X
- 1979
- PG
- United Artists
- 2 h 6 m
- 1979
- PG
- United Artists
- 2 h 6 m
Summary James Bond, Agent 007, investigates the mid-air theft of a space shuttle and discovers a plot to commit global genocide.
Directed By: Lewis Gilbert
Written By: Christopher Wood, Ian Fleming, Gerry Anderson, Tony Barwick
- 1979
- PG
- United Artists
- 2 h 6 m
- 1979
- PG
- United Artists
- 2 h 6 m
Moonraker
66
6.1
Where to Watch
Summary James Bond, Agent 007, investigates the mid-air theft of a space shuttle and discovers a plot to commit global genocide.
Directed By: Lewis Gilbert
Written By: Christopher Wood, Ian Fleming, Gerry Anderson, Tony Barwick
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 13 Critic Reviews
66
69% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
31% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 13 Critic Reviews
66
69% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
31% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Broccoli serves the audience a space-shuttle hijacking, a jumbo-jet explosion and a protracted wrestling match between two men who are falling from the sky without parachutes. All this happens before the opening credits. From there, it's on to gondola chases in Venice, funicular crashes in Rio and laser-gun shootouts and lovemaking in deep space. Meanwhile, beautiful women come and go, talking (ever so discreetly) about fellatio. When Broccoli lays out a feast, he makes sure that there is at least one course for every conceivable taste...The result is a film that is irresistibly entertaining as only truly mindless spectacle can be.
Moonraker is mercifully much better than recent Bondage, with fantastic special effects, some excellent buffery (cracks at Star Wars, Close Encounters, Clint Eastwood, to name but a few), and the usual location-hopping style that makes Versailles feel like Disneyland.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 71 User Ratings
6.1
41% Positive
29 Ratings
29 Ratings
49% Mixed
35 Ratings
35 Ratings
10% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 71 User Ratings
6.1
41% Positive
29 Ratings
29 Ratings
49% Mixed
35 Ratings
35 Ratings
10% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
The eleventh James Bond movie and the most science fiction inspired one even to date. The producers were influenced by Star Wars and its great commercial success. So it was decided to adapt to this and let parts of the story happen in space. For comparison: The Ian Fleming novel Moonraker has nothing like this in it and some parts were later used for Goldeneye (An in name only adaptation if you need a label). The story starts when a Moonraker type space-shuttle is stolen in midair from a shuttle carrier aircraft (The carriers exist in real life and are modified Boeing 747s). James Bond is set to investigate this and starts by asking billionaire Hugo Drax whose Drax Industries build the shuttle for help. His investigations lead him to a much bigger menace. More I wont spoil. The story is good for franchise standards. It has a lot of good twists and is entertaining. I like the science fiction elements but these are not mandatory for me. The next movies never used these again and I can not say that I missed them nor that I hated them. The concept and ideas for the plot / menace are really good and the climax is well done. The actors are fine for me. Roger Moore delivers as always. Michael Lonsdale as Hugo Drax is an interesting antagonist. He is smart, a clever schemer, awfully rich and gets the things done he wants. He is probably in my top 10 James Bond villain list but not in the higher ranks. However Richard Kiel as Jaws is high on the list. He became a fan favorite in the last movie and returns which is remarkable. He is still intimidating, indestructible and has an engaging smile:-). He gets even some bit of development here and I like also Blanche Ravalec in this regard too. Some of his best moments are in this movie (circus tent, carnival or cable scene). The humor is also quite remarkable as some of my favorite jokes of the franchise are from this movie (The Eiffel tower joke alone is remembered by every James Bond fan). Normally I would not point this out in a James Bond movie but the special effects look really good and have aged well for that time. The soundtrack is O.K for me but not remarkable in comparison. Overall it is an enjoyable James Bond movie with great humor and memorable scenes. Slightly misses my 10/10 rating but I re-watched it quite some time.
