Day 11 - Moonraker (1979) - Film Review

Starring: Roger Moore, Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale & Richard Kiel

Screenplay: Christopher Wood

Directed By: Lewis Gilbert

Certificate: PG

Another day, another Bond movie. This time we have 'Moonraker', which begins with a spacecraft of the same name being hijacked and stolen en route to Britain. The disappearance of the Moonraker, owned by the incredibly wealthy Hugo Drax, causes great concern for both the MI6 and the CIA, who task their agents with investigating the incident. As Bond gathers intelligence from Drax Industries, he is met with attempts on his life and discovers a laboratory manufacturing a deadly nerve gas. Whatever has happened to the Moonraker, it appears a lot more complicated than meets the eye. 

Just like last time, 'Moonraker' opens strong with what might be the most impressive action set-piece I've seen so far from this marathon. I was already in good spirits seeing Jaws back so soon, and as he kicks Bond out of a plane, the parachuting scene that followed really wowed me. Watching it, I'd assumed it was the result of work with green screen, but out of curiosity I looked up how they shot it. I was staggered finding out that it was a practical shoot and that the stuntmen and camera operators skydived a total of 88 times to get the scene just right. That dedication is commendable and its pays off on the screen. I especially admire how it's not even a crucial scene, in fact narratively you could cut the whole thing out and just start with Bond turning up to MI6. But that extra effort was absolutely worth it. 

How better to follow up such an opening than by re-enlisting the services of Shirley Bassey for the third and final time, as she provides 'Moonraker's eponymous theme. I've said before that there's something about Bassey's voice that just fits with the Bond series, and there's good reason why she's so associated with its music. That said, the 'Moonraker' theme is probably the least remarkable of her three themes. It was apparently recorded at much shorter notice, and while I do like it, it's not a surprise that it's generally not as highly regarded as 'Goldfinger' or 'Diamonds Are Forever'. It's a reliably good track, and sits comfortably as it rounds off a strong opening.

Unfortunately 'Moonraker' peaks way too early and that's about as positive as I'm going to get in this review. I think my main issue with it lies in the greater shift to the comedic. It finally goes too far with the outlandish and the absurd. Apparently when he watched 'Moonraker', Sean Connery criticized it for lacking the sense of reality in his films. I've very torn on this line of thinking, because much as I admire Connery and the time he spent in the role, on the one hand I think it's a little inaccurate to think of his films as all that more grounded in realism. Lest we forget that 'Diamonds Are Forever' saw Connery's Bond escape a secret base on a moon buggy with flailing robot arms, and which saw him defy the laws of gravity in an alleyway in a Ford Mustang. That said, the Moore era has gradually seen an increase in the number of outlandish set-pieces. I've said before that the Bond films need a sense of levity and it's healthy for it to go a little absurd now and then, but 'Moonraker' goes way beyond this. The scenes of Bond in Venice come in for a lot of flack, especially when he drives a hovercraft gondola through the streets. It never struck me until writing that sentence just how ridiculous and frankly lame that actually sounds. The constant cutaways to people doing double takes, checking what they're drinking, or even the moment where one gondola is split in half and a courting couple don't even notice - it becomes more grating than amusing. The whole sequence feels tonally wrong, and is a far cry away from the genuine brilliance of the opening. 

On a brighter note, we do have Jaws back. Jaws was easily the standout of the villains from the last film, and after leaving room for a possible return, it was so nice to have him back again. And thank god too, as once again he firmly eclipses his employer. Michael Lonsdale as Hugo Drax is something of an improvement over Stromberg, and he does have a classic old-school villain look about him. Beyond that though, he's a little dull and feels very familiar by now (Edit: Like Sean Connery, Lonsdale has recently passed away, and while this review was written before this sadly happened, I wanted to remain respectful whilst honest at the same time). Meanwhile, Jaws unintentionally gets the biggest laugh I think I've had yet on this marathon. See at one point he's rescued from some rubble by a young woman - the two have never met before and Jaws looks at her and smiles as this grand, romantic music swells in the background. The two actually go on to fall in love, and I laughed so, so much at this scene. It's awful - I don't know why they decided to give Jaws a romantic subplot but holy sh*t I'm glad they did, because god it made me laugh.

While 'Moonraker' is a let-down in more ways than one, much like one of its predecessors, 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service', the last half-hour does pick up. This last stretch of the film shifts to Drax's space station and is where the bulk of the sci-fi elements come in. As with the popularity of blaxploitation and martial arts films before it, 'Moonraker' draws on the renewed wave of interest for the sci-fi genre in the wake of films like 'Star Wars' or 'Alien'. A big climactic finale, complete with laser gun fights and shooting people out of airlocks isn't something I ever expected to see when I embarked on watching the Bond films, so kudos to the fact that while largely formulaic, this franchise can still pack surprises. If anything I'd have liked to see more of the film take place here, because it's quite a lot of fun and holds up well enough for its age. It's here where Drax's plans are laid out in a little more depth too - where his plan ultimately amounts to eugenics. With his aim to wipe out the population and replace it with what he considers more perfect humans, it makes sense why Jaws turns to the good side in the end, and while I still can't take seriously his slow-motion run towards his girlfriend, I do quite like this as a conclusion to his character. And speaking of things I can't take seriously - Q's line about Bond trying for re-entry is one of the best double-entendres I've ever heard. Big round of applause for whoever came up with that one! 

I may have come across as harsh on 'Moonraker' but that's mostly because I know there's a stronger version of the film buried under here, and its flaws are so obvious that it makes itself an easy target for ridicule. I'd been told that the Moore-era films were generally quite shaky, and I would single out 'Moonraker' as the place where it overshot the quota for moments of levity. 'Moonraker' could've been a lot stronger than it ultimately turned out to be - as it stands it has a lot of flaws, but is rarely boring and definitely makes the list of films that are probably best watched when laid-back and in need of some schlocky fun.

5/10

NEXT TIME - For Your Eyes Only