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July 22, 2023
When you think of the science fiction blockbusters of the late 1970s, what titles come to mind? Star Wars? Close Encounters of the Third Kind? Alien?
Moonraker?
James Bond’s eleventh outing had some good things going for it, but praise for being good science fiction wasn’t one of them. Yet, one glaring problem arises with this oft-repeated criticism: Moonraker was not a science fiction movie, no matter what all those online worst-of lists claim. Like all James Bond flicks, Moonraker was a spy movie where the last thirty minutes or so happened to occur in space. It was Albert R. Broccoli, the producer for the first seventeen Bond films and a man whose very name was synonymous with the franchise right up until he died in 1996, who decided the movie’s third act needed to include a space battle. (Ian Fleming’s book had no space component to it whatsoever!) It was Broccoli who gave Moonraker an earlier production schedule so it could capitalize on the science fiction craze that followed Star Wars. And it was Broccoli who made Moonraker the highest-grossing Bond film up to that point.
Moonraker is not science fiction, nor is it a particularly good Bond movie, especially compared with some of its predecessors like From Russia with Love and Thunderball. Even The Spy Who Loved Me, which directly proceeded Moonraker and with whom the film shares much of its DNA, is a far more entertaining outing for Great Britain’s favorite spy. Moonraker’s ridiculous, even when you consider that ridiculous plots are a staple of James Bond. The film revolves around a master race enthusiast (Michael Lonsdale as Hugo Drax) who decides to wipe out the inferior parts of humanity with a powerful nerve toxin while he waits out the carnage on a hidden space station. Once the Earth had been cleansed, Drax intended to re-populate it with a group of superior human specimens. I won't even bother to enumerate all the gaping holes in this harebrained scheme, but suffice it to say that Roger Moore (my favorite Bond actor) has little to do except scamper from one place to another, always one step behind Drax. Lois Chiles’ unblinking and monotone performance as Dr. Holly Goodhead made her one of the least interesting Bond girls ever, and the villains weren’t much better. Drax was a C-list psychotic without even an interesting affectation like a kitty cat to stroke ominously, and Richard Kiel’s “Jaws,” the silver-toothed henchman you loved to hate, was inexplicably transformed into a good guy and boyfriend material at the film’s end.
Yet, Moonraker was also a visionary piece of cinema… and not just because it was the first to show zero-gravity coitus. Even famous movie critic Roger Ebert, in his 1979 review of the film, noted that the real "stars of this movie are Ken Adam, the art director, and Derek Meddings, in charge of special effects."
July 22, 2023
When you think of the science fiction blockbusters of the late 1970s, what titles come to mind? Star Wars? Close Encounters of the Third Kind? Alien?
Moonraker?
James Bond’s eleventh outing had some good things going for it, but praise for being good science fiction wasn’t one of them. Yet, one glaring problem arises with this oft-repeated criticism: Moonraker was not a science fiction movie, no matter what all those online worst-of lists claim. Like all James Bond flicks, Moonraker was a spy movie where the last thirty minutes or so happened to occur in space. It was Albert R. Broccoli, the producer for the first seventeen Bond films and a man whose very name was synonymous with the franchise right up until he died in 1996, who decided the movie’s third act needed to include a space battle. (Ian Fleming’s book had no space component to it whatsoever!) It was Broccoli who gave Moonraker an earlier production schedule so it could capitalize on the science fiction craze that followed Star Wars. And it was Broccoli who made Moonraker the highest-grossing Bond film up to that point.
Moonraker is not science fiction, nor is it a particularly good Bond movie, especially compared with some of its predecessors like From Russia with Love and Thunderball. Even The Spy Who Loved Me, which directly proceeded Moonraker and with whom the film shares much of its DNA, is a far more entertaining outing for Great Britain’s favorite spy. Moonraker’s ridiculous, even when you consider that ridiculous plots are a staple of James Bond. The film revolves around a master race enthusiast (Michael Lonsdale as Hugo Drax) who decides to wipe out the inferior parts of humanity with a powerful nerve toxin while he waits out the carnage on a hidden space station. Once the Earth had been cleansed, Drax intended to re-populate it with a group of superior human specimens. I won't even bother to enumerate all the gaping holes in this harebrained scheme, but suffice it to say that Roger Moore (my favorite Bond actor) has little to do except scamper from one place to another, always one step behind Drax. Lois Chiles’ unblinking and monotone performance as Dr. Holly Goodhead made her one of the least interesting Bond girls ever, and the villains weren’t much better. Drax was a C-list psychotic without even an interesting affectation like a kitty cat to stroke ominously, and Richard Kiel’s “Jaws,” the silver-toothed henchman you loved to hate, was inexplicably transformed into a good guy and boyfriend material at the film’s end.
