Moonraker

Rating:
Summary: "Look after Mr. Bond. See that some harm comes to him."
Review: Roger Moore takes the 4th film of his to new heights,(literally.)
This one of the best 007 fims in the most populat series in the world! The villain, Hugo Drax is plotting to destroy the population of the world from his space station and beginning his master race. The new Bond girl is icy Dr. Holly Goodhead, who 007
has to work hard to win her over to his side. Jaws returns to his famous role and has a change of heart ner the end of the film. Directed by Lewis Gilbert for his 3rd and last time. The music is done by John Barry and the fantastic title song is performed by Shirley Bassey. Sadly, the last film to feature Bernard Lee as "M", (he died in 1981.) This film is an unstoppable barrel of excitement that takes James Bond from Rio to the forbidden regions of Outer Space! A magnificent film to most dynamically-charged series of all!!!

Rating:
Summary: The Best James Bond movie ever made
Review: Science Fiction, science fact, action-adventure, romance, sex, wonderous special effects, beautiful women, a solid plot, superb acting, excellent sets and costumes, what more could you want in a James Bond film?

Moonraker, by far, is my favorite James Bond movie(and the only one that I own). In an attempt to capitalize on the Star Wars craze two years before, Moonraker takes the dashing British secret agent from Southern California, to Venice, Italy, to Rio de Jenaro(?), to a magnificent space station in Earth orbit! The plot involves Bond trying to locate a missing space shuttle that was hijacked in mid-air. Bond begins his mission by investigating Hugo Drax, a wealthy industrialist, who wishes to capitalize on the growing space race. Along the way, he joins forces with a lovely astronaut/CIA Agent named Holly Goodhead (played wonderfully by the ever-beautiful Lois Chilles), who is also investigating the hi-jack, and some secret activities made by Drax. During the course of the movie, both James and Holly discover that Drax plans on annihilating the entire world population with a nerve gas from a space station in orbit. Drax's goal, to repopulate the Earth with humans of absolute physical perfection. It is up to Bond, holly, and Bond's old nemesis Jaws to stop Drax from carrying out his terrifying plan.

Despite what some die-hard fans of the Bond movies might say, I really enjoyed this film. It definately had everything going for it. And the results bear out well. We also have a Bond girl who is not only just beautiful, but has intelligence as well. Lois Chilles is without a doubt, the best Bond girl in a movie. One who can kick major "you-know-what" and take names. The scenes between her and Roger Moore(including the passionate love scenes between them)are beautifully made and acted out. Michael Lonsdale was equally effective as the villian Drax. Truly an arch-nemesis for Bond, and someone who is very despicable. Not your average mustache-twirling villain. Drax really means business in this movie.

Overall, the best James Bond movie ever made. If you love action and excitement, as well as solid science fiction, this is the film to watch. It goes to show you that the British are indeed excellent filmmakers. Yet, one wishes that ITC Entertainment distributed the film instead of United Artists. Oh, well. You can't have everything.

Rating:
Summary: Look after Mr. Bond, see that some harm comes to him!
Review: The 11th James Bond movie. In the closing credits to THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, filmmakers had announced FOR YOUR EYES ONLY to be the next James Bond film adventure. Several months later, producer Albert R. Broccoli had announced MOONRAKER to be the next film instead. Part of this would be due no doubt to the phenomenal success of such recent science-fiction space epics as STAR WARS and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. Therefore this was bound to be one of the most heavily produced 007 epics since THUNDERBALL. Only instead of the ocean, Bond would be transported into a more elaborate setting for action - outer space! With a very sizable budget, and beautiful locations around the world ranging from France, England, Italy, Brazil, Guatemala, and the United States, Broccoli once again demonstrates the key to success in ongoing film series is to adapt to changes in time. Roger Moore gives a usual excellent performance with the help of a tough and gorgeous Bond girl in Lois Chiles as Dr. Holly Goodhead. The real treat is Richard Kiel back as Jaws! This would also be Bernard Lee's last appearance as M, as he passed away in January 1981.

THE ASSIGNMENT: The MOONRAKER Space Shuttle, transported from the U.S. to Britain on the back of a Boeing 747, has been hijacked in mid-air and the Jumbo destroyed. As the shuttle was on loan from the Americans, the matter is serious and Bond is sent off to discover who stole the shuttle and why. Drax Industries, in California, is where the shuttle was built and this is the starting point. Inquiries produce serious misgivings about Hugo Drax himself, suspicions leading 007 to Venice. There he learns Drax has developed a deadly nerve gas which kills people, but not other wildlife. The gas comes from a rare orchid found in Brazil - the next destination. When Bond finally locates Drax's headquarters, it seems he is up to something even more sinister. He has built a city in space which he intends to populate with beautiful people who will become the progenitors of a new super-race. At the same time, he intends to kill off Earth's entire population with the nerve gas, leaving his perfect super-race to construct a new order of civilization on Earth in the future. As stated, for 007 the situation is critical!

