First four James Bond films starring Roger Moore had one thing in common – the producers had tried to exploit popular genre and cinema trends of the time. In Live and Let Die it was blaxploitation, in The Man with the Golden Gun it was kung fu films phenomenon and The Spy Who Loved Me tried to exploit popularity of Jaws and similar films with maritime-related plots. Moonraker, 1979 film directed by Lewis Gilbert, was more than obviously inspired by audience’s hunger for science fiction films sparked by Star Wars success. As such, it became the most expensive film in the history of franchise at that point, but also the most spectacular, which is the distinction which it holds to this day.
Moonraker is actually the last James Bond based on Ian Fleming’s novel, but, like all films at that time, the script by Christopher Wood has actually very little do with original text. The plot took more inspiration from contemporary events, most notably new stage in US space program, embodied in development of Space Shuttle. The film begins when one such experimental vehicle gets hijacked while being loaned to United Kingdom. British government sends its top secret agent James Bond to investigate, and the starting point is the headquarters of Drax Industries, huge corporation that had designed and built spacecraft for NASA. Its owner Hugo Drax (played by Michel Lonsdale) almost immediately wants Bond dead, but those efforts fail and Bond goes to Venice where he discovers that Drax was involved in research of deadly nerve gas. He also discovers that one of Drax’ assistants, NASA expert Holly Goodhead (played by Lois Chiles) is actually CIA agent. Two of them continue investigation in Rio de Janeiro and Bond later tracks Drax to secret base in Amazon jungle where he discovers his diabolical plan to murder entire planet only to repopulate it with small number of genetically superior men and women who would previously take shelter in orbital station.
Making Moonraker as a science fiction film turned out to be wise decision for producers, because the audience flocked to theatres making that film the commercially most successful in the history of franchise by that point. This would, however, be hard to imagine for those who were reading critics, who were attacking film as “outrageously silly” and often viewing it as the worst in the history of the franchise. To a certain degree, some of those critics have a point. Moonraker is indeed very silly film that is difficult to digest to those who insist on purity of Ian Fleming’s vision. Film for the most part is more oriented towards humour than action and sometimes it looks like a deliberate parody of all previous Bond films. On the other hand, all the ingredients of Bond formula are here, only enhanced to unsurpassed levels. The exotic locations are more exotic than ever, with outer space remaining exotic to this day. Hugo Drax is the most megalomaniacal of all Bond villains ever. And Bond girls in this film are more numerous, more diverse and, of course, always dressed in revealing costumes. Producers throw as much fan service as possible, and the most obvious is return of Jaws (played by Richard Kiel), seemingly unstoppable and undefeatable killer who proved to be the most dangerous Bond’s adversary. In this film he is given petite girlfriend (played by Blanche Ravalec) who would inspire him to see the errors of his away and become Bond’s ally in the dramatic finale.
Roger Moore was by that point quite comfortable in his role and in Moonraker delivers another good performance. On the other hand, Hugo Drax (character that inspired the nickname for the author of this review) is played by rather uninspired Michel Lonsdale, who makes the Bond hypervillain look and sound uncharismatic despite the Holocaust-like scope of his scheme. Film had better luck with Lois Chiles, actress playing Bond girl. At times she struggles with bad dialogue, but in the end proves to be much more effective actress than Barbara Bach in The Spy Who Loved Me. Lewis Gilbert, film maker who directed previous film, does another great job in Moonraker. He maintains good tempo and handles scenes that feature different locations and styles. It begins with opening scenes one of the most impressive stunts in the history of franchise and it ends with truly spectacular finale featuring some of the best special effects of late 1970s. The final showdown features armies of astronauts fighting in with laser rifles, dozens of people under effects of zero gravity and in the end pays great homage both to Star Wars and 2001: A Space Odyssey. John Barry delivers another very good and effective soundtrack, although the main song performed by Shirley Bassey isn’t that memorable. Moonraker was often accused of being too similar to The Spy Who Loved Me, but in the end formula worked. Audience was pleased with this film four decades ago and there is little reason to doubt that it could be pleased now. Except for certain characters filling news headlines whose ideas for future of humanity make them eerily similar to Hugo Drax, which makes Moonraker look somewhat less silly that it used to be.
RATING: 7/10 (++)
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