Moonraker, a generally reviled entry in the James Bond series probably doesn't deserve as much hate as it receives. It's utterly ridiculous but there's some charm in its ridiculousness that's hard not to appreciate. The reason why Bond takes a trip into space can be summed up to the fact that Star Wars had just come out two years ago and had changed cinema forever. Well the gamble paid off because Moonraker was the highest grossing Bond film until 1995's Goldeneye, so mad props to Broccoli for making such a calculated decision.
All the same, it's kind of sad that Albert R. Broccoli believed that Bond had to take a page out of whatever was popular at the time. It wasn't the first time this was done with James getting a taste of blaxploitation and martial arts films pretty recently. I think this is another Broccoli decision since he was trying to make up for losing Sean Connery. The Man with the Golden Gun had a take on martial arts which I had mentioned I disliked in my review of it and Live and Let Die can be said to be a blaxploitation film. There's actually another martial arts scene in Moonraker but it's far superior to what was done before.
So what's Bond up to this time? Well he has to investigate the disappearance of an American space shuttle called Moonraker. It was built by Drax Industries in California so he goes there first to meet with its founder Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale). It's not an especially original story since you could almost say that it's The Spy Who Loved Me but done in space instead of at sea. Due to TSPLM's success though, I can understand why Broccoli would want to replicate that and try to capitalize on the sci-fi craze of the late 70's.
The most important part of James Bond are its action scenes. There are quite a few good ones that unfortunately always seem to end in some sort of comedic way. For example, there is a glorious opening action sequence as part of Bond tradition that is almost spoiled by the silly end of it. It's not quite as good as the opening from The Spy Who Loved Me but it's up there, despite how it ends.
Roger Moore seems to do a lot of boat chances and he's got two of them in Moonraker. The one in Venice is OK but falls into spoof territory. The second one is superior but does also stray a little too far on the funny side. There's a pretty good fight with an Asian henchman that's surprisingly good as well as some action on a cable car. Along with the action, there are just loads and loads of gadgets which are pretty fun if you ask me.
There's a return of the totally awesome Jaws from The Spy Who Loved Me which was totally welcome by me. It's the only time a James Bond henchman has come back and Jaws was a good choice. Scenes where Roger Moore and Jaws flash smiles at each other crack me up, I can't help it. Unfortunately, Jaws is used too much as comedic relief and I feel that he deserves better. He's a 7'2 man giant with steel teeth, use him properly! (Spoiler) Probably one of the best scenes involving him was in Rio de Janeiro in a dark alleyway at night where he was dressed as a creepy clown. It's a shame that there couldn't be more scenes in the spirit of properly using Jaws. Instead we got a dumb romance subplot and worst of all his conversion to being good! I still can't get over that and I refuse to believe it. (End spoiler).
In terms of the acting, Roger Moore does pretty well at properly getting into the almost parody stage of James Bond. A few of his one-liners fall a bit flat though which is too bad. Who I thought didn't really do a good job was Lois Chiles as Holly Goodhead. She's completely wooden in her delivery which is a shame because despite her unambiguous name, she's a great character. She challenges James right away, resulting in him trying to one-up her. James comes off as a bit of a fool but it makes for an interesting relationship.
The budget for Moonraker is apparently larger than the first six James Bond movies put together which is crazy. Even the title sequence cost more than all of Dr. No. With such high costs for sets and stunts, there had to of course be some product placement. I have to criticize a sequence that featured four product placements in a span of about 15 seconds though. I'm fine with brands like 7UP, Seiko, Marlboro and British Airways making an appearance in a James Bond movie but space it out more please.
I'll finish off by saying that as ridiculous as Moonraker is, it's hard to totally dislike the movie. There are some really good parts that are hamstrung by some stupid decisions to make things light and funny but the effort isn't ruined. Hugo Drax is the perfect stereotypical villain, Jaws is awesome, the space scenes are fun in a cheesy way and there are some really amazing set designs. If we can all take a movie that features a female character called Pussy Galore seriously, I think we can all give Moonraker a second chance.
Very good opening scene. Jaws comes back and kicks ass again. Two thirds of the movie are pretty solid, everything flows like in any other Bond film, some stupid moments here and there, fun fights, fun gadgets... and then they go to space.
I must say, I'm dissapointed. I've waited to watch this movie the most, because I love schlock. But it just wasn't as fun as I expected. I was no longer invested in the story as soon as it got too ridiculous. I think the reason behind it is that The Spy Who Loved Me was too good, like genuinely good, and this wasn't anywhere close. I'll try to lower my expectations for the next Bond films.
I can forgive Star Wars for using bad science, since it takes place in another world, but films that have explosions and sounds in space and are supposed to be taken seriously are laughable. No way they didn't know that you can't have a visible laser in space back then. They were only doing this because at the time people were suckers for everything that resembles Star Wars. I'd say this movie is either too dated or I am too nerdy for it, because every little space thing throws my suspension of disbelief out the window. I can't wait to watch a Bond film that takes place on the ground again.
