Reviewing Bond: Moonraker

Just like  Octopussy, this is one where fans either love it or hate it. In terms of the general audience, this is of course “the one with Jaws and lasers.” Some people prefer their Bond more grounded, gritty and realistic, closer to the novels. Others like me prefer the cinematic Bond, who blends humor and camp with creative action, an engaging story and memorable characters throughout. In many ways I see Moonraker the same way I do Star Trek movies from the same era. Many will profess that Star Trek (pre-Abrams reboot) is too campy, that they cannot take it seriously despite some excellent science fiction writing. It’s that camp and humor, and loyalty to a formula born in the 1960s which makes the Star Trek IP so enduring and accessible. Just as I don’t want my Star Trek grounded in gritty reality, I don’t want my Bond grounded in the tropes of every other action franchise either. They’re both at their best when they’re sticking to their silly and much beloved formula. Thankfully with Moonraker that’s exactly what we get.

Setting & Story

Ken Adams absolutely crushed it with the set design in this one. Both the production design and settings are iconic throughout, and not just the ones in space! Drax’s estate is supposed to be set in California, but is actually Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, located outside Paris. The palatial estate setting does well to frame our villain as the status obsessed man he is, one who like many modern tech oligarchs, wants to belong to a club that you must be born into. Venice is also a major standout in this film. Say what you want about the gondola scene, unlike some other past and recent entries that take place in the famous Italian city, I feel like I’m actually there with this one. Same thing applies to Rio de Janeiro, it abandons the travelogue feel of films like For Your Eyes Only for total immersion. None of these locations feel like they were picked to embrace exoticism, but rather to suit the story for which they were chosen. Unlike some other entries in the series, this film makes me want to visit these locations. 

Now on to some of the standout set-design in our film. The interior of Drax’s estate is actually the interior of Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte. The centrifuge test is original, shot on a sound stage. Like much of the high-tech analog machines throughout the film, they have aged well, with that retro futuristic charm found in films like You Only Live Twice. Speaking of that film, the subterranean villain lair built into an ancient Incan city and temples is very much reminiscent of Blofeld’s volcano base. However this locale still manages to stand on its own as rather unique, especially the way it blends nature and cutting edge technology, with a labyrinthian tunnel system. The scale is enormous, and befitting of a man who sees himself as a god among men.

Finally our space base, the city in the stars fit for colonization in a new era. The miniature model is very much based on the ring-shaped station in 2001: A Space Odyssey. In fact the film pays numerous homages to science fiction greats, including 2001, where Drax’s trumpeter announces Bond’s arrival with the isolated and iconic horn notes from the first bit of score in the movie. Later when spying on a scientist entering a lab, the code is the sequence of tones from Close Encounters of a Third Kind. Many will say the giant laser battle is reminiscent of the recent success of Star Wars but I’d argue Moonraker is more akin to a Star Trek motion picture than that (lasers aside). Overall the set design is really quite sleek, without feeling dated by its analog panelling. It helps that the special effects have also held up, which is no small feat given this film was made in 1979. 

Overall the settings earn a series standout 10/10.

Now as we explore the story in this film it is important to remember that while Cubby Broccoli was notorious for calling James Bond “science fact,” this outing is very much science fiction. Not only is it science fiction, but it is also a comedy. With that in mind, it is important to consider story in the context of the tone of this film, which fully embraces camp. While some films like Skyfall also rely on contrivances, this film does so in a way that is more forgivable, because it is not trying to ground itself in hyper realism. While there is a limit to suspending disbelief, this film mostly gets it right.

RECAP

After our hero survives a parachute-less drop from a plane, faced with Jaws, he arrives late for work in London, and learns about the Moonraker shuttle.

Our hero is sent to California to investigate Drax Industries, home to the Moonraker space program. A shuttle has gone missing, with its 747 escort crashed in the wilderness. There is no question as to Drax’s guilt, as the audience is made aware of that almost immediately as he turns to his henchman, Chang: “keep an eye on Bond, and make sure harm comes to him.” While we don’t know why he stole the shuttle that his company built, we do know he is the culprit.

James gets a tour from an astronaut and scientist, Dr. Holly Goodhead (yay more double entendres). While strapped in the centrifuge test, Chang attempts to kill Bond before he escapes thanks to his trusty watch. He later spies around the place, gathering enough intel to send him on his way to a glass factory in Venice, Venni glass. Prior to his departure Drax makes another attempt on his life, this time a-la Dick Cheney over some pheasant hunting. Alas Bond spots his assassin in a tree and shoots him instead.

