I’m doing yet another Bond rewatch, this time with the Blu Rays, and as silly as Moonraker can be, I’m constantly struck by just how beautifully shot it is. The Rio scenes alone are breathtaking, and the space effects have held up relatively well.
Dunno if it’s an unpopular opinion or not, but visually it’s one of my favorites.
Octopussy (1983) vs Live and Let Die (1973)
The World Is Not Enough (1999) vs Spectre (2015)
A View to a Kill (1985) vs Dr No (1962)
Never Say Never Again (1983) vs On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
Die Another Day (2002) vs Quantum of Solace (2008)
Thunderball (1965) vs You Only Live Twice (1967)
Goldfinger (1964) vs From Russia With Love (1963)
For Your Eyes Only (1981) vs Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
The Man With the Golden Gun (1974) vs GoldenEye (1995)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) vs Licence to Kill (1989)
Moonraker (1979) vs No Time to Die (2021)
Skyfall (2012) vs The Living Daylights (1987)
Casino Royale (2006) vs Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
For context, Connery/Craig followed by Dalton and then Brosnan is my actor ranking. There's something about Moore's winking approach that doesn't work for me in his more grounded films but fits perfectly as the films get bigger. Does anyone else feel this way?
- On Her Majesty's Secret Service: Near flawless, with a great cast, action, cinematography, and plot. Even Lazenby does a fine job despite his lack of acting ability, proving himself in the fight scenes. The pacing is also quite good, setting up the romance with Tracy before moving on to the main threat of Blofeld.
- The Spy Who Loved Me: After the disappointment that was No Time To Die (which I saw after You Only Live Twice), my love for the already excellent TSWLM has grown. It has an even stronger case for being the quintessential Bond film than Goldfinger and the overrated GoldenEye with the introduction of stunts, mixing a traditional plot with a more fleshed-out Bond, and more globe-trotting than previous films. The score and cinematography elevate what is already an above average entry.
- From Russia With Love: A huge jump in quality over Dr. No. The cast is perfect, the plot manages to entertain despite lacking the spectacle modern audiences expect from Bond, there are many memorable segments, and John Barry's score immediately shows how much more of a confident product this film is.
- Thunderball: The film is bloated with many scenes meant to show how much more money could be put on screen. Yet the film remains impressive over fifty years later. In regards to the cast, Connery is more relaxed, Domino is more fleshed-out than her predecessors, and Largo and Volpe are fine villains. The locales are beautiful, Barry's score is even better than his previous efforts, and the underwater scenes have a nice atmosphere despite being often criticized. The climax is one of the best in Bond history.
- You Only Live Twice: A much sillier entry compared to the previous films, but YOLT benefits from an increased focus on action, great scenery, and one of John Barry's finest scores. The weak links are the cast, whose characters are less interesting, and the less developed plot.
- Goldfinger: The first hour or so is full of now-iconic moments, but the Kentucky scenes kill the pace for 20-30 minutes. Still, we have another excellent cast, great humour, and some strong spectacle.
- Moonraker: A well-paced, great-looking film that unfortunately falls into self-parody. It's still a fun film that never fails to entertain, with the freefall stunts and boat chase being quite good. The production values and John Barry's score are far better than they had any right to be. Aside from the absurdity of the whole film, which will either make or break it for audiences,
In a plot stolen right out of modern day, a billionaire launches his own space programme to international acclaim.
Its revealed that he plans to make a society of 'perfect' astronauts on his hidden space station and wipe out humanity using nerve gas.
His plan is foiled when the US are revealed to have a literal Space Force of marines who destroy the space station.
It's a really underrated Bond film, let down only by the space laser battle at the end. Yeah for some reason they decided that a US space army would literally be marines in space suits with laser guns.
Arguably the two most silly and ridiculous Bond films of the Moore era go up against each other, but which do you think is the better film? My vote goes to Octopussy, what do you say, fellow Bond fans? Interested to hear your thoughts!
As I understand it, the filmmakers co-operated with NASA - which is why the "Moonraker shuttles" look just like the real thing - and had originally planned for the film to coincide with the real launch, only for it to get delayed working out the kinks.
So, would your average British or American moviegoer in 1979 be familiar with the concept of the Space Shuttle, or was it more something you would need to be following "space news" to have heard about?
