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Moonraker

Moonraker

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Moore is great, the rest of the movie is crap
Review: Roger Moore is absolutly fantastic in this film, but the film itself just sucks. First off, the biggest complaint is the space fight at the end and its terrible lazers. Jaws falling in love.."WTF?" It was like watching a space version of the spy who loved me. A rich man trying to destroy the world. The only thing good that came out of this is Rogers performence, and this was the last film that Bernard Lee played as M in. God rest his soul.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Goodhead, Dr. Goodhead, I just can't act.
Review: Rank 11 or 23. Would be 5 stars except Holly Goodhead couldn't act. The bond producers weren't stupid were they. 1977 something from a galaxy far far away inspires a rewrite of a fleming book into a whole new story. Which is just as well, because the best bits from the Moonraker novel were already used in other bond films. This is also the Jaws 2 movie.

This is also the bond movie that showed bare breast in the festival scene, but then they cut it. The bond producers were also smart enough to not mess with a formula that did not need cursing and nudity to overcome poor writing, poor imagination and poor directing. I had this Moore movie ranked higher, but I just love some of the post Moore bond movies so it has been sliding down my rankings.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Moonraker
Review: I thought this film was one of Roger Moore's worst films. It was just an excuse to copy the greatness of Star Wars. I would highly recommend The Spy Who Loved Me over Moonraker.

In this James Bond film 007 goes against Hugo Drax and Jaws. He meets a scientist at one of Drax's labs. He goes up into space for the last 30 minutes of the film (the only time in space). I did not like this film very much.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Bond Way Out in Outer Space (3.5 stars)
Review: If you noticed the end credits of The Spy Who Loved Me, you would take it that Bond would return in For Your Eyes Only. In the same year TSWLM was released, 1977, a global phenomenon swept the world with an intense cult following that continues to prevail to this very day, Star Wars. Two years later, the producers at Eon released Moonraker, a science-fiction adventure with a climactic Star Wars-style laser fight in outer space, obviously inspired by the resounding success of Star Wars.

In this 11th film of the Bond series, James Bond, played by the dashing Roger Moore, is assigned to locate a missing Moonraker shuttle, which was supposed to be delivered via a carrier jet to Britain from the Drax Corporation. Instead, the shuttle is hijacked in midair and therefore, destroying the carrier as it had taken off. Bond travels to California to the estate of Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale), the extremely wealthy brainchild of the Moonraker and when he deduces that Drax is attempting to eliminate him, Bond is hot on Drax's trail. Bond hops through Venice and Rio de Janiero, unraveling Drax's scheme to exterminate humankind with a contagious agent, harmful to humans, but otherwise a nonfactor for plants and animals. In doing so, Drax plans to repopulate Earth in a matter of time, with his race of "supreme" beings, utilizing his space station as temporary refuge. Teaming up with Bond to thwart Drax's terrifying scheme is Dr. Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles), one of Drax's scientists and an astronaut-in-training. Out to prevent Bond and his lady friend from saving the day is Drax's Asian right-hand man, Chou and a memorable face from The Spy Who Loved Me, the infamous Jaws (Richard Kiel).

Moonraker is a fun non-stop romp, comical, perhaps way too comical, ridiculous and unbelievable, but it was nothing more than a rush to capitalize on the prosperity of Star Wars. Moore is seemingly goofy in this outing, but he compensates with a solid performance. Lois Chiles' Holly Goodhead is a gorgeous beauty with brains, but she's probably way too technically involved to be the ideal Bond girl. Drax is a rather flat, unemotional villain with various elaborate traps for Bond and nothing more. Jaws is not as brilliant as he was in The Spy Who Loved Me, as his cheesy, rather silly side is revealed when he falls in love with a quirky, nerdy blonde. Jaws even talks in this film! The storyline is rather rushed than usual, as Bond becomes entrapped through non-stop, riveting action sequences in exotic locales. All in all, Moonraker is a pulse-pounding sci-fi action adventure, with its awkward and frivolous moments, but extremely fun to watch, despite its lack of depth.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: FAR FETCHED BOND GETS A FANTASTIC DVD TREATMENT
Review: "Moonraker" is the most bizarre Bond movie ever! It begins with Bond parachuting into a circus tent and ends up in outer space. In-between we do some extensive globe-trotting, with trips to France (the chateau), Brazil (Carnival is stunningly captured) and Italy (Venice in spring time with a really nasty gondola chase through the canals). The stunt work is confounding. Ditto for the special effects. Over all, this is as out-of-control as a screenwriter's imagination could have taken it. Lois Chiles is Holly Goodhead, the independant Bond girl with sexy smarts. Richard Kiel, as Jaws, makes a comeback and utters one line of dialogue that is hilarious.
As with "The Spy Who Love Me", "Moonraker" gets a deluxe visual presentation via MGM's restoration efforts back in the mid-1990's for the laserdisc format. Colors on this DVD are rich, bold and sharply contrasted. Shadow delineation and black levels are superb. Edge enhancement, aliasing and pixelization are kept to a bare minimum. Chips and scratches are non-existant - almost. The audio has been remixed to 5.1 surround and is engaging, bright and very strong in its bass.
Extras: documentaries, audio commentaries, theatrical trailers, interviews, music video and production stills. Wow!
BOTTOM LINE: Put this one on your list of Bond must haves.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Unbelievable, but a lot of fun
Review: Really, has any Bond movie received the kind of scorn reserved for this one? Well, besides A View to a Kill, that is. It seems that no one likes this 1979 Roger Moore effort. As a lifelong lover of all things Bond, I followed the hype and stayed away from this movie like the plague for years. I mean, BOND GOES INTO SPACE?!! I can suspend my disbelief with the rest of them, but not to that extent. So a few years ago, having rewatched all the Bond films, I needed a little something extra, so I rented an old, fullscreen VHS copy of this film. And you know what? I had a great time.

