Moonraker

This time, we’re doing a Moonraker movie review by taking a journey with Her Majesty’s Secret Service and James Bond. We were also joined by special guest Colin Hope in our podcast episode and we asked, would James Bond make a decent astronaut? Is Hugo Drax a precursor to billionaire villains like Gordon Gekko? and how does the James Bond franchise manage to be a cultural zeitgeist time and time again? Let’s dig in on this edition of Force Fed Sci-Fi!

Moonraker (1979) Cast and Crew

Directed by Lewis Gilbert: Prior to directing Moonraker, Gilbert had already helmed two Bond films with You Only Live Twice and The Spy Who Loved Me so, he was no stranger to the franchise and certainly brought the unique flair the 1970’s required of Bond films.

Roger Moore as James Bond: This was the actor’s fourth Bond film following the previously mentioned The Spy Who Loved Me. His films have since gained the reputation as being the weirdest and wackiest in the series. There are numerous gags that are more for laughs than thrills and Moonraker was no exception.

Michael Lonsdale as Hugo Drax: While Lonsdale is more known as an actor in the French cinema, he plays a maniacal billionaire with aspirations of world colonization and eugenics, but for most of the film, he spends his time posturing against 007. From lavish meals to playing an automatic piano and surrounding himself with beautiful women, Drax is someone who wants to be like Bond and will go to every length to fulfill that wish.

Lois Chiles as Dr. Holly Goodhead: While Chiles does an admirable job playing Bond’s CIA equivalent, she’s often discounted in the film simply because she is a woman, even though she proves herself more knowledgeable about space travel than 007. Chiles has gone on to distance herself from her portrayal of Dr. Goodhead citing that it’s impossible to live up to people’s fantasies.

Richard Kiel as Jaws: Reprising his role from The Spy Who Loved Me, Kiel is actually given a romantic storyline involving a woman of his complete opposite after the producers received letters suggesting the villain become a hero after the character resonated with children.

Numerous other veterans from the Bond series reprise their respective roles like:

* Bernard Lee as M

* Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny

* Desmond Llewelyn as Q.

It Wasn’t Supposed to Be This Way….

If you’re familiar with the early James Bond films, the credits would often contain the line of “James Bond will return in [INSERT NEXT MOVIE]” and the film that preceded Moonraker was no exception with the next film in the series slated to be For Your Eyes Only, but obviously, this did not happen thanks to a little film called Star Wars.

Following the release of the blockbuster in 1977, the Bond producers accelerated their original plan of making Moonraker sometime in the 1980’s to 1979 as it became clear that audiences wanted to see space adventures on the big screen. It’s the first film on Force Fed Sci-Fi that was made in direct response to another film.