24 replies to this topic

[mattbowyer]

I know. It's a big thing to say. But I just watched it for the first time on DVD which makes my 'digitally remastered' VHS look rather amusing and wow, I'd forgotten how good my first Bond movie was. All the over the top stuff makes me laugh affectionately - why shouldn't a pigeon do a double take - and the ending is the most spectacular of all the films, with the nice 'globe chase' topping it all off. After some of Brosnan's unbelievable stunts i've even warmed to the laser fighting. It has great action, great humour, Q's best line in the series ("i think hes attempting re-entry Sir"), all the best ppl at work on it (Binder, Barry, Gilbert, Moore) and Holly Goodhead who'll always hold a special place in my heart.

Maybe it's because it was my first Bond but I for one think that the 2nd or 3rd most bashed Bond film is probably the best.

[Dr Shatterhand]

Moonraker was my first big scren Bond too and I also think that it contains Q's best line in the series BUT that's the only thing we have in common where this Bond is concerned! Christopher Wood's script is too similar to TSWLM in its' major themes (TSWLM has evil genius wishing to wipe out mankind from under the seas: Moonraker has an evil genius wishing to wipe out mankind from outer space. Both have Jaws as a henchman). Okay, Wood's script for TSWLM is in turn ripped off from YOLT. My main fault with Moonraker though is the slapstick comedy and particularly the way Jaws turns from a killer to Bond's mate. Okay, I know its' for self-preservation but come on, Jaws has tried to kill him about half a dozen times in this film alone!

[zencat]

Hey, I'm with you! I think MOONRAKER is a great Bond movie. I've said before, fans seem to learn that they are supposed to hate MOONRAKER from all the "experts" in print--thus, they do. But if you really take a look at the film with unprejudiced eyes--as I think you did mattbowyer--you'll find it's a very entertaining and well-made Bond flick, and one that has held up over time. Yes it has flaws (as do all the films), but the flaws do not outweigh the good for me. Moonraker is one of my favorite Bond films and always will be.

[5 BONDS]

Moonrakers flaws are acceptable for the time it was made but with DAD there is no acception.

Moonraker was always played with a bit of tongue in cheek and fares very well for the type of film it is.

I really am giving DAD a dig but this cgi shot has let me down on the basis that I have been waiting three yrs for the ultimate Bond film.

Sorry everyone.

[David Somerset]

Moonraker, Octopussy, AVTAK, all the Bonds you are supposed to hate. I love them as equally as I love FRWL,Goldfinger TBand OHMSS. The only one I had trouble with was NSNA.

[Jim]

Definitely underrated; replete with vicious killings, too, funnily enough, for those vicious killings fans 'mongst us.

[boeserzwilling]

Roger Moore has never been better than in Moonraker (with the centrifuge as his best scene)!
Especially the first half of the movie is fantastic. The introduction of Drax, Venice, Rio...
Believe it or not: I think it's very Fleming: mysterious villain, gambling (hunting), torture (centrifuge) and exotic locations. The finale might be a bit too much, but hey, that was 1979!

[Kingdom Come]

Moonraker really is "A feast for my eyes".

[mattbowyer]

I agree with the detractors on AVTAK, it does drag, but Octopussy and Moonraker are my favourite Moore's. On your TSWLM point Dr. Shatterhand I particularly love Moonraker because its TSWLM taken to the next level. Drax actually realises his dream, the space station is to Drax what the underwater city would have been to Stromberg which makes it so much grander. And the turning of Jaws is my highlight of the movie! We love Jaws and the fact he turns is only natural (I always assume its because of his girlfriend's glasses which make her imperfect and oh so sweet) and the way its done - "EXPEL THEM!" - is perfect.

Incidentally Moonraker and TSWLM were my first two Bond's. Can't remember back but i must have assumed every movie was about Bond vs. Jaws. And if i had my way it would be!

[TheBritishEnd]

Originally posted by David Somerset
Moonraker, Octopussy, AVTAK, all the Bonds you are supposed to hate. I love them as equally as I love FRWL,Goldfinger TBand OHMSS. The only one I had trouble with was NSNA.

