Bond Retrospective: "Moonraker"

 

 

Released: 1979

Actor: Roger Moore

Villain: Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale)

Henchman: Jaws (Richard Kiel)

Allies: Jaws

Bond Girl: Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles)

First Appearance: none of significance

Precredits sequence: A moonraker space shuttle is commandeered, causing the plane it's attached to to crash. M inquires where Bond is, and Moneypenny says he's on the last leg of an African mission. On the plane, Bond is betrayed by his flight crew and left for dead, with Jaws pushing him out the plane, but he captures one of the villain's parachute and saves himself, as Jaws tumbles into a circus.

Plot: Bond is sent to California to investigate Drax, who owns the moonraker. There, he finds that Drax was receiving glass from a place in Venice, where he heads to next. There, he encounters Dr. Goodhead, who he met at Drax's mansion. Goodhead is trying to stop Drax as well. During some spying, 007 notes something about Rio di Janiero, so he heads there next, along the way discovering a lab where two scientists die by some gas, while lab rats survived. Bond shows M the lab the next day, but it's no longer a lab. Drax works fast. Jaws tries to attack them again, and now teaming with Goodhead, they stop him. Bond gives Q a sample of the poison from the lab, an he traces it to a specific location. When Bond heads there, he's captured by Drax, as is Goodhead who got lost along the way, and are left for dead as Drax sends his moonrakers to his space station. Bond escapes, gets on board the station with Goodhead, and they are able to warn the world, who sends a space astronaut army. Bond destroys Drax's plans to destroy humanity with the poison and repopulate it with his own people, and kills Drax in the process. Jaws turns good, having fallen in love. Bond and Goodhead do what Bond usually does, when M phones in to congratulate him.

Thoughts: Terrible Bond movie, and such a blatant response to the popularity of Star Wars. The story itself was decent, but two major things ruined it for me. First, Jaws becoming less of a threat as he was in TSWLM, and more of comic relief. And second, armies in space with space lasers. Really? The plot of Drax was a bit far-fetched but interesting enough. Goodhead was rather bland, though. Overall, a very weak entry to the Bond series. At least the next movie lived up to the promise, and actually was FYEO.

 

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