While Star Wars was an iconic film that did more to change the movie industry than any film in a half century, it momentarily ruined James Bond. With The Spy Who Loved Me having been a smash success in 1977, the next film was supposed to be For Your Eyes Only, which is almost as good of a film and would have generated the type of momentum that was created with Sean Connery in From Russia With Love, Goldfinger and Thunderball. However Star Wars also came out in 1977 and it broke the mold on film making and took the summer blockbuster to levels never imagined by Hollywood studios. MGM saw this, and so did Albert Broccoli. Now for the first time the Bond series would chase trends rather than set them.
The word that mostly comes to mind while watching this film, especially the last 40 minutes, is absurd.
This is an absurd film at the start and the finish. One of the first thing that happens in the film is hijackers steal a space shuttle off of a 747. The first question that comes to mind is, “why was the shuttle fully fueled why being transported?” It’s especially ridiculous because the pilot and the co-pilot comment on what good time they’re making. The 3rd act of the film is just one absurdity after the other. Whether it’s the commando team showing up in a space shuttle for the climactic battle with lasers in space or Bond using Moonraker 5’s lasers to destroy all 3 of the satellites that had already been launched, and were heading to different locations around the world, when he never would have had time to destroy all three, or finding out that Jaws and the girlfriend who is half his size escaped in an oh-by-the-way comment from Bond, the third act really ruins this film.
Another aspect of this film that really bothered me was all of the product placement. They weren’t even trying to be subtle with it. There are 7-Up billboards all over the place in Rio. Bond wears a Seiko wristwatch, which is fine until we also see a couple of Seiko billboards as well. There are also billboards for Marlboro and more product placement for British Airways. Now, product placement is all over the place in other films and other franchises as well, especially more modern franchises like Iron Man and Spider-man, as well as modern Bond films. I think the reason it’s leaving such a bad taste in my mouth with Moonraker is that the only reason they made the film in the first place was to get in on the mint that Star Wars had created. Once you add the over the top product placement to that, and it makes Moonraker feel more like a money grab than anything else.
What makes all of this so tragic is that, outside of the shuttle hijack scene, the first two acts are actually quite good. Not The Spy Who Loved Me good, but there are still some terrific action sequences, and good dramatic scenes. The skydiving scene at the beginning of the film is spectacular and thrilling. The gondola scene in Rio is exciting, and the story telling in the scenes in Venice is compelling.
Hugo Drax is also very strong as a villain. He’s playing piano the first time we see him, and he also has a snarky sense of humor that gives him depth and humanizes him, which is important because he’s planning on wiping out the human race and starting over with his own genetically enhanced humans. The stakes are as high as they could be for Bond with this villain, and the villain also outsmarts Bond at one point when hides the lab that Bond found and makes him look foolish in front of M and the Defense Minister. Even though this is a week film, Drax deserves to be mentioned among the best and most memorable Bond villains.
Unfortunately the same can’t be said about Dr. Holly Goodhead, this installment’s Bond girl. This is one of the worst acted Bond girls in the series to date. I actually can’t recall a flatter, more emotionless performance. There have been other Bond girls that were not good actresses, but they at least looked like they were trying. Lois Childs looks about as disinterested in being in this movie as most people do about going to the dentist. She just looks bored throughout the whole movie, and even her iconic line, “Take me around the world one more time.” is delivered in a monotone way that makes sitting in traffic feel exciting.
Like many other Bond films, this one has good and bad to it. However the bad outweighs the good, and it’s one of the worst films in the series in my opinion. It totally stunted the momentum gained by The Spy Who Loved Me and I wouldn’t be surprised if this film played a part in Roger Moore not being more popular among Bond fans.