I agree with this guy.

How can you not like a Bond film? Okay, of all the Bonds, NSNA is probably the one I watch the least. Not just because it's unofficial and lacking familiar ingredients, but because it was for a paycheck and if I wanted to watch Connery in Thunderball...

This also reminds me of an anecdote...

Tom Hanks appeared on The Tonight Show a few years back, and the topic turned to Bond films. He said that his family hated them, because- it didn't matter what they had planned- if one came on tv, that's what they were doing for the next two hours.

Jay Leno then asked him who was the best Bond, to which Hanks honestly replied, "Oh, it doesn't matter! It could be George Lazenby! It just doesn't matter!"

[ray t]

i saw it on the big screen when i was a kid and the free-fall fight in the pre titles just BLEW ME AWAY!

[PaulZ108]

I've always had a certain fondness for Moonraker. It was the first film I saw on TV and I always loved it. I don't hate For Your Eyes Only, but I don't watch it much at all (I still love it, but when I want to see a Bond film I pick something else) because it seems like an overreaction to Moonraker. It's as if they decided that the fun and outlandish was too much so they'd counter an excess of that with an excess of dullness.

[JimmyBond]

It may not be my favorite Bond film, but its damn near up there. Sure, it has OTT humor, but you know what, for what it is, it works. Moonraker is loads of fun if you take it for what it is, and not what its not. In fact, I enjoy a lot of the gags in Moonraker just cause theyre so absurd. Moonraker also has one of the best scores of any of the Bond films, and I love the title sequence. The teaser sequence is especially fun and creative, and yes, I even enjoy Jaws trying to "fly"

[Felix's lighter]

Funny thing: much as a lot of critics are calling DAD one of the best Bond films ever, critical reaction to Moonraker back in '79 was extremely warm. It's been 23 years since EON's had the balls to go as over the top as they did with Moonraker (which, BTW, I still affectionately refer to as "Moneyraker" after the MAD Magazine spoof. Ditto "The Spy Who Shoved Me", "For Her Thighs Only", I could go on and on:)).

[zencat]

Moonraker was very well reviewed back in the day. They even put out a special one sheet made up of review blurbs (and this was not as overdone then as it is today). And remember, Moonraker was the highest grosser of the series for many, many years.

The bigger the Bond, the bigger the box office.

[ShakeNotStirred]

Moonraker is an awesome movie. Drax is kinda stupid, but Jaws rocks. The space part i think is cool, and its different from all the other bond endings. And finally....... Q- "I believe he's attempting re-entry!" Thats prolly Q's best line ever. Its just so cool. A must see Bond movie.

[Dr. Yes]

While I wouldn't call it the best Bond movie, I do think that Moonraker is underappreciated. Is it silly and over the top? Of course it is. But is it damn good fun? Definitely. Drax is a deliciously sinister villain, Holly Goodhead is a relatively decent Bond girl, and some of the set pieces (Drax's mansion, the centrifuge, the speedboat chase, the cable car fight) were extremely memorable. The stupidest part was definitely playing Jaws for laughs, but since the entire film was so absurd anyway, I can let it go. Overall, Moonraker is quite possibly my second-favorite Moore after TSWLM just because of the sheer fun quotient in it.

[General Koskov]

I love it (except for the laser fight--which is only onw or two shots).

My problem with it is: they left the most suspenseful Bond novel completely unread.

Any writer (and Wood was good) could replace the rocket with a space shuttle, and come up with a plot very similar to Fleming's yet updated.

[ChandlerBing]

Isn't it nice that Roger Moore made nice with both Jaws and May Day, instead of having to kill them? Awww, that's so sweet. Sorry, fellas, this is James Bond. He should have killed them both, damn it. Jaws should have fried in that damned furnace like he was supposed to at the end of Spy. He was a total boob in Moonraker. There was no menace, no sense of danger.

On the plus side, I like Moonraker for:
Shirley Bassey's theme song
John Barry's score
Both of which I have on the soundtrack, which saves me a lot of pain from having to sit through the movie to hear it. I do agree, the DVD is nice. I played it with the commentary, and that made it nice. But, no, it's not the best Bond movie. At all.