Moonraker, which sees Bond fighting a space faring billionaire intent on committing global genocide, long held a place as one of, if not the most, ridiculous Bond stories. Well now we really do have space faring billionaires - even one who builds and operates rockets on behalf of NASA, similar to how Drax made his fortune in the film. Yeah, you’re never hiding that giant space station from anyone, but I feel as though the film has been given a little credibility bump.
Which other films make for a different viewing experience as time has gone on, whether it be conspiracy theories that turned out to be right, future technology which is now a reality or maybe an actor who’s real life activities changes how a role comes across etc?
It's got a very tight plot with lots of great action sequences - from the theft of the Shuttle at the start, the Kendo/Karate fight in Venice, the cable-car fight with Jaws, the boat chase in the Amazon, and the climactic fight in space.
Holly Goodhead is also an excellent Bond girl who is actually useful to the plot (can fly the Space Shuttle) and it has the best ending line of any Bond film:
>Bernard Gray: My God! What's Bond doing?!
>Q: I think he's attempting re-entry, sir.
The only thing that could have improved Moonraker is Sheriff Jay Dubya Peppah.
Anyone else agree Moonraker is top 5?
I just wanted to know what you guys would think about the bonkers moonraker being funnier in an Austin powers film as it really feels like a parody of bond
Easily the most ludicrous Bond film, Moonraker was inspired by the public's love of space adventures and sci-fi that followed other projects like Star Wars and Star Trek. Though hugely successful, it is looked back on today with a more critical eye, widely regarded as excessive and silly. However, this sub does seem to have a soft spot for it, if for no other reason than Michael Lonsdale's Drax and his tendency to say things like "cucumber sandwich" and "unloved season". So, what do you guys think? Does Moonraker stand up well against these other big films released in 1979, or does it do a giant face plant on top of a circus tent after falling out of an airplane? You be the judge!
- Alien
- Apocalypse Now
- Mad Max
- Rocky II
- Manhattan
- Monty Python's Life of Brian
- The Muppet Movie
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture
- Escape From Alcatraz
- The Amityville Horror
- ...And Justice For All
- The China Syndrome
- Being There
- Cuba
- The Prisoner of Zenda
- The Great Train Robbery
- Hair
- Norma Rae
- The Jerk
- The In-Laws
- Kramer vs. Kramer
- The Warriors
- When a Stranger Calls
- Breaking Away
- Days of Heaven
- 10
Overview
After a movie like The Spy Who Loved Me, you don't go smaller, you go bigger. And, after the unforeseen success of Star Wars in 1977, space was huge. So, the producers decided that James Bond should explore that final frontier. Today it's rightly regarded as one of the most ludicrous entries in the Bond canon, but it was a smash hit at the box office, and the highest-grossing Bond film at the time (an honor that it retained until 1995's GoldenEye).
Point-By-Point
- How do you top the parachute jump in the pre-titles sequence of The Spy Who Loved Me? With a mid-air battle for a parachute while the ground rushes up to meet you, apparently. It's truly an amazing stunt, and one of the greatest in the series. It's just too bad that it's followed immediately by a Wile E. Coyote cartoon when Jaws' parachute fails to open. First he flaps his arms, trying to fly like a birdie, while goofy circus music plays. Then he crashes down on top of the circus, and I guess we're supposed to accept that he fell into a net, but come on! I'm a good sport, but my suspension of disbelief can't work hard enough to make me think that Jaws could survive a fall from tens of thousands of feet at terminal velocity. (And no net would stand up under that impact either.)
- I like the title song. Its lilting quality and its dreamy lyrics go well with Maurice Binder's floating, spinning silhouettes.
- Michael Lonsdale plays a poised and eloquent Drax, but at least part of the villain's refined persona is pure affectation. When Bond first walks into Drax's house to meet the man, he appears to be playing a sonata on the piano. A closer look at Drax's hands, however, reveals that he is merely pretending to play.
- Bond in the centrifuge chamber is one of the film's best scenes. The tension and the sense of peril are real, and Bond displays genuine vulnerability afterwards. As he stumbles out of the machine, we see that he can barely stand. And when Dr. Goodhead offers him her arm, he shoves it away.
- Bond's shooting of a hidden sniper during the pheasant hunt is a good bit.
