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Moonraker (1979)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 11, 2015 4:46 pm    Post subject: Moonraker (1979) Reply with quote



Roger Moore hits his stride in this hi-tech, sci-fi rich story about a megalomaniac named Drax who wants to use a nerve gas to wipe out the world's population so he can re-populate the globe with his hand-picked group of Arian super-people.

The Big Bond Climax Scene takes place aboard a beautifully designed space station (great special effects). Sets and props are extremely well designed, and they give the production a slick look that ages well.

The big battle scene is followed by a high-orbit chase in which Bond and heroine Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles) have to catch several satellites containing the nerve gas and destroy them with a laser beam.

The Bond girls are especially lovely in this one, and John Barry's music has never been better.

Good direction by Lewis Gilbert gives the action sequences the energy we expect from a Bond film. Michael Longsdale does a fine job as the totally conscience-free villain who plots to wipe out the "inferior" races of mankind.

Richard Kiel returns as "Jaws", the villain's henchman with stainless steel teeth, which he uses to break the necks of his victims. And yet, in the end the film deals kindly with this humorous villain.

An enjoyable Bond film which is not well liked by many Bond fans, for reasons which are hard to understand.

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Krel
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 11, 2015 5:45 pm    Post subject: Re: Moonraker (1979) Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
Richard Kiel introduces "Jaws", the villain's henchman with stainless steel teeth, which he uses to break the necks of his victims. And yet, in the end the film deals kindly with this humorous villain.

You're slipping Bud, "Jaws" was introduced in the preceding Bond film, "The Spy Who Loved Me". The character was actually 'borrowed' from the Gene Wilder/Richard Pryor movie, "Silver Streak".

He was so popular, that he survived two Bond movies, very rare for a henchman. In fact, I can't think of another that has.

David.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 11, 2015 5:58 pm    Post subject: Re: Moonraker (1979) Reply with quote

Krel wrote:
Bud Brewster wrote:
Richard Kiel introduces "Jaws", the villain's henchman with stainless steel teeth, which he uses to break the necks of his victims. And yet, in the end the film deals kindly with this humorous villain.

You're slipping Bud, "Jaws" was introduced in the preceding Bond film, "The Spy Who Loved Me". The character was actually 'borrowed' from the Gene Wilder/Richard Pryor movie, "Silver Streak".

Thanks! I'll fix it right now. Very Happy
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


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Pow
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 21, 2015 9:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm a 007 fan who did enjoy Moonraker.

As usual for a Bond film it had action, stunts, terrific FX, beautiful women (Corrine Cleary, Lois Chiles) a nasty villain & the return of Jaws. What's not to like.

Always got a kick out of that conference table & chairs that lowered into the floor in the shuttle blast chamber.
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ralfy
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 11:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Saw this in the theater. It looked like a very expensive movie, and reminded me a lot of those classy watch commercials shot in Venice. The memorable things for me included the fantastic free-fall fight, the laboratory and works made of glass in Venice, the scenes in Rio, and the poor, beautiful lady chased by dogs.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 4:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Plot wise it's certainly one of the most ambitious Bond movies from a sci-fi point of view -- a plot to whip out the world's population and create a super race in an orbiting space station.

I can't even remember the villains' goals in most of the other movies, even though I've seen them all multiple times! Shocked
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Maurice
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 7:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
Always got a kick out of that conference table & chairs that lowered into the floor in the shuttle blast chamber.

Speaking of sets, the Ken Adam designed interiors of Drax's space station were variations of concepts that Adam had designing for the aborted Philip Kaufman Star Trek film. Just looking at those sets you get an idea of what that film might've looked like. Sigh.
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Pow
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 8:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Maurice wrote:
Pow wrote:
Always got a kick out of that conference table & chairs that lowered into the floor in the shuttle blast chamber.

Speaking of sets, the Ken Adam designed interiors of Drax's space station were variations of concepts that Adam had designing for the aborted Philip Kaufman Star Trek film. Just looking at those sets you get an idea of what that film might've looked like. Sigh.

Interesting, I never knew that regarding the sets.

The sets for the space station were incredible, as well as the command center in the cave.
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Rocky Jones
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 9:34 am    Post subject: Re: Moonraker (1979) Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
An enjoyable Bond film which is not well liked by many Bond fans, for reasons which are hard to understand.

"An enjoyable Bond film which is not well liked by many Bond fans, for reasons which are hard to understand."

I'm one who's long been a bit on the fence about this one, I'll admit. Bond flicks have pretty much always been made up of highs and lows and this one seemed to go to the extremes. The opening skydiving scene could have been pretty nerve racking if it hadn't gone more for a comic slant. The best action scenes for me were those on the ground. After they go into space things kind of loose it. The "take me around the world one more time" bit was undisputably silly and is what most of the above mentioned fans often cite as a series low.

The producers actually took note of response, though, and tried to tone down the comedy and kitchy gadgets with the next film.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 10:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Correct me if I'm wrong, but is this the one that goes way overboard with the silly insertion of popular music at all wrong moments? Surf music during the ski chase, etc.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


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orzel-w
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 1:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Something about that poster just caught my eye.



What is it now...? Wait... It's coming...



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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 1:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Good one, Wayne! Is it a coincidence? Hmmm . . . Not if the same artist did both!

