Moonraker

James Bond ventures into Space. How much bigger can it get ?

I know I'm rating this movie rather high but this one I must have watched a dozen times as a teenager. I absolutely loved it - I was kind of a space junkie. It sure is a product of its time with the Space Shuttle and the battle in space with laser guns. This was around the time that Star Wars and Star Trek were made so there might be some reason for that. According to imdb this movie was actually brought forward due to the success of Star Wars. The end credit of "Spy" said the next movie would be FYEO.

This one is another fun ride with the typical portion of Bond humor along the ride. There are some nice easter eggs in this one. Is it repetitive ? Of course, it's a Bond movie. It's almost in its DNA. You have a formula that works (stunts, beautiful women and grandious sets) so why change it. Those were the blockbusters of the time. And if you look at franchises like Marvel or Transformers they all follow there own formula. The story is mostly just the canvas.

****"Take Me Around The World Again James"****

Michel Lonsdale plays Hugo Drax, billionaire industrialist has a scheme to exterminate the undesirables and impose a new world order from no less than outer space. Adolph Hitler with all his theories on racial purity is a piker compared to what Lonsdale has in mind.

Roger Moore is 007 in Moonraker and British Intelligence brings him in when a US space satellite is hijacked in mid flight. The satellite was designed by Lonsdale's company and when Moore starts investigating Lonsdale, some very nasty traps are set for him, all of which James Bond has to elude.

The official Bond girl in Moonraker is Lois Chiles playing Dr. Goodhead, part time scientist and part time CIA employee. Does she live up to her name, you have to watch Moonraker to find out. Her scientific skills are even more valuable than her romantic ones.

Richard Kiel returns as super villain Jaws. He was a most menacing figure in The Spy Who Loved Me and Cubby Brocoli must have thought he was good enough to use again as he survives in that film. In Moonraker he does the bidding of Lonsdale, but Moore makes the rather logical argument that the racially perfect world that Lonsdale has in mind will have no need of freakish people like him. Kiel has to do some serious reassessment in Moonraker.

Moonraker got an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects, but lost to another classic space adventure, Alien.

Even with three succeeding James Bonds, Moonraker remains my favorite film with my favorite 007, Roger Moore. Just the breathtaking extent of the villainy gets me every time I see it.

My score 7/10.

The James Bond Films
1 Eon films
1.1 Dr. No (1962) https://trakt.tv/movies/dr-no-1962
1.2 From Russia with Love (1963) https://trakt.tv/movies/from-russia-with-love-1963
1.3 Goldfinger (1964) https://trakt.tv/movies/goldfinger-1964
1.4 Thunderball (1965) https://trakt.tv/movies/thunderball-1965
1.5 You Only Live Twice (1967) https://trakt.tv/movies/you-only-live-twice-1967
1.6 On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) https://trakt.tv/movies/on-her-majesty-s-secret-service-1969
1.7 Diamonds Are Forever (1971) https://trakt.tv/movies/diamonds-are-forever-1971
1.8 Live and Let Die (1973) https://trakt.tv/movies/live-and-let-die-1973
1.9 The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) https://trakt.tv/movies/the-man-with-the-golden-gun-1974
1.10 The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) https://trakt.tv/movies/the-spy-who-loved-me-1977
1.11 Moonraker (1979) https://trakt.tv/movies/moonraker-1979
1.12 For Your Eyes Only (1981) https://trakt.tv/movies/for-your-eyes-only-1981
1.13 Octopussy (1983) https://trakt.tv/movies/octopussy-1983
1.14 A View to a Kill (1985) https://trakt.tv/movies/a-view-to-a-kill-1985
1.15 The Living Daylights (1987) https://trakt.tv/movies/the-living-daylights-1987
1.16 Licence to Kill (1989) https://trakt.tv/movies/licence-to-kill-1989
1.17 GoldenEye (1995) https://trakt.tv/movies/goldeneye-1995
1.18 Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) https://trakt.tv/movies/tomorrow-never-dies-1997
1.19 The World Is Not Enough (1999) https://trakt.tv/movies/the-world-is-not-enough-1999
1.20 Die Another Day (2002) https://trakt.tv/movies/die-another-day-2002
1.21 Casino Royale (2006) https://trakt.tv/movies/casino-royale-2006
1.22 Quantum of Solace (2008) https://trakt.tv/movies/quantum-of-solace-2008
1.23 Skyfall (2012) https://trakt.tv/movies/skyfall-2012
1.24 Spectre (2015) https://trakt.tv/movies/spectre-2015
1.25 No Time to Die (2021) https://trakt.tv/movies/no-time-to-die-2021

2 Non-Eon films
2.1 Casino Royale (1967) https://trakt.tv/movies/casino-royale-1967
2.2 Never Say Never Again (1983) https://trakt.tv/movies/never-say-never-again-1983

James Bond goes to space. Not the best in the franchise, but a classic due to the space subject.

Ok, it’s not that bad. Worth a watch. Pretty funny.

Well, this one was a bit unexpected. It is likely the worst of the Roger Moore films (I mean, space?), but there is a cheesy campiness that makes it quite enjoyable.

Rating: 2.5/5 - 70% - Worth Watching

Solid Bond outing from the Moore set. Not his finest, not his worst.

It was great to see him speak Italian even if only briefly. He was clearly a fluent speaker.

The firs thalf is good. The space bit is a little Star Wars for the sake of it. But it's impressive how quickly they were able to launch space shuttle!

For what it's worth, Shirley Bassey was the ultimate Bond theme singer... And I think Moonraker is her most enthralling vocal performance. It isn't as grandiose as Goldfinger or as bombastic as Diamonds Are Forever, but this is so immensely beautifully sung. And the disco version at the end-credits is very funny.


6.75/10

I like that the Close Encounters of a Third Kind song is played when the buttons are pressed to get into a secret room. Otherwise this is probably the silliest of the Bonds. Roger Moore is good form at least and Jaws back isn't bad. Except....he falls in love ?
It was also whacky enough to keep my 5 yr old niece entertained.

"Play it again, Sam."

That pigeon double-take might be the funniest thing ever done in a Bond film right? Alongside a indestructible Jaws and Roger Moore being at his peak Bondness, this is the most campy Bond and it works!

I'm kind of glad that they went with the sci-fi route. We got this incredible gem. It is a Bond film like no other. Entertaining, funny, fun action scenes and a decent villain in Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale). It is just so much fun and I feel like can't be compared to the other Bonds. Never seen a henchman be this tough as Jaws is.

Moonraker is just a gift that keeps on giving on every rewatch. It will never be my favorite Bond but I like the fact that one of them is a campy adventure. Lovely start of the weekend!

So yeah this is 007 in space. Its miles sillier than any other Bond flick and that's no small feat. Bond gets the "Star Wars" treatment here. In trying to keep up with the Joneses Lewis Gilbert put together a way over the top but pretty fun movie that managed to keep Bond fresh to the late-70s outer space hungry filmgoers. That's not to say this movie is good its just fun. This is the last time Roger Moore seems passable as Bond. After this movie he looks "grandpa old" as 007. "Moonraker" is nutty. I enjoyed the scenes with the "Jaws" character. Richard Kiel rules! Anyway the space sequences are mediocre but the production design by Ken Adam is probably the best thing about the whole affair. This isn't one of the great 007 films but its one of those cornball movies that's a good time to watch.