Yet, Moonraker was also a visionary piece of cinema… and not just because it was the first to show zero-gravity coitus. Even famous movie critic Roger Ebert, in his 1979 review of the film, noted that the real "stars of this movie are Ken Adam, the art director, and Derek Meddings, in charge of special effects."
When Star Wars forever changed how Hollywood handled visual effects, Moonraker showed this influence in the space sequences. To the film’s credit, what was presented wasn’t far from the reality of the late-1970s. For example, there was a space station in orbit at the time, as Skylab had been launched in 1973 and burned up in the Earth’s atmosphere less than two weeks after Moonraker was released. Drax’s station was more complex but still looked like a functional piece of machinery — a spider-like configuration with gangly legs clutching solar panels. In hindsight, it’s not a bad precursor to today’s International Space Station.
The station remained hidden thanks to a version of stealth technology which kept ground-based radar from picking it up. Naturally, James and Holly must disable this tech before they can expect help from the surface. Once accomplished, the United States dispatches an early version of Space Force, Marine combat troops specially trained and outfitted for zero-gravity warfare. Here, the production crew took advantage of contemporary space shuttle designs three years before the real NASA craft would actually fly. The launch sequences in particular were an impressive bit of practical special effects considering there were no real-life shuttle launches to emulate. The effects team used bottle rockets and signal flares to simulate the explosive lift-off, and if you compare it to NASA archival footage it’s an impressive simulation.
Moonraker might also be one of the first films to show astronauts in Extravehicular Mobility Units, or EMUs, battling each other in the vacuum outside Drax’s station. The American soldiers being deployed from the open cargo bay of a shuttle reminded me of Allied forces hitting the beaches of Normandy in landing craft, or paratroopers leaping out of the back of airplanes. As far as I know, space combat is still a fantasy, but how far off could it be really? Regardless, pitting men armed with laser jet packs against each other was a clever alternative to the dog fights from Star Wars. They poor astronauts even “blew up” nicely when struck by an enemy’s laser beam. One source claimed that Moonraker used real lasers in some of the scenes, but I was not able to confirm this. If they did, that would be an impressive feat considering how bulky and expensive they were during the 70s.
While Moonraker will never go down in my book as a favorite Bond film, examining it retrospectively has earned it greater appreciation. Moonraker wasn't science fiction, but maybe it was a much smarter movie that we originally gave it credit for?
The station remained hidden thanks to a version of stealth technology which kept ground-based radar from picking it up. Naturally, James and Holly must disable this tech before they can expect help from the surface. Once accomplished, the United States dispatches an early version of Space Force, Marine combat troops specially trained and outfitted for zero-gravity warfare. Here, the production crew took advantage of contemporary space shuttle designs three years before the real NASA craft would actually fly. The launch sequences in particular were an impressive bit of practical special effects considering there were no real-life shuttle launches to emulate. The effects team used bottle rockets and signal flares to simulate the explosive lift-off, and if you compare it to NASA archival footage it’s an impressive simulation.
Moonraker might also be one of the first films to show astronauts in Extravehicular Mobility Units, or EMUs, battling each other in the vacuum outside Drax’s station. The American soldiers being deployed from the open cargo bay of a shuttle reminded me of Allied forces hitting the beaches of Normandy in landing craft, or paratroopers leaping out of the back of airplanes. As far as I know, space combat is still a fantasy, but how far off could it be really? Regardless, pitting men armed with laser jet packs against each other was a clever alternative to the dog fights from Star Wars. They poor astronauts even “blew up” nicely when struck by an enemy’s laser beam. One source claimed that Moonraker used real lasers in some of the scenes, but I was not able to confirm this. If they did, that would be an impressive feat considering how bulky and expensive they were during the 70s.
While Moonraker will never go down in my book as a favorite Bond film, examining it retrospectively has earned it greater appreciation. Moonraker wasn't science fiction, but maybe it was a much smarter movie that we originally gave it credit for?