Moonraker (1979)

So another big and important MacGuffin is stolen (in a few seconds this time around and Bond is thrown off a plane without a parachute by the only henchman ever to return to the franchise. Not very memorable, but at least Barry is back (with one of his less impressive scores).

Lois Chiles is not as believable as Bach as a strong woman, her role much less intriguing than that off Bach. That leaves her lingering between the old and the new kind of Bond-girl. Michael Lonsdale is very suave and a nice addition to the megalomaniacs that threaten Bond every two years or so. And he is equipped with the most fascinating line: "Look after mr. Bond. See that some harm comes to him". He works best when he thinks he's winning though, as his arrogance is more interesting than his annoyance. Richard Kiel has one absolutely outstanding scene in the carnival, but he doesn't really bring anything to the table this time that wasn't there last time, and when they angle him towards a petite, freckled and tiny girlfriend with pigtails, he, nor the film, has credibility left.

It does have it's moments, and Bond's insolence towards Drax is very amusing. The pheasant-scene most brilliant. The action is decent, though Gilbert still has a tendency to just increase the speed of his camera instead of trying to make it look real. As people got a shorter attention span towards the eighties, the action-scenes occur at a higher frequency. And a small homage to other sci-fi flicks is most amusing and welcome. Moore as Eastwood, really not.

But this seems to be a lazy story (with a rather stupid plot, even for this franchise) to throw Bond into the space-market created by Star Wars and others. It's got a ditto lazy score by Barry, more mediocre action from Lewis Gilbert and a re-used villain that turns into a cartoon. Probably the worst in the franchise, and certainly up until this point

4/10


Best car used: Rolls Royce Silver Shadow 1973 (Bond is only a passenger in all cars)
Most memorable drink served: Bollinger '69
Henchmen: Richard Kiel again. Not as threatening this time.
Villain: Michael Lonsdale as Hugo Drax.
Best one-liner: "I discovered he had a crush on me"
Song: "Moonraker". One last chance for Shirley Bassey. Nice, but not dramatic enough.
Bond-girl: Lois Chiles as Holly Goodhead (Oh yes).