Moonraker (C- or 4/4 stars2
'Moonraker' (directed by Lewis Gilbert) is the 11th Bond film, the 4th with Roger Moore, & easily the worst one yet. Sure, it's got some cool locales (Los Angeles, Venice, Rio de Janeiro, the Amazon), neat chase sequences, beautiful women (like Lois Chiles as a CIA agent posing as world-renowned scientist), & new gadgets from the British secret service, but all of that just veils a crumby script. The film (which begins with a mid-air battle btwn. 007 & an assassin over a parachute) is a good way to get things going. As Bond, Roger Moore does his best to embarrass Hugo Drax (French actor, Michael Lonsdale), our evil genius tycoon villain who has a scheme afoot to set up a brand new world of genetically-engineered super humans in outer space after destroying the civilizations on Earth with nerve gas.
And in a twist, Bond's prior archenemy, the indestructible steel-toothed "Jaws" (one of the few pleasures of the film, Richard Kiel) turns out to have something else up his sleeve other than death & destruction. All that said, slick production designs, special effects, pheasant hunts, killer Dobermans, et al, can't detract from what is a paper-thin space-age plot ... such a step down in quality. Many of the action set pieces go on for too long or resemble other better sequences from prior Bond films. They just get tiresome. Roger Moore's line deliveries & lude double entendres are not delivered with the relish that Sean Connery would have.
Honestly, the whole tone of the last few 007 films has changed from the ones in the 1960s. Those films had tight plotting + Sean Connery + unpredictability + unique scenarios, etc. Now, these 007 films come across too cartoonish/slapstick. Even the theme song to 'Moonraker' sung by Shirley Bassey pales to prior tunes from the 007 filmography. You know, 'Moonraker' is not an abomination, it's just disappointing {mildly enjoyable trash). Moore is fine, I guess. Lois Chiles is a beauty. Michael Lonsdale is a dastardly villain. I just wish the producers/director//writers could buckle down & create something better than what they've given us.
And in a twist, Bond's prior archenemy, the indestructible steel-toothed "Jaws" (one of the few pleasures of the film, Richard Kiel) turns out to have something else up his sleeve other than death & destruction. All that said, slick production designs, special effects, pheasant hunts, killer Dobermans, et al, can't detract from what is a paper-thin space-age plot ... such a step down in quality. Many of the action set pieces go on for too long or resemble other better sequences from prior Bond films. They just get tiresome. Roger Moore's line deliveries & lude double entendres are not delivered with the relish that Sean Connery would have.
Honestly, the whole tone of the last few 007 films has changed from the ones in the 1960s. Those films had tight plotting + Sean Connery + unpredictability + unique scenarios, etc. Now, these 007 films come across too cartoonish/slapstick. Even the theme song to 'Moonraker' sung by Shirley Bassey pales to prior tunes from the 007 filmography. You know, 'Moonraker' is not an abomination, it's just disappointing {mildly enjoyable trash). Moore is fine, I guess. Lois Chiles is a beauty. Michael Lonsdale is a dastardly villain. I just wish the producers/director//writers could buckle down & create something better than what they've given us.