THE VILLAINS: Michael Lonsdale as Hugo Drax, Richard Kiel as Jaws, and Toshiro Suga as Chang.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! BUY IT!

Rating:
Summary: LOVE IT!!!
Review: Roger Moore's version of Bond is a classic. There isn't a shortage of double entendres and cheap pick-up lines in a Moore 007 film. You can't resist a chuckle whenever Bond makes sexually-loaded comments to all the women he meets - and they barely bat an eyelid. If Connery or Brosnan (whose portryals of Bond are decidedly more earnest) were to try it, it wouldn't be as effective. But Moore's comical and laconic bond works a treat. He's fun to watch.

'Moonraker' is the name of Drax Industries' space shuttle. When one is hi-jacked in mid-air whilst being piggybacked by a 747, Bond is sent by MI6 to investigate. This leads him directly to weirdo billionaire industrialist Hugo Drax, who we discover is hell bent on eradicating all life on Earth and re-populating it with his perfect race of humans. Moonraker was one of the first Bond movies I saw so it really is a sentimental favourite. Watching it again on DVD was reliving all those great moments, like seeing Drax's henchman falling through a piano, whereupon Bond quips, 'Play It again, Sam'.

Moonraker is out of this world. It's the only movie in the franchise that doesn't fit with the others. There's a finale aboard a space station with the astronauts fighting with laser guns, for crying out loud! You're in for a disappointment if you expect this to be like the newer Bond films. Sit back and enjoy the ride.

Rating:
Summary: Definitely the most underrated Bond
Review: The fact that Moonraker remains one of the most unpopular Bond movies is a real travesty. Moonraker is a brilliantly conceived attempt to bring 007 into the sci-fi world, i.e. the one realm he hasn't yet conquered: space. The film glides smoothly from one action sequence to another, connected by a solid plotline and truly exotic locations. The casting is well spot-on: Roger Moore(my favourite) as Bond, Michael Lonsdale as the demented Hugo Drax, Lois Chiles plays astronaut/CIA agent Holly Goodhead with distinction, and Corinne Clery is excellent as Drax's aide Corinne Dufour - who helps Bond when he visits Drax Industries, but sadly pays the ultimate price for it. Moonraker also features one of the most sinister plots in the series: Drax plans to wipe out the world's population with an ultra-deadly nerve gas dispersed from outer space, and then replace it with his own "master" race. Of course it sounds insane, but insane storylines like this are what keeps the Bond franchise going. The use of light-hearted humour also reaches its peak here, and it connects brilliantly with Moore's style of acting. Personally, I think that Moonraker should be given its rightful place in the Bond Hall of Fame. A supreme 007 adventure.

Rating:
Summary: I Liked This Movie!
Review: So far I have only seen two James Bond movies, they were Never Say Never Again and Moonraker. I know that a lot of fans of the James Bond movies don't like Moonraker but I actually enjoyed watching it and I think Roger Moore was ok as James Bond but I think Richard Kiel steals the movie with his great performance as Jaws and I recommend this movie especially for Richard Kiel's performance!

Rating:
Summary: Keep in Context
Review: This was an Excellent Bond movie for its time and is still a pleasure to view it today. While viewing it now may look a bit hokie, for those of us who were old enough when it came out, remember the context in which it was released (i.e., Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, and Buck Rogers). The special effects were pretty good for its time. For those born in the 80's or later, I would recommend sticking with the latest Star Wars, Matrix, or Adam Sandler movie.

Rating:
Summary: Another 007 Dud
Review: "Moonraker" made a lot of money when it was first released, but it holds up terribly now -- along with most of the Roger Moore Bonds. Everything is played for laughs rather than thrills. Absolutely dreadful!

Rating:
Summary: 007 follows the crowd
Review: In the 60's, the James Bond team were innovators who inspired a slew of imitations, everything from Dean Martin's Matt Helm movies and TV's "Man from U.N.C.L.E" to Richard Burton's anti-Bond in "The Spy Who Came In From the Cold." But as the 70's dawned, Bond was showing signs of fatigue. With 1979's "Moonraker," 007 admitted defeat to the science-fiction boom led by "Star Wars," a film whose special-effects team included John Stears who won an Oscar for "Thunderball," and became an imitator himself.

Sending her majesty's top secret service agent into space wasn't necessarily a bad idea, but it indicated that the series was repeating itself, exhuming ideas leftover from "You Only Live Twice" (in which Bond almost became Buck Rogers). Worst of all, it acknowledged that the cutting edge in the cinema of the fantastic no longer belonged to 007 but to "Star Wars," a film that would lead to a series that rivaled Bond at the ticket windows. (The Bond team had already acknowledged the emergence of Steven Spielberg by naming one of "The Spy Who Loved Me"'s villains after the killer shark blockbuster of 1975, and Richard Kiel's reappearance here is another example of the series cannibalizing itself.)

