| Moonraker (1979) | |
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Rating: 6.2/10 (108,431 votes) Director: Lewis Gilbert Writer: Christopher Wood, Ian Fleming, Gerry Anderson Stars: Roger Moore, Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale Runtime: 126 min Rated: PG Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Released: 29 Jun 1979 |
| Plot: James Bond investigates the mid-air theft of a space shuttle, and discovers a plot to commit global genocide. | |
After the release of Star Wars, the producers of Bond dropped the proposed For Your Eyes Only, and rushed this space-set adventure for 007 into production…and it shows.
Hugo Drax has to be one of the dullest of megalomaniacs that 007 has ever faced, and whilst the iconic Jaws makes a return, sadly his use in the film is embarrassing. Less of a threat, he is now the fall guy, there to give an opportunity for Bond to pull off a stunt, and leave Jaws to pull a strange face and crash into something. All in all, the threat to Bond and the world is somewhat dull.
Throw in Bond in a poncho, a cringeworthy ride on a g-force stress machine, a recurring joke about Bond falling from something, and Moore doing far too many knowing winks to camera, and what we are left with is one of the lowest points in the franchise. Not to mention the crow that does a double-take, a replay of the ‘bloke looks at bottle of wine when vehicle comes out of water’ joke, and ‘slow motion moving in zero-g’, all bad ideas that make the film more farcical than Carry On Spying.
It’s not a complete loss. It is less innuendo strewn than the previous film, and does have some great direction, and thrilling set pieces. It just, unfortunately, suffers from trying to be cool for the sci-fi crowd, and making forced use of a popular character from the previous film. Still, at least the musical cues for the action sequences have reverted back to orchestral pieces, and not dreadful synth-pop-disco that we had in the precious film. Also the extras, including a 40 minute making of, are well worth watching, and reveal the impressive stunt and effects techniques that were developed for the films most iconic sequences.
