: Die Another Day. What recent James Bond films did you have in mind?

[Donovan]

Just watched Moonraker actually. Just realised it isn't exactly the best Bond film.

The generation that grew up on Connery as Bond applauds your opinion.

How is it Dolly soon became part of Drax's team.

My guess is Jaws got a perk. How it is she knew how to disengage Bond's shuttle is a credit to her powers of learning.

There is no oxygen in space, so there fore when the space station explodes, why is there a huge fireball.

This is just how it is in movies, from "Star Wars" to just about everything except "2001". However, your question should be "why is there the sound of an explosion?" since there's no atmosphere. The fiery explosion can be explained by the presence of oxygen inside the space station, that is forced outward when the structure disintigrates.

And if a cable car had stoppped, would you consider of getting out on top of it.

...and say, "I'm sure we're better off out than in"? The real reason is the script told him to. But I suppose if you feel it stopped due to sabotage, you might think you have better control over your destiny if you were on the outside of the cage.

"Moonraker" represents a point in the series where just about everything you see is designed for a cheap thrill. From double-taking pidgeons for laughs to Bond over-weighted with gadgets to every female role being some hottie (even Dolly had to possess a certain midsection attribute). One can't love "From Russia With Love" and expect to get the same kind of satisfaction with "Moonraker". I certainly don't hate the film by any means, but I've learned not to expect too much from it. I have a soft spot for it as being Ken Adam's last (but for the life of me I don't understand why).

[PrinceKamalKhan]

"Moonraker" represents a point in the series where just about everything you see is designed for a cheap thrill. From double-taking pidgeons for laughs to Bond over-weighted with gadgets to every female role being some hottie (even Dolly had to possess a certain midsection attribute). One can't love "From Russia With Love" and expect to get the same kind of satisfaction with "Moonraker".

I do. But I have eclectic tastes. I adore From Russia With Love and The Living Daylights yet I also adore Moonraker and You Only Live Twice. I just go at them for different reasons. When I want a more serious, Fleming spy thriller type Bond film I head for the former two. When I just want to escape and have some fantasy fun, I go for the latter two.

[Bond Bug]

The movies seem too dark visually now and are not as enjoyable. I see Bond as movies that are made for teenagers and adults like me that have never grown up.

Interesting point you bring up. While I can see the darkness in a film like GoldenEye, I fail to see it in the most recent: Die Another Day. What recent James Bond films did you have in mind?

Any Bond post Moore Bond would do. Look at the locations of Moonraker compared to DAD. I agree DAD is a bad example, but I would like to see a lot more colour. Yes we had the Halle Berry scene coming out of the water and the scenes in London, but there was a lot of dusty biege (North Korea) a lot of grey (ice) and a lot of colourless characters like Graves. It's a bland, largely colourless movie lacking in contrast.

[00-FAN008]

I think Moonraker would have been better without James Bond going into space... but if they had done that, it just wouldn't be Moonraker! Think about it; Bond would just end up in some big facility in a tropical island de-activating some space missile; sounds like Dr. No or GoldenEye.

About Jaws, I agree the film would have lost it's campiness without his girlfriend; and that's a good thing. James Bond films shouldn't have to be campy.

[K1Bond007]

There is no oxygen in space, so there fore when the space station explodes, why is there a huge fireball.

This is just how it is in movies, from "Star Wars" to just about everything except "2001". However, your question should be "why is there the sound of an explosion?" since there's no atmosphere. The fiery explosion can be explained by the presence of oxygen inside the space station, that is forced outward when the structure disintigrates.

Lets not forget laser guns, one hell of a radar jammer, the ability to create a fricken huge spacestation without anyone knowing... all of this should have been brought up before explosions and sounds. Besides space films (with tons of action) suck without explosions and sounds - this is proven fact

[Qwerty]

There is no oxygen in space, so there fore when the space station explodes, why is there a huge fireball.

This is just how it is in movies, from "Star Wars" to just about everything except "2001". However, your question should be "why is there the sound of an explosion?" since there's no atmosphere. The fiery explosion can be explained by the presence of oxygen inside the space station, that is forced outward when the structure disintigrates.

It's a damn good explosion too.

[Flash1087]

Lets not forget laser guns, one hell of a radar jammer, the ability to create a fricken huge spacestation without anyone knowing... all of this should have been brought up before explosions and sounds. Besides space films (with tons of action) suck without explosions and sounds - this is proven fact

Yeah, what the heck is that? How did NOBODY KNOW that Drax had a SPACE STATION up there?

[Polynikes]

Here's my 2 cents:

"Moonraker" was obviously an attempt by Broccoli to cash in on the success of Star Wars. IMO it wasn't necessary - I've nothing against being open to influences from other movies but Moonraker is "influenced" to point of crossing genres into Sci-Fi (and bad sci-fo too).

After the disppointing commerical success of "The Man With The Golden Gun", Bond was expertly re-packaged into a hero-figure again in "The Spy Who Loved Me" which made a healthy profit at the box office.
Bond of course saved the world in TSWLM & I guess Broccoli thought that merely saving a city (in the book it was London) was something of a scaling down in movie terms - so "Moonraker" is beefed up to be a threat to the world again.