What really sinks "Moonraker" is the humor. No longer merely tongue-in-cheek, it was now pie-in-face, a mistake the producers acknowledged themselves by returning to a more sober thriller mode for the next film ("For Your Eyes Only") despite the fact that "Moonraker" became the first film in the series to surpass the record box-office take of 1965's "Thunderball" (which remains, as its ad campaign claimed, "The Biggest Bond of All" when inflation is taken into account). In addition to the dopie love interest for "Jaws," the film pays humorous homage to "The Magnificent 7" and Clint Eastwood's spaghetti westerns, and the result is a Bond film that seems to be imitating Bond's own imitators, especially the Matt Helm series.

Even though this is one of the worst Bond films, it can't be dismissed out of hand. As usual, the production values are top-flight, Roger Moore's skin was still tight (the fall became noticeable in "Octopussy"), and John Barry's score is memorably haunting. For 007, this is the pits, but it still makes for good entertainment.

Rating:
Summary: Weak after the Previous Bond
Review: Roger Moore had his ups and downs as James Bond. After an excellent entry in the series with "The Spy Who Loved Me," "Moonraker" was another weak entry. The fault this time lies with the far too science fiction outer space shootout that finishes the movie, a reprise of the underwater battle from "Thunderball" in combination with a bit of "Star Wars" Death Star destruction.

The basic concept is similar to many of the previous Bond films that have worked so well. Hugo Drax, effectively played by Michael Lonsdale, has a plan for (what else) conquering the world. Lonsdale is one of the most superb Bond villains ever, easily surpassing Ernst Stavro Blofeld and in the same league as Christopher Lee. Lonsdale is one of the most coldly calculating megalomaniacs to ever menace the world in the Bond series, and his only error is to dismiss Bond too readily.

Lonsdale's plan is quite complex, and involves choosing "perfect" human specimens to transport into space, and then cleverly eliminating the rest of mankind. How does he do all this? You must watch and see. Obviously space shuttles are involved and a clever plan for killing all the humans remaining on Earth.

One thing I've wondered about in some of Roger Moore's Bond movies is why the bad guys are good at what they do and the good guys are not all that good, or perhaps effective. This time Hugo Drax is supported by Richard Kiel as Jaws, Corinne Clery as Corinne Dufour and Toshirô Suga as Chang. All these actors and actresses are competent and intelligent. Bond, on the other hand, seems to get people who appear to be amateurs or think he is bumbling. Makes you want to be on the side of the bad guys. Admittedly, two of Drax' key personnel end up helping Bond, but I still wonder why the good guys can't get better help.

As I mentioned before, the final portion of the movie takes place in space, so you can guess that this film is loaded with technology and gadgets. In another reprise we see Bond in a boat chase through the canals of Venice, a chase that includes a gondola being cut in half similar to the boat chase in "The Man with the Golden Gun." Bond's gondola turns out to be loaded with nifty extras, of course. Later Bond gets another cool boat in South America. This boat includes torpedoes, mines, and a built-in hang glider. The boat itself looks very high tech. We also see lasers quite a bit in this film. Similar to the science fantasy movie "Star Wars," the laser beams are visible. One of these days someone will make a realistic movie where the laser beams are not visible; admittedly more boring, but also more factual.

Bond movies have always had great locations, and this one meets the standard; Venice, Guatemala, Brazil, among others, and the credits list outer space. I believe I recognized the Lancaster-Palmdale area of southern California as part of Drax' facilities for building the Moonraker shuttles.

The theme song for this movie was sung by Shirley Bassey, who also sang the theme to "Goldfinger" and "From Russia with Love," and appeared as a lounge singer in the movie "Live and Let Die."

Even though this movie had a bit too much hokum and a wooden performance by Bond, who appeared to be bored much of the time, there is still a lot to like about this movie. Richard Kiel is a super-villain worthy of a super-spy. Admittedly the jokes associated with Jaws' appearances are often corny, but Jaws is a cool, bizarre villain. I also enjoyed Bond's escape from the cable car in Brazil. Jaws' outfit in Carnivale was interesting and unique, and fitted his personality well. I really enjoyed the fight between Chang and Bond in the glass shop in Venice. The fight between Chang and Bond in the warehouse is an (inadvertent?) homage to Bruce Lee's "Game of Death." There are quite a few other worthwhile scenes.

It's hard to rate this movie higher than three stars because of the flaws and Moore's rather weak performance. However, it is a Bond movie, and always worth a bowl of popcorn. I recommend this movie for fans of Bond and for those who like cheesy science fiction or science fantasy films. Movies like these typically do not win many awards, but they sure are fun to watch.