Viewed in
2014
Formats
HDTV.
Premise
James Bond (Roger Moore) investigates the mid-air theft of a space shuttle and discovers a plot to commit global genocide. Also, SPACE.
Loved
Water chase scenes, 007 and Q banter.
Liked
Jaws and his girlfriend?
Disliked
Jaws and his girlfriend?
Hated
Stupefying movie logic and physics.
Thoughts
I'm a big fan of the Roger Moore era, but yeesh, this was horrible. Thankfully it was laughably horrible.
There were a handful of good stuff that still withstood the test of time. Mainly the two great water chases scenes, a gut-busting gondola chase in Venice, and an exhilarating chases in the Amazon. My other favorite moment was the obligatory Q and his gadgets scene. Moore and the late great
Desmond Llewelyn's back-and-forth banter was top-notch, and R & D was chock full of ridiculous inventions.
Meanwhile, in the WTF? department, there was a bizarre Wily Coyote-ish running gag of Jaws falling to his death, only to cartoonishly spring back in pursuit. And the subplot of his nerdy girlfriend? I didn't know if I wanted to punch the movie for stereotypes, or hug it for their stupidly charming romance.
Anecdotally-speaking, anytime a franchise or series decides to go into space, they're out of ideas, and it's going to be terrible. This was no exception. The plot was mind-bogglingly ludicrous (even by James Bond villain standards), the movie physics of manipulating gravity had me in stitches, and THE LASERS!!! Last complaint: the title of the movie, and the name of the shuttle is "Moonraker", and they never get near the moon!
The only other redeeming aspect of Moonraker was that it brought back memories of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. It was clear that Moonraker was one of the main inspirations for Mike Myer's hilarious parody/tribute. This film was indefensibly bad, so enjoy it for the unintentional comedy. But don't make this your introductory entry into Roger Moore era 007 flicks.