Plot holes are plentyful:

I'm not sure that there is such a thing a a RADAR jamming device as used by Drax's space station.
Even if it was - how could so many shuttle flights to build the space station be covered up?

There are no Mayan pyramids in the Amazon rainforest.

Let's accept for a moment that a "satan bug" type virus could be derived from an Amazonian orchid, I'm very sceptical that it could be dispersed around the Earth via orbs of the virus launched from orbit - they would burn up surely?

Assuming that the plan to kill all human life on Earth is plausable - there's a problem with the "When World's Collide" syndrome - wouldn't those not selected be somewhat disgruntled enough to put a spanner in the works? There were plenty of people left in the Amazon launch station who were left behind by the shuttle flown by Bond/Goodhead (and that was the last shuttle).

The US Space Marine Corps is a novel concept but sadly, even in 2006, not yet a reality - the space fight scene was like something out of Battlestar Gallactica (& that's NOT an endorsement).
The almost identical ending in Thunderball (except the change in location) was a lot more plausable.

Lasers don't kill like shown in the movie (they cut as in Goldfinger) - presumably Drax (and the US Space Marines) had concurrently developed a Star Trek kind of phaser - 27 years later and I guess this technology has been lost.

Why did Corinne Clery run into the woods when Drax set his dogs on her instead of to one of the nearby buggies?
BTW: When she's killed by the dogs, she first wears high heeled shoes and then black boots.
BTW: Chang releases the Dobermans & they have docked tails, but during the chase, the dogs have long tails.

If Drax wanted Bond to die so much he was prepared to post a sniper near the shotgun shooting? Why didn't he just have him shot in bed?
The scene where Bond shoots the sniper while pretending to accept Drax's invitation to join in pidgeon shooting is riddiculous. Stupid.

Scripting/Casting issues:

Lois Chilles was a typical Bond girl - young & gorgeous with a beautiful smile...but she played Holly Goodhead somewhat coldly. In truth she was too young (especially for a near 50 year old Roger Moore) yet I suppose the teen audience didn't want to see a romance between two forty somethings - even though that makes a lot more sense.
Just a thought but how would Jane Fonda have portrayed Holly Goodhead? She would've been 42 years old - about right for someone with a doctorate and an experienced NASA scientist/CIA agent.
I won't comment on a previous suggestion that Carrie Fisher might have been better casting.

The location shoot at the French palace/chateau was fabulous but sadly rather silly.
A VERY thin excuse to film in France.

OK I can see why they wanted Jaws back but it was a mistake - especially the bit where he falls in love & becomes a good guy. Cheesy in the EXTREME. Note: Bad guys are BAD guys.
The scene where he emulates Richard Burton in "Where Eagles Dare" by jumping from one cable car to another is so poorly as to be laughable (the distance involved would be impossible for Carl Lewis in his prime).

How to Improve the Movie:

The pre-credit sequence is fabulous and genuinely breath-taking. However it had absolutely not bearing on the movie. It should've been moved to the main movie and worked into the script. No idea what Jaws was doing in the 'plane as it seems the pilot was doing all he could to kill Bond. Had the pilot won his fight with Bond, what was Jaws to do? What happened to the girl? The incident was a great idea but the script writers obviously had no idea of how to write it.

Get rid of the space shuttles and lasers/phasers. Get rid of the plot to destroy the world - it was OLD having been done twice already in "You Only LIve Twice" and in the PREVIOUS movie "The Spy Who Loved Me".
The similarity to TSWLM (kill all human life in order to create a new utopia) is stark.
The book's terrorist threat to London was enough.

Drax's character was interesting in the book - I always liked the cheating at cards scene at M's club - M brought Bond in to his club to teach Drax a lesson.
There was great scope for character development and it was lost.

OK, you don't want a Bond movie set just in the UK so you could widen it to France - that way get your French chateau in.

The Holly Goodhead character could still be used - except she's just not an astronaut/space shuttle pilot.

No need for the US Space Marines.

The climatic battle would also be lost & some kind of device to destoy the rocket would be required - note: this shouldn't have anything to do with hitting the self destruct button.
If ever I become an evil tyrant attempting to take over the world - the self destruct button of my super-weapon would be marked as a mundane frequency modulation control whereas the self destruct button would release a maelsrom of automatic gunfire to the area around said button.

Oh and one last thing - it would've been funny (s well as stealing Raiders Of The Lost Ark's best joke) if Bond, when confronted with a samurai kendo warrior, to have simply pulled out his PPK & shot him!

Cheers from Rich

[Qwerty]

Lets not forget laser guns, one hell of a radar jammer, the ability to create a fricken huge spacestation without anyone knowing... all of this should have been brought up before explosions and sounds. Besides space films (with tons of action) suck without explosions and sounds - this is proven fact

Yeah, what the heck is that? How did NOBODY KNOW that Drax had a SPACE STATION up there?

