Moonraker (1979)

Directed by: Lewis Gilbert | 122 minutes | action, thriller, adventure, science fiction | Actors: Roger Moore, Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale, Richard Kiel, Corinne Clery, Bernard Lee, Geoffrey Keen, Desmond Llewelyn, Lois Maxwell, Toshirô Suga, Emily Bolton, Blanche Ravalec

“More is better”, the team behind ‘Moonraker’ must have thought. However, nothing could be further from the truth, as proves the eleventh James Bond film and the fourth with Roger Moore in the lead role. The budget of ‘Moonraker’ was more than double that of its predecessor, ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’, which was released two years earlier. The immense success of ‘Star Wars’ inspired Cubby Broccoli and his followers to create a James Bond variant, 007 had to go into space! All registers were pulled out for this. Shot in two major studios in France, production designer Ken Adam set a record building the largest set ever seen in the French film industry. However, part of the film was also shot at the familiar Pinewood Studios.

Visually, the film is very attractive, the Oscar nomination that the visual effects team received is well deserved. Exotic locations and breathtaking stunts – which starts with the battle in the air for a parachute – alternate. It’s just a shame that the story has been lost sight of. ‘Moonraker’ is generally considered to be the most ridiculous script, and it’s undeniable so far. A millionaire who wants to poison the earth in order to create an entirely new society in space like a modern Noah? 007 doesn’t even blink. The film as a whole can therefore be considered a failure, while some individual parts do make an impression. There is no question of any coherence: Bond is actually only busy with one dangerous situation after another for the entire film and, of course, conquering some feminine beauty in between.

Corinne Dufour (Corinne Clery) is his first distraction, but the beautiful helicopter pilot puts her life on the line by helping James. It is very strange that her actions have no further impact on the secret agent. The character Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles) has a bigger role in the film, this CIA agent first poses as a scientist at Drax Industries. Unfortunately, Chiles does not convince and the chemistry between her and Roger Moore is completely absent. Finally, Manuela (Emily Bolton) is the agent who helps Bond in Rio and for whom mixing business and pleasure is the rule rather than the exception. Her role is also not very impressive. The gadgets are surprising, for example, the gondola in Venice that suddenly turns out to be able to drive and the assortment of weapons that Holly Goodhead keeps in her hotel room.

One of the most bizarre Bond villains is probably Jaws (Richard Kiel). For ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’, he was a good addition to the cast and because Broccoli felt that Jaws could become ‘big’ (the man is already 6 feet) he made sure that the giant ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ survived so he could return in ‘Moonraker’. With his iron teeth, he is able to take down any opponent. Unfortunately, his performance does not have the desired effect: his return is very cartoonish and he provides most of the slapstick moments due to his stupid appearance, his perseverance (the giant cannot be killed) and certainly his sudden crush on Dolly (Blance Ravalec). At no point does he instill fear. Efforts have been made in vain to give the character some form of character development, but this has not been successful either.

Michael Lonsdale convincingly plays the part of Hugo Drax. Drax is a billionaire and is respected by the whole world. His Drax Industries make space shuttles for the US government and because the Moonraker rocket that has inexplicably disappeared comes out of his factory, Bond goes to question him. It soon becomes clear that he is suspect number one. His army of beautiful ladies, who according to Corinne are being trained as astronauts, his sidekick Chang (Toshirô Suga), everything is not right. Chang provides one of the most tense moments in the film, by the way, when he intentionally spins Bond in a spinning rocket at top speed (the most exciting is the opening scene, never a good sign).

Only the last half hour of the film takes place in space, but by then most viewers will have dropped out of the weird story. Bond in space: please don’t let there be any more room for that!