- Poor Corinne. The brief sequence during which the dogs chase her through the woods is tense and eerie, and we feel actual pathos when she meets her fate because she's been cultivated as a sympathetic and likable character.
- I don't mind the amphibious gondola. That's fairly standard for a 1970s Bond film. The double-taking pigeon is regrettable, of course, but even more unfortunate is what
I’ve seen it jokingly suggested that they’ll go to space in the next movie and even the F&F people are like “yeah that could happen”
Everyone says it’s ridiculous, but the only franchise I can compare F&F to anymore is the James Bond series (level of suspension of disbelief, action and series longevity) and they went to space on their 11th film, and that was in 1979.
I look forward to the following things happening:
- Vin Diesel telling the control crew they got this before they start pulling random shit out of the rocket and pretending to wrench stuff
- Ludacris installing an oversized canister of NOS
- Coronas being loaded up (bringing back for Pablo and you know I’ve been drinking them tonight)
- Tyrese flirting with some NASA honeys
- Michelle Rodriguez staying back with Vin’s kid and saying some shit about family
- The rocket failing to launch but then Ludacris flips a switch and the NOS goes off
- Moon buggy car chase
And finally when they get out of the cars, Vin Diesel gets out first and says
THAT’S ONE SMALL STEP FOR MAN, ONE GIANT LEAP FOR FAMBLY
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Edit. Didn’t expect this to blow up this big, but always glad to see some F&F love in /r/movies
Here’s your second dose of corona fueled nonsense
My biggest hope for F9 is that they get rid of Scott Eastwood, I don’t want him killed off or a send off just Kurt Russell being like “kid got transferred” and we all forget he ever existed because his character is the worst.
Who I WANT to join the franchise is Dylan O’Brien. Dylan been building a solid resume and has done his share of motorcycle (too soon?) and gun scenes. I think he could be a good addition to the family and some young blood to the franchise.
How will they add a new character?
They don’t. Because he was there the whole time, we go back in the franchise and pick literally ANY FUCKING KID that Vin Diesel helped out or handed a soda to and retcon Dylan into the kid. Then we have Dylan be a young car genius working for Cypher and you know when Vin Diesel sees him he’ll recognize him because Dominic Toretto never forgets a nino! Sad backstory about Dylan losing his family and Vin Diesel tries to bring him in out of guilt, but Dylan rejects it and goes back to cypher
END OF ACT TWO IN SPACE
Vin Diesel has gone out of the space station without a suit to stop a meteor from heading to earth (because earth is his fambly now too), but is left stranded without a
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Now I need to stop talking bad about it because I actually really like it. Think this is actually the first time I watched every second of it, and I’m actually really impressed. The plot is really good, Bond is good in this one, he almost seems to have a little bit of a dark tone in parts of it. Holly Goodhead is a really good character, Drax is really cool, Jaws finding love is a little strange, but I’m happy for him. Going into this movie I thought the space scenes were going to be really bad. However, they, especially for 1979, look pretty dang good. It made me keep thinking how on earth they did it with no CGI. It would have been amazing to see how they filmed those scenes. Even the whole space part of the plot was good. Overall it’s pretty good and I’m actually really impressed. What’s y’all’s thought on Moonraker?
It really isn't my favourite Bond film at all. I just find it a very strange thing for James Bond to do, and that kind of seemed to a overrule a lot of other things in the film. It just didn't impress me really.
I really love Ian Fleming’s Moonraker while the movie is quite bad overall. It’s a dumb fun movie, but simply isn’t close to the quality the novel was.
We’ve seen EON and co. reimagine Blofeld in Spectre (though it wasn’t executed well), and I feel like Drax should be next. The Drax in the novel is a hot-headed genius who’s out for revenge against London.
I want to see that on screen. They could implement some great action pieces in the third act that will differentiate themselves from the novel, but will still allow the new Bond actor to have a more grounded first and second act akin to Craig’s Casino Royale.
What do you all think?
Edit: Big note, they should give it a new title like Spectre. Bringing back Drax would be great, but I don’t want it to be called Moonraker
Moonraker is a popular ME around these parts (Dolly and her braces), but it's kinda cool that the film includes another movie ME (Casablanca).
After James Bond pushes the Asian guy over balcony into a piano down below, Bond quips, "Play it again Sam"!
Casablanca released in 1942 and Moonraker in 1979.
just wanted to know
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