But no, that's not the case. I looked it up. The Venetian Affair was painted by Frank McCarthy

— and Moonraker was panting by Dan Goozee.

But I'm sure that Bond poster artists traded ideas quite often.

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


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orzel-w
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 4:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Plus, those Venetian canals and gondolas all look alike.
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Krel
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 5:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

To be fair, if you are going to have a Venice themed poster, there is going to be a canal with a gondola on it.

David.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue May 07, 2019 1:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

IMDB has 158 trivia items for this movie. Here’s a few of the ones I found the most interesting, in the blue text. Very Happy
________________________________

~ The scene in which the gondola converts into a hovercraft, and elevates out of the water, succeeded with the fifth attempt. During the first four takes, the vehicle was so unstable, that Sir Roger Moore fell into the water, and needed to have his silk suit replaced for each take. It was fortunate that the stunt worked during the fifth take, because was wearing the last available silk suit.

Note from me: I'd forgotten that the movie actually had a scene with a hovercraft-gondola in it when we were discussing the poster art above. I guess the artist thought that trying to paint the hovercraft version would look too wacky. Very Happy

~ During the cable car stunt, high above Rio de Janeiro, a real cliffhanger moment occurred when Stuntman Richard Graydon slipped, and was hanging on for dear life. The recce crew, including Ken Adam, were petrified while the camera was rolling, and they were watching from a vantage point.

Note from me: Two thoughts: Does the footage of the incident still exist, and how did they get poor Mr. Graydon down?

~ Barbara Bach was originally scheduled to make a brief appearance as Anya, the character she played in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), but the idea was dropped only a few weeks before filming began. According to the book, "The Bond Files", her character was going to be the woman shown in bed with General Gogol, in the scene where he moans to his British counterpart that he's having trouble sleeping.

Note from me: I think the uncredited busty blond they used instead made the joke funnier. (If I'm remembering the scene correctly).

~ In addition to being offered the chance to perform the title song, Frank Sinatra was offered the role of Hugo Drax.

Note from me: Raise your hand if you agree with me that both of those offers to Frank were really bad ideas. His singing style just ain't right for a Bond movie (even though I'm a big fan of his music), and I really don't think Frank would be taken seriously in the villain's role, despite the fact that he was a fine actor.

~ When Frank Sinatra was approached to sing the theme song, it was called "Think Of Me", and had music composed by John Barry, and lyrics written by Paul Williams. After he turned it down, Barry and Hal David wrote "Moonraker", and Johnny Mathis was chosen to sing it. When it was decided that it wasn't working, Barry had a chance meeting with Dame Shirley Bassey, and with the approval of Producer Albert R. Broccoli, she recorded the song.

Note from me: Well heck, as much as I love the smooth and mellow Mr. Mathis, I can't quite imagine HIM delivering an effective Bond title song either! My two favorite Bond songs are Goldfinger (naturally) and the Tomorrow Never Dies closing theme, "Surrender".

"Surrender" starts off with a brassy blast of trumpets very reminiscent of "Goldfinger", which is part of why I like it.

I've never understood why the less appealing of the two songs written for that movie was used for the opening credits, and "Surrender" used at the end. Heck, why did they even HAVE two themes? Weird . . .

Somebody agrees with me and they dubbed "Surrender" over the opening credits. The amazing graphics (just about the best of any Bond film, with their slow and sexy cadence), fits the song like Pussy Galore's legs fit into nylon stockings . . . Cool


____Tomorrow Never Dies (Surrender - K.D Lang)


__________



~ Beat the world record by having the biggest amount of "zero-g" wires used in one scene.

Note from me: The space station set is extremely well designed. It still impresses the heck out of me. I love the glass-tube corridors and the suspended glass-tube conveyor system which moves the poison gas pods into launch position. Very Happy


____________ Moonraker clip The space station


__________


~ Since N.A.S.A.'s Space Shuttle program had not been launched, Derek Meddings and his miniatures team had to create the rocket launch footage without any reference. Shuttle models attached to bottle rockets and signal flares were used for take-off, and the smoke trail was created with salt that fell from the models.

Note from me: The FX for the shuttle launches were well done, especially considering the above trivia item. But I'm not sure I believe the statement about about how they were done. Bottle rockets? Confused

~ The space scenes were done by rewinding the camera after an element was shot, enabling other elements to be superimposed in the film stock, with the space battle needing up to forty rewinds to incorporate everything.

Note from me: Another amazing example of the lengths which Hollywood FX people went to prior to the CGI revolution.

~ Cameo by Melinda Maxwell: The daughter of Lois Maxwell (Miss Moneypenny) as one of Drax' Master Race specimens.

Note from me: Hey, that was a nice touch.

~ In order to create the final shot in which the space station is destroyed, the visual effects crew locked themselves in the studio and shot the model of the space station to pieces using shotguns.

Note from me: I'll be thinking of this the next time I watch this movie. Very Happy

~ The final scene with Bond and Holly making love in zero-g was the hardest shot of all according to Sir Roger Moore, where he actually felt the blood running up to his nose and eyes.

Note from me: This is clearly bogus. First of all, Roger Moore and Lois Chiles where just laying on a wire-suspended platform, hidden by a sheet that was draped over them as the supposedly floated in zero-G. And second of all, when a man is having sex, the blood does not run UP to his nose and eyes! Wink

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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