The 007 Project: Moonraker

Synopsis in 3 sentences or less:
After the Moonraker space shuttle mysteriously disappears, 007 is sent to California to question the shuttle's builder, Hugo Drax. Bond tails Drax to Venice, Rio, and outer space in an attempt to stop him from destroying the world and creating a master race in space. 

Memorable Quote:
My God, what's Bond doing?  ~Minister of Defense 

I think he's attempting re-entry, sir.  ~Q

Highlight:

The pre-credit parachute sequence is incredible. I'm not a film historian, but I venture to say it has to be in the top 5 of most impressive stunts of all time. I even like the surprise of seeing Jaws, though I will note that the pilot inexplicably puts up little to no resistance as Bond takes his parachute from him in midair. But then the moment at 5:07 where you think it's over and then Jaws comes flying in and the Bond theme starts playing -- wow. 

Lowlight:

Obviously the ending of Bond going in space requires a suspension of disbelief of the highest order, but the laser battle between the floating spacemen is a bridge too far, to put it mildly. 

Most interesting piece of IMDB trivia:

Except for a few brief close-ups, the entire sequence of Bond, Jaws, and the pilot falling from the plane, with Bond and the pilot fighting for a single parachute, was shot in free fall. The entire sequence required eighty-eight jumps, and five weeks to film, just to produce the two minutes of footage in the final movie.

Other thoughts, observations, and questions I didn’t ask when I was in fourth grade:

• This is the first time that I noticed that Moneypenny doesn't have a British accent. The actress, Lois Maxwell, was Canadian. 
• Another highlight of the movie is the first scene between Bond and Drax. I'm putting Drax so far as the 2nd best villain behind OHMSS Blofeld, and Michael Lonsdale is terrific in portraying Drax as humorless and cold. 
• 19:17 -- Holly shows Bond the centerfuge training machine and says, "Why not try it?" To which Bond should say, "What would be the point of me trying it?" rather than his actual response of "Why Not?" I do like how Bond disarms the machine with his wrist dart gun. 
• 31:33 -- Fun scene where Bond and Drax go hunting, and Bond shoots the sniper in the tree. 
• 40:48 -- The guy who can't believe his eyes and looks at his wine bottle when Bond drives the gondola through St. Mark's Square is the same guy who was in disbelief when Bond drove the car out of the water in The Spy Who Loved Me. 
• Shouldn't the Venetian museum with the priceless china have some security? There is an alarm on one of the pieces that doesn't do a darn thing. 
• The whole Jaws experience is kind of weird and too focused on laughs, but it doesn't bother me too much. The actor, Richard Kiel, does a good job of playing him with a sense of likability and was liked by the viewers, which is why he was brought back in this movie in the first place. 
• 1:15:40 -- Apparently Bond's knowledge extends to identifying a rare orchid species from its chemical formula. 
• After Bond comes down from his hang glider, how does he find Drax's hideout so quickly? The Amazon is a big place. 
• The bad guys never learn to take Bond's watch after locking him up.
• After Bond and Holly escape using the watch, they decide, "Let's just hop in the shuttle and take off!" And somehow they know exactly how to fly it and what all the buttons do. 
• Then, when the US military gets the call to action, they send a shuttle up instantaneously! Is this what the new US Space Force is going to be like?
• Dr. Holly Goodhead is ice cold, and it's the worst acting performance so far by a Bond girl (though there's one later that is much, much worse). Nevertheless, I'm still a big Holly Goodhead fan. I just think she's a babe.
• In previous posts I've mentioned my fondness for the N64 Goldeneye video game. That game had a Moonraker laser weapon which was super powerful, and there was an Aztec Temple level that was based on Moonraker and included Jaws. It was the last level and the hardest one in the game, and it had one of the best video game themes I've ever heard. 
• Just as in You Only Live Twice, the bad guys make the mistake of leaving Bond in the control room without any restraints or handcuffs. 

Final Analysis:

I'm surprised to say that I enjoyed this movie a great deal. Surprised because I didn't remember being a huge fan of it, but other than the space battle, I didn't really dislike any of it. Drax was a great villian, the California, Italy, and Brazil settings were all fun, and I liked the title song more than I remembered. Ranking it 2 out of 11.