All in all, it's not bad. It have some really good moments, but the last act is forgetable despite being really silly, Moneypenny is getting old and Moore overuses his smile to the point where it is no longer that funny or charming.
Moonraker is what the Bond franchise delayed For Your Eyes Only for so it could jump on the Star Wars bandwagon. The easiest criticism one could make of the film is that it goes too far into science fiction, with space marines shooting lasers at space-suited henchmen around a space ark, but its problems are much greater than that. The comedy often takes you out of the movie, especially the whole Jaws in love subplot, not to mention his risible indestructibility. He almost ruins one of the most spectacular teaser stunts in Bond history. Lois Chiles as Dr. Goodhead get my vote for worst Bond girl of all time, or at least the worst actress to ever play such a role (I'm on Team Manuela in this one). The plot is essentially recycled from the previous one, The Spy Who Loved Me, with an outer space ark instead of an underwater one. We visit a lot of countries, Brazi looks especially nice, but Bond follows clues willy-nilly and none of it actually makes sense. Throw in entirely too much product placement, and you've easily got the worst of the 007 franchise. That said, it still has entertainment value, and Ken Adam's impressive last sets.
One of the lesser Bonds. Story is totally ridiculous, Too over the top and the action scenes are almost all rehashes of earlier Bond movies.
But movie is never dull, sets, special effects, stunt work and locations are amazing, great score by John Barry and the pre title stunt is one of the best. You can clearly see that this was an expensive movie but you can see every dollar back on screen. Also the fight with chang in the glass museum is a knock out.
The serious moments in the movie are the stand-outs: The death of Corinne Dufour, Jaws in the dark alley during carnival and Bonds reaction after the centrifuge "attack".
Moonraker was the most successful bond movie for a long time but the producers were smart enough to go back to more realism with FYEO.
Entertaining to say the least, but brought down by awfull tries at humor (Jaws becomes more and more of a comic character, in stead of the menace he was in 'Spy', and it just doesn't work)
But I had expected a much worse movie then it was. The whole outer space sequenses are well done and not as ridicilous as they could have been. And there are lots of cool action scènes and a pretty standard, but good plot.
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Comments 1 - 14 of 14
CinemaDump
Moonraker, a generally reviled entry in the James Bond series probably doesn't deserve as much hate as it receives. It's utterly ridiculous but there's some charm in its ridiculousness that's hard not to appreciate. The reason why Bond takes a trip into space can be summed up to the fact that Star Wars had just come out two years ago and had changed cinema forever. Well the gamble paid off because Moonraker was the highest grossing Bond film until 1995's Goldeneye, so mad props to Broccoli for making such a calculated decision.All the same, it's kind of sad that Albert R. Broccoli believed that Bond had to take a page out of whatever was popular at the time. It wasn't the first time this was done with James getting a taste of blaxploitation and martial arts films pretty recently. I think this is another Broccoli decision since he was trying to make up for losing Sean Connery. The Man with the Golden Gun had a take on martial arts which I had mentioned I disliked in my review of it and Live and Let Die can be said to be a blaxploitation film. There's actually another martial arts scene in Moonraker but it's far superior to what was done before.
So what's Bond up to this time? Well he has to investigate the disappearance of an American space shuttle called Moonraker. It was built by Drax Industries in California so he goes there first to meet with its founder Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale). It's not an especially original story since you could almost say that it's The Spy Who Loved Me but done in space instead of at sea. Due to TSPLM's success though, I can understand why Broccoli would want to replicate that and try to capitalize on the sci-fi craze of the late 70's.
The most important part of James Bond are its action scenes. There are quite a few good ones that unfortunately always seem to end in some sort of comedic way. For example, there is a glorious opening action sequence as part of Bond tradition that is almost spoiled by the silly end of it. It's not quite as good as the opening from The Spy Who Loved Me but it's up there, despite how it ends.
Roger Moore seems to do a lot of boat chances and he's got two of them in Moonraker. The one in Venice is OK but falls into spoof territory. The second one is superior but does also stray a little too far on the funny side. There's a pretty good fight with an Asian henchman that's surprisingly good as well as some action on a cable car. Along with the action, there are just loads and loads of gadgets which are pretty fun if you ask me.
There's a return of the totally awesome Jaws from The Spy Who Loved Me which was totally welcome by me. It's the only time a James Bond henchman has come back and Jaws was a good choice. Scenes where Roger Moore and Jaws flash smiles at each other crack me up, I can't help it. Unfortunately, Jaws is used too much as comedic relief and I feel that he deserves better. He's a 7'2 man giant with steel teeth, use him properly! (Spoiler) Probably one of the best scenes involving him was in Rio de Janeiro in a dark alleyway at night where he was dressed as a creepy clown. It's a shame that there couldn't be more scenes in the spirit of properly using Jaws. Instead we got a dumb romance subplot and worst of all his conversion to being good! I still can't get over that and I refuse to believe it. (End spoiler).
