Moonraker
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Movie Reviews of Moonraker
Movie Review: Slapstick, sci-fi, spy guy.
Summary: 3 Stars
"Moonraker" is the James Bond movie that reached the nadir of cartoon antics that had plagued the world of 007 throughout the bell-bottomed seventies. It's a low point for many die-hard fans; a point where the series veered without shame from Hitchcock-like thrills to Max Sennett-like madness. For me, it's the guiltiest of pleasures. Read on.
As been observed by many, producer Albert R. Broccoli reeling from the world-wide success of "The Spy Who Loved Me" (James Bond's campy but self-assured comeback) took only the title and villain (Hugo Drax), from one of Ian Fleming strongest books to build what could have lazily been titled "The Spy Who Loved Me II." Replace the previous movie's sea world motif with outer space and you have essentially the same movie- Bond aided by equally adept female spy goes after megalomaniac bent on world destruction. Bond blows up megalomaniac's operation. Bond sleeps with female spy (this was also the exact template used for "Tomorrow Never Dies," but that's another review). That said, through nearly half of "Moonraker," returning screenwriter Christopher Wood does set up an intriguing mystery angle with our intrepid hero following nonsensical clues from what seems like the entire western hemisphere (A document in California, vials of poison in Venice, etc. etc...) But when the action starts, the filmmakers can't seem to reign themselves in and go for the cheap laugh time and time again.
I agree for those who like their Bond films shaken, not stirred, that there is a lot here to cause a spewed martini. For one, there is Roger Moore. The very name is a scourge to those who prefer Sean Connery or Daniel Craig's bad boy Bonds. After displaying a slight hard edge in the last half of "The Spy Who Loved Me," Moore gallivants through "Moonraker" like, well, Roger Moore- a likable, but flippant, jet setting, celebrity. Moore's Bond just sails too effortlessly throughout this adventure. Even some of the gorgeous (of course) Bond girls like Corrine Clery and Emily Bolton seem to robotically sleep with Bond as if they were programmed to do so. And then there's Jaws...As fiendishly good as Richard Kiel's Frankenstein Monster-of-a-hit-man was in TSWLM, bringing him back for a second outing in "Moonraker" and making him the "Coyote" to Moore's "Road Runner" leads to some the most draw-dropping, "jumping-the-shark" moments in the series history.
Still there is a lot that surprisingly dazzles here. Whatever you may feel about the movie's school boy humor, Moonraker is a slick, gorgeously photographed (the great Jean Tournier), action-packed package. It moves along with more zip than the oddball "Man With The Golden Gun" or the insanely plotted, (and the most debated among Bond fans) "Die Another Day." Lois Chiles is appealing as the Lauren Bacall-esque "Holly Goodhead" (wink, wink) and Michael Lonsdale is, oddly enough, a deadly series Bond villain giving off such lines as "Mr. Bond, you return with the inevitability of an unloved season" with such oily ease. "Moonraker" also has one of composer John Barry's more evocative scores that stubbornly soldiers on as if the movie was a true epic, not a lark. However, the true star of this entry is legendary art director Ken Adams. A master whose low-slung, futuristic set pieces marked the series' visual style beginning with "Dr. No," Adams, in his last Bond film to date, gives us a near orgy of complex walk ways and shimmering steel.
Movie Review: Not the best, not the worst
Summary: 3 Stars
OK, so Moonraker isn't one of the better 007 outings, but it certainly has some good points. This was the first Bond adventure I saw in the theaters, and, for that reason alone, it has a lot of sentimental value for me. From the beginning, it seems like we know where this one is going, and it certainly walks that way, by way of an overabundance of comedic gags and one-liners, and an overly simple plot. The makers obviously took advantage of the popularity of THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, as well as trying to top the sci-fi flicks of the 70's, but it captures some of the hugeness and vastness of a super-spy doin' good in outer space. It also is an example of how a Bond film captures the danger and sense of doom and villany. The chases are classics, despite the one-liners, but the flow of the film is well-paced. The space battle is not the quickest but it makes up for it in the brilliant special effects. Roger Moore is not in his best-his humor having got in the way. But he is dynamic when it comes to the ladies. Check out some of his more successful acting scenes, some which you wont see until his next, more ground-based 007 film, FOR YOUR EYES ONLY. In fact, this movie is an important preview to some of the next two, dynamite epic 007's. John Barry practically saves the film and gives it the sense of danger and excitement not seen since the Connery days. Roger Moore stays on for the next, more tightly delivered two Bonds, leaving this one in the dust. The best part: The return of Jaws!Movie Review: Silly, overblown and campy
Summary: 3 Stars
This is the point where the Bond franchise took a silly turn. Obviously inspired by the phenomenal success of the sci-fi fantasy "Star Wars", James Bond was launched into space. "Moonraker" is so crammed with space hardware and overblown gadgetry that it's barely about Bond at all; the producers lost focus on the main subject, almost parodying him.
The criminal industrialist Drax is just another loony-as-a-bedbug power-mad villain cut from the same clothe as the previous Bond baddies. One of the most blase performances from a Bond villain ever.
On the plus side: The menacing, steel-toothed Jaws returns from "The Spy Who Loved Me" to liven things up as he picks up where he left off---trying to put the bite on Bond. The subplot in which the mute Jaws is softened by love & becomes an ally is campy too but ultimately touching.
"Moonraker" is entertaining popcorn fun, but beyond that, it's little more than a far-fetched "spy-in-space" opera. Roger Moore would re-bound with his following outings, but it would really take his exit from the role to get the franchise back on track.
Movie Review: 2.5 stars out of 4
Summary: 3 Stars
The Bottom Line:
A pretty silly film that shamelessly tried to capitalize on the space craze set in motion by 1977's Star Wars, Moonraker features a character named "Holly Goodhead," laser fights in space, a steel-teethed villain who falls in love with a nerdy girl half his age, and a villain whose agenda is pretty much the same as the previous Bond villain, but in space not underwater--in a word, pass.
Movie Review: James Bond in space.
Summary: 3 Stars
This may be my least favorite bond and yet I still like it. It has some great moments, but it's just a little too rediculous to stand. Still if you like Roger Moore Bond movies then this is right for you, cause most of his are over the top anyway. If you love Bond this is one you should see, but understand it's so over the top that you'll wonder if you're watching a Bond movie at the end.