Over the course of ten movies, the Bond movie series was very successful and it survived several changes. Despite saying that For Your Eyes Only would be the next Bond movie at the end of The Spy Who Loved Me, a decision was made to do something different and Moonraker was made instead.
Space technology has been on the rise. Drax Technologies has been building space shuttles for the United States government. Something goes wrong when one is being transported to England. James Bond is assigned to start investigating. He barely meets Hugo Drax, the owner of the company, when he is almost killed. James travels around the world to figure out exactly what Drax is up to. James ends up working with Dr. Holly Goodhead, a NASA trained astronaut working for Drax even though they don't trust each other. Things are complicated by the fact that Drax hires Jaws, the seven foot assassin with metal teeth, to deal with James.
Moonraker is the eleventh James Bond movie and the fourth to star Roger Moore as James. The movie was an attempt to keep the movie series more modern and relevant by having a plot that deals with space. The movie is loosely based on the book by Ian Fleming. From what I have read about the plot of the book, basically everything other than the name of Hugo Drax was changed for the movie. A few of aspects of the plot are similar to things from The Spy Who Loved Me, only outer space was featured instead of the ocean.
I think that having Moonraker deal with space works fine for the most part. Space exploration had been going on for many years by the time the movie was made and NASA was already working on the space shuttle. The shuttles in the movie look like the real shuttles, which makes that aspect of the movie more believable. Shuttles are launched during the movie, something that wouldn't really happen for a few more years after the release of the movie. The launches did look realistic. I didn't have any problems with believing the shuttles since I didn't see the movie for the first time until after NASA had started launching shuttles. I didn't even have any problems with the space station. I do have issues with the laser battle that goes on in space late in the movie. That looks a bit cheesy to me and isn't believable.
Moonraker has a decent amount of action in it. James even has to try to fight Jaws which makes for one of the more interesting confrontations in a Bond movie. Their first encounter happens very early in the movie and involves them falling out of an airplane and ends with Jaws landing on a circus tent. That was rather silly, but I didn't let it keep me from enjoying the movie overall. Most of the action scenes are done well. The skydiving early in the movie is very impressive, though it did seem a bit convenient how James just happened to know how to sky dive. Holly is sort of involved in a few of the confrontations where she doesn't do much of anything. James does use a few gadgets that end up helping him out in a few situations.
James leaves one woman at the beginning of Moonraker and it seems obvious that they had been intimate. James spends some time on the compound Drax owns in California where he builds shuttles. James is barely there when he hits on the woman who is showing him around and they quickly end up having sex. James briefly works with another woman in Brazil and it seems like he takes her to bed as well. There is a little more to the relationship that he has with Holly, though it mostly involves them having sex a few times and working together for a short time. Their relationship is very superficial and doesn't amount to much, which is typical of most of the relationships that James has.
Nothing has changes about James in Moonraker and nothing new is introduced either. He is focused on completing his missions, but he doesn't let that stop him from jumping into bed with beautiful young women when he gets the chance. Roger Moore continues to handle the part well and I do like him as James. The first Bond movies that I saw were the ones with Moore, so that may be why I like even the ones that many people don't care for. M, Q, and Miss Moneypenny all turn up in a few scenes again. Q does take a few minutes to demonstrate a new gadget for James, the first time that has been done in several movies. The British Minister of Defense also turns up in a few scenes as well.
Holly Goodhead is an astronaut that has trained with NASA who is working for Drax. She has a secret or two of her own and she ends up working with James. She seems very cold and unemotional at through most of the movie. The only thing that is memorable about her is her last name. Lois Chiles wasn't anything impressive in the part. Most of the other women who turn up are just in a few short scenes and are flat characters.
Hugo Drax owns the company that is building space shuttles for the government. He has elaborate plans that involve world domination in a slightly different way. His plan seems like something that Blofeld could have come up with. He is rather cold, but that works for the character for the most part. He isn't one of the more memorable Bond villains. Michael Lonsdale is fine in the part. Jaws ends up working for Drax and battles James again. He even manages to find a girlfriend. Jaws is a more memorable villain even though he is really just hired muscle. Richard Kiel is good in the part.
Main Cast
Lois Chiles - Holly Goodhead Richard Kiel - Jaws Bernard Lee - M Desmond Llewelyn - Q Richard Lonsdale - Hugo Drax Lois Maxwell - Miss Moneypenny Roger Moore - James Bond
Lewis Gilbert - Director
DVD Information
Moonraker has had a few different DVD releases. I have the two disc version that is part of the Ultimate James Bond DVD collection. The commentary with Roger Moore says that is newly recorded. I haven't taken the time to listen to it. There is also a commentary with the director and other members of the cast and crew. The majority of the extras are on the second disc.
007 in Rio - Original 1979 Production Featurette has a voice over sharing some general information about James Bond and the movie series before sharing specific information about Moonraker. Different images related to the movie are shown, including a few minutes of footage of barely dressed women dancing during Carnival. Some actual scenes from the movie are shown and there is a little bit of footage of some of the cast and crew talking about the movie. Bond ‘79 starts with one of the producers talking about some interviews that were done during the filming of the movie. Clips from some of the interviews with producers, cast, and crew members are shown. It jumps from person to person, going back to some of them more than once. None of the questions are heard.
Ken Adams Production Films shows some of the footage that production designer Ken Adams shot while looking for locations. While the footage plays, which looks like the quality of a home movie, Adams is heard talking about the different places being shown. Some of the music from the Bond movies is playing during this as well. There are have been similar featurettes for the other Bond movies that Adams was the production designer for.
Learning to Free-Fall - Sky Diving Test Footage is focused on the sky diving scene from the beginning of the movie. A producer talks about getting the idea for the sequence and developing it. Some of the test footage is shown. Sky Diving Storyboards show the storyboards for the sky diving sequence.
Circus Footage shares footage that was filmed but not used. A producer talks about the original idea for how a sequence would end. Cable Car Alternate Storyboards share two alternate versions for the cable car scene. The Interactive Guide Into the World of Moonraker has different icons that will cause short clips from the movie to play.
Inside Moonraker - An Original Documentary shares a lot of information about the making the movie. It starts by sharing some general information about the character and movie before getting into things specific to this movie. Different cast and crew members are shown talking about the movie. The Men Behind the Mayhem - Special Effects Documentary shares information about the special effects for the different Bond movies. The effects for the movies through Goldeneye are discussed while some of the footage show things from the two Bond movies after that.
Moonraker is a bit more silly at times than some of the other Bond movies, but I still enjoy it overall. Fans of the Bond movies may find something to enjoy about it.
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