[AAMD11]

I really like Moonraker, its a good movie and Hugo Drax is a cool villian, but FYEO is my fav and I think the best of the series.

[goldengun]

The Bond movies where Lewis Gilbert, Michael G. Wilson and Chris Wood do the commentary are the best. They do it for TSPWLM and MR - they give so much further detail to the movies.

MR was a bold movie story, with the 1969 space jaunt by Armstrong just a mere 10 years earlier - no wonder this film did so well.

May not have the best dialogue - but scenes between Moore and Lois Chiles show great shemistry - who wouldn't want to get close to Dr. Goodhead (another brave female name)!!

ANd Jaws is unstoppable, I would have opted for them to just escape from the station and then have Jaws return for a third time in a Moore film.

Imagine Jaws as the henchman in Octopussy instead of the other guy?

MR is a fun ride - more bearable to watch then TND or TWINE.

[DLibrasnow]

I agree with the detractors on AVTAK, it does drag, but Octopussy and Moonraker are my favourite Moore's.

Wow. I happen to love AVTAK but am less fond of MOONRAKER and OCTOPUSSY which I think took the fantasy a little too far.

[Qwerty]

#2 out of 20.

[Scottlee]

If there's one thing I'll say for Moonraker I probably haven't said before...

It's a great "mates" Bond film. What I mean is, if there's a few lads wanting to watch a Bond film after a night in the pub, Moonraker is one of the best ones you can pick ; laddish humour, over the top plot you can follow, and lots of women.

On a more serious note, MR is a great Bond film tarnished by exactly the same thing I gave it credit for in the above paragraph, namely humour. It's OTT and not always funny.

[PrinceKamalKhan]

I know. It's a big thing to say. But I just watched it for the first time on DVD which makes my 'digitally remastered' VHS look rather amusing and wow, I'd forgotten how good my first Bond movie was. All the over the top stuff makes me laugh affectionately - why shouldn't a pigeon do a double take - and the ending is the most spectacular of all the films, with the nice 'globe chase' topping it all off. After some of Brosnan's unbelievable stunts i've even warmed to the laser fighting. It has great action, great humour, Q's best line in the series ("i think hes attempting re-entry Sir"), all the best ppl at work on it (Binder, Barry, Gilbert, Moore) and Holly Goodhead who'll always hold a special place in my heart.

Maybe it's because it was my first Bond but I for one think that the 2nd or 3rd most bashed Bond film is probably the best.

I'm so glad to see the criminally underrated Moonraker get as much love as it's been getting. It was the first Bond film I saw in the cinema and was my favorite Bond film of all time as a kid. As I grew older and read the Fleming novels, I came to appreciate more the tougher, darker Bond but MR still remains a highly entertaining film and my favorite Roger Moore Bond film.
When I watched the DVD of it not long after obtaining it, I found myself thinking: "How could anyone hate this absolutely fun and completely unpretentious film?"

I've always had a certain fondness for Moonraker.  It was the first film I saw on TV and I always loved it.  I don't hate For Your Eyes Only, but I don't watch it much at all (I still love it, but when I want to see a Bond film I pick something else) because it seems like an overreaction to Moonraker.  It's as if they decided that the fun and outlandish was too much so they'd counter an excess of that with an excess of dullness.

My sentiments exactly. While For Your Eyes Only is certainly not a bad film by any means, I've always found it the most overrated of the pre-Brosnan era Bond films. In retrospect, I respect EON for wanting to introduce more Cold War elements and actually go back to the Fleming sources that had more or less abandoned since 1967(with the exception of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service). However, I never had the intense dislike for MR that a lot of FYEO fans have. While I've never hated the 1981 Bond film, I hardly watch it either. If I'm in the mood for a "darker, more serious" Bond film I'd rather watch Connery's 1st two, Dalton's 2 or OHMSS and if I'm in the mood for a Roger Moore Bond film I'd rather watch an OTT one like MR, TSWLM or OP.