He was just that good a villain.

[ChickenStu]

Moonraker is so underrated, only 2nd next to the criminally underrated DAD. Sure, it's sillier than most Bond adventures but that's all right. The special effects are actually very good for it's time & still good for today. Lois Chiles is also very good. She's tough, she's smart & I think she's the sexiest Bond girl ever, but that's just me. Everything else about it is pretty good.

Ahem... "Moonraker" I agree with you on. Sadly I disagree with you on "Die Another Day". Any bit of negative critiscm thrown at that movie is entirely justified. What a piece of crap. Happy 40th Bond! Yeah right.

[Q's step brother]

Moonraker is so underrated, only 2nd next to the criminally underrated DAD. Sure, it's sillier than most Bond adventures but that's all right. The special effects are actually very good for it's time & still good for today. Lois Chiles is also very good. She's tough, she's smart & I think she's the sexiest Bond girl ever, but that's just me. Everything else about it is pretty good.

Ahem... "Moonraker" I agree with you on. Sadly I disagree with you on "Die Another Day". Any bit of negative critiscm thrown at that movie is entirely justified. What a piece of crap. Happy 40th Bond! Yeah right.

Totally agree about Die Another Day - it is crap, and i'd wish people would take a closer look and see that its crap! How critics can pan Moonraker with a 2 star rating (average) and give DAD praise with 4 stars (worth watching) is beyond belief. DAD is a mix between Moonraker and Diamonds are Forever, but without the charm and fun.

As for Moonraker, here is some information about how that film could have been made -

In 1970, Gerry Anderson was approached by Harry Saltzman and his partner Albert 'Cubby' Broccoli. Together they owned Eon Productions, who are responsible for the the James Bond films. They told Gerry that the next Bond film was to be called "Moonraker" and they wanted him to write and produce it. Gerry's first notion was to read the existing Moonraker novel by Bond's creator Ian Fleming. Gerry found the novel rather dull and with the help of writer Tony Barwick prepared a seventy page outline for a story. He took the work to Saltzman's ranch-style home near Pinewood Studios, and over the next few days Saltzman telephoned Gerry on three occasions expressing his admiration for the story.

Anderson and Barwick created a seventy page draft which featured a supertanker, a villain named Zodiak and identical triplets Tic, Tac and Toe. The treatment was turned down and Eon Productions decided to move ahead with Sean Connery in "Diamonds Are Forever" instead.

Over the next few months Gerry heard nothing further regarding the script, although he did learn that Saltzman and Broccoli were in the process of dissolving their partnership. Then out of the blue, Gerry received a call from Saltzman summoning him to his home. Saltzman offered Gerry $20,000 for his story idea for Moonraker. Realising that this meant he could no longer produce the film and production could be handed to anyone, Gerry declined the offer and retained his story. Eventually the film was made with a different storyline and was produced by Broccoli.

Its a pity they didn't go back to Anderson in 1978...

[Tinfinger]

There is a great Ian Fleming novel called Moonraker with a guy names James Bond, a girl named Gala Brand, and a villain named Hugo Drax. One of these days, it would make a great James Bond movie.

[GreggAllinson]

I tend to be a hardcore Fleming purist, but my god...Moonraker is so staggeringly bad it transcends its badness and becomes a work of genius. JAMES BOND AND THE SPACE MARINES SHOOTING LASERS ON A SPACE STATION. With most Eon films, I'm like "Man, I can see a little bit of Fleming in there...why'd they ruin it?" (eg Die[t] Another Day starting off as a great hard-bitten Fleming-style tale of revenge...before giving us the amazing face-swapping villain and his ice palace), but with Moonraker, Cubby and Company just said " it. We're going nuts" and we were all better off for it.

More seriously, I do dig the theme (yes, I am a disco-lover), the effects are perfectly fine for the era (and hold up well today), and Lois Chiles is quite good as an intelligent, reserved Bond girl- a nice change from the "Oh James!" cliche. And Corinne Cleary...wow.

Edited by GreggAllinson, 13 January 2006 - 10:17 AM.

[David Schofield]

I tend to be a hardcore Fleming purist, but my god...Moonraker is so staggeringly bad it transcends its badness and becomes a work of genius.  JAMES BOND AND THE SPACE MARINES SHOOTING LASERS ON A SPACE STATION.  With most Eon films, I'm like "Man, I can see a little bit of Fleming in there...why'd they ruin it?" (eg Die[t] Another Day starting off as a great hard-bitten Fleming tale of revenge...before giving us the amazing face-swapping villain and his ice palace), but with Moonraker, Cubby and Company just said " it.  We're going nuts" and we were all better off for it. 

Gregg, tend to agree - but don't you think the free fall opening has something of Fleming about it? If you read the Wood-book version of the sequence, its 100% Fleming.

[GreggAllinson]

Gregg, tend to agree - but don't you think the free fall opening has something of Fleming about it? If you read the Wood-book version of the sequence, its 100% Fleming.

Yeah, I guess you're right. The opening would work just fine in a "straight" Bond film. But after that...