While in Venice, Bond manages to outmaneuver a Live & Let Die coffin trap in a gondola, prompting not only double takes from everyone in the city square, but even a pigeon. Bond of course learns that the glass factory is building vials to house a deadly nerve gas, which is then stored on a probe packaged for delivery in Rio de Janeiro. Bond steals a vial for evidence before being met with a crashing showdown between him and Chang in the glass museum. Oh and Holly Goodhead is here in Italy doing some investigation of her own, and Bond confirms she is CIA after the careful examination of her standard issue gadgets.

After some reprimands from the British defense minister, M takes the vial from Bond to allow Q to test it. Bond is on his way to Rio, and so too is Chang’s replacement: Jaws, our old pal from The Spy Who Loved Me.

While in Rio, Bond learns that the vials and all the equipment have been moved from the factory. After evading Jaws in a terrifying clown suit, he runs into Dr. Goodhead who has concluded much the same, when surveilling Drax’s airfield from atop a cliff. 

As the two descend via cable car, Jaws intervenes. After some clunky fighting atop the cable car, Jaws is sent speeding into the control room, where he meets his genetic equal and soulmate in the rubble: a girl with blonde pigtails and similar super human strength. 

Q has identified the liquid, and sends 007 into the Amazon, the only location on earth where this variant of orchid flower is known to bloom. Bond seems to keep outmaneuvering Drax’s creative attempts to kill him. After a speedboat chase over a waterfall, he finds himself inside a lush temple surrounded by beautiful women. He survives another trap only to be escorted by Jaws to Drax: “Mr. Bond you defy all of my attempts to plan an amusing death for you.”

This time Bond is sent to the pits beneath a rocket launch alongside the captured Goodhead. He escapes this peril too. He and Goodhead make their way to Moonraker 6, and unlike his fate in You Only Live Twice, this time he actually does board the rocket for space. 

After regrouping with the other Moonrakers, Bond and Dr. Goodhead debark their mission craft at the space station. Since the station is invisible on radar, the pair immediately seek out the signal jammer to alert the world to this cloaked city in space. After a rather easy infiltration mission to disarm the jammer for good, they assimilate into the crowd of crew and chosen couples to hear a speech from Drax. We come to learn the nerve gas is intended as an apocalyptic vehicle, where one globe can kill 100m people, with 50 globes in total. All animals of course will remain unharmed. Drax plans to repopulate the earth with the offspring of his “genetically superior” space colonizers. 

Back on earth, the Americans launch a shuttle to intercept the rogue craft. This will lead to our infamous “Moonraker laser” battle between Space Marines and Drax’s crew. Meanwhile, Jaws apprehends Bond and Goodhead, leading to another excellent line from Drax, realizing he has yet to get rid of 007: “James Bond. You appear with the tedious inevitability of an unloved season.” Drax instructs Jaws to send Mr. Bond into space via airlock. Before he can act, Bond clarifies Drax’s intentions regarding his genetically superior colonization project, of which Jaws is not included.

After learning that he is surplus to requirements, including his lover, Jaws refuses Drax’s kill orders to send Bond out via airlock. Just as the Americans show up to battle it out with laser guns, he turns heel and joins our hero and Dr. Goodhead. They collectively duke it out as the space-city is destroyed around them by laser blasts. After Bond dispatches of Drax the way intended for him, he boards Moonraker 5 with Holly Goodhead. With some help from Jaws, they are on their way to destroy the remaining globes.

With their mission successful, the video feed from their space craft is broadcast from MI6 to the White House and Buckingham Palace. Bond is of course having some zero gravity fun beneath the sheets with Dr. Goodhead, leading to the best double entendre of the series:

M: “What’s Bond doing!?”

Q: “I think he’s attempting re-entry sir.” 

EVALUATION:

There’s no doubt the film has a ton of contrivances. Beginning with the theft of Moonraker itself. Are we to believe that no satellite or radar could detect this ship, after it was stollen from the back of a doomed 747?  How about the construction of Drax’s space city, which was cloaked by a radar jammer, making it invisible to earth? This large installation would have needed to be constructed first, and therefore would have been visible at some point. Also, imagine how many rockets needed to be launched to construct this space station. It would be hard to ignore a giant rocket launch, even if they were launched in the Brazilian Amazon. 