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Moonraker is 1979 sci-fi adventure sort of action thriller.. Roger Moore returns as James Bond 007 and actor Richard Kiel makes an appearance as iron or metal teethed nemesis, Jaws... Most of the actresses are beautiful and sexy in Moonraker especially Dr. Holly Goodhead played by Lois Chiles and we've some excellent scene involving Roger Moore in some metal arm device that spins round and round but some clown speeds the device up so it spins so fast it can be fatal to a human and kill them so Roger Moore manages to stop it eventually after some device that Q (Desmond Llewellyn) gave him short-circuits it or something. We have some excellent fighting scenes and some encounters with villain, Jaws who tries to bite James Bond (Roger Moore) after he jumps out of a plane at the beginning and is using a parachute. We have a giant snake that tries to kill James Bond (Roger Moore) but fails and beautiful women and scenes in space and laser action scenes. All in all this Bond film is great and certainly one of the best and better ones and Michael Lonsdale as Drax is okay too plus Shirley Bassey's excellent and beautiful musical score at the beginning.
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Moonraker begins with one of the funniest and most dangerous (as well as most beautifully photographed and edited) sequences Bond has ever faced.
Moonraker is a movie by gadgeteers, for gadgeteers, about gadgeteers. Our age may be losing its faith in technology, but James Bond sure hasn't.
Moonraker, the newest James Bond spectacle, is a cheerful, splashy entertainment. The curators of the Bond museum do not surpass themselves with this exhibition, the 11th in the series, but they haven't fallen down on the job either. Moonraker is a satisfying blend of familiar ingredients, from the highly polished to the barely adequate. [29 June 1979, p.C1]
Moonraker's only real imaginative surge comes in a rousing pre-credit sequence in which Bond is pushed out of an airplane and survives by deftly sky-diving to a parachutist and swiping his chute. After this, a bizarre blandness takes over. [2 July 1979, p.68]
Now, a mission on the dark side of the moon; but without Pink Floyd. The fact that creative liberties have been taken is easy to forgive for the typical action sequences of the long-running series. And if you pay attention you will see nods to more than one "space" movie.
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While I wouldn't argue Moonraker was flawless, it would be sacrilege to completely dismiss it. Similar to OHMSS, you judge it too harshly in light of other Bond thrillers rather than appreciating it for what it is. Sure, Moonraker has flaws, but it also has strengths, such as Michael Lonsdale's portrayal of the megalomaniacal Hugo Drax, who is obsessed with leading a new terrestrial empire. Perhaps if the movie had been made more in accordance with Flemming's specifications, it would not have received as much criticism. However, one thing we all tend to forget is that Moonraker is based on a true story.
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I personally didn't love or hate Moonraker. It has a lot of flaws, but it does have strengths too. What didn't quite work so well is that the plot is unexceptional on the whole, while apart from Sir Hugo Drax's dialogue the script has a lot of ups and downs. Also the film does drag quite badly, and the film goes on for too long I think. However, whether in space, in Venice or in Rio Moonraker is visually striking thanks to the decent special effects and lovely cinematography. John Barry's score is also really good, not his best, but one of his better Bond scores I think. The direction is not too bad really, while the acting is better than it is given credit for. Michael Lonsdale steals the show, while Lois Chiles is good enough as Holly Goodhead and it was nice to see Richard Kiel as Jaws again. Roger Moore has been better but he wasn't awful either, in fact I liked him and feel he was much more convincing than he was in A View to a Kill, where he was starting to show his age. Overall, not the best Bond or the best of the Roger Moore Bonds(personally I think that goes to Spy Who Loved Me) but Moonraker is better than **** and A View to a Kill, again that is my opinion. 6/10 Bethany Cox
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Moonraker is ludicrously fun to watch, but only to see what a trainwreck it is.
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This is by far the campiest, most ridiculous Bond movie in the franchise thus far. As I said earlier, it has a horrible case of personality disorder switching from Spy Thriller, to Action film, to western, to sci-fi and never fully embracing any of single genre. It was almost as if the film makers wanted to corner the market on every genre so that they could fill every fanboys dream while only managing to alienate the very people who kept this franchise alive. To be honest, it is a wonder that the Bond series continued after this ghastly film. ****
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Production Company
Les Productions Artistes Associés,
Eon Productions
Release Date Jun 29, 1979
Duration 2 h 6 m
Rating PG
Tagline Where all the other Bonds end . . . this one begins!
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Nomination
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
• 3 Nominations
Golden Screen, Germany
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