In terms of the acting, Roger Moore does pretty well at properly getting into the almost parody stage of James Bond. A few of his one-liners fall a bit flat though which is too bad. Who I thought didn't really do a good job was Lois Chiles as Holly Goodhead. She's completely wooden in her delivery which is a shame because despite her unambiguous name, she's a great character. She challenges James right away, resulting in him trying to one-up her. James comes off as a bit of a fool but it makes for an interesting relationship.
The budget for Moonraker is apparently larger than the first six James Bond movies put together which is crazy. Even the title sequence cost more than all of Dr. No. With such high costs for sets and stunts, there had to of course be some product placement. I have to criticize a sequence that featured four product placements in a span of about 15 seconds though. I'm fine with brands like 7UP, Seiko, Marlboro and British Airways making an appearance in a James Bond movie but space it out more please.
I'll finish off by saying that as ridiculous as Moonraker is, it's hard to totally dislike the movie. There are some really good parts that are hamstrung by some stupid decisions to make things light and funny but the effort isn't ruined. Hugo Drax is the perfect stereotypical villain, Jaws is awesome, the space scenes are fun in a cheesy way and there are some really amazing set designs. If we can all take a movie that features a female character called Pussy Galore seriously, I think we can all give Moonraker a second chance.
6/10
jktomas
Very good opening scene. Jaws comes back and kicks ass again. Two thirds of the movie are pretty solid, everything flows like in any other Bond film, some stupid moments here and there, fun fights, fun gadgets... and then they go to space.I must say, I'm dissapointed. I've waited to watch this movie the most, because I love schlock. But it just wasn't as fun as I expected. I was no longer invested in the story as soon as it got too ridiculous. I think the reason behind it is that The Spy Who Loved Me was too good, like genuinely good, and this wasn't anywhere close. I'll try to lower my expectations for the next Bond films.
I can forgive Star Wars for using bad science, since it takes place in another world, but films that have explosions and sounds in space and are supposed to be taken seriously are laughable. No way they didn't know that you can't have a visible laser in space back then. They were only doing this because at the time people were suckers for everything that resembles Star Wars. I'd say this movie is either too dated or I am too nerdy for it, because every little space thing throws my suspension of disbelief out the window. I can't wait to watch a Bond film that takes place on the ground again.
All in all, it's not bad. It have some really good moments, but the last act is forgetable despite being really silly, Moneypenny is getting old and Moore overuses his smile to the point where it is no longer that funny or charming.
Cadeicus
I think the last few scenes was just a poor attempt at being like Star Wars as the first one came out two years before this film.Rosenrotta
I'm surprised by how much hate this film gets. It's loads better than DAF and TMWTGG.iawia
Probaby the most underrated Bond movie, rivaled only by Quantum of Solace.Forzelius
Ridiculous but god damn that re-entry line killed medemagogo
Most Bond so far have been nothing but high-budget exploitation films.Siskoid
Moonraker is what the Bond franchise delayed For Your Eyes Only for so it could jump on the Star Wars bandwagon. The easiest criticism one could make of the film is that it goes too far into science fiction, with space marines shooting lasers at space-suited henchmen around a space ark, but its problems are much greater than that. The comedy often takes you out of the movie, especially the whole Jaws in love subplot, not to mention his risible indestructibility. He almost ruins one of the most spectacular teaser stunts in Bond history. Lois Chiles as Dr. Goodhead get my vote for worst Bond girl of all time, or at least the worst actress to ever play such a role (I'm on Team Manuela in this one). The plot is essentially recycled from the previous one, The Spy Who Loved Me, with an outer space ark instead of an underwater one. We visit a lot of countries, Brazi looks especially nice, but Bond follows clues willy-nilly and none of it actually makes sense. Throw in entirely too much product placement, and you've easily got the worst of the 007 franchise. That said, it still has entertainment value, and Ken Adam's impressive last sets.Earring72
One of the lesser Bonds. Story is totally ridiculous, Too over the top and the action scenes are almost all rehashes of earlier Bond movies.But movie is never dull, sets, special effects, stunt work and locations are amazing, great score by John Barry and the pre title stunt is one of the best. You can clearly see that this was an expensive movie but you can see every dollar back on screen. Also the fight with chang in the glass museum is a knock out.
The serious moments in the movie are the stand-outs: The death of Corinne Dufour, Jaws in the dark alley during carnival and Bonds reaction after the centrifuge "attack".
Moonraker was the most successful bond movie for a long time but the producers were smart enough to go back to more realism with FYEO.
Osahi
Entertaining to say the least, but brought down by awfull tries at humor (Jaws becomes more and more of a comic character, in stead of the menace he was in 'Spy', and it just doesn't work)But I had expected a much worse movie then it was. The whole outer space sequenses are well done and not as ridicilous as they could have been. And there are lots of cool action scènes and a pretty standard, but good plot.
chunkylefunga
Terrible Bond movie. The book is one of the best in the series and someone they manage to completely butcher it to the point where it's laughable bad.Larkspire
Not as ridiculous as the later Bonds, and one of the most hilarious.TheMajor
Don't hate it. You can't deny that it is entertaining.rowanda380
This movie is laughably bad.