Alas this film is science fiction, not fact. So for the most part, I overlook these major contrivances, because I am not sitting down for a faithful “science fact” film. I can suspend disbelief to go along with this fun and silly adventure with one of the best villains in the entire series. I absolutely love how often we get a delightful bit of interaction between our hero and villain. Usually the villain only gets one or two really good showdown chances at Bond, but here the villain grows frustrated and tired by all the times he misses. 

I also think the story about colonizing space, and a billionaire seeing himself as God, wishing to reinvent earth in his image is very prescient and topical today, where numerous tech titans seek their own version of what Drax has built while attempting to rule the world— treating every problem as if it were a bit of code. 

For a story that has aged well into the present, alongside standout villains and henchmen, plus some great dialog throughout this action packed adventure, story gets a decent 6/10 overall in spite of its contrivances.

Overall this category gets a solid 7/10.

Gadgets & Vehicles

Sure it may be a total contrivance, but our gondola is great fun. I’m just not sure when Bond had the chance to pick it up from Q branch between Venice and California. Also, did they just have this sophisticated Gondola lying around for just such an adventure?

“Well, Bond goes to Venice a lot, so we’ll make sure we have a proper ride for him when he visits next.” – Q branch, presumably.

Building on the success of the Live & Let Die boat chase, Bond is given a well equipped speed boat with mines, torpedos and an ejection option that allows him to parasail away from danger (in this outing, over the famous Iguazu falls). 

Pretty decent entry for 007 watercraft overall in this one.

Onto our gadgets, and we get quite a few variances in this one. We have a watch with wrist-motion activated darts (stun, kill). We see Bond use a safecracker with video interface, disguised in a cigarette case. Q shows up in the field to test a few gadgets, including an explosive bolas, a turret disguised as a monk and of course a Moonraker laser. Naturally Bond is here simply to learn about what was in those vials: nerve gas, naturally. Bond later escapes the rocket exhaust pit with another watch gadget; this one equipped with an explosive charge.

The vehicles steal the show in this outing, really outdoing previous entries with the maximum camp factor. Our gadgets are far more practical, albeit critically helpful to our hero in this story.

7/10 overall.

Action Sequences

This film really sets a high bar for action, beginning with the incredible stunt of Bond jumping out of an airplane without a parachute.

It seems we get a decent bit of action almost timed to occur every 10-15 minutes. No expense is spared either, with each set-piece good enough to stand on its own in any other film. However, in this outing we get multiple memorable action scenes, from our silly gondola chase to the laser battle in space. 

The standout for me will always be the gondola chase, even if it does rely on maximum contrivance and is considered by many to be a series low:

Presumably trying to relax, Bond chills out in a gondola he has chartered for the afternoon. That’s until a motorized boat decked out in funeral flowers along with a coffin makes its approach. Somehow Drax’s henchmen knew Bond would be along the canals, and so he devised a scheme to hide a henchman inside the coffin, equipped with throwing knives (contrivance 1). The assassin takes out Bond’s gondola operator, before Bond ducks and returns the knife meant for him to deadly effect. This isn’t just any Gondola 007 has chartered, no apparently Q branch had a motorized Gondola built just for such an occasion (contrivance 2)! Bond takes over control of the Gondola with a switch-panel, throwing it into high gear before gunmen can take him out. And if that’s not ridiculous enough, he then uses another panel to transform the gondola into a hovercraft/car (contrivance 3)… I love my cinematic Bond bombastic and ridiculous, but this is over the top. Even the drunks in the town square are inspecting their bottles for acid. Pigeons do double takes! The only thing which would make this gondola more ridiculous would be if it could turn invisible. I suppose it’s best that we just don’t ask too many questions. Yet in spite of its insanity, maximum enjoyment was had.

In a more grounded bit of 007 action, we see Bond fight and finish off pesky henchman, Chang:

As Bond leaves the factory he is approached by a screaming ninja with a sword and fencing mask. Bond evades the ninja by running inside the Venni glass museum. Our ninja spares no care at all to our ancient and irreplaceable glassware as he chops haphazardly away at Bond. To fight back, Bond grabs the historic glass knight sword that was feted during an earlier tour. Of course after being thrown through a couple million dollars more in historic glassware, it is revealed that our man behind the fencing mask is none other than Drax’s manservant, Chang. If ninjas are supposed to offer the element of surprise, this guy can’t help but scream aloud every time he is to attack. Bond evades one final attempt by Drax’s number two inside the clocktower above the iconic Venetian city square where an opera group is performing with orchestra below. Bonds sends the ninja sailing through the stained glass panes into a grand piano below: “play it again, Sam.”