Now, by "had a great time", I don't necessarily mean that I was blown away by the intricate plotting, or the suspense in which I was held throughout the film. Rather, I just enjoyed what was going on on the screen. This is one of the more outlandish Bond movies, but I was entertained, and captivated by the wide variety of locations and exciting stunts. Also, I discovered that despite the hype, Bond only spends about a quarter of the movie in space, and even that works pretty well, at least until the space marines show up with their laser guns. But, that's neither here nor there.

A nice touch with this film is that we see Bond doing some actual detecting. A space shuttle on loan to Britain has gone missing, and it's up to our man JB to figure out who stole it, and why (I know, how can you steal a shuttle. . .it's actually handled pretty well in the movie, except for the whole "fuel load" thing). This leads to various head butting with the shuttle's owner, Hugo Drax (could anyone named Drax not be a villain?), and eventually, you got it, a trip to space. The whole thing is handled pretty nicely. The sets are amazing (this would be Prodution Designer Ken Adam's last turn in a Bond film), and the special effects, while not Star Wars, aren't bad.

The best way to look at this movie is as a companion piece to the previous film, The Spy Who Loved Me. There are a lot of similarities: director (Lewis Gilbert); writer (Christopher Wood); ornate, globe-trotting style; tongue-in-cheek attitude; and Jaws (the one-and-only Richard Kiel). Don't come in expecting "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", and you'll have a great time.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Subpar Bond
Review: I honestly can't believe that this is the movie that comes between The Spy Who Loved Me and For Your Eyes Only. Not that it's a terrible movie, but is a fine example of a 70's B movie.
Actually, it wouldn't have been that bad of a movie, except for the extremely strange portrayal of one of my favorite bad guys, Jaws. He meets a Heidi-esque girl and falls in love, and they too, end up in space. In the end, he even assists Bond and Dr. Goodhead (a very forgettable Bond girl) in their escape of the doomed space station.

I love Bond movies, and I am not one of those who goes into watching a Bond movie looking for depth and meaning. Actually, my favorite Bond movie, Live and Let Die, has quite a few cheesy elements. This is not a tossaway movie, but if you're new to classic Bond, don't let this be part of your first experience.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of Bond's best!
Review: Moonraker is definately one of the better Bond films. It has action and becomes more updated by using the "In space" platform. For those who refer to fans who like this film as "renegades", my question to you is just what is the perfect Bond film? Bond has certianly matured since the days of Sean Connery and the ancient tones used in his film appearances (although I did like "Diamonds Are Forever" which also has a space tone to it (the satellite with diamonds, and the desert space lab (another Bond film with space involved, imagine that). Roger Moore gave Bond a great character which has yet to be duplicated.
So for those of you who run this film down may want to consider watching re-runs of "The Man From Uncle" to get your thrills. Obviously you don't know a good film when you see one!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good Movie Ok Bond
Review: Moonraker was an good movie. But Roger Moore is not as good a Bond as in The Spy Who Loved Me. Jaws they do some stupid things with. They make him turn good. He should just die and he does better in The Spy Who Loved Me, he gets a girl friend man. Drax they could do a better job with him dieing. But it's still a good movie all though it could've been beter. I thing it's one of the best James Bond movies.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Thrill Ride
Review: Two things strike me: the anti-gravity simulation, and the way the Russians are shown as the bluffers they really were. The director in 1979 knew more about the Soviets than most Western governments did

As I re-viewed the last few minutes of the video, I could not believe these lines were there:

"I can't hold to this course much longer," says the heroine, as she and Bond are re-entering atmosphere in their shuttle at a steep angle.

"We'll break up at 200,000 feet!"


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