This is a great fight, and I especially love how it is cinematically framed. It really captures the essence of its setting well, which is why of all the times the films go to Venice, this is my favorite. 

The next iconic action bit we get is Jaws vs. Bond on the cable cars. This results in my favorite bit of dialog in the whole film, I just love Moore’s delivery here as Jaws chews on the cable wire.

“Do you know him?” – Holly Goodhead

“Not socially. Only by name, his name is Jaws. He kills people.” – Bond

This is a clunky bit of fisticuffs here, battling it out on a moving platform. Some of the editing is a bit sloppy, and it’s obvious when we get studio shots vs. the incredible scale of the on-scene filming. It is nonetheless pretty satisfying, especially when Bond escapes on the chain while Jaws chases after them in a speeding cable car only to be sent through a cement wall. 

By the time we even get to space, this film has had enough memorable action sequences to fill most other entries. Alas for a film as crazy as this one, the finale had to go for it. Boy did it! We get the epic shootout in space with Moonraker lasers. While the action can be a bit hard to follow at times, it’s an appropriate finale for this space-themed adventure. The space station miniature is obvious at times during its destruction, but it’s still better looking than anything in Die Another Day. In fact this film’s special effects mostly hold up, and were so lauded they were actually nominated for an Oscar in the SFX category. 

Overall this film’s action may be a bit too comical for some. However, that’s what I want in a Bond film, and this one never lets up, never worries about toning it down, it just fully commits to the bit. 10/10 nothing less!

Villains and Bond Girls

Alongside Auric Goldfinger and Donald Pleasance’s Blofeld, I think Drax (Michael Londsdale) is possibly in my top three Bond villains, probably just nudging out Sanchez for that rank. He is the near prefect distillation of believable wealthy titan of industry with megalomaniacal intent. More than that, he is actually a fleshed out character as well. It is so plain to see that Drax is very obsessed with title and perception. He has his entire California estate built brick by brick from a French chateau. When Bond quips, “I’m surprised he didn’t purchase the Eiffel Tower,” his host, Ms. Dufour, responds that he did but he couldn’t get an export license for it. The man is so obsessed with the one thing he cannot buy: aristocracy. Despite hanging out at his nouveau-chateau with literal lords and ladies, he will never have a title like that. No, he will always be Drax the pretender with his pheasant hunts, silly top hats, grand pianos and vintage Rolls Royce, straight from Downton Abbey. He looks like a Lord, and literally acts like it too, but a lord he will never be. 

This “one thing I cannot buy” angle is interesting enough, but it’s how that likely affects his motivations too. Drax is a lot like Elon Musk, and not just for the obvious richest man in the world with a space program comparison. No he is thin-skinned and desperate for recognition. He is a narcissist with a god complex, and someone who sees space as the next frontier, and who believes they should be the one credited for such an advancement in humanity. The two share something else too: a passion for eugenics. Drax wants to repopulate earth with only the best; even using right-wing language to paint a future vision where this comes true: “When they look up, they will know there is law and order in the heavens.”

There is another motivation too, and that is by killing off everyone on earth, and him being the new creator, he will have finally attained the one thing he could never buy: belonging to old money. Yes if his plans succeed, he will be a God figure, and the oldest money remaining on earth. He will be given whatever titles he wants, and even rule the world over if he so chooses.

The other interesting bit about Drax in a modern context is the obsession by many modern billionaires to conquer space as the final frontier. He is typical of so many billionaires, and their need to compete against one another for supremacy and recognition. He is also a good fit for the politics of Curtis Yarvin and the technocrat’s goal of treating earth’s “peasants” like Soylent Green in their quest to reign over America and the world as lords and monarchs (literally, go look this plot up, this is what Musk/Thiel/Vance etc. want). So Drax is actually quite realistic as well since he is a precursor to dark enlightenment politics. 10/10

Before we get to Jaws, let’s take a quick look at Chang. Had Jaws not been in this film, I’d argue Chang is still a pretty serviceable henchman. However, in a film series with numerous “Asian who naturally knows karate” types forming the basis of henchmen essentials, he can also feel a bit derivative. He feels like a kung-fu stereotype, down to how he yells when in combat. He is also for some reason always dressed in a combat gi (gee). However he does contribute to some memorable moments with Bond, especially the fight in the glass factory. 6/10

This film also gives us one of the very best henchmen of the series, second only to perhaps Odd-Job, and maybe even surpassing him depending on your taste. He is gigantic, over seven feet tall, with his iconic steel jaw and serrated teeth. Like many other henchmen before him, he also possesses seemingly superhuman strength, but he is even stronger than those before him. Yes Jaws is back, after first being introduced to us in 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me.

I love how we are re-introduced to Jaws after the plane scene in the pre-credits. Drax makes a phone call to reroute his merchandise before asking to be connected to what is presumably the henchmen hotline to replace Chang. His promised replacement? Jaws.

Jaws faces a number of should-be fatal incidents when facing off against Bond. His plot armor becomes a humorous point in the film, just as Bond’s plot armor is commented on by Drax.

Jaws survives a parachute-less plunge into a circus tent in the pre-credits sequence.

Jaws survives a cable car collision with a cement wall.

Jaws survives a plunge off Iguazu Falls.

Jaws survives being flung into space in a broken off part of Drax’s station.

Each and every time he smiles, and Bond smiles back, it’s just so great. I also love that he is so strong, that he rips the chord off his parachute, or the steering wheel off the boat as it heads towards the waterfall. His strength is at once his undoing as it is his advantage in attaining incredible survival odds. He’s definitely not as terrifying as he was in the previous film, with his role almost a parody in this outing. But he’s still Jaws; a villain so iconic that for me, I prefer him over Odd-Job. 10/10

Bond sleeps with numerous women in this outing. In fact he may get it on in this film more than any other. We get Corrine Dufour and her terrible fate at the mouths of Drax’s doberman doggies at the chateau. Manuela is also a contender in Rio, but she exits almost as soon as she enters. Most of these woman are essentially window dressing.

Our main Bond girl as I view the term is in fact Dr. Holly Goodhead, an undercover CIA agent posing as a scientist and trained astronaut. Like Melina Havelock, Goodhead is close to being Bond’s equal. Even more so than Melina, who is still quite young and immature, because she is a seasoned spy herself. Without Goodhead and her various skills, there is no way Bond would have survived the mission. In this regard, she is incredibly important. The chemistry between her and Moore is good too, and their relationship feels more age appropriate than some others to come. As much as she possesses her own agency, I still feel like her character is perhaps a bit underdeveloped. She keeps it purely professional, without much backstory, and for that reason she doesn’t rank nearly as high as some other Bond girls with strong agency and a well developed character. 7/10.

Overall this category has a strong and memorable cast of villains, henchmen and a good Bond girl. 8/10.

Wildcard!

This review is pretty long already, so I will just give an honorable mention to the humor in this film. It’s got some of my biggest laughs throughout the series.

Q’s double entendre at the end.

Drax’s many lines expressing his frustration that Bond isn’t dead.

Bond remarking to Holly: His name is Jaws… He kills people. 

Almost every scene with Jaws outside the terrifying clown suit.

The gondola scene, with the double take from the pigeon.

I adore this film. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I love those one-liners and campy elements. No rating here, just my sincere profession of love for this style of Bond film. It’s what sets the franchise apart from the more serious spy dramas, and while it may be tonally different from the Bond of the books (especially the book version of Moonraker), it’s the cinematic Bond that I love best.

Conclusion.

I make no apologies for how much I love this film. It absolutely fully commits to being a campy, fun action-comedy with some terrific action at that. You get all-timer villains, a good Bond girl and Bond at his comedic best. Like Star Trek I want the camp. I don’t like when it is toned down so that it can feel like everything else in its genre. It’s why For Your Eyes Only also ranks so low for me, because it is such an overcorrection, like the Craig films were to Die Another Day and Brosnan’s era. I’d watch Moonraker over literally any entry in Craig’s tenure, yes even Casino Royale, because while it’s a great origin story, it’s not what I want in my Bond. So because I like my Bond films best when they fully commit to the bit, Moonraker earns a loving 8/10 and a place firmly in my top ten Bond films, as